An international organization has been formed that organizers claim will be guided by a desire to protect and promote the practice rights of all chiropractors regardless of individual practice philosophy or approach.

According to founder and Executive Director Terry A. Rondberg, D.C., the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) is based on the same "live and let live" principles of the Arizona state organization he helped form earlier this year. That organization is considered one of the fastest-growing chiropractic associations in the country and has already embarked on an aggressive public relations campaign that includes full-page monthly advertisements in magazines such as Newsweek and Time.

"We started with the basic premise that we are all chiropractors, and we need to stand together if we are to survive," Dr. Rondberg explained. "But then we took it one step further. We need to do more than just tolerate each other and survive. We need to protect, support, and help one another, so we can progress. The time for petty intra-professional bickering is long gone, or at least it should be."

Rondberg, a Logan graduate and long-time leader in the straight chiropractic community, will be joined on the Executive Board by Alan Immerman, D.C., a 1980 graduate of National College of Chiropractic who holds bachelor degrees in chemistry and biology. Dr. Immerman serves as a faculty member of the post-graduate division of National, in the area of nutrition and is the author of the book, "Health Unlimited."

Immerman, who filed a lawsuit against Blue Cross/Blue Shield last year, and spearheaded the drive for an insurance equality bill in Arizona's legislative session, incorporates acupuncture, nutrition therapy, physical therapy and other adjunctive therapies into his practice. He said he decided to work with Rondberg to form the WCA after seeing the damage intra-professional animosity could cause.

"I just became totally intolerant of intolerance," he commented in an interview with The Chiropractic Journal. "On the one hand, we have straight chiropractic leaders who go into a frenzy at the mere mention of ultrasound. On the other hand are the mixer chiropractic leaders who respond to any mention of B.J. Palmer or Innate Intelligence as if they'd been invaded by aliens. Both sides are far more concerned with fighting each other than with fighting for the profession and getting things like insurance equality bills passed."

To maintain a balance of perspectives, the new group is forming a network of advisors in each state, representing both straight and mixer chiropractic. The advisors will provide ongoing information on chiropractic issues in the individual states, as well as input into all WCA actions and decisions. Decisions will be made by the two permanent Executive Directors, Rondberg and Immerman.

The organization, formed as a non-profit educational organization, will be similar in concept to a Chamber of Commerce, Rondberg explained. "Instead of promoting a city, we'll be promoting the common interests of our profession. But you wouldn't see a Chamber of Commerce putting out brochures saying, 'Only this part of the city is beautiful. The rest is a dump.' Well, the WCA won't be sending out any messages that might tell the public 'this part of the profession is good. The rest is bad.'"

The bylaws of the new organization address this issue, clearly delineating both "mixer" and "straight" chiropractors, using the definitions set forth by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) and the Straight Chiropractic Academic Standards Association (SCASA). The bylaws also state that no preference shall be given to either school of thought, and that all practitioners will be considered as equal regardless of practice approach.

The WCA, in a brochure scheduled for distribution later this month, states that the group will "zealously protect the rights of any D.C. who wants to offer physical and nutritional therapy and -- with equal vigor -- protect the rights of any D.C. who wants to detect and correct vertebral subluxations."

"For too long, everyone has been trying to tell chiropractors what chiropractic is," Rondberg commented.

"We have straight chiropractors saying it is one thing, mixers saying it's something else, the medical establishment trying to make the public believe its definition, and everyone else telling us how we're supposed to practice. The truth is, chiropractic is what we -- the chiropractors -- decide to make it, within the limits of our scope of practice laws. And we have to accept that, and go from there."

Rondberg recently generated widespread attention and response by resigning his membership from the Federation of Straight Chiropractic Organizations. The FSCO had failed, Rondberg said at the time, to promote a move toward professional cooperation and unity and had become "stuck in a negative mode, which was destructive rather than constructive." He has continued to voice strong allegiance to the philosophy and principles of straight chiropractic for his own practice.

"I haven't changed a bit," he explained. "I'm still a staunch doctor of straight chiropractic, and proud of it. But that doesn't mean I can't accept and even work to protect the rights of my colleagues who make other choices."

The main goals of the organization are, according to the WCA brochure, to protect the practice rights of all chiropractors, promote intra-professional unity, monitor legislation and conduct national lobbying efforts, and engage in a powerful national public relations campaign.

The WCA has already taken firm stands on several key issues. According to Immerman, the WCA will support all types of chiropractors and will recognize both chiropractic accrediting agencies (CCE and SCASA).

"Statistics show both types of chiropractors are equally safe and effective. No one has ever been able to prove otherwise," Immerman pointed out. "We talk a lot about freedom of choice in health care, why not freedom of choice in our own profession?"

On the issue of equal recognition for both accrediting agencies, Immerman explained, "From an ethical standpoint, I think this is the only possible decision we could make. The federal government recognizes both agencies. Our profession should do the same.

"Even if we were to ignore, for a moment, the ethical considerations however," he continued, "it makes a lot of sense from a financial point of view. How much money do our organizations waste fighting these agencies, or trying to stop students from certain schools from taking their licensing exams? The WCA will find better things to do with members' money."

According to the WCA, the Alliance will also work to promote any expansion of a state's scope of practice law as long as the rights of all chiropractors are protected. The group has also pledged to protect existing scope of practice laws, including those sanctioning the use of drugs and surgery in chiropractic practices.

National lobbying efforts will target concerns such as Medicare and ERISA, although Rondberg stated that he feels most of the progress to be gained legislatively will be on the state levels. "There's no sense in spending millions of dollars in Washington to pass a symbolic act that doesn't really affect those of us in the trenches. It's better to get to work at the state level, build strong alliances, and work towards real goals like insurance equality, hospital privileges, HMO and PPO inclusion, and preventing IME abuse."

Another key goal for the WCA will be public relations, the executive directors stated. After studying public relations programs in various states, the organization founders say they will develop a series of ads to run in major national publications on a regular basis. "It's a basic rule of advertising," Rondberg stated. "You need regular, frequent, consistent exposure if you're going to change public opinion. That's what WCA intends to do."

Noting that "what an organization does NOT do can sometimes be as important as what the organization does do," the brochure mentions that the organization has pledged to refrain from certain actions. Among the things the WCA will not do, the material states, is allow its leaders and advisors to use their positions in WCA to "sell" their services to insurance companies.

Saying he was shocked to learn how many organization leaders around the country have used their position to win lucrative assignments as chiropractic consultants for insurance companies, Rondberg stressed that top leaders in the WCA will be barred from making a livelihood by working for insurance companies to reduce claims submitted by fellow chiropractors.

When asked about the structure of the organization's bureaucracy, Rondberg stated, "There is no bureaucracy, we're trying something different here. No top-heavy set of power-holders who will be spending most of their time trying to get re-elected... no endless round of committee meetings before something can get done. The WCA will be a bold and action-oriented group. We'll do things, not just discuss and vote on them. But the bottom line is that Dr. Immerman and I will have the responsibility for getting out there and getting things done. And if we screw up, we'll hear from our members when it's time to renew their membership. That's the best way I know to ensure that we're responsive to our members."

The organization is also developing a "Guide to Chiropractic Resources," which will list numerous suppliers of products and services of interest to the profession. Each company in the "Guide" will offer a discount, as high as 50%, to WCA members. Listing in the "Guide" will be free to all companies who support the Alliance's "live and let live" policy and are willing to offer such discounts.