Absolutely stunning news this morning via Le Canard Noir. Our campaign to hold chiropractics in the UK accountable to regulators for their false claims, has been more effective than anyone thought possible, and has resulted in the McTimoney Association deleting its website, and advising its members to do the same and remove their websites from the internet.
It's a stunning move. They fear that the mass complaints submitted against chiropractors by the likes of Alan Hennessy of 'Think Humanism' to Trading Standards could result in an avalanche of prosecutions. What's also stunning is the scale of our own campaign, as they reveal in their letter:
"The campaigners have a target of making a complaint against every chiropractor in the UK who they perceive to be in breach of the GCC’s CoP, the Advertising Standards Code and/or Trading Standards. We have discovered that complaints against more than 500 individual chiropractors have been sent to the GCC in the last 24 hours."
The other interesting thing about this letter is that it illustrates just how out-of-control the Chriropractic profession had become. Note for example this advice:
"REMOVE all the blue MCA patient information leaflets, or any patient information leaflets of your own that state you treat whiplash, colic or other childhood problems in your clinic or at any other site where they might be displayed with your contact details on them. DO NOT USE them until further notice. The MCA are working on an interim replacement leaflet which will be sent to you shortly."
There has never been any evidence that chiropractic can treat colic, whiplash or childhood injuries. In fact, over recent years the Advertising Standards Authority has sanctioned chiropractors claiming to treat these conditions. Yet a professional body is only now withdrawing these claims, and only then because of a "witch-hunt". They are either ignorant, stupid, or deliberately dishonest; I'll leave the reader to decide which.
The fact is that - whether by delusion or deception - vast numbers of chiropractics have been making false claims about their work that cannot be backed up by medical science. Including those at McTimoney Association. If their claims were able to be substantiated, they would not need to remove and hide them. They would have nothing to fear from scrutiny by Trading Standards.
Chiropractic Live, who leaked the letter, illustrate some of the get-out clauses that chiropractics use:
"The difficulty McTimoney has is they can not even claim that their Technique is “spinal manipulation” as recommended by NICE. They are hoping to sneak out the back door without paying their dues to the chiropractic profession."
I said earlier in the week, commenting on Simon Singh's libel trial, that there are many different kinds of defeat. Whatever happens with Simon's appeal now, the British Chiropractic Association have scored a spectacular own goal. In trying to suppress criticism of quack treatments from science writers, they have unleashed an almighty backlash that has left chiropractors across the UK in a panic, fearing prosecution. That is a superb result.
Dear Member
If you are reading this, we assume you have also read the urgent email we sent you last Friday. If you did not read it, READ IT VERY CAREFULLY NOW and - this is most important – ACT ON IT. This is not scaremongering. We judge this to be a real threat to you and your practice.
Because of what we consider to be a witch hunt against chiropractors, we are now issuing the following advice:
The target of the campaigners is now any claims for treatment that cannot be substantiated with chiropractic research. The safest thing for everyone to do is as follows.
1. If you have a website, take it down NOW.
When you have done that, please let us know preferably by email or by phone. This will save our valuable time chasing you to see whether it has been done.
2. REMOVE all the blue MCA patient information leaflets, or any patient information leaflets of your own that state you treat whiplash, colic or other childhood problems in your clinic or at any other site where they might be displayed with your contact details on them. DO NOT USE them until further notice. The MCA are working on an interim replacement leaflet which will be sent to you shortly.
3. If you have not done so already, enter your name followed by the word ‘chiropractor’ into a search engine such as Google (e.g. Joe Bloggs chiropractor) and you will be able to ascertain what information about you is in the public domain e.g. where you might be listed using the Doctor title or where you might be linked with a website which might implicate you. We have found that even if you do not have a website yourself you may still have been linked inadvertently to a website listing you or your services.
CHECK ALL ENTRIES CAREFULLY AND IF IN DOUBT, CONTACT THE RELEVANT PROVIDER TO REMOVE YOUR INFORMATION.
CHECK OUR PREVIOUS EMAILS FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE AND KEY WORDS TO AVOID.
KEEP A LOG OF YOUR ACTIONS.
If you use business cards or other stationery using the ‘doctor’ title and it does not clearly state that you are a doctor of chiropractic or that you are not a registered medical practitioner, STOP USING THEM immediately.
Be wary of ‘mystery shopper’ phone calls and ‘drop ins’ to your practice, especially if they start asking about your care of children, or whiplash, or your evidence base for practice.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE, YOU MAY BE AT RISK FROM PROSECUTION.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE, THE MCA MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ASSIST YOU WITH ANY PROCEEDINGS.
Although this advice may seem extreme or alarmist, its purpose is to protect you. The campaigners have a target of making a complaint against every chiropractor in the UK who they perceive to be in breach of the GCC’s CoP, the Advertising Standards Code and/or Trading Standards. We have discovered that complaints against more than 500 individual chiropractors have been sent to the GCC in the last 24 hours.
Whatever you do, do not ignore this email and make yourself one of the victims. Some of our members have not followed our earlier advice and now have complaints made against them. We do not want that to happen to you.
Even if you do not have a website, you are still at risk. Our latest information suggests that this group are now going through Yellow Pages entries. Be in no doubt, their intention is to scrutinise every single chiropractor in the UK.
The MCA Executive has worked tirelessly over the last week keeping abreast of development and contacting at risk members. We have decided that this is our best course of action to protect you and the Association at this time of heightened tension. This advice is given to you solely to protect you from what we believe is a concerted campaign, and does not imply any wrongdoing on your part or the part of the Association. We believe that our best course of action is simply to withdraw from the battleground until this latest wave of targeting is over.
Finally, we strongly suggest you do NOT discuss this with others, especially patients, Firstly it would not be ethical to burden patients with this, though if they ask we hope you now have information with which you can respond.
Most importantly, this email and all correspondence from the MCA is confidential advice to MCA members alone, and should not be shared with anyone else.
Please be aware that the office phone lines are likely to be busy, so, if you need our help, please send an email to the office and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Yours,
Berni Martin
http://layscience.net/trackback/593
Wow! This is quite stunning. Of course, if the profession actually regulated itself none of this would have been required.
"Be wary of ‘mystery shopper’ phone calls and ‘drop ins’ to your practice, especially if they start asking about your care of children, or whiplash, or your evidence base for practice."
If they were decent doctors offering treatment based on evidence then they would have no reason to fear being questioned.
The BCA clearly had no idea what they where starting when they brought that libel claim; this has turned into an amplified version of the streisand effect.
Spot on, Tristan.
I'll be joining the blogging on this shortly at www.zenosblog.com, where you'll find my 523 complaints in full.
Clearly if they were confident their claims were backed up by evidence they would be doing none of this. Is their any clearer indication required that the BCA, GCC et al know full well there is little by way of verifiable evidence to support their claims?
Their actions seem to be having the effect of digging themselves into an even deeper hole. They really do seem to believe that the preliminary ruling was about the evidence rather than their knowledge of the lack of it. Pillocks!
I wonder how the pundits at NICE are feeling in view of all this?
Next up are the "natural medicine" drug cures
I find it highly ironic that they characterize their predicament as a witch-hunt, perhaps one of the most stark examples in history of the perils of irrational and mystical thinking. In reality all that is being asked of them is that their claims be substantiated with reliable, non-anecdotal evidence from controlled trials, the very polar opposite of the mindset of someone who would accuse someone of being a witch. But I guess if you're pushing woo then you have to couch everything in woo-pusher terms.
"Be wary of ‘mystery shopper’ phone calls and ‘drop ins’ to your practice, especially if they start asking about your care of children, or whiplash, or your evidence base for practice."
David Colquhoun spotted a similar warning issued by the Society of Homeopaths a couple of years ago.
See: http://www.dcscience.net/?p=208
What's also astonishing is that they apparently thought the email would remain a secret.
If you want this to have even greater impact, link this and to other blogs using the text "McTimoney Chiropractic" or similarly useful search text. With enough cross-links, we just might get it near the top of Google.
"Witch Hunt" is appropriate!
For they advocate a form of superstitious witchery.
Do they quack like a duck?
The term pyrrhic victory comes to mind.
As they seem to have shot themselves in the foot, what kind of medical practitioner will they visit?
So now we know not to ask about children, whiplash, or evidence, when we go mystery shopping. Helpful advice.
The United Chiropractic Association seem to be running scared too see http://chiropracticlive.com/advertising-standards/scope-of-practise-by-t...
and it looks like these were issued BEFORE the Mactimothy crew got their act together.
The statement reads
The UCA Office has become aware of the ongoing media coverage of the libel case involving the BCA and Simon Singh. As a result chiropractors are being targeted as part of a concerted campaign to discredit the profession, particularly in relation to the publicity materials they are using. The Investigating Committed of the GCC have a statutory responsibility to look into every complaint they receive. This is an attack on the profession which all chiropractors should be aware of.
There is also evidence that complaints are being made to Trading Standards authorities, and several chiropractors have received enquiries from them. Before responding to any communications you might receive, please contact the UCA office in the first instance for help and advice.
The BCA have issued the following statement to their members. The UCA fully supports this statement and recommends members to adhere to the points raised.
the UCA included the BCA Statementto its members
The BCA would remind members of their obligations under the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) section 50 (relating to Health & Beauty Products and Therapies: see
Members are strongly encouraged to review their current marketing materials (whether they are paper- or web-based to ensure that they are compliant with both ASA and GCC requirements. Note that the ASA has no jurisdiction over editorial materials placed on members own websites.
When reviewing your materials it may be helpful to consider the following:
1. Are there any claims made that cannot be justified by reference to evidence? Remember, the GCC requires chiropractors to practice evidence based care, which is defined as "clinical practice that incorporates the best available evidence from research, the preferences of the patient and the expertise of practitioners (which includes the individual chiropractor himself).
2. Be mindful of making promises that you cannot be sure of delivering on;
3. Be wary of listing conditions that are controversial and away from mainstream chiropractic care e.g. dyslexia/dyspraxia unless you have research to back this up. If you have made references to prolonged crying, sleep and feeding problems, breathing difficulties and frequent infections, as these are symptoms rather than condition specific, we suggest you remove these references.
4. Do not refer to yourself as a specialist in any particular form of chiropractic;
5. Do not use unfamiliar words for common conditions;
6. Do not unjustly criticise other healthcare professionals;
7. If you refer to subluxations, provide information to explain what they are.
8. Take care in the use of the Doctor title. Ensure that there is no way there can be any doubt that you are a chiropractor, and not a registered medical practitioner. Do not use the doctor title in paper advertising without explicitly stating that you are a chiropractor.
I think this is great.
It's wonderful to see a a collection of people that are willing to pool their efforts for a change for the better.
My question is, what about those that are legitmate practicioners?
What of those that do not make questionable claims, that do refuse potential patients by honestly stating they cannot help as i have spotted a few in the your list?
This is the danger with "witch hunts" - it's not the method which is being labeled, it's the effecting result.
Just as with the reputed Witch Hunts - a large nubmer of innocent people are going to get burned for no reason.
Who is monitoring your efforts to ensure that you are not harming innocent practicioners?
Who is monitoring your efforts to ensure you are not depriving the public of a valid & valued service?
Why have you not stated or linked in the the clinical trials that show Chiropractic does not work for the things your mentioning?
Is that not how the Science of it goes?
You have to show that you get a result.
Then others have to disprove it?
So - the real big question would be;
'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?'
(Who watches the watchers?)
There is every chance that your great efforts and contributions are going to result in a major negative.
Maybe these issues need to be resolved before you take any further steps?
Autocrat.
Well, any chiropractors that aren't engaging in these practices have nothing to fear from Trading Standards or the GCC. We're not regulators, we're just making regulators aware of the situation. How they act is up to them,.
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
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There is also evidence that complaints are being made to Trading Standards authorities, and several chiropractors have received enquiries from them. Online Certificate Before responding to any communications you might receive, please contact the UCA office in the first instance for help and advice.Applied Arts school | graduate diploma
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