Unconventional Medicine?
Chiropractors had always been considered a “fringe” providor (or worse) by conventional medicine. David M. Eisenberg’s article, Unconventional Medicine in the United States: Prevalence, Costs, and Patterns of Use, published in the January 28, 1993 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine generated a shift in that opinion. This article was a rude awakening, and an genuine “eye–opener” for organized medicine, since it described an amazing shift in public opinion.
During the same period that Managed Care was DRASTICALLY reducing medical incomes, Dr. Eisenberg revealed that “in 1990 Americans made an estimated 425 million visits to providers of unconventional therapy. That number far exceeds the number of visits to all U.S. primary care physicians (only 388 million)”. And Chiropractic was one of the most–utilized of these “unconventional” treatments.
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Alt-Med Section
I agree that it all boils down to public opinion. The information era has made information available and people re now using this information to make more informed choices. As public opinion about medicine declines and improves for Chiropractic we will see those numbers skyrocket.