Position Statement on Vertebral Subluxation as the
Sole
Rationale for Care
State laws, the federal government, international, national and state
chiropractic organizations and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges
all define the unique and non-duplicative role and responsibility of
chiropractic as focusing particular attention on the subluxation and its
resultant neurological interference.
The WCA holds that the unique role of the chiropractor is separate from
other health disciplines and that the professional practice objective of
chiropractors may be limited to the analysis, diagnosis, correction or
stabilization of the subluxation.
The use of subluxation as a rationale for care or primary diagnosis is
supported by protocols that are safe, efficacious, and valid. The
literature is sufficiently supportive of the usefulness of these protocols
in regard to chiropractic examination, analysis and diagnosis. In
addition, subluxation as a primary diagnosis is consistent with the
Council on Chiropractic Practice’s, "Clinical Guideline # 1: Vertebral
Subluxation in Chiropractic Practice," the Chiropractic Paradigm developed
by the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, and the practice objective
followed by thousands of doctors of chiropractic, as explained on their
Terms of Acceptance.
The chiropractor uses a variety of these procedures to assess the
vertebral subluxation in order to determine its presence and arrive at an
impression of its location, character, type, and chronicity. The
correction of subluxation is applicable to any patient exhibiting evidence
of its existence regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms and
disease. Therefore, the determination of the presence of subluxation may
stand as the sole rationale for care.
Nothing in this position statement absolves the chiropractor from
knowing the limits of his or her authority and skill, and from determining the
safety and appropriateness of chiropractic care. The chiropractor
has a duty to disclose to the patient any unusual findings discovered in
the course of examination, and may collaborate with other health
professionals when it is in the best interests of the patient to do so.