It is the opinion of the World Chiropractic Alliance that the practice of chiropractic specifically excludes, by definition and law, the use of drugs of any kind. According to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, Position Paper No. 1, "Chiropractic is a health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery." This ACC position has been accepted and endorsed by all chiropractic college presidents and major chiropractic organizations. Since injectable nutrients are classified as legend drugs, this prohibition extends to them as well and, as such, is within the exclusive domain of medicine.

The administration of injectable nutrients is not taught in accredited chiropractic colleges and doctors of chiropractic do not receive any clinical training or clinic practice in administering injectable nutrients in chiropractic colleges. Making judgments as to the indications or contraindications of such injectable nutrients requires medical diagnostic skills completely unrelated to chiropractic practice and not encompassed in chiropractic training.

Further, doctors of chiropractic are not trained or equipped to handle anaphylactic reactions, which involves the administration of other legend drugs, defibrillation, etc. Such training could not be properly provided in a weekend seminar, but would require training in a hospital setting.

In addition, there is great potential for overutilization or inappropriate utilization. Allowing the use of injectable vitamins by D.C.s redefines chiropractic as a medical therapy and could be interpreted as also permitting chiropractors to incorporate other drugs and therapies into their practices.

Therefore, it is the conclusion of the World Chiropractic Alliance that the use of injectable drugs by chiropractors would be a hazard to the public health, contrary to public policy, and would likely result in increased health care costs. We strongly urge the Florida Board of Chiropractic Examiners to reject any proposal to permit doctors of chiropractic to dispense drugs, including injectable vitamins and minerals.