Anti-Vaccine Sentiment is Not Uncommon Among Chiropractors

Following my last post on anti-vaccine lies told by a chiropractor, I came across two news articles (one new, the other from last May) that highlight that chiropractors seem to be a concentrated source of vaccine mis-information, something that existed before COVID but that has become more prominent in the wake of COVID.

AP News: Anti-vaccine chiropractors rising force of misinformation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Some Ga. chiropractors are stoking fears of COVID vaccines

Both articles state that anti-vaccine sentiment comes from a minority of chiropractors, but they seem to have outsized influence. How much of a minority? It's hard to say, but the AP News article offers this:

AP could find no national numbers of vaccination rates among chiropractors, but Oregon tracks vaccine uptake among all licensed health providers, and the numbers show chiropractors and their assistants are by far the least likely to be vaccinated -- and far less than the general public.

Just 58% of licensed chiropractors and 55% of chiropractic assistants in Oregon were vaccinated as of Sept. 5. That’s compared to 96% of dentists, 92% of MDs, 83% of registered nurses, 68% of naturopathic physicians, and 75% of the general public.

Of course, mainstream medicine has its share of quacks and hucksters, and although I have never sought treatment from a chiropractor, I am willing to believe that most of them provide useful medical services [1] in the vein of physical therapy. The problem is that pseudoscience is baked into the history, philosophy, and sometimes the training of chiropractic. The AJC article is particularly interesting here because the largest chiropractic school, Life University, is in Georgia and it is still rooted in outdated 19th century medical ideas.

Such beliefs trace back to the founder of chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, who postulated in the late 19th century that most diseases and maladies are caused by spinal or joint misalignments, and therefore chiropractic adjustments can boost immunity.

Life University still embraces this concept of “vertebral subluxation,” though there is no scientific basis for it. During the height of the pandemic, the school’s guidance for faculty and students on how to prevent getting coronavirus included, “Get your spine checked and adjusted regularly to ensure your nerve system is able to optimally adapt to these external stressors.”

This is such unadulterated horse crap. The notion that an adjusted spine could protect you from contracting COVID is just as stupid as if I were to tell you that the COVID vaccine can protect you from getting a herniated disc. The problem here is that if your beliefs about health are wrapped around notions of mystical energies and "natural healing," then your diagnoses and treatments are going to be primarily concerned with unlocking said mystical energies [2] and promoting "natural healing". But healthy living, good nutrition, and great posture can only take you so far [3].

And yet, graduates of Life University who absorb these views are seen as doctors (with accompanying authority) in the eyes of the public, which is reinforced by their licensure by the state. This in spite of the fact that they are not licensed to prescribe drugs or perform surgeries. In Georgia, they aren't allowed to puncture the skin, so they presumably couldn't offer vaccination even if they wanted to.

Look, I'm not trying to demean any chiropractors out there in my readership, or their friends and loved ones. If they provide genuinely useful treatments to people and stick to their sphere of training and licensure, then God bless them. But the public should know that a chiropractor's sphere of medical authority is rather narrow, and the opinions of chiropractors on vaccines should hold commensurate weight.

Notes:
1. Some patients may also find social/psychological benefit from their visits.
2. An old chiropractor I knew once said that he had to understand quantum mechanics for his job. I was too dumbfounded and incredulous to ask questions.
3. As an extreme example, rabies virus travels up the peripheral nerves to the central nervous system. Once there, it is virtually always fatal in humans. No vitamin juice to aid "natural healing" or spinal adjustment to optimize nerve adaptation to such an "external stressor" has changed that. Vaccination or passive antibody treatment after a bite is your only real hope.

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