Paralyzed woman sues chiropractic for half billion

There's been a lot of talk about anecdote and personal experience here. The problem with both is that, especially when it comes to personal health or the well-being of a loved one, it is very easy for human beings to be confounded by hopes, emotion and coincidence into believing a particular act had a particular effect.

Just because one thing follows another does not mean one thing was caused by another. For example, you might have a cold for three days, rub something on your chest and get better the next day. Did that something cure your cold? Probably not, it's just that you applied it about the same time the cold would have cleared up anyway.

The only real way to sort out if there is just coincidence or causality between two events is to do a series of carefully monitored tests that screen out other variables. These tests need to be done by parties that are blinded to factors that could skew the results. And, the tests need to be repeatable by other researchers.

When these sort of double blind/placebo controlled tests are done on chiropractic techniques, the chiropractors fail miserably. A group of ten chiropractors can't agree on where the "vertebral subluxations" are on an x-ray or a live patient. They can't agree how many there are. They can't agree on what disorders they would cause. They can't agree on what procedure to use to "treat" them. Even the same chiropractor looking at the same x-ray over time can't reidentify the same subluxations.

These tests have been done, repeatedly with the prior cooperation and design input from chiropractors. When they fail, which they always do, they come up with some after-the-fact excuse. But, they fail.

Truth is, not just anecdotally, subluxations don't exist. The adjustment of the upper neck has a risk of stroke, sometimes resulting in Sandy Nette's condition. There is no benefit of chiropractic upper neck manipulation. And, when a stroke occurs, chiropractors are ill-trained to recognize let alone treat it.

So, we can all share stories about how we or others were helped. But, when you stand back and try to sort signal from the noise and look for overarching patterns and proof, chiropractic comes up woefully short. Some people may want to believe it works, but belief isn't proof and anecdote isn't evidence.

Subluxations don't exist. No one, not even chiropractors, can work on the non-existent. Sandy Nette's neck was adjusted for nothing. She's not the only one. Many Canadians, mostly women have suffered her fate. That is what her lawsuit is about.

[ 14 June 2008: Message edited by: Wayne MacPhail ]

Sorry, I was at a conference and travelling yesterday, so I'm catching up.

There has been a lot of discussion about "energy". There are also sorts of provable forms of energy in the world, magnetic, gravitational, electrical, strong and weak atomic forces etc. They are tangible and measurable. Those measurements can be repeated and the effects shown over and over again. Our detection, understanding, modulation and amplification of those energies allows us, for example, to send a probe to Mars and get pictures back.

Other "energies" are not proven to exist and are more philosophical constructs than actual forces that we can repeatedly and provably detect. The Innate "energy" that D.D. Palmer claims is impinged by "vertebral subluxations" is a good example. Palmer was a well-meaning gentleman in a religious and spiritual climate that was awash in talk of "life energy" and "magnetic healing". In fact, Palmer was a grocer and magnetic healer before he came up with the unproven idea of chiropractic.

The problem is, Innate energy doesn't exist, is not measurable and doesn't control anything. Even chiropractors themselves, when they talk to each other in research journals admit this.

It is lovely, poetic and powerfully comforting to speak of life energy or magical energy. Unfortunately those energies have not been repeatably, provably been harnessed for healing.

There's also been discussion of "ancient treatments" or treatments and knowledge that has been around "thousands" of years. Unfortunately, antiquity doesn't equal veracity. Racism, foot binding and female circumcision are also ancient beliefs most cultures have either laid aside or at least condemn. Yes, many herbal treatments contain active ingredients that have resulted in some extremely useful drugs when the active chemical compounds are identified. Yes, there is a good deal of value from listening well to history's lessons. But there is a lot of nonsense too. We need to study and learn from the past critically, I think. If something done historically is repeatably, provable shown to be effective, great. If it was based on misunderstandings of how the body is constructed or functions, perhaps it's time to set it aside and look elsewhere.

[ 14 June 2008: Message edited by: Wayne MacPhail ]