November 2003

WNBC story spurs outrage

WCA sends info on chiropractic, otitis media

A September 24 segment on New York's WNBC‑TV, featuring osteopathic manipulation for otitis media, contained such biased and misleading information that, according to Terry A. Rondberg, D.C., president of a the World Chiropractic Alliance, "It's difficult to believe it was not a deliberate attempt to malign chiropractic."

The WNBC piece focused on recent research on the effectiveness of spinal manipulation on childhood ear infections. During an introduction to the broadcast version of the story on "Today in New York," the reporter called the research "ground breaking."

In a letter of protest to WNBC, Dr. Rondberg pointed out that, since 1992, The Chiropractic Journal, has published information about the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments on childhood ear infections, referencing scientific studies on the topic dating back to 1971. In addition, the HealthWatch e‑newsletter has for years been educating the public about the risks of antibiotic and surgical treatment for this condition. Both The Chiropractic Journal and Health Watch are published by the World Chiropractic Alliance.

"A simple search of the Internet would have led WNBC reporters to an abundance of information about chiropractic and ear infections. Instead, they chose to ignore more than three decades of scientific information and labeled this recent medical research 'ground breaking,'" Rondberg commented.

Chiropractors around the country were enraged by the health news segment, which included unsubstantiated claims about osteopathy's superiority to chiropractic, saying that osteopathic manipulation was "gentler" than chiropractic adjustments.

"There is simply no basis for such a subjective statement," Rondberg noted. "The two techniques are different, but not because one is gentler than the other. Doctors of chiropractic provide care to hundreds of thousands of children each year and have built a well‑deserved reputation for being gentle and extremely safe."

In a press release distributed via a major news wire service, the WCA explained that a chiropractic adjustment is the specific application of force to facilitate the body's correction of vertebral subluxation. In contrast, manipulation is defined in "Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary" as "the forceful, passive movement of a joint beyond its active limit of motion." It does not imply the use of precision, specificity, or the correction of vertebral subluxation, the release informed reporters.

The release also explained: "Chiropractic is a non‑invasive health care discipline that focuses on correction of vertebral subluxations or 'misalignments' in the normal position of the spinal bones. These subluxations cause disruption in normal nerve flow and can lead to organ or system dysfunction. Chiropractic does not directly treat any disease, including otitis media. Rather, according to research conducted since the 1970s, when vertebral subluxations are corrected, otitis media frequently resolves."

The WCA conceded that the WNBC segment did make one valid point. Parents should only go to doctors well trained in the procedures that will most effectively help their children. For Rondberg, that means "their first trip should be to a doctor of chiropractic, whose education includes extensive training in spinal adjusting ‑‑ and more classroom hours studying anatomy, physiology and orthopedics the typical M.D."

For WNBC to imply that osteopathic manipulation is superior to chiropractic in addressing ear infections or any other childhood health concern is either sloppy journalism or a deliberate attempt to mislead viewers, the WCA argued. The failure to provide complete, unbiased and accurate information on important health issues jeopardizes the already diminishing credibility of the news media.