TR’s New War Plan
When I weed my garden, the more I look for them, the more I seem to find in a never-ending battle against Mother Nature who seemingly wants to put them where I don’t want them, and the same may be true for chiropractic—while some of our more obnoxious colleagues may leave the profession due to health problems, death, or banishment as we saw with Big $id, there is always a new crop of weeds that pop up to replace them.
TR has now has come forth with another charade: a 5-part plan of attack approved by his WCA board. Like a bad cold that just won’t go away, TR continues with his fruitless, quixotic fight against the windmills of mixers and medicine to keep himself in the news as the latest version of the Defender of ChiropracTIC now that Big $id has bit the dust.
First of all, it’s painfully obvious the WCA’s so-called International Board of Governors is nothing more than a group of “sock puppets” appointed by TR—a handful of sycophants with ignoble reputations including their dubious awards and their pledge of allegiance to Rongberg’s misguided delusion to save the world of subluxATIONS.
- Veronica Gutierrez, D.C. recipient of the WCA’s 1994 “Outstanding Service Award.”
- Terry A. Rondberg, D.C., dictator-for-life of phony WCA.
- Christopher Kent, D.C. Dr. Kent was awarded the “Chiropractic Researcher of the Year” award from the WCA in 1994.
- Matthew McCoy, D.C. In addition to his role on the WCA Board of Directors, Dr. McCoy serves as the chair of the WCA Chiropractic Advocacy Council; one of the founding members of the Council on Chiropractic Practice (CCP), editor of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, Life College resident research director and in-house liaison to King Guy for the WCA.
- Timothy J. Feuling, son-in-law of TR, vice president of the WCA, and president of the CBS Malpractice Insurance Program.
- Cindy Rondberg, stunning wife of TR, the WCA’s chief financial officer, and associate publisher of The Chiropractic Journal.
As you can see, this WCA clique smacks of the same nepotism and cronyism that we saw in the failed regime of Big $id and his clan of academic imposters comprised of friends and family members. As Big $id named campus buildings after himself and his wife, appointed his relatives and friends to Life’s administration with exorbitant salaries, fashioned statues of his likeness like the Little Chicken on campus, and bestowed phony ICA accolades upon themselves to mislead their naïve followers who thought they were legitimate awards from a bona fide association, the new WCA version of the Williams Family Fiasco now continues with the Rongberg and his cohorts who now run amok in this profession with the same publicity stunts.
Without a doubt, for a large donation to TR’s WCA-PAC, you too can be “Chiropractor of the Year” in your hometown! In fact, his phony WCA-PAC is also under investigation by the FEC, an issue that TR has failed to report in his free tabloid, TCJ.
It is my understanding that under campaign finance law, of which the Federal Election Commission is the governing body, the Chiropractors for Wellness Care PAC operating as a non-connected political action committee, is prohibited from raising PAC contributions through a connected organization. In utmost disregard for this campaign finance law regulation, TR, president and founder of the WCA, is soliciting PAC contributions on the WCA website, has repeatedly advertised this PAC online, and it is my understanding that he promoted his PAC at the WCA Legislative Summit recently. By promoting the Chiropractors for Wellness Care PAC on the WCA website, in his TCJ, and at WCA functions, TR clearly is defining the WCA as the connected organization, a violation of the defining characteristic of a non-connected political action committee.
Rongberg is attempting to dupe the public/profession and the Federal government by registering the Chiropractors for Wellness Care PAC as a non-connected political action committee, and blatantly connecting this PAC to his WCA. Apparently, TR is deceiving the public/profession by violating federal election commission regulations to promote the WCA agenda. It is obvious that he only established the Chiropractors for Wellness Care PAC as a non-connected political action committee to have the ability to solicit contributions from the general public/profession instead of the limited WCA membership of 240 non-voting members.
For your information, Rongberg has a prior similar incident of illegal campaign contributions in which he was found guilty and fined $6,840. You can logon to www.chiroweb.com/archives/09/24/07.html to read “WCA President Admits to Violating Arizona Campaign Contribution Laws” that revealed his illegal money-laundering activity.
Not only has TR probably violated the FEC’s campaign regulations once again, in reality, it is just another example of more hucksterism. Whether he uses the NGO status as a stamp of approval by the UN to promote his WCA’s image, or now using his WCA-PAC to seek more funds for his personal political ambitions, TR seems to bend the laws however it best suits him and hopes that nobody notices.
ChiropracTIC Cronyism
The same can be said of the merry-go-round scheme used by the Evil Vendors who use smoke and mirrors to sway chiro consumers. The customary bait-and-switch ploy by this group of evil vendors is to embellish each other’s image as they switch naïve customers back and forth for each other to profit by, all hidden beneath the bait of their sales pitch—chiropracTIC chirovangelism, “You too can be a wealthy chiropracTOR, but only if you buy our insurance, lease our stuff, attend our seminars, espouse our cult concepts of Innatism, and refrain from mixing and medicine, ya folla?”
For example, the WCA (Rongberg) endorses the CLA (Gentempo) who endorses the Subluxation Station (Kent) who endorses the JVSR (McCoy) who endorses the CBS insurance (Rongberg), and they all endorse the other vendors/columnists in the TCJ—those seminar gurus who advertise. Indeed, it’s a vicious cycle used by an incestuous group of vendors misleading too many field docs and naïve students. TR has proven he and his cronies can fool some of the people all the time, especially if there’s money to be made, just like Big $id did for nearly 30 years, ya folla? The only difference between TR and Big $id is that $id didn’t endorse anyone else except for his own interests—Life College, Dynamic Essential seminars, and his Si-Nel supply company. In fact, Big $id was renowned not to let any other vendors on “his” campus to solicit his students/consumers, ya folla?
Now TR and his political chiro terrorists have revealed their plan of attack to propagandize, mislead, and foment more discord within this profession. Just like the al Qaeda, the Chiro Coalition of Evil Vendors will not stop in their quest to control and mold this profession to their design/profit regardless that the vast majority of DCs disagree with their goals and tactics. I daresay after nearly 20 years sending his free tabloid to 60,000+ DCs soliciting his WCA, you’d expect TR’s “alliance” to have more than its estimated 240 members. Apparently something isn’t resonating among the rank and file with TR’s anti-social rap, ya folla?
You might also note that nothing this Chiro Coalition proposes expands our market share or enables DCs to do a better job clinically, but these 5 points would restrict our role, decrease our incomes, and worsen our image in the present healthcare delivery systems, just as TR’s design for the VA and Medicare bills would also have handcuffed this profession. His “detect and correct VSC only,” non-diagnostic, non-therapeutic, anti-medical, anti-pain management rap is his outdated mantra that has been a pain in this profession’s neck for decades now.
Moreover, this 5-point plan is a clear misrepresentation of the political, legislative and educational wishes of the mainstream profession—the 97% of DCs who don’t support the Chiro Coalition, the WCA or the ICA. Never deterred by political misrepresentation and diplomatic fraud before, TR continues to obstruct and meddle in affairs that he has no ethical right to pursue as an Evil Vendor who continues to hoodwink some in this profession and in Congress as the dictator-for-life of the phony WCA.
TR’s Manifesto
Like the Muslim insurgents, these chiropracTORs will never go away or join in a democratic process, so it’s time to “isolate the rascals” as George McAndrews said at the 2004 NCLC. And the first step is to show their lies and dirty dealings.
Below in blue is the recent propaganda from the Axis of Evil Vendors to mislead and confuse field docs.
By unanimous vote, the WCA’s IBG resolved to:
*1. Work with other organizations on a plan to protect the profession against regulatory abuse by the CCE. It will develop a plan of action ‑‑ including a “vote of no confidence” in the CCE ‑‑ to deal with the issue.
Does this sound to you like a kangaroo court with a foregone conclusion? How about a choice in this such as a “vote of no confidence” in the Chiro Coalition too, just to be fair and balanced?
Rongberg’s hope to “Work with other organizations…” will not happen since the legitimate groups like the reputable ACA and WFC will never work with this radical insurgency of evil vendors, so it only leaves other vendor-driven groups like the ICA (Big $id, Hoffman, Humber, Braile, Mertz—all vendors/presidents of the ICA) to cooperate with TR.
The recent ACA resolution to denounce the WCA as a political front for a small, vendor-driven, non-democratic “alliance” that impersonates a real association and obstructs any and all legislation is a clear indication why this credible national chiro group, the ACA, will never recognize the WCA as a reputable chiro organization. Along with with the obvious conflict of interest with the present ICA president, CJ Mertz, it’s questionable how much longer the ACA will recognize this dwindling ICA org controlled by vendors and radical ideologues. Just as there’s nothing “worldly” about the WCA, there is nothing “international” about the ICA. Both are small groups of ideologues whose main goal, it appears, is to impede progress in this profession—no matter what the ACA, CCE, NBCE, FLCB, WFC, or FCER does, these two groups are automatically there to oppose it.
Déjà Vu All Over Again
So, if these chiro cultists can’t beat the CCE and certainly won’t join them, what can they do? Start their own accreditation agency, that’s what!
