April 2009

Supporters rally to defend Koren

Numerous friends and supporters have rushed to defend Tedd Koren, DC, after the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) attacked him for teaching chiropractic to non-chiropractors in Germany.

According to the WFC, the seminars held in Germany late last year represented "serious professional misconduct," primarily because they were open to lay practitioners or heilpraktikers. Chiropractic is not a separate licensed profession in Germany and even graduates of American chiropractic colleges must practice as "heilpraktikers" along with all other health care professionals except medical doctors.

Koren argued that the topic of his seminar, the Koren Specific Technique (KST) that he developed, is not specific to chiropractic but is applicable to all health care approaches.

"As I have repeatedly stated, KST is a protocol which chiropractors and other health professionals can use to assist patients in improving their health and well being which does not require chiropractic training to be used effectively. For this reason any licensed health practitioners are welcomed at my seminars. In addition to DCs, MDs, osteopaths, dentists, nutritionists, optometrists, naturopaths, craniosacral therapists, orthopedic surgeons, herbalists, specialists in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and psychologists have attended my seminars both in the US and Europe."

Such explanations did not protect Koren from condemnation by the WFC and its allies, including the European Chiropractic Union (ECU). Dynamic Chiropractic reprinted the WFC's letter to Koren, although it did not explain how or why it was provided with a copy of that letter.

Koren responded with an article of his own, posted on his website and distributed to supporters on his mailing list. In it, he explained that he had been invited to Germany to provide information to health care providers about his KST. After the WFC demanded that he cancel the seminar, "my attorneys and advisors undertook a review of the situation and interviewed members of the Heilpraktiker profession, officials at the Berlin school where I was invited to teach and others and concluded that the regulatory situation in Germany did not warrant canceling the seminar. We also told the WFC and the ECU that we are open to any factual information that would cause us to change our minds about this conclusion. We received none. Mr. Don Petersen, publisher of Dynamic Chiropractic, hiding behind the by-line 'Editorial Staff,' did not interview any of the professionals mentioned above to get their side of the story and attacked me for 'teaching chiropractic' to 'lay people.' Neither occurred at the Berlin seminar."

He added: "One of the attacks leveled against me, was that I permit various professionals to attend a KST seminar. That is entirely legal. Auditing a class doesn't mean you are a recognized expert or can practice. You can audit classes in accounting, law, medicine -- but that doesn't make you an accountant, lawyer or medical doctor. I do give a certificate of attendance for those who have come to the seminar. The certificate merely says they attended a KST seminar and does not say they are DCs or can practice chiropractic."

Ironically, the ECU gives its own seminars in topics such as introduction to dry needling, sport and exercise psychology, imaging of sports related injuries and sports nutrition. Several of the instructors are non-chiropractors and most German practitioners say it would be virtually impossible to prevent non-chiropractic heilpraktikers from attending such seminars.

As word spread about the blatantly discriminatory and unjust complaint against Koren, his supporters and colleagues rallied to his defense. One, writing from Germany, stated: "I am very sad about the latest attacks against you concerning your teaching to so-called 'lay-practitioners.' ... I know from various American colleagues who wanted to teach in Germany, (they found) themselves in a position to either give up the wonderful idea of teaching and sharing chiropractic miracles with others or to be thrown out from their chiropractic association. Only you, Tedd, were strong enough to teach us and I am so happy and grateful to you. My patients like KST and are more than satisfied with the results."

Another commented: "Rather than placing our concerns over who is doing what in terms of assisting people to heal, we might take that extra energy we all seem to have and support getting rid of mandatory vaccinations, which appear to cause more problems on the planet than bears adjusting spines. Years ago, a local chiropractor was telling me about a massage therapist who was supposedly moving neck and back bones. He told me we should do something about it. I said, yes, we should both become the best chiropractors that we could be, so we didn't have to worry about what others were doing."

Some of those who contacted Koren expressed concern over the current situation in Europe, noting that the WFC and ECU appear to be in the forefront of the effort to move chiropractic into the medical arena. One person stated: "I personally think that chiropractic is taking a very bad way in Europe. In their fight for recognition, they have to take to many compromises that harm chiropractic. From what I learned so far the education for example in Great Britain is actually a pretty classical medical education with emphasis on chiropractic techniques. That way, chiropractors are becoming just some sort of MD who uses very good manipulative skills."

Another pointed out, "It is incredible but true getting attacked from the people who are leading part of our profession, history proved that good things can't disappear only because some are not able to understand it or are envious."

Koren also took issue with what he viewed as a lack of journalistic ethics and objectivity on the part of Dynamic Chiropractic and Petersen. In a letter to Petersen, he asked: "Why are you, as a journalist, not shouldering your opportunities and responsibilities and reporting on this controversy? You have sidestepped that issue in a way that is quite demeaning for a journalist."

He also questioned why Petersen was not reporting on "the WFC's systematic attacks on at least half a dozen other chiropractic leaders they have silenced and how closely their behavior gets to violating the rather strong restraint of trade laws of the EU. These and many other factual avenues of journalistic investigation beckon for your attention. I gather from your response to me that you have no interest in or intention of pursuing them. It is increasingly clear that the reason you refuse to report on the real stories that underlie the WFC campaign against me, many other chiropractors, and apparently chiropractic in general is because, far from being an objective reporter, you share their views. They have sold you their position."

Koren's supporters agreed with his assessment of Petersen's paper. "Tedd, did you expect a different treatment from Dynamic Chiropractic?" said one. "You are an outsider and not one of the boys in the club."

Terry A. Rondberg, DC, founder and CEO of the World Chiropractic Alliance also voiced support for Koren, noting that the WFC has a long history of attacking chiropractors who do not adhere to its medically oriented regulations.

"This is not ... acceptable conduct for any chiropractic organization and it is just one more example of how the WFC and its allied organizations continues its campaign to forcibly steer chiropractic away from its roots and to destroy all who refuse to buy into its medicalized paradigm," Dr. Rondberg stated in his March 2009 Chiropractic Journal publisher's column ("Outlawing whatever we don't agree with," page 8).

To read Koren's article, visit http://tinyurl.com/teddkoren