The ACA, Rotten Tomatoes, Immorality and You
Judge & Jury?
In the October 2013 edition of the American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) monthly magazine, Dr. Stephen Perle accuses you of immoral behavior.
He even suggests that you have no defense for such actions.
By association one might wonder if the American Chiropractic Association agrees and supports that summation.
Just what are you guilty of?
Why, the atrocious, immoral act of providing a level of care to your practice members that you give to your own family and receive yourself.
That immoral crime he references is of course recommending care for an extended period of time and more specifically, offering people a discount once they have made a decision that receiving said care is in their best interest.
You may read the entire article here, but here’s the section in which he calls you immoral:
…the American Chiropractic Association’s policy on prepayment arrangements stresses that the purpose of any prepayment is to benefit the patient.
Some will say, ‘I give patients a discount to prepay, thus it is in their interest.’ On the surface that might seem to be good, moral justification for prepayment: a discount. Doctors will try to justify the immorality of this system by pointing to other situations that are not really similar.
Rotten Tomatoes
Dr. Perle then goes on to talk about tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes.
Talk about discussing things that couldn’t be further from chiropractic. However, if you’ve read any of his previous writings, you’ll know this is not uncommon.
But I digress.
In the beginning of his “ethics” article, he states, “Why would anyone need a year of treatment?”
Hmmm… let me see.
Well, if by “treatment” he means chiropractic care (aka vertebral subluxation correction and management) then I suppose I too find it absurd that anyone would consider recommending only a year of care.
After all, I am now in my 18th year of care, my wife is in her 10th and my son is in his 6th year of receiving chiropractic care.
Why Dr. Perle?
Because it’s a healthy thing to do.
And get this…. vertebral subluxation occurs in the spinal column, causes neurological compromise, and the nervous system, as it turns out, is pretty important to optimal health, function and wellbeing.
Go figure.
In my opinion it is the chiropractor that does not recommend a lifetime of regular chiropractic checkups that is the immoral and unethical one. Unless they are, like so many in our profession, unwittingly practicing under our roof with the principles and practices of something else. Confused from an irrelevant “chiropractic” education, they don’t have the knowledge, skill or courage to tell people what they need to hear and instead opt for what they think they will accept.
I place no fault on those that fall into this category but instead on the laps of those sitting in their ivory towers made of this magical elixir called “cultural authority,” and a facade they hide behind known as evidence based practice.
Today alone I recommended a lifetime of chiropractic care to three new practice members and their families. One family had concerns that the hour drive was too far so I offered to refer them to someone closer.
What an immoral bastard I am!
Now, I can forgive the good doctor if he simply does not know that a properly functioning nervous system is paramount to good health and function (I’ve included a video reference below which should not be too complicated). I might even forgive him if he somehow missed the science behind neurological function and spinal biomechanics.
I cannot overlook, however, one simple point.
(Isn’t that a catchy tune?)
And that point is this.
If the good doctor checks his family or gets checked himself in an ongoing manner regardless of symptomatology, I most soundly respond that he is either a hypocrite or immoral for suggesting his colleagues not offer that same level of care to their communities.
If he does not do the aforementioned activities then I am deeply sorry.
I am sorry that they and he don’t have the opportunity to receive chiropractic care as it was intended.
He could certainly use it as he appears very subluxated.
On a silly side note, any members of the American Chiropractic Association that do in fact check their families on an ongoing and regular basis for the preservation and maintenance of good health, and in turn recommend the same level of care for those that enter their office, you may wish to address the glaring contradictions of your association or choose one more in line with your values.
Steve Tullius, D.C., ACP
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