This new attack on the CCE and educational standards comes with a long history that many younger DCs are unaware. First of all, there is no “regulatory abuse by the CCE” whatsoever, unless you think raising educational standards from the high school level (as I experienced at both Sherman and Life Colleges in the 1970s) to a post grad collegiate level is abusive. For most of the $idiots who graduated from Life, a true grad school level curriculum would have been gross intellectual abuse for those mental morons who renounce the Educated Mind in favor of chirovangelism, ya folla?
In fact, the straight colleges like Sherman and Life once before tried to paint their own brand of chiro education when they created their own straight accrediting agency, SCASA–Straight Chiropractic Academic Standards Association–but the Department of Education eventually shot it down to establish the CCE as the sole, legitimate chiro education regulating body.
Here’s a recap of the issue from Dynamic Chiropractic http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/10/04/02.html:
“On January 7, 1992, the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) appeared before the Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation (COPA) for re-recognition. Appearing for CCE was John Miller, D.C., president, and Ralph Miller, Ed.D., executive director. Dr. Miller presented CCE’s current status and both men answered questions.
“COPA is the accrediting agency par excellence. Accrediting agencies like CCE receives recognition from two organizations: Department of Education and COPA. COPA recognition is sought because it demonstrates adherence to high standards. Most accrediting agencies seek COPA recognition as a sign of quality that potential students will be looking for. CCE is currently seeking renewal of its five-year recognition.
“Also at the meeting were Terry Rondberg, D.C., representing the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), and Thomas Gelardi, D.C., representing the Straight Chiropractic Academic Standards Association (SCASA), the Federation of Straight Chiropractic Organizations (FSCO), the Association of Straight Chiropractic Colleges and Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic. Both Drs. Rondberg and Gelardi were present at the meeting to deliver oral and written arguments on why the CCE should not be re-recognized for another five-year period. Interestingly enough, SCASA has never applied to COPA for recognition.
“Editor’s Note: While the WCA claims to “support both” the CCE and SCASA, it is interesting that the WCA president would spend WCA money to fly from Arizona to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Virginia to protest the recognition of the CCE.”
The SCASA situation was an interesting sequence of events. Senator Strom Thurmond from South Carolina, an avid chiropractic advocate but unaware of the misguided straight chirovangelist ideology taught in Spartanburg mistakenly helped Sherman College in a political maneuver with the Department of Education that led to SCASA being approved initially. Apparently it’s hard to say “no” to a senior US senator despite the fact that up to that point no profession had two accreditation agencies approved by the US Department of Education since dual standards for the same profession made no sense to anyone. Only in chiropractic do we see such nonsense, ya folla?
Ultimately SCASA was denied re-accreditation, but not before a huge meeting and testimony before the department committee with all the players—Rongberg, Thom Gelardi, Gerry Clum, and Big $id—making their sales pitches to denounce raising GPA requirements and seeking separate standards for their “straight” orientation, but justice and common sense finally prevailed, thanks in large part to Mr. Mark Goodin, former ACA lobbyist. Without SCASA there was no alternative for the straights except to meet the same standards as the other colleges with CCE, if they wanted accreditation so students could get student loans, that is.
This was the beginning of the improvement at Sherman College, but the beginning of the end for Life since Big $id simply did not think the CCE had any teeth to make Life comply, which eventually led to its confrontation with the COA and loss of accreditation. When the Georgia Assembly legislative hearing over the Life v. CCE issue was discussed, one legislator asked $id of the consequences of his failing to implement the CCE Standards into Life’s curriculum. In amazement to all at the hearing, he replied that he would never lose accreditation because, “I pays ‘em too much money, ya folla?” that impugned the integrity of the CCE. Apparently Big $id was wrong or didn’t pay them enuf, ya folla?
Obviously the chirovangelists would argue that subluxation-adjustment one-size-fits-all type of care doesn’t take 5 grueling years to learn. But if we are to include the duties of a primary access provider with diagnostic skills, knowledge of other health care methods, technique development, and learning the protocols for integration into the mainstream, then it does take more time and effort than the “detect and correct VSC only” model of care espoused by these hate-straights.
If these academic imposters were to put as much energy into fulfilling the CCE Standards rather than opposing them at every turn, Life would not be in the predicament it’s in today. Obviously Sherman was able to adapt its curriculum to meet these academic standards without changing its unique mission to graduate straight chiropractors.
In this regard, these radical insurgents like TR and the DECE boyz who know nothing about higher education—not one published article on higher education—have hurt Life’s re-accreditation by fanning the flames of discontent. Like old Southern rednecks who yearn for the bygone days of segregation, these chiropracTIC insurgents have yet to realize their days are gone with the wind too. A “vote of no confidence” in CCE appears to be similar to the Secessionists vote of no confidence in the Union, but we saw the eventual futility of that attitude.
