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The Politics and Deception of Low Back Pain

© Dr. David L. Phillips

Every once and a while, I get really fed-up with the senseless prejudice that rears it’s blind head against the chiropractic profession. Having successfully run the rigorous gauntlet of scientific study for 30 years now and having survived numerous government studies and Royal Commissions, you would think that our profession would get some respect, even grudgingly, from organized medicine. Alas, I guess it’s going to take yet another generation before some level of acceptance is forthcoming.

I’d better explain what this is all about. In 1994, the US Federal government funded a study by 23 experts in the field of acute lower back pain. The purpose of the study was to examine the published literature the world over to determine the best and most effective treatments for low back pain. The researchers waded through thousands of professional papers and concluded that spinal manipulation was the safest and most effective therapeutic treatment for this common condition. The panel also asserted that many popular medical treatments and other common remedies were not recommended as safe and/or effective. Examples of treatments and remedies not recommended for acute lower back pain are acupuncture, spinal injections, traction, bed rest beyond 4 days, TENS and all other physiotherapy modalities, lumbar belts and corsets, and oral steroid medications. (AHCPR Publication #95-0642)

The study commented on numerous other treatments for low back pain including condemning the excessively high numbers of lumbar disc surgeries being performed. According to a study conducted at John Hopkins University, there are 80,000 unnecessary disc surgeries performed each year in the US. That’s over 200 costly and needlessly dangerous medical procedures performed every single day.

So after recommendations from government studies and research papers the world over including this exhaustive study by the US government, what is the official position of the medical profession towards low back manipulation?

This is where it gets scary for the incredible level of deception. The American Medical Association, evidently feeling somewhat threatened, writes it’s own low back guidelines. After hiring two MD’s and a medical journalist, the AMA sets out to examine what it considers to be the definitive guide for the treatment of low back pain. Even though the AMA claims to have looked at “all treatment options”, it completely excludes any mention of spinal manipulation. And this from an organization that claims to have the interest of the public at heart! Where is the honesty in this? There is none. And I’ll venture a guess as to why there is no honesty.

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