June 2005

CCE shuts door on profession ‑‑ proves it's biased

by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg

The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) is supposed to represent the entire profession. In fact, the Department of Education requires it to reflect the true diversity of the profession in order to retain its status as a recognized accrediting agency.

Its dismal record in this regard is well known. The group's policies and actions are closely identified with the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and have frequently been in direct opposition to the subluxation‑centered chiropractic community.

That's one of the reasons the Chiropractic Coalition ‑‑ made up of the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) and the Federation of Straight Chiropractors and Organizations (FSCO) ‑‑ issued a "vote of no confidence" in the organization.

Although the CCE denies the charges that it favors one segment of the profession over the other, its actions prove otherwise. Its recent refusal to permit representatives from the WCA and FSCO to attend its 2005 Strategic Planning session shows that it's an exclusionary organization that clearly fails to meet the most basic requirements of the US government.

For its July Strategic Planning session, the CCE invited just two groups: the ACA and the ICA. In fact, in a letter dated April 26 ‑‑ in response to my request that the WCA be permitted to participate ‑‑ the agency replied that "CCE recognizes the United States national chiropractic associations as the ACA and the ICA. We have therefore limited our invitations to one representative each from those two organizations."

The question remains, why does it recognize only these two organizations? The FSCO, although small, has been in existence for more than a quarter of a century and boasts a proud history of chiropractic activism. The WCA, although the youngest of the major organizations, has an impressive list of accomplishments. We're the only one of the four that has been recognized as a Non‑Governmental Organization (NGO) by the Department of Public Information, affiliated with the United Nations. We work on an equal basis with the World Federation of Chiropractic with the World Health Organization. Our members hold or have held key positions in high‑profile chiropractic committees and boards, including:

***  Veronica Gutierrez, a member of the WCA Board of Directors, the only chiropractor to serve on the White House Special Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine;

***  Christopher Kent, DC, a member of the WCA Board of Directors, served as chairman of the NGO (Non‑Governmental Organization) Health Committee, affiliated with the United Nations

***  Kristina M. Collins, DC, a member of the WCA International Board of Governors, one of six members appointed by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to its National Advisory Council on Complementary and Alternative Medicine;

***  Leona Fischer, DC, a member of the WCA International Board of Governors, served on the Veterans Affairs Chiropractic Advisory Committee and was one of only two members to vote against a medical gatekeeper system.

Recently, I was invited to serve on the Department of Defense Chiropractic Advisory Committee.

Internationally, our members help formulate chiropractic policies and represent chiropractic in Peru, Israel, Canada, Northern Ireland, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, England, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Holland, Thailand, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland, and Germany. We are a founding member of the Chiropractic Coalition and have a strong presence in Washington, DC. Our lobbyist is the president of the American League of Lobbyists and has very positive relationships with many key legislators.

And yet, the CCE doesn't "recognize" the WCA as an organization? They might not like us or agree with us, but how in the name of anything that's rational can they say they don't "recognize" us? That's as blatant a lie as I've ever heard. The fact is, they don't wish to deal with us because we have opposed them in their heavy handed harassment of subluxation‑based chiropractic.

Frankly, they'd probably rather not deal with the ICA either, since that organization has strongly criticized them as well, but there's a limit to what they think they can get away with. They have to allow one "token subluxation‑based group" into their conclave. But by closing the door on the faces of representatives from the WCA and FSCO ‑‑ both of which asked specifically for permission to attend ‑‑ they display their true colors. They make it obvious that they're afraid the delicate balance of power will shift away from the ACA/CCE camp if they allow representation of the entire profession.

While you might think it doesn't matter unless you're a student, the terrible (and troublesome) reality is that the CCE has wormed its way into other areas of the profession, areas that can directly impact you and your practice.

For instance, the CCE is trying hard to mandate that all chiropractic colleges teach physiotherapy. Again, if you're not a student you may be tempted to think, "So what? That doesn't affect me." Check your scope of practice laws. They may state that a doctor of chiropractic is permitted to offer any service taught at a CCE‑accredited school. That means DCs would be permitted to practice physiotherapy. In itself, that might not be a terrible thing. But the CCE and its allies ‑‑ many of whom serve on state licensing boards ‑‑ are also attempting to have scope laws interpreted as the services a chiropractor (or chiropractic physician) MUST provide.

It's totally conceivable, therefore, that by making colleges teach physiotherapy, DCs will ‑‑ in the not too distant future ‑‑ be compelled to offer it in their practices.

That's one of the reasons the Chiropractic Coalition issued its "no confidence" position paper, which specifically states that the CCE is using the accreditation process "to drive an 'extra‑legislative' agenda aimed at changing the fundamental nature of chiropractic practice, including efforts to push educational institutions to incorporate physical therapy training into the required core curriculum and adopting 'physician' definitions and terminology, even though the use of such terms by doctors of chiropractic is expressly prohibited by law and reserved to the medical profession in a majority of states."

Then there's the question of a conflict of interest. The CCE board members are all closely aligned with specific chiropractic colleges and their decisions directly impact competing schools. CCE President Joseph Brimhall, DC, is president of Western States Chiropractic College; CCE Vice President George Goodman, DC is president of Logan College. When the CCE attempted to close down Life University, recruiters from other colleges converged on its campus to lure students away. The Coalition's position paper points specifically to concerns about: "The apparent lack of adequate provisions to provide for full disclosure and the prevention of conflict of interest in the accreditation process, with members of the accreditation decision making body having ties with highly competitive and philosophically divergent institutions."

The Coalition's paper (containing eight individual issues and that can be read in its entirety at the Coalition website, www.chiropracticcoalition.org) also points to the exclusionary policies of the CCE. The organization blocks "institutional diversity by requiring uniformity in critical elements in institutional mission statements, requiring some institutions to abandon their unique mission, vision and procedures, in favor of one philosophical perspective on chiropractic art, science, philosophy and practice."

Now, the CCE has extended that lack of "institutional diversity" to organizations as well as schools. If it were truly interested in receiving input from all segments of the chiropractic profession for its strategic planning ‑‑ the planning that will govern its actions and policies during the coming years ‑‑ it would invite all interested organizations. Unfortunately, an open forum for ideas is the last thing it wants ‑‑ and the one thing we, as a profession, must demand.