World Chiropractic Alliance Protests Kaiser Permanente Policy Change

KEIZER, OR, September 03, 2010 (Press-News.org) The World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) has contacted Kaiser Permanente to voice its opposition to the health plan company's decision to exclude cervical Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment (CMT) from its policy coverage.

The reason Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States and Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group gave for its decision was that "Chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine is associated with vertebral artery dissection and stroke. The incidence is estimated at 1.3-5 events per 100,000 manipulations. Given the paucity of data related to beneficial effects of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine and the real potential for catastrophic adverse events, it was decided to exclude chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine from coverage."

Since this is completely contrary to proven scientific fact, the WCA wrote to Kaiser Permanente and provided references to more than a dozen medical research studies and related material supporting the safety of chiropractic and countering the widespread myth that chiropractic is linked to stroke.

"In an attempt to discredit chiropractic and discourage people from seeking care from doctors of chiropractic, some proponents of allopathic medicine -- and attorneys interested in filing spurious lawsuits -- continue to disseminate misleading information about a supposed link between cervical adjustments and strokes," explained Terry A. Rondberg, DC, founder and CEO of the World Chiropractic Alliance and publisher of The Chiropractic Journal in his letter. "Numerous published scientific and medical studies indicate that the incidence of a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or stroke is estimated at between 1 to 3 incidents per million adjustments."

One study noted by Dr. Rondberg covered a period of 28 years, while another involved reviewing about 110 million chiropractic visits. The results of these and other studies showed conclusively that the risk of stroke from a chiropractic adjustment is so small as to be statistically insignificant.

"If Kaiser Permanente is truly interested in helping its clients and not simply in restricting their care by adding exclusions to their health care plans, I'm sure it will review the material and reverse its decision," Dr. Rondberg stated. "People need to have access to chiropractic as an alternative to high-risk invasive medical care. They deserve better than to have that access denied them based on false information."

A copy of the complete letter, with research references, is available for review on the World Chiropractic Alliance website (www.WorldChiropracticAlliance.org).

The World Chiropractic Alliance is an international professional association representing doctors of chiropractic, chiropractic students, and chiropractic patients. Its four-fold mission is to develop, promote and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations who, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care; support health and social measures that would benefit the underserved populations worldwide; promote chiropractic as the only discipline that focuses on correcting subluxations and reducing the stress that interferes with the body's ability to self-regulate and heal; and provide resources needed by doctors of chiropractic and chiropractic students to become more competent and successful practitioners.