*2. Fully support HR 4051, a bill introduced by Rep. Bob Filner that would mandate direct access to chiropractors in the VA health system. Leona Fischer, DC, a member of the IBG who serves on the VA Advisory Committee provided background information to the Board on this issue.
First of all, vets will have direct access to DCs now, but they must go through the proper channels—diagnostics procedures—recommended by the CAC panel. I doubt the day will ever come where active military and vets will have unfettered initial access since the medical profession remains skeptical of the diagnostic skills of most DCs, and rightfully so. When all DCs are trained as well as those from National and other comprehensive chiro colleges, perhaps that attitude will change, but presently, no rational medical system will depend upon “detect and correct VSC only” chiropracTORs to act as the portal of entry.
Furthermore, TR’s rep on the CAC, Leona Fischer, is not an expert on anything—she has not published any RCTs or peer-reviewed papers—she is simply a young practitioner with only 4 years of experience and, as TR’s sycophant, her role on the CAC was obviously to be his mouthpiece to promote three issues:
- Push for direct access no matter what situation
- Push for the use of the Subluxation Station in all VA facilities
- Push for “detect and correct VSC only” without any diagnostic responsibilities
Fortunately the rational members of the CAC ignored her pleas since
- Most DCs, especially the “straights,” were not prepared academically or clinically to be PCPs in the VA system.
- According to Paul Shekelle, the Sub Station (sEMG) had already been rejected by the AHCPR study.
- The “detect and correct VSC only” position was deemed as irresponsible.
Her mere presence on the CAC was controversial and came about only as a result of being the lesser of WCA evils since TR and Chris Kent were also self-nominated. The CAC felt compelled to include all factions, so it chose Leona instead of the more vociferous and misguided TR or CK. But don’t think for a moment that this woman brought anything of value to the table. If you were to read the committee minutes, you would see that she was an impediment to the CAC’s discussion since she was hell-bent on pushing TR’s agenda exclusively until Paul Shekelle finally had to shout her down to stop with her sales pitch for the Sub Station.
After extensive study and consensus recommendations by the CAC’s panel of experts (and likewise in the military healthcare system), these bigwigs determined that DCs are best suited as NMS specialists, not PCPs, in the VA system. Nonetheless, TR’s crying about this decision will not change anything and, realistically, acute patients need to be screened by someone capable before they are adjusted by anyone.
Certainly straights like him are ignorant of the signs and symptoms of CES, CAD, VAD, HNP, to name a few of the problems that are routinely ignored by the “detect and correct VSC only” advocates. Actually, I doubt that TR and the chirovangelists even know what these initials stand for! And they probably don’t care to know since they eschew treating spinal problems, detecting pathology, or even treating pain since it’s beneath their chirovangelist purpose to cure the world of the non-descript, one-size-fits-all, killer subluxATIONS.
Indeed, just as the VA understands the limits of DCs, would you send your mother with serious illness or acute back pain to TR, Big $id, Rev. Reggie or Guy Riekeman as a primary care provider? Okay, stop laughing, but this does illustrate the danger these hate-straights pose to all patients. Fortunately CMT is a very safe procedure, but that doesn’t excuse the reckless attitude of these chirovangelists who purposely ignore any diagnostic responsibilities yet demand PCP status.
Indeed, TR, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, ya folla? Either you play by the mainstream’s rules or you won’t play at all in their game, and your pouting won’t help anything. TR’s contemptible response to Sec. Principi’s decision showed that TR will not play by anyone’s rules except his own.
“I would rather see chiropractors excluded from the entire program rather than included for the wrong reasons. I am respectfully requesting that you reject this recommendation and accept the ‘minority recommendation’ which represents the wishes of the majority of doctors in my profession and respectfully request you allow DIRECT access for VA beneficiaries to doctors of chiropractic.”
Logon to http://www.stoprondberg.org/SourGrapes.htm to learn more about TR’s pitiful reaction to Sec. Principi’s decision to include DCs. Also logon to http://www.stoprondberg.org/Stranger.htm to learn more how TR tried to sabotage the VA decision beforehand.
Although the ACA has its own legislative effort to deal with the VA direct access issue, undoubtedly until the VA can be convinced that DCs do have the training to be PCPs, its decision to use DCs as NMS specialists will not change. The fact remains that TR speaking in harsh language has undermined these important dealings and relationships with the Secretary of the DVA, government bureaucrats, and congressmen.
He continues to impersonate an elected official like the ACA leaders, but the fact is he remains an un-elected tyrant of a sham “alliance,” which is another ruse that needs to be exposed to these folks on Capitol Hill. TR even admitted in his message to Dr. Clum recently, “I know the WCA has often been accused of not being ‘democratic’ since the membership at large does not vote directly for the board.” Yet that has never stopped him from posing to all that he is the “president” of the WCA, implying he is elected when, in fact, he is ordained by his cronies on his sock puppet board.
