How Chiropractic Sells Itself at Patient’s Expense
Originally Published in October 1979 Once upon a time there was a grocer who thought had found a wondrous way to cure the sick. “Press the backbone, ” he declared, “and all disease will vanish. Others clamored for his secret. For a fee, he taught the m. Soon, backbone pressers spread throughout the land making wild claims they could cure everyone. Does this sound like a fairy tale? It’s not—it’s the story of chiropractic. Although chiropractors are licensed in all 50 states as doctors, most still believe spinal difficulties are the underlying cause of disease. Chiropractic began in 1895 when Daniel David Palmer restored the hearing of a deaf janitor by “adjusting” a bump on his spine. Palmer thought he had helped the man by …
Continue Reading >Chiropractic Public Relations and Practice-Building Outweigh Health Concerns
According to a story circulating within the profession, one chiropractor who holds seminars to teach colleagues how to increase their revenues seats them in a room and leads them in a chant of “HMMMMMMONEY!” An Illinois chiropractor claims to have seen 3,000 patients per month in 1980 and to have made nearly $800,000 that year. Those who take his course are promised a $60,000 jump in income and counseling on how to avoid paying income tax. Another practice builder offers a program that includes “How to Launch Your Millionaireship and Millionaireship Mastermind Session.” Stories like these have prompted widespread criticism of chiropractic, and not all of the complaints are coming from outside the profession. A few years ago, the top lawyer of the largest chiropractic …
Continue Reading >Why Continue Chiropractic Care After Symptoms are Gone? Survival of Your Practice May Depend on It!
Dr. Strang graduated as class valedictorian from Palmer College of Chiroipractic in 1977 and joined the Palmer faculty in 1978. He has served as the director of clinics and dean of philosophy and now is a professor of philosophy. This article was published in the Winter 2003 edition of the school’s magazine, Streams from the Fountainhead. The article advises that the key to success and survival of a chiropractic practice is persuading patients to have frequent checkups to detect and correct their “subluxations” even if they have no symptoms. The article was accompanied by a photo of him with a patient who had been treated by him and his father, Virgil Strang, D.C., for 32 years and was a ” firm believer in long-term regular …
Continue Reading >A Golden Touch for Chiropractors
Editor’s note: Our writer takes the world’s leading “success course” for chiropractors. He learns to “open the trap door,” initiate the “yet disease,” and “dig for chronicity.” Graduates may be proving the methods in your community. “GIive your patuents the impression that you’re busy and prosperous. When I was in practice I would sometimes go into another room, dial my own number, come back to my desk, answer the phone, and pretend to talk to another patient while a real patient sat there. Sometimes I would have relatives come and sit in my reception room-patients would think they were other patients. If a salesman showed up I would keep him waiting in the reception room for a while—same reason. Also, you can study a …
Continue Reading >Chiropractic Entrepreneur Disciplined
In February 2014, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing concluded that John O. Meadors, D.C. had acted unprofessionally and suspended his license for a minimum of six months. The order stated that the suspension could be lifted if he complied with a long list of conditions intended to prevent recurrence of the conduct that led to the suspension. However, his license expired while the suspension was still in effect. Background History Meadors said he has a “real knack for marketing.” In addition to selling himself to patients, he also marketed devices and a practice-building system to other chiropractors. A video he posted to Google stated that he injured his back when he was about 15 and decided to become a chiropractor when he …
Continue Reading >“Conditions That May Indicate You Have a Spinal Subluxation”
Many chiropractors claim that no matter what health problems you have, chiropractic treatment may help you by correcting so-called “subluxations” that predispose people to disease. The following excerpts from a chiropractic Web site illustrate this unfounded claim. This article was posted on June 21, 2006.
Continue Reading >Can Chiropractors “Serve” More than 1200 patients Per Week?
In 1992, two chiropractors offered to teach their colleagues how to develop a million-dollar practice by seeing over 1,200 petients per week. The ad below was published in 1992 in chiropractic newspaper Dynamic Chiropractic. It would be interesting to know how much time per patient would be available for such a schedule. A chiropractor who worked 10 hours a day, 6 days a week with no interruptions, would have only 3 minutes available per patient. When a letter to the editor questioned whether the Wisniewski and Insinna could be delivering quality care, they replied: . . . Is quality truly a function of time? Does the doctor who spends 30 minutes with a patient give twice the quality as one who spends 15 minutes? What …
Continue Reading >How Two “Pediatric Chiropractic” Leaders Advise Chiropractors to Undermine Pediatrician Credibility
Stuart Warner, D.C., and his wife Theresa Warner, D.C., operate a clinic in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, at which the majority of patients are children. They also run a “pediatric chiropractic” practice-management program called Future Perfect that teaches how to promote subluxation-based chiropractic care for children from birth onward. One technique they recommend is to use questions to subtly suggest that pediatricians are not thorough enough. The following article, posted on their Web site in 2004, included seven of their favorite strategies, each followed by my comment in boldfaced bracketed type. Top 7 Strategies to Shift Credibility from the Pediatrician to the Chiropractor Drs. Patricia & Stuart Warner When most parents bring their children in for chiropractic care, they are faced with a pediatrician that …
Continue Reading >Chiropractic “Research” Project Was a Marketing Tool
In 2008, several chiropractic Web sites advertised for volunteers “to help evaluate the effects of drug-free chiropractic care on overall health and wellness.” The program’s developer, Research & Clinical Science (RCS), was said to have approved this television message for advertising to the public: Do you frequently feel fatigued, run down or suffer from stress-related health problem? If so, you may be eligible to participate in a global research project conducted by an international team of scientists at RCS Research & Clinical Science. It’s estimated that 70 to 80 percent of all illnesses are cause by or made worse by stress: addictive disorders, autoimmune disorders, anxiety disorders and even some cancers. Participants in this research project will receive at no cost a full evaluation by …
Continue Reading >A Brief look at a Subluxation-Based Practice-Building Script
Robert Braile, D.C., maintains a Web site “dedicated to spreading the word of chiropractic worldwide.” He apparently believes that everyone needs periodic spinal evaluations and “adjustments.” His home page proudly displays a mission statement: I am a chiropractor. Today, I will love everyone, serve everyone, and give the message of chiropractic to everyone I contact. Every man, woman and child needs my help today, in becoming and remaining subluxation free. At no time today, will I withhold the truth of chiropractic for fear of rejection. Today, I am an expert at correcting subluxations. I will correct subluxations on everyone I care for. When I do this, the power within them, heals them, every time without exception. I CAN help everyone I see Today. Today, I …
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