News – Page 7 – Chiropractic Resource Organization

U.S. Navy Names DC to Musculoskeletal Board

By Frank M. Painter|May 27, 2011|News|

U.S. Navy Names DC to Musculoskeletal Board

With his appointment to the board, Dr. William Morgan continues building bridges for the chiropractic profession.

William Morgan, DC, has been appointed to the United States Navy’s Musculoskeletal Continuum of Care Advisory Board (MCCAB), an entity created to address the prevalent musculoskeletal injuries sustained by U.S. armed forces personnel during active-duty operations.

Dr. Morgan, who also serves on the spine subcommittee within MCCAB – members of which include orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians and physical therapists – will serve as the sole chiropractic representative to MCCAB, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) and the U.S. Navy. The spine committee will develop care algorithms for treating musculoskeletal and spinal conditions and in so doing, help determine the future of musculoskeletal management in the U.S. armed forces.

Addressing Musculoskeletal Health Issues in the Armed Forces

The leading cause of medical evacuation from forward-deployed units is musculoskeletal complaints, not combat wounds, with a high percentage of the complaints being back and neck pain. The MCCAB intends to develop guidelines for best practices in the management of musculoskeletal conditions through collaboration between professions, standardized metrics/outcome measurements, evidence-based practices and increased access to care.

William Morgan This is a big step for chiropractic in the armed forces. Never before has a chiropractor been on a military medical board that will have this level of strategic planning and implementation of ideas. This advisory board will make decisions about the future direction of health care within the Navy and the Marine Corps (the Navy provides the medical care for both the Navy and the Marines). The development of the board and Dr. Morgan’s appointment to it suggests the Navy’s open-mindedness in addressing the need for better management of musculoskeletal conditions. (more…)

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Pressed About Skeletal Injuries, Army Chief Cites Soldiers’ Poor Health

By Frank M. Painter|May 26, 2011|News|

Pressed About Skeletal Injuries, Army Chief Cites Soldiers’ Poor Health

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: The Hill ~ The Congressional News Paper

By John T. Bennett

The Senate’s top appropriator is concerned about injuries spawned by the weight of gear soldiers carry into combat, but Army brass say the poor health of America’s youth is to blame also.

As the Army and other military services have fielded more and more advanced combat gear — especially electronics equipment — U.S. troops have been instructed to strap more and more weight to their bodies.

That means injuries, which does not sit well with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), a decorated World War II Army veteran. He said his combat pack and gear never weighed more than 25 pounds.

The average Army trooper’s gear now approaches 125 pounds, Inouye said, noting a 2001 Army Science Board study recommended no soldier should carry more than 50 pounds at a time.

During an Appropriations Defense subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Inouye told Army leaders he was “shocked” by a recent Johns Hopkins University study that found musculoskeletal spinal injuries are now “double that of combat injuries.”

What’s more, “musculoskeletal injuries have increased tenfold in the last four years,” Inouye said. “The cost of medical benefits or disability benefits exceed annually $500 million.”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey replied that the matter is a “constant issue” for service leaders, and one that crosses his desk at least once a week. (more…)

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Reflections on the Opportunity of a Lifetime: Interview with Lance Cohen, DC

By Frank M. Painter|May 4, 2011|News|

Reflections on the Opportunity of a Lifetime:
Interview with Lance Cohen, DC

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Health Insights Today

Interview by Daniel Redwood, DC

Lance Cohen, a 2009 graduate of Cleveland Chiropractic College–Los Angeles (CCCLA), was the first chiropractic student to participate in one of the most prestigious health care fellowships in the nation, at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, MD.

A second generation chiropractor (his father is CCCLA alumnus Dr. Nathan Cohen), Dr. Cohen had the opportunity to work under Dr. Bill Morgan at NNMC, providing care for injured veterans (many of them from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan) at the nation’s premier tertiary care hospital. This experience afforded him unparalleled learning opportunities, which he describes in this Health Insights Today interview. Dr. Cohen now practices in Tahoe City and La Jolla, California.

What first kindled your interest in chiropractic?

(more…)

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Who’s Asleep Over at MedScape?

By Frank M. Painter|April 27, 2011|News, Stroke|

Who’s Asleep Over at MedScape?

The Chiro.Org Blog

In general, I find the reporting at MedScape to be top notch, but I have significant problems with their 4-20-11 essay titled: “The Potential Complications of Chiropractic Therapy”.

Answer this question:

If I sneeze, and there is a car accident across the street,
have we discovered the *cause* of car accidents?

The scientific method would propose that we sneeze a hundred times, and count the car accidents.

That’s how you begin to determine if there is an actual relationship between one event (like drinking milk) and it’s potential consequences (like developing cancer).

The Bone and Joint Decade Task Force was appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to look at the causes of, and treatments for neck pain, and after years of review, they published their results in the prestigious Spine Journal. One of the most relevant articles (to this conversation) was titled:

“Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care: Results of a Population-based Case-control and Case-crossover Study”
Spine 2008 (Feb 15); 33 (4 Suppl): S176–183

CONCLUSION: VBA stroke is a very rare event in the population. The increased risks of VBA stroke associated with chiropractic and PCP visits is likely due to patients with headache and neck pain from VBA dissection seeking care before their stroke. We found no evidence of excess risk of VBA stroke associated chiropractic care compared to primary care.

There was an association between chiropractic services and subsequent vertebrobasilar artery stroke in persons under 45 years of age, but a similar association was also observed among patients receiving general practitioner services. This is likely explained by patients with vertebrobasilar artery dissection-related neck pain or headache seeking care before having their stroke.

This Blog (and our website in general) has published regularly on this topic:

WARNING: Conducting an Orchestra Can Cause Vertebral Artery Dissection and Stroke
https://atlas.chiro.org/?p=5005 (more…)

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Landmark Legislation Passes In The Texas Senate

By Frank M. Painter|April 21, 2011|News|

Landmark Legislation Passes In The Texas Senate

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Texas Journal of Chiropractic

The Texas Chiropractic Association reports that on Thursday, April 14, 2011, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 1001. Says the Texas Chiropractic Association:

“This landmark legislation is significant for two reasons: It allows chiropractors to form professional associations with medical doctors, and it ensures that chiropractors will be treated fairly by insurance companies that decide to cover services that can legally be provided by chiropractors and other types of practitioners. …We have been trying to pass this type of legislation for more than 20 years.”

The Senate Journal reflects that “Senator Carona offered the following amendment to the bill”:

These amendments include:

“A COLLABORATION BETWEEN PHYSICIANS AND CHIROPRACTORS. a person licensed under Subtitle B, Title 3, and a person licensed under Chapter 201 are authorized to: (1) collaborate with each other in providing services to a client ….”

Title 3 is the Health Professions portion of the Occupations Code.

Subtitle B relates to Physicians.

Chapter 201 of Subtitle C relates to Chiropractors.

“ASSOCIATIONS.

(a) a person licensed under Subtitle B, Title 3, and a person licensed under Chapter 201 of this code may form a partnership, professional association, or professional limited liability company according to the requirements of this section and any other applicable law. (more…)

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Chiropractic Physicians Meet with Congress

By Frank M. Painter|April 15, 2011|Legislation, News|

Chiropractic Physicians Meet with Congress

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: ACA News

As health care reform implementation begins, making the case for chiropractic inclusion on the federal and state levels remains a priority.

Nearly 500 chiropractic physicians, students and supporters converged on the nation’s capital Feb. 14-15 as part of the American Chiropractic Association’s 2011 National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC) with the Chiropractic Summit. Those in attendance listened to speeches from government leaders, received advocacy training and urged elected officials to support pro-chiropractic measures that seek to provide patients, veterans and active-duty military personnel with greater access to the essential services provided by chiropractic physicians.

While last year’s conference focused on the first phase of health care reform, congressional debate surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), this year’s meeting concentrated on the next phase, implementation of the law.

Among the speakers this year, Iowa State Sen. Jack Hatch (D-Des Moines), a member of the White House Legislative Working Group on Health Care Reform, stressed that While the work being done on Capitol Hill to expand patient access to chiropractic care is vital to improving health care for all Americans, at this stage important work is also being done in every state capital. “This is both a challenge and an opportunity,” he said.

The meeting’s keynote speakers were Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Ret. Brig. Gen. Becky Halstead, spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. Harkin, who was instrumental in the inclusion of the provider non-discrimination language in PPACA emphasized chiropractic’s role in transforming the U. S. health care delivery system. (more…)

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