Masters Circle hit with class action lawsuit

The Masters Circle has been hit with a class action lawsuit that could ultimately affect thousands of doctors of chiropractic around the world, including many who are not clients of the popular practice management company.

The plaintiff, Heidi Brown, claimed that her chiropractor ‑‑ a Masters Circle client ‑‑ recommended unnecessary chiropractic care for her son, Trevor. She filed her original lawsuit against the doctor after apparently being told by her son's orthopedic surgeon that the chiropractic care the boy received was unnecessary and possibly unsafe. Although Brown's initial malpractice complaint against her chiropractor, Dr. Paul Kerkhoff, was dismissed, her attorneys then filed a class action suit against The Masters Circle, alleging that the company teaches clients to put their own financial interests ahead of patient welfare.

"The class members were unknowingly subjected to a nationwide conspiracy by which chiropractors used unethical and misleading practices to induce patients into agreeing to chiropractic care," the suit, filed in the Iowa District Court, claimed.

Among the "unethical" practices specified in the suit is recommending a "goal of long term care with a minimum of 12 chiropractic sessions before the patient underwent a re‑check," the court document noted. Named in the class action are "all past, current and future patients" of Masters Circle clients.

Larry Markson, DC ‑‑ who, along with Drs. Bob Hoffman and Dennis Perman ‑‑ released a statement pledging to fight the lawsuit aggressively on behalf of The Masters Circle as well as the profession. "We in the chiropractic profession are used to fighting for what we know is right, and that is precisely what we intend to do," Dr. Markson stated. "We want to thank all the leaders of our profession who are rallying to our side in support of what they know to be a desperate attempt by desperate lawyers to salvage a malpractice lawsuit gone bad by attacking us and attempting to damage the reputation of the entire chiropractic profession."

Support for The Masters Circle has come from many chiropractic leaders and organizations, particularly those who promote the concept of long‑term wellness care for all patients.

For years, the World Chiropractic Alliance has fought to protect the right of doctors to provide long‑term wellness care rather than short‑term therapy. It has issued position papers denouncing "cookie cutter" limitations on the number of visits as well as on prohibitions against chiropractic for children or asymptomatic patients.

"I am not personally familiar with The Masters Circle training or the 'scripts' they teach their clients, nor am I familiar with the specific care provided to the plaintiff's son, so I cannot comment on those issues," said Terry A. Rondberg, DC, president of the World Chiropractic Alliance. "But I know that correcting subluxations isn't a one‑time deal. It isn't something that you can do in a visit or two, then wait until symptoms appear again. The accusations that the doctor did something wrong by recommending 12 visits between re‑evaluations, and that The Masters Circle is committing conspiracy in teaching that model, are ludicrous and anti‑chiropractic in nature."

Although The Masters Circle was singled out as the defendant for this lawsuit, the implications of the case could spread to all companies that teach chiropractic wellness and to doctors who promote long‑term care. "The lawsuit will give the profession an ideal opportunity to clarify chiropractic's role in health care," Dr. Rondberg noted. "The medical and legal professions seem locked into the view of chiropractic care as a short‑term, limited therapy for acute disease situations. They need to be shown that doctors who promote long‑term care are doing their patients a service that will translate into longer, healthier lives."

Other organizations, most notably the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) and Federation of Straight Chiropractors and Organizations, have similar positions in favor of long‑term care. The ICA, for instance, markets a Masters Circle presentation, which stresses "the importance of long‑term chiropractic care and a commitment to the chiropractic lifestyle." On its website, the ICA lauds this program as "[a] great patient education tool for every office!"

Wellness care has also been acknowledged by the Council on Chiropractic Practice Guidelines, which states: "Chiropractors have historically recommended initial care plans that involve a high frequency of visits as well as extended care plans of long duration to encompass corrective care and wellness based care. Care plans that do not base care solely on the presence or absence of symptoms have as their basis some very fundamental scientific laws that govern the connective tissue and neurological responses to abnormal biomechanical loads and neurological interference while also addressing the quality of life issues discussed above. The goal of care becomes the reversal of these insidious processes and an enhanced sense of well‑being so that any judgment of that care must take into consideration those outcomes as well as outcomes related to the technique being applied."

Even the "Clinical Guidelines for Chiropractic Practice in Canada," commonly referred to as the Glenerin Guidelines, supports the wellness chiropractic paradigm. "Long‑term ongoing health management has been a significant component of the holistic chiropractic model of health. Surrounding this is a wellness paradigm that recognizes related influences on health, emphasizes drugless, non‑surgical management, and takes a positive dynamic view of health. In addition to periodic passive care, the model looks to the whole individual and requires active patient participation," it states.

In an interview with The Chiropractic Journal, Hoffman agreed that the profession could turn this particular lemon into lemonade by steadfastly standing up for the chiropractic wellness model. "Even though we became the target, this suit is against the chiropractic profession as we know it. They may be coming after us today, but they'll be coming after you tomorrow." he stressed. He called on all chiropractors to "rally around being proud to be in chiropractic."  Directing his comments to a small but vocal faction of the profession that immediately exploited the situation to attack subluxation‑based chiropractic, Hoffman also said we need to "stop putting out rumor, innuendo, and accusations." He reiterated Markson's promise to be "very aggressive in fighting this," noting that the company has retained an attorney as well as a public relations firm to help win the case, which Markson categorized as a "false, malicious and frivolous claim against us and the chiropractic profession."