Indeed, do you want TR speaking for chiropractic on Capitol Hill? Okay, stop laughing.
*3. Support or help coordinate statewide efforts to pass a law similar to one passed in Michigan recently, which defined and separated chiropractic as a unique health care system, and includes specific reference to subluxation correction, to protect the rights of subluxation‑based chiropractors.
By now everyone in the country realizes that chiropractic is “unique,” but that carries mostly negative connotations that most of us would rather not hear repeated. Why do we want to be “unique” when it hasn’t helped us gain more market share or improved our image? In our country that prides itself on assimilation, why are we so adamant to remain outside the loop?
It’s one thing to be marginalized by our political foes to the fringe of the healthcare system, but when chiropracTORs do it to themselves, you must wonder what the chirovangelists in Michigan are smokin’? While I agree the WCA/ICA-led version of straight chirovangelist is “unique,” it doesn’t mean it’s “better” in the public’s mind. Rapper Snoopy Dog Doo-Doo is unique too, but I still won’t buy his sorry CDs.
In the recent edition of The Source, Michigan’s version of the TCJ, an article written by Dr. Kerry Kilpatrick, ICA rep, illustrated the paranoid mindset of these misled Lifers.
“It became abundantly clear from a variety of the reports [which reports?] that there is a small but well organized movement [the Chiro Coalition?] within our profession that wants to destroy or grotesquely alter chiropractic as most of us in Michigan know it. [Whoa! The conspiracy theory now surfaces in Michigan chiropracTIC. What an embellishment of the truth! The only alteration of chiropractic is to upgrade it from the throes of chirovangelism!]
Their stated goals are as follows:
- Promote the expansion of Chiropractic scope. [Sounds great to me!]
- Promote medical inclusion. [Finally, we can enter thru the front door]
- Abandon the subluxation. [Only as a one-size-fits-all diagnosis of all health problems. In fact, there’s more to health care than a pop and a prayer to Innate, ya folla?]
“If they are allowed to achieve their goals, all states will follow Florida’s lead and have boards of ‘Chiropractic Medicine’ and all chiropractic colleges will bestow the degree of Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine (DCM) on their new graduates. [More embellishment, plus “medicine” is used generically to mean “health care,” ya folla?]
“It appears that our profession is becoming acutely aware of this threat and is joining forces to defeat those who think chiropractic, as we know it, is DEAD!” [More scare tactics by demagogues who resemble Don Quixote fighting medical and mixer windmills! On the other hand, chiropractic “as we know it” may be dying a slow death unless it evolves from its intransigence position to evidence-based care. To think that any healthcare profession can remain stagnant for over 100 years is dumbfounding! Imagine if the MDs were still locked solely into the germ theory.]
Geez, there they go again with the hyperbole, misinformation, and demagoguery to incite followers. Just where are these three “stated goals” written by the ACA, ACC, FCLB, FCER or WFC? Or is this just misinformation by the ICA-WCA demagogues to mischaracterize the movement to upgrade this profession from the depths of incompetence where Big $id keep it? Of course, we can expect Michigan to lead the way for the chirovangelists since too many Lifers have found refuge there.
Their paranoid attitude—“ to destroy or grotesquely alter chiropractic as most of us in Michigan know it”—is nonsense and a misrepresentation of those ethical chiro groups that want to promote the expansion of chiropractic beyond “pop and pray to Innate,” to promote inclusion in the mainstream healthcare delivery system, and to better understand the complexity of the enigmatic subluxation in more specific terms than their generic, one-size-fits-all-spinal-problems in their hunt for the mysterious VSC. It’s perplexing how the Chiro Coalition propagandists take this important effort to improve our profession by mischaracterizing it to incite insurgency.
Moreover, TR is so politically naïve that he doesn’t understand that “separate and distinct” as a social/legal construct was ruled illegal in the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education. Integration, not segregation, is the name of the American game whether it’s in race relations, politics, education, or in the healthcare profession. What these zealots actually prefer is their own form of chiropracTIC apartheid where the segregate themselves! Geez, talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
Attorney George McAndrews shared his view about this “separate and distinct” attitude as a future threat to chiropractic:
“…I consider them [the chirovangelists] more of a danger to the survival of the profession than the American Medical Association ever was. ‘Separate and distinct’ has a nice ring to it. The same might be said for the phrase ‘ghettoized and weird.’ The doctors to whom I make reference seem happy with the second phrase. ‘Separate’ need not be synonymous with the word ‘ghettoized’ and ‘distinct’ need not be synonymous with ‘unrecognizable’ or ‘weird.’…A doctor who primarily focuses on the neurobiomechanical aspects of health need not be ghettozied or weird. Such a person is not a ‘backslapper’ or ‘technician’ and a person who is capable of utilizing well-proven additional modalities or services in his or her practice is neither a traitor, a heretic, a ‘toid,’ nor a ‘medipractor.’ The fact that Palmer or some other leader said something does not make it true. Chiropractic is a health care profession that is based on scientific principles. It is not a religion.” (McAndrews George. Private communication. March 24, 1992)
Mr. McAndrews’ warning resonates the same as Dr. Joe Keating’s annoyance about the VSC as a hypothesis versus the VSC as a priori gospel; scientific inquiry versus religious dogma. Sadly, the chirovangelists are not interested in any scientific exploration of the reality of VSC—it’s nature, it’s impact or it’s correction—as much as they remain committed to it as an unchanging tenant that goes without question.
Don’t question it, just believe in Innate, the Big Idea and all else follows, ya folla?
Geez, when will we leave this archaic sanctimonious attitude in the dump pile of anti-intellectualism and move on? There’s more to chiropractic than Innatism as George said, “It is not a religion.” But you’ll never convince the chirovangelists of that!
Furthermore, by restricting chiro care to a technical act, “subluxation correction,” it’s equivalent to restricting MDs to the germ theory/antibiotics only. If DCs portend to be PCPs or primary access providers, we must be able to do differential diagnostics and be competent to do more than just “detect and correct VSC.” In fact, there’s much more to spinal rehab than just a “pop and a prayer to Innate.” The regressive attitude by TR would take our profession back to the 1950s where he and Big $id seem to be locked into a time warp.
TR also pretends to fall on his sword for sub-based chiropracTORs, but his limited concept—non-diagnostic, non-therapeutic—is not what most DCs do nowadays. In effect, he would automatically handcuff us to a limited spinal therapist level rather than either a PCP or NMS specialist level since all “doctors” must be able to do a differential diagnosis first and foremost for patient safety, and the fact that most DCs use more than CMT to help patients’ problems.
In effect, the hidden agenda here is that TR wants to dumb-down this profession to fit his CBS malpractice insurance goal—no diagnostics and no therapies. His advertisements scream, “Why pay for the mistakes of mixers? Promise you won’t diagnose and won’t use adjunct therapeutics; just use the Sub Station and pop and pray to Innate, ya folla?”
All malpractice insurance must cover the entire scope of care for DCs whether or not they use modalities or not. TR misleads chiropractors with his scheme, which explains why he has consistently tried to limit chiro care to CMT only (along with Kent’s Sub Station, that is). When that scheme didn’t work, recently TR changed his tune to “subluxation-based” DCs to lure in more potential customers knowing that 97% of DCs consider themselves as such.
In a recent online discussion with a student who asked TR about his “sub-based” concept, he replied:
We do our best to fight for all doctors of chiropractic! [Just what is TR drinking nowadays? I doubt 97% of sober DCs agree since it’s obvious that TR fights for his own interests at the expense of the entire profession!]
By “subluxation-based” we mean chiropractic that is focused primarily on correcting subluxations. Subluxation-based doctors may provide a variety of services, including nutritional counseling, acupuncture, extremity adjusting, etc. [Wrong: TR is describing “patient-based” DCs who look at the whole person, not just the spine, and teach comprehensive healthcare, not just chirovangelism] They can also use a wide variety of modalities and instrumentation. [especially the Sub Station, that is.] In fact, it’s an extremely broad category! [Now TR is sucking up to mixers to win their confidence to sell them CBS insurance, no doubt. Since when has TR been the spokesman for broad scope chiro care?]
But did you know that many doctors seldom if ever correct subluxations and never mention them to patients? [Where’s the proof of this statement?] They present themselves to patients as being capable of making differential diagnoses of various diseases, and then treating those diseases. [Where’s the proof of this statement unless, of course, he’s speaking of Joanne Gallagher?] It’s hard enough for a medical doctor to correctly diagnose heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. [Where’s the proof of this statement?] It frankly isn’t within the scope of a chiropractor’s practice to do so and expecting D.C.s to make such diagnoses leaves them vulnerable to malpractice lawsuits and puts their patients at risk. [Where’s the proof of this statement?]
There are many health care professional out there – medical doctors, physical therapists, osteopaths, naturopaths, etc. What sets chiropractors apart? [Don’t go there, TR! ChiropracTORs are “unique” because they can’t diagnose, won’t refer to MDs, vilify anything medical, are non-therapeutic technicians who don’t care about pain management, yet they want full access and parity!]
What can we offer that NONE of the others can? [A pop and prayer to Innate?] It’s not “manual therapy” for musculoskeletal conditions like back pain – M.D.s, P.T.s, D.O.s and others can offer that. [Wait: DCs do 94% of that, not our medical colleagues. The public polls clearly show we are the best “back doctors” for 70% of these conditions. Is that a problem, TR?] It’s not full body diagnosis [for TR, at least] or disease treatment – that’s a duplication of medical services. [Is there a law against duplicating services or is TR scared to compete on a level playing field in an open marketplace?]
It’s the detection and correction of vertebral subluxations. [The Holy Grail of healthcare.] That’s why we’re trying to protect the SUBLUXATION component of
chiropractic. Without it, we’re expendable. [What a leap in logic! First of all, no one is trying to steal the subluxation idea from chiropractic. What TR means is the desire to maintain a monopoly over the concept as if we’ve patented the idea exclusively. Secondly, he has debased this spinal boo boo to manipulation of spinal joints only, totally ignoring the soft tissues, mechanics, and weight-bearing aspect of the spine fighting gravity and compression. He also denigrates any pain management, weight loss, ergonomics, or ADLs that may play a large role in the chronicity of this epidemic of back pain. Indeed, he wants to dumb down chiro care to only one aspect and ignore all else.]
Logon to http://www.stoprondberg.org/RongbergRidesAgain.htm to read more of TR’s contradictions and skewed logic on this issue.
*4. Support or help coordinate worldwide national efforts to pass licensing laws that protect subluxation‑based chiropractors.
There is no need for this effort since this is exactly what the World Federation is already doing with the WHO committee on alternative healthcare issues. Rongberg doesn’t want to admit the legitimate international chiro organization is the WFC that has 80+ member-driven national associations from around the world, not phony “alliances” or “councils” made up of a few of TR’s sycophants. His phony WCA is a small group of misguided individual zealots who have fallen for his “save the world of all subluxATIONS” rap. Recently I was informed that the Irish Chiro Association is NOT any longer a member of his Coalition under its new administration as TR had once billed.
Without question, the legitimate chiro associations (128 in all, including state associations that support the WFC) know the WFC is the real shaker and mover. Even Gerry Clum, former $idiot and current Life-West prez, is the first VP of the WFC, which ought to tell the WCA members which org is the legitimate international organization.
Moreover, there is no threat by anyone to limit “subluxation-based” chiropracTORs. This is a red herring argument by TR to incite fear among naïve DCs and to portray himself as the Defender of Sub-Based ChiropracTORs, taking a lead from the deposed Big $id who labeled himself the Defender of ChiropracTIC. If there’s any real threat to “sub-based” chiropracTORs, it may the bad advice from these chirovangelists encouraging field docs not to assume the ethical and legal responsibilities of a primary provider as we saw with Joanne Gallagher.
TR’s posturing of himself as protecting sub-based chiropractic is ridiculous since he has done nothing to help DCs whether they’re sub-based, patient-based, condition-based or Innate-based. He obstructs, he meddles, he misinforms, he impersonates, and he masquerades, but he’s never done anything to protect or expand the chiropractic profession. What he seemingly demands is the right for “sub-based” chiropracTORs to treat patients endlessly under the guise of “lifetime wellness maintenance care.”
He also suggests that DCs must be paid for treating asymptomatic patients or children, which is simply another scare tactic by him to incite field docs since many DCs already do just that on a cash basis. In reality, DCs can adjust these types of patients, but an insurance carrier may not pay them for asymptomatic care. For some strange reason, most health insurance companies think a patient needs some sort of symptom in order to justify treatment. Go figure, eh?
*5. Develop a position paper acknowledging the diversity within all of the political organizations and again invite all organizations to participate with the Chiropractic Coalition on issues of common agreement.
There is no need for this whatsoever since the WFC, not the WCA or the Chiro Coalition, has already written this position paper. TR’s hidden agenda here is that he wants to position his phony non-voting autocratic “alliance” alongside the credible, member-driven chiro associations. Although the United Nations still allows dictatorships to participant in its General Assembly, the WFC will never allow non-voting groups headed by warlords or ideologues to sit at its table.
This sensitive issue—the non-voting autocracy of TR in his WCA—has been sidestepped before by TR and CK. In an ad in the Palmer Beacon student newspaper, Chris Kent, WCA board member and Evil Vendor of the “so what?” Subluxation Station, explained why WCA does not need to elect its leadership like real chiro associations. To be sure, it’s hard to imagine he wrote this with a straight face:
“In the US, the Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, so that they may apply the principles of law, particularly the Constitution, without fear of political reprisals.”
So, TR and Kent insolate themselves from democratic voting to avoid “political reprisals” by casting themselves as Supreme Court judges! This is just too rich. What egos! Perhaps Saddam used the same logic to justify his dictatorship. This explanation is laughable, unconscionable, and only in the world of Evil Vendors would anyone use such perverted logic!
Recently in an online discussion with students who TR was recruiting with his misinformation, he was asked how many members the WCA actually had since TR keeps it a secret. TR’s response was just a vague as Kent’s answer:
“This question is asked frequently and I’m always curious as to why. [Only an autocrat would ask why DCs in a democratic society might wonder about his phony WCA.] We’re not the largest group in the profession, but our membership is growing rapidly (although some of them do not pay dues. As a
student, you know how hard it is to afford membership fees). [240 members equates to 0.004% of the profession.] We do NOT release a membership list because the first time we did that, some of our members were harassed with nasty phone calls and e-mails. [How ironic considering this is exactly TR’s antics as we’ve seen repeatedly with his character assassination attempts against his rivals.] We don’t want to put them through that again. [But he’s willing to smear any of his opponents with the same tactics, ya folla?]”
Plus, the WCA would never agree to any position that TR would not profit by as we’ve seen when he refused to attend the WFC’s Identity & Image conference. If TR is committed to diversity and international cooperation, why didn’t he and his phony WCA participate in the recent WFC conference on Identity & Image? Logon to http://www.stoprondberg.org/NGO.htm to learn the full story of his lame reasons why he ducked this important session for fear of being treed by the hounds at his feet (as they say down South).
In fact, the WFC left an open chair for the WCA to demonstrate to the chiro world of its commitment to cooperation. Of course, TR and Kent were afraid to show up since their deceptive acts are a main problem and they refuse to have their feet held to the fire of inquisition. At the last Chiropractic Leadership Forum a few years ago sponsored by COCSA, when TR and CK did show up at the table, their actions quickly eroded this intra-professional cooperative effort so badly that the forum has never met again.
Indeed, just as they shied away from the WFC conference, my challenge to a Great Debate remains open, but TR stays hidden in his spider hole instead lashing out in his rag on online to avoid a direct confrontation. This rogue autocrat, like Big $id, has no intention to abide by majority rule or democratic elections.
The caveat here is that not all “political organizations” are the same—some are member-driven democratic orgs like the mainstream chiro associations, while some like the WCA are sham “alliances” that pose as democratic orgs but are autocracies. Some are large groups, and some are small like the WCA with a supposed 240 membership, and even the ICA hovers around a few thousand only, far from its heyday before the Williams reign of terror began in the 1980s that made many ethical “straights” to leave and join the ACA, such as Jerry McAndrews and Mike Pedigo, to name just a few.
In other words, not all political orgs are the same; hence they do not carry an equal vote on the important matters facing this profession. In the future if the WCA demands to sit at any table for equal representation, so too does my Galactic Online Alliance demand equal footing since I now have more “members” in the GOA than TR does in the WCA. (Franchises are still available)
Vote! The American Way!
The hidden agenda is that TR positioned himself to be the leader of his Chiro Coalition so he can impersonate yet another diplomatic role. Apparently he’s brow beaten CJ Mertz in their pecking order of chiropracTIC cocks yet he wants to appear inclusive although he refuses to do so in the real chiro organizations like the WFC or ACA where he isn’t in charge. For this autocrat to even speak in these terms like “diversity” and “issues of common agreement” is ridiculous, similar to Saddam inviting all ethnic groups to participate in the governance of Iraq. Like Big $id, TR has an ego problem that would never agree to any democratic format. Enuf sed, ya folla?
I say if TR and his Chiro Coalition allies want an inclusive org in this profession, either join the WFC, the preeminent international org already in existence or else for those in the USA, let’s hold a profession-wide democratic election to determine our profession’s platform and leaders via majority rule. One sage chiropractic intellectual, Larry Jack, has spoken about the need for a “vertical” government in our profession. He claims we now have a “horizontal” system with various bodies that are not responsive to any higher authority, so we find ourselves in a tit-for-tat situation between rivals or, as in this case with TR, we have a rogue groups that impersonates legitimate organizations. The only way to establish a vertical government is to vote—the American way!
Okay, stop laughing since we all know these demagogues and megalomaniacs would never agree to a democratic vote by all licensed DCs in the states. Instead, we see them scream about the WFC’s supposed “dictatorship,” which clearly illustrates why they are dangerous zealots who work to undermine the mainstream chiropractors who don’t support their fringe beliefs. Until we do hold a nationwide election, they will continue to misrepresent our needs, mischaracterize the mainstream chiro orgs, sabotage our legislation, and continue to foment discord and dissension among the rank and file.