Sept. 13, 1999
Editors
Macon Telegraph
RE: Medical Mistakes
Dear Editor:
I read with both delight and bewilderment your recent series about “Medical Mistakes.” I am delighted that you’ve finally broached these important issues after your staff had rejected similar pleas by me in the past. As you may recall, I sent to you an article I had written, “Hospital Fraud & Discrimination,” discussing this very issue among other important issues, only to be totally ignored by you.
I had also sent to your newspaper my book to be reviewed, “How to Avoid Back Surgery; Chiropractic—the Proven Method for Back Pain,” which was also ignored by your staff even though I was told it was well-written and factual. The reason for its rejection, as I recall, was due to your newspaper not wanting to “upset the local medical society,” the very culprits now under attack by your recent series. When hospital mistakes is the third-leading cause of death in this country, something must be said.
To remind you, Macon surgeons do more back surgeries than any other city in the state. It is well known there are a few MDs who have little regard for the federal AHCPR guideline which endorses spinal manipulative therapy and further states “Surgery has been found to be helpful in only one in 100 cases of low back problems.” My book dealt with this very issue in an attempt to save the unsuspecting public from these knife-happy surgeons, yet your decision to ignore my book illustrated to me that you are, in part, accessories in these medical crimes.
Just when will your staff write an expose about the many unnecessary bypass and back surgeries being done daily in our local hospitals? Will it take another five years before you will tell the truth, if my experience with you is indicative of your recalcitrant attitude to tell the whole story?
I’ll attach a recent article I wrote, “Chiropractic Coincidence,” about an operating room nurse’s experience with me and the conflict it created with her job. Enjoy, and please let me know what you decide to do. By the way, this article is not for publication.
Regards,
JC Smith, MA, DC