• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

chiropractors break baby's neck

Belz... said:
People keep speaking of chiros in a positive light because it "feels better after", but I keep pointing out that it doesn't work and is dangerous. Of course no one listens.
Click to expand...

So does puking one's guts out. Or smoking crack.

Neither one is recommended.
 
What seems strange about this is that the Chiropractic Board of Australia don't seem to have any oversight. How did they get to determine that the case would be resolved among themselves without being reported to the public?

Also, presumably the cases of chiropractors going into hospitals without the correct permission is a separate issue and the paper is not saying that was the case in this incident, but why are chiropractors not being arrested for this sort of thing?

Can I go into hospitals with my patented bashing-stroke-victims-over-the-head-with-a-mallet therapy and expect to get away with it?
 
AdMan said:
Any response from them [Australian Skeptics] yet?
Click to expand...


No, but plenty of other responses.

The following short radio interviews on the issue with Dr Steve Hambleton, President of the Australian Medical Association, and Laurie Tassell, President of the Chiropractor's Association of Australia, are well worth a listen, not least because of the contrast in professionalism…
http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/10/should-chiropractors-be-able-to-treat-children.html

Here, an Australian orthopaedic spine surgeon writes…
Here’s my message to the CAA [Chiropractic Association of Australia]: instead of expressing outrage, why don’t you start behaving like professionals, start regulating yourselves, start looking for adverse events and start reporting them openly like other medical professionals do, stop tolerating anti-vaccination garbage, encourage evidence based care, and for once, take responsibility.

More
http://www.cunningham.com.au/wp/thespineclinicblog.php/?p=113
Click to expand...


This from neurologist, Steven Novella, at Science Based Medicine…
Predictably, the chiropractic board closed the case with the judgement that the chiropractor can continue practicing if he obtains further education in pediatric chiropractic care. That is a paltry slap on the wrist. The decision also implies endorsement of pediatric chiropractic, which has never been established as a legitimate practice. Training is irrelevant when you don’t have a science-based practice in the first place.

-snip-

What evidence we do have suggests that there is not a single legitimate indication for chiropractic manipulation of children or infants, which is sufficient to condemn the practice. There is also evidence of potential harm, and even if rare, any harm resulting from a worthless intervention results in an unfavorable risk vs benefit.

More
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/chiropractor-breaks-babys-neck-a-risk-vs-benefit-analysis/
Click to expand...


And lastly, Queensland MP, Alex Douglas, is to lobby the Australian federal government to legislate a minimum age children can be treated by chiropractors…
The member for Gaven said a recent case where a baby's neck was broken and the chiropractor involved was able to continue practicing as long as they undertook education with an “expert in the field of paediatric chiropractic” had highlighted “a failure of process” with the registration board.

More
http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/10/should-chiropractors-be-able-to-treat-children.html
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Thanks very much for all that info, Blue Wode!

I think your last link is wrong.

This is an article about QLD MP Alex Douglas:

“I do think it has come time [to impose legislative age limits] because no child should have their life put at risk by doing a procedure on them that has no scientific benefit whatsoever.”

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/que...iropractors-20131002-2usso.html#ixzz2gj3ww5U3
 
Tanalia said:
tuxcat said:
If I was legislator I'd raise the minimum age to 500 to prevent quackery from causing harm to anyone!
Click to expand...

Aww, come on, it's perfectly safe for those 200 year old whippersnappers. ;)
Click to expand...

If you live to be 200, then I'd say that anything would be safe - what doesn't kill you and all that ;)
 
I Will Align Your Baby's Back 100% Safe

Getting a good chiropractor to align your little baby will help with gas, crankiness, cross-eyed looks, weird baby sounds, hissy baby, baby won't eat, some temper issues, baby throwing up, weird face. Whatever, bro. I go this.

Plop that little baby down on the table and I will go to town on him. Don't get upset. After that first squeeze he'll like it. I promise you, bro. Nine times out of ten kids love me. Your baby afraid of dogs? Doesn't like thunder? Crawls funny? Might be the C3, bro. Let me put it in this scanner thing I have, zip-zap-zoop, and we'll know which one is the problem.

Had one baby come in here with a coccyx the size of a grapefruit. All he could do was cry about it. Ten minutes later I had that little dude rolling around and spitting everywhere.
Click to expand...
 
Blue Wode said:
Yesterday’s damage limitation from the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...476983412326998.111566.134686669890009&type=1

A copy of the report was published online by an Australian spine surgeon today. See para 34: C2 fracture on CT scan...
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/tableOffice/TabledPapers/2013/5413T3781.pdf

Chiropractors’ Association of Australia misleading again, apparently.
Click to expand...

I've seen, now, but I'm not a doctor so it meant essentially nothing to me. Care to translate for the layman?

One of the items in the summary is
8. The treatment reported as provided by Dr REDACTED would not be expected to produce sufficient force to cause a fracture to C1 or C2 vertebra in an infant.
Click to expand...
Most of the other summary points talk about failings of the chiro, so they're hardly off the hook, but ignoring the pointlessness of chiropractors it seems like that wasn't her fault?
 
Madalch said:
And whenever I see something posted like this, I usually see chiro-fans posting, "But *real* doctors sometimes hurt patients, too!" Erk.
Click to expand...

Oh dear. Don't trust that medical science stuff. You know since it's not evidence-based (to be fair a good chunk really isn't evidence-based). That medical science stuff/thing saves some lives (ok fine a lot of lives) but hey it kills and that's DaNgErOuS!?!?!?!

I probably wouldn't trust chiro with much other than low back pain without significant neurological symptoms. But then again that's probably more the role of physiotherapists or even placebo in some cases.
 
When I was in college, I did a report on the dangers of alternative medicine, with a concentration on Chiropractic (and even used it in a speech to some classes). I used a lot of medical journals for my research at the time, and came across an article where a chiropractor paralyzed an infant, and the parents, who believe in chiropractors so much, they actually took the infant back to the same chiropractor to have him re-align the infant to UN-Paralyze him!

Needless to say, it didn't work...
 
Moon-Spinner said:
When I was in college, I did a report on the dangers of alternative medicine, with a concentration on Chiropractic (and even used it in a speech to some classes). I used a lot of medical journals for my research at the time, and came across an article where a chiropractor paralyzed an infant, and the parents, who believe in chiropractors so much, they actually took the infant back to the same chiropractor to have him re-align the infant to UN-Paralyze him!

Needless to say, it didn't work...
Click to expand...

I would be very interested to hear more about the research surround chiropractics. Do you know the rate of adverse events in this setting? After all there are plenty of horror stories out there for pretty much any form of medical or pseudo-medical intervention. In my country this is a poorly regulated activity. Sure an organisation exists but they seldom put out any kind of statistics regarding the field.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom