Recently, there has been a concerted effort in the medical pediatrics community to malign and misrepresent chiropractic. Almost simultaneously, Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, published by the American Medical Association (AMA), have printed articles which attack chiropractic for its century-old positions relating to vaccinations and pediatric care.

These attacks are not surprising, considering the recent revelations about the increased risks involved with many vaccines and other drugs and procedures aimed at children.

Parents have been alarmed by news of possible links between vaccines and autism, the overuse and abuse of antibiotics for otitis media, the shameful misuse of Ritalin and growth hormones, and the lack of proper testing of drugs given to children. They have read that medical errors needlessly kill as many as 98,000 Americans die annually -- more than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. They are looking for something better and many of them are finding chiropractic to be a safe and effective alternative.

On the position of vaccinations, it is important to understand that while individual chiropractic organizations and practitioners have strong views on the advisability of vaccines, the true question involves freedom of choice for health care consumers.

The World Chiropractic Alliance is vehemently opposed to any government regulations or social pressures that force people to receive medical treatment or medication -- including vaccines -- without their permission and without first being given complete information on the risks of such treatment. To compel parents to subject their children to mandatory vaccines in order to obtain a public education or for any other reason is the worst kind of tyranny.

This position is based partly on traditional chiropractic philosophy which holds that the body has an innate ability, under normal circumstances, to provide the immune response needed to protect itself from most common diseases or to resolve most routine health problems that arise. It is based, also, on the scientific evidence contained in recent medical research reports which question the safety and effectiveness of many of the customarily mandated vaccines, and the health care decisions arrived at in response to those reports.

In the past year alone:

** The U.S. House Government Reform Committee held hearings on the possible link between autism and vaccines. Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., founder of Autism Research Institute and Autism Society of America presented evidence for a vaccine-autism connection. (April 7, 2000)

** The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agreed that all vaccination of infants with rotavirus vaccine should be suspended because of reports of bowel obstruction developing within weeks of vaccination (July 15, 1999)

*** The U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and the AAP made a joint statement urging the elimination of the mercury content in hepatitis B vaccine and other childhood vaccines and rollback of the universal recommendation that all newborn infants receive hepatitis B vaccine at birth as important steps in improving the safety of childhood vaccines and vaccine policies. (July 7, 1999)

*** In the New Zealand Medical Journal, J. Barthelow Classen, M.D., reported a 60% increase in Type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes) following a massive campaign in New Zealand from 1988 to 1991 to vaccinate babies six weeks of age or older with hepatitis B vaccine. (May 24, 1996)

** The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) called for an immediate moratorium on mandatory hepatitis B vaccines for schoolchildren, pending further research about dangerous side effects. (July 9, 1999)

** The AAPS questioned the safety and effectiveness of many vaccines being given to children in the United States. (Aug. 3, 1999)

** A report in Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice showed that the incidence of diabetes in Finland was stable in children under four years of age until the government made several changes in its childhood vaccination schedule. The introduction of these new vaccines in that country were followed by a 62% rise in the incidence of diabetes in the 0 to 4 year-old age group, and a 19% rise of diabetes in the 5 to 9 year-old age group between the years 1980-82 and 1987-89. (October 22, 1997)

We could go on, but a thorough search of medical literature will produce sufficient evidence to support the WCA’s position that vaccines present enough of a risk to warrant careful scrutiny and to make it illegal to force children to receive such vaccines.

In their article "Chiropractic Care for Children," for The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the authors state that "chiropractic care is often inconsistent with recommended medical guidelines." This declaration clearly demonstrates their ignorance of the chiropractic profession, in that it is not a medical discipline but a very specific health care approach which involves neither the diagnosis of disease nor the use of medical treatments or procedures. The purpose of chiropractic is to detect, analyze and correct vertebral subluxations which can interfere with the normal functioning of the human body.

This document, which has been widely embraced by the chiropractic profession, states:

"Since vertebral subluxation may affect individuals at any age, chiropractic care may be indicated at any time after birth. As with any age group, however, care must be taken to select adjustment methods most appropriate to the patient’s stage of development and overall spinal integrity. Parental education by the subluxation-centered chiropractor concerning the importance of evaluating children for the presence of vertebral subluxation is encouraged."

In addition to the CCP Guideline, two peer-reviewed journals, Chiropractic Pediatrics and the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics disseminate critically reviewed papers in this field. Courses in pediatrics are offered at the professional and postgraduate levels at accredited chiropractic colleges and by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

Unlike medical treatment and surgical procedures, chiropractic care a presents an extremely low risk for chiropractic pediatric patients, as reported by Dr. R.A. Pistolese in "Risk assessment of neurological and/or vertebrobasilar complications in the pediatric chiropractic patient" (Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research 1998; 2(2).

Since doctors of chiropractic recognize the scope of their expertise, they do not attempt to make diagnoses or presume to refer to specific medical practitioners for treatment of disease. Instead, when their examination results in a non-chiropractic finding, they inform their patients of that finding and recommend the patients seek whatever health care remedies they feel are in their best interest.

Even a casual observer will note the unscientific and deliberately antagonistic tone of the Archives article, in which the authors accuse chiropractors of "targeting pediatric populations," when in fact they are simply offering an alternative to the medical paradigm.

The emphasis the authors put on the increased popularity of chiropractic pediatrics points to a strong economic motivation behind the attack on chiropractic, not unlike the AMA’s campaign against the profession in the 1960s-90s, which was deemed by the courts to have been an illegal attempt to destroy competition in the health care field.

The Archives authors take pains to note that "In 1997, patients in the United States visited more practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than all US primary care physicians," and "For many families in the United States, chiropractic care is no longer an alternative, but an integral part of regular health care, both for health promotion and the treatment of common diseases." They also explain that "The concept of pediatric chiropractic care gained increasing popularity through national campaigns aimed at drawing more children and infants into practices for basic health care."

This increased popularity of chiropractic comes at a time when managed health care and the public revelations about greed, corruption and incompetence in the medical and pharmaceutical industries has eroded public confidence in the medical establishment. It is no wonder that physicians in general, and pediatricians in particular, feel threatened by chiropractic and are lashing out against it.

Based on these arguments and other evidence, it is the position of The World Chiropractic Alliance that:

On the issue of vaccines . . .

No person should be forced by government regulation or societal pressure to receive any medication or treatment, including vaccines. Further, all medical practitioners and public health care officials should be obligated to provide full disclosure of the potential risks of vaccines, including those given to school children in mass vaccination programs. Also, national studies should be funded -- by public money -- to assess the safety, efficacy, and cost of vaccines. These studies should not be overseen, conducted or funded by pharmaceutical companies or medical institutions which have a vested interest in the continued rampant use of vaccines. The amount of funding for such studies should at least be equal to the amount of money being spent to prove the efficacy of current and future vaccines.

On the issue of chiropractic for children . . .

The World Chiropractic Alliance agrees with the finding of the Council on Chiropractic Practice in its "Clinical Practice Guideline Number 1, Vertebral Subluxation in Chiropractic Practice" and supports the right of everyone -- regardless of age -- to obtain chiropractic care. Further, we strongly promote the concept of wellness care and advocate the inclusion of preventive and corrective care in the routine health care regimen of all people.