Customer Reviews

Spin Doctors: The Chiropractic Industry Under Examination

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Finally a book that takes you through the smoke and mirrors of a false profession. The book is a good intellectual read for those that want to know the truth about chiropractic dogma and unsubstantiated, if not completely irrefutable, theories. The fact that most chiropractors hold to more of a religious belief system on how the human body works versus embracing evidenced-based care susbstantiates the fact that their profession should be dissolved. Remember, evidenced-based spinal manipulative therapy for musculoskeletal conditions does have some emperical evidence but the chiropratic theory that adjusting the spine to resolve nerve interference which thus prevents pathogensis for such conditions such as ear infections, asthma, diabetes, and bed wetting is nonsense and completely unsubstantiated. Also, there are many specialized physical therapists and some orthopedic physicians that perform spinal manipulative therapy for the sole purspose of treating musculoskeletal conditions but not all physicians and therapists do this type of work as their professions have a much wider scope of total practice. The chiropractic establishment argues that they are trying to move to a more evidenced-based approach to care but the problem is that this part of the medical arena is already occupied by the physical therapist and the other problem is that most chiropractors have not and continue not to embrace a scientific approach to treatment. This is a disservice to their patients and the tax and insurance industries that pay their claims.

Spin Doctors serves as a nice introduction to the criticisms of the chiropractic profession. The beginning history of chiropractors from the late 1800s is laid out very completely. Within the first two chapters an unscientific profession searching for an indentity is planted with the reader. The origins of chiropractic care can be traced to Canada and throughout the book cases and experiences in the provinces are frequently cited.
Following the historical background major criticism areas with the industry are discussed in a very readible manner: the subluxation theory, stroke occurence and neck manipulation, the gimmicky nature of the profession, and chiropractic care on children.
There is some very slow reading on canadian legislative and political issues related to chiropractics as the book progresses. The reader may not find these portions of the book engaging in presentation or relevant regardless of the their country of origin. The book remains valuable despite these monotonous passages and the reward for completing this publication will be an informed opinion of chiropractors that can be translated into intelligent dialogue with any individual in or out of the health care arena.

What caught my eye as a potentially interesting book regarding an "expose" into chiropractic turned out to be nothing more than a witch hunt based on biases and misrepresentation. As I read through the chapters, I started to get an impression that these authors were willing to base gargantuous claims on little or partial pieces of evidence simply to make the book more tantalizing.

Spin Doctors is a written form of Jerry Springer if I have ever seen one, but at least Jerry doesn't come across with the supposition of being credible. While his show doesn't disguise the fact that it is not to be taken seriously, I get the distinct impression that Benedetti and Macphail wrote this book with the express purpose of discrediting a profession. Personally, I did not appreciate their attempts at taking advantage of a reader's trust or trying to make money from unjustly attacking others.

Unless you are interested in seeing true "manipulation" at it's best, I'd stay away from this book.

I am a medical doctor and in my pracice we have seen so many cases where chiroprtactic is 'the casue' of spinal instability and yet nearly 100% of physicians will not report this properly. even if there is slight good in very few chiropractic techniques in so far as a truly 'jammed' bone the problem lies in the fact that the industry in not regulated and it can be said "well, that's just the way i do it" and it seems to pass the smell test with the health dept. and attorneys. in medicine there must be standards. you cannot have cowboys out there expermenting on folks just because they know there will be no accountability.if fact in all states now the health dept is in cOlusion with chiopractors because it is they who run the dept who is supposed to