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Millions spent by lobby firms fighting Obama health reforms

By John Wiens DC|October 2, 2009|Politics|

Source The Guardian
America’s healthcare industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to block the introduction of public medical insurance and stall other reforms promised by Barack Obama. The campaign against the president has been waged in part through substantial donations to key politicians.

Supporters of radical reform of healthcare say legislation emerging from the US Senate reflects the financial power of vested interests ‑ principally insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals ‑ that have worked to stop far-reaching changes threatening their profits.

The industry and interest groups have spent $380m (£238m) in recent months influencing healthcare legislation through lobbying, advertising and in direct political contributions to members of Congress. The largest contribution, totalling close to $1.5m, has gone to the chairman of the senate committee drafting the new law.

“It’s a total victory for the health insurance industry,” said Dr Steffie Woolhander, a GP, professor of medicine at Harvard University and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Programme (PNHP).

“What the bill has done is use the coercive power of the state to force people to hand their money over to a private entity which is the private insurance industry. That is not what people were promised.”

Robert Reich, the labour secretary in the Clinton administration, says the Obama White House, mindful of how the health industry killed off Clinton’s attempts at reform, has grown so fearful of industry money that it has quietly reached agreement to pull back from price caps and public health insurance.

Read the the full article.

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ACA’s Efforts to Restore DC Physician Status in Federal Health Plan Successful

By Frank M. Painter|October 2, 2009|News|

ACA’s Efforts to Restore DC Physician Status in Federal Health Plan Successful

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: American Chiropractic Association ~ Fri. Oct. 2, 2009

After months of intensive negotiations between the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), doctors of chiropractic are once again designated as “physicians” in the BCBSA Federal Employee Plan (FEP), the world’s largest health plan and one that President Obama has identified as a template for future health care reform. The 2010 FEP benefits brochure confirms the change.

“We are pleased to report that doctors of chiropractic are in the physician category under the Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employees Benefit Plan, limited only by state scope of practice authorization,” said ACA President Rick McMichael, DC. “The agreement culminates months of negotiations between the ACA and BCBSA and assures that a doctor of chiropractic will be identified and defined as a ‘physician’ in the FEP. This plan has been specifically and repeatedly identified by Congress and President Obama as the template for coverage and recognition in national health care reform. Physician status under this health plan is critical, and ACA action has assured that this status is once again recognized.”

“We believe this action will be viewed by future doctors of chiropractic as a landmark development in the history of this profession, assuring our rightful role as physicians in the national health care system,” Dr. McMichael continued. “Our hats are off to ACA’s Immediate Past President Dr. Glenn Manceaux and past Chairman of the Board Dr. John Gentile, who led the ACA team’s charge in this effort. We call now on all doctors of chiropractic to join us in the battles that still lie ahead.”

It was in January of this year that BCBSA changed the designation of doctors of chiropractic from “physicians” to “other health care providers.” ACA immediately recognized that the change could have a serious impact on whether DCs would be allowed to provide the physician-level services they are educated and licensed to perform—and could even influence whether chiropractic care would later be restricted or completely excluded in a national health care plan using the FEP as a model. ACA promptly contacted BCBSA and requested that the designation be reversed.

While BCBSA stated that the change would not affect benefits, some plans apparently misinterpreted the intent of the change and have restricted services such as examinations, X-rays and therapeutic modalities. In addition, some DCs have been prohibited from referring FEP patients for other services, including diagnostic and physical and occupational therapy services. DCs who are still encountering these problems under the FEP should contact the ACA Insurance Relations Department at Insinfo@acatoday.org.

The BCBSA FEP is the largest privately underwritten health insurance contract in the world, enrolling 4 million federal government employees, dependents and retirees.

The American Chiropractic Association is the nation’s leading chiropractic organization representing more than 15,000 doctors of chiropractic and their patients.

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Potential MRSA Treatment?

By stevev|October 2, 2009|Health, Research|

Very interesting study reported in the December 8th 2008 issue of

Lasers in Surgery and Medicine I guess H1N1 has the stage for now. Seems MRSA has been all but forgotten by some since the emergence of H1N1?

Here’s a link to the full abstract:

Lasers Surg. Med. 40:734-737, 2008

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Physical Examination of the Neck and Cervical Spine

By Frank M. Painter|October 2, 2009|Cervical Spine, Diagnosis, Education|

Physical Examination of the Neck and Cervical Spine

The Chiro.Org Blog

We would all like to thank Dr. Richard C. Schafer, DC, PhD, FICC for his lifetime commitment to the profession. In the future we will continue to add materials from RC’s copyrighted books for your use.

This is Chapter 8 from RC’s best-selling book:

“Spinal and Physical Diagnosis”

These materials are provided as a service to our profession. There is no charge for individuals to copy and file these materials. However, they cannot be sold or used in any group or commercial venture without written permission from ACAPress.

Chapter 8: Physical Examination of the Neck and Cervical Spine

In general, the neck viscerally serves as a channel for vital vessels and nerves, the trachea, esophagus, spinal cord, and as a site for lymph and endocrine glands. From a musculoskeletal viewpoint, the neck provides stability and support for the cranium, and a flexible and protective spine for movement, balance adaptation, and housing of the spinal cord and vertebral artery. Cervical flexion, extension, and rotation contribute to one’s scope of vision.

From a biomechanical viewpoint, primary cervical dysarthrias may reflect themselves in the total habitus; from a neurologic viewpont, insults many manifest themselves throughout the motor, sensory, and autonomic nervous systems. Many peripheral nerve symptoms in the shoulder, arm, and hand will find their origin in the brachial plexus and cervical spine. Nowhere in the spine is the relationship between the osseous structures and the surrounding neurologic and vascular beds as intimate or subject to disturbance as it is in the neck.

Neck pain must be differentiated as to its date of onset and chronology, site and distribution, type (intermittent, constant), duration (acute, chronic), character (sharp, dull, lanciating), relation to posture (rest, occupation, recreation), and associated problems. Nonpharyngeal pain on swallowing may be traced to an anterior cervical spinal pathology such as bony protuberance or osteophytes, infection, mass or tumor. Pain is often referred to the neck from the TMJ, mandibular or dental infection, or sinus infection.

Inspection of the Neck (more…)

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Sports Management: Basic Spinal Subluxation Considerations

By Frank M. Painter|October 1, 2009|Diagnosis, Education, Subluxation|

Sports Management:
Basic Spinal Subluxation Considerations

The Chiro.Org Blog

We would all like to thank Dr. Richard C. Schafer, DC, PhD, FICC for his lifetime commitment to the profession. In the future we will continue to add materials from RC’s copyrighted books for your use.

This is Chapter 19 from RC’s best-selling book:

“Chiropractic Management of Sports and Recreational Injuries”

Second Edition ~ Wiliams & Wilkins

These materials are provided as a service to our profession. There is no charge for individuals to copy and file these materials. However, they cannot be sold or used in any group or commercial venture without written permission from ACAPress.

Chapter 19: Basic Spinal Subluxation Considerations

The concept that an “off centered” vertebral or pelvic segment parallels a unique effect upon the neuromuscular bed which may be the cause of, aggravation of, or “triggering” of certain syndromes is a major contribution to the field of functional pathology and clinical biology by the chiropractic profession.

This section discusses the basic biomechanics and effects of vertebral subluxations as related to the management of sports-related and recreational injuries.

Spinal Biomechanics

While the erect spinal column is a concern in static postural equilibrium, it is never actually in a static state in life. It is alternately changing from a state of “quiet dynamics” in the static postural attitude to a state of “active dynamics” in movement. These kinetic aspects of normal spinal biomechanics are an important consideration since the totality of spinal function is the sum of its individual component parts.

The Vertebral Motor Unit

An intervertebral motor unit consists of two vertebrae and their contiguous structures forming a set of articulations at one intervertebral level. Thus, what is called a vertebral “subluxation” in chiropractic is the alteration of the normal dynamics, anatomical or physiological relationships of contiguous articular structures. The components of the spinal column (the vertebral motor units) confer a quality and quantity of motoricity to the relationship of two vertebrae. They are firmly interconnected by the intervertebral disc and restraining ligaments, which are activated by muscles which respond to both sensory and motor stimulation. (more…)

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What are our priorities?

By John Wiens DC|September 29, 2009|News, Uncategorized|

Where is the money going? A couple of recent articles on the Dynamic Chiropractic website provide the answer.

End of an Era: FCER Decides on Self-Liquidation announces that “The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) will self-liquidate, meaning the organization will cease operations after serving the chiropractic profession for more than 60 years. The FCER Board of Trustees made the difficult decision after numerous efforts to find another organization that could take over the foundation’s efforts on behalf of the profession.
When interviewed FCER President Dr. Charles Herring said that over the years, large contributors have not continued supporting FCER at the level they once did and the current economic crisis that began to emerge in late 2008 has resulted in significant decreases in individual membership renewals. This has made FCER unsustainable from a financial standpoint.”

On the other hand, another article in Dynamic Chiropractic, Foundation for Chiropractic Progress Receives Record Pledge Support reports that “a $500,000 donation from Standard Process highlighted the record financial support received by the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (FCP) at the Florida Chiropractic Association 2009 national convention and expo in Orlando.
All told, the foundation received approximately $650,000 in pledges, including the surprise donation from Standard Process, which will be staggered over the next five years.”

The mission of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress is “To increase the public awareness of the benefits of chiropractic.” I’m all for that but perhaps we could channel some of those funds back into research thereby increasing our credibility and making chiropractic an ‘easier sell’.

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