August 2007

Conn. law makes DC malpractice claims public

Chiropractic 'victim' group lobbied for bill

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has signed into law SB‑249 (Public Act No. 07‑25) which would, for the first time in Connecticut, make chiropractor malpractice records public information. The law had been passed unanimously by both houses of the state's General Assembly.

The law had been promoted by an anti‑chiropractic organization known as "Victims of Chiropractic Abuse," and in its original version targeted only the chiropractic profession. Thanks to vigorous lobbying by state chiropractic organizations, the bill was amended to include clinical dieticians, clinical psychologists, dentists, nurses, occupational therapists, optometrists, pharmacists, physical therapists, podiatrists, psychiatric social workers and speech therapists as well as chiropractors.

Although Janet Levy, president of the Victims group claimed victory for the new law, stating in a press release that "This is a historic event for patients' rights here in Connecticut," state chiropractic leaders said the new law would ultimately help DCs by showing how much safer chiropractic is than other health care approaches.

According to Matt N. Pagano, DC, president of the Connecticut Chiropractic Association (CCA), consumers will benefit from the law and will be able to receive more in‑depth information as to which medical professions are driving health care costs higher due to a large number of malpractice payments.

"We urged Governor Rell to sign this important piece of legislation into law earlier in the month," Dr. Pagano said. "As the data on malpractice claims and payments is collected and released, it will show the chiropractic profession in a very favorable light."

The average premium for a full‑coverage liability policy in Connecticut is $3,000 a year. "The best indicator of how safe a medical profession is can be found in what its members pay for malpractice insurance," the CCA president explained. "Rates for chiropractors are very reasonable and this clearly is indicative that our profession has not been part of the malpractice problem."

The new law requires insurance companies to inform the state Insurance Commissioner whenever there has been a settled malpractice claim so that the information can be published for the public to make informed decisions about picking a chiropractor, as has been the case for years regarding medical doctors. The law will go into effect October 1st.

"From day one, the chiropractic profession has stated that we would support more information on malpractice claims data so long as this requirement was extended equally to all professions. The new law meets this test," Pagano said.

Levy, however, apparently isn't satisfied and has stated that her group will begin lobbying for a law requiring state DCs to warm patients about the "risks" involved in chiropractic care, including the potential for strokes.

"It is crucial that people be told the risks before agreeing to chiropractic treatment, especially the fact that a stroke can potentially occur weeks or months after manipulation of the neck," she stated in her press release.

The risk of stroke following chiropractic adjustments has been estimated at 1‑3 incidents per million and even medical researchers have admitted that chiropractic care carries far less of a stroke risk than medical treatment. Still, anti‑chiropractic groups claiming to represent chiropractic "victims" have sprouted up around the world and have launched a campaign to link chiropractic and stroke, using both legislative approaches and the media to accomplish their agendas.

In response, the World Chiropractic Alliance established the Chiropractic Anti‑Defamation Fund (ADF) to fight back in court and through public education programs and retained well‑known "health freedom" attorney Carlos Negrete to lead the ADF legal efforts. Doctors are asked to contribute to the ADF in order to escalate efforts to counter the damaging effects of the various "victim" groups. For more information, visit the WCA website at www.worldchiropracticalliance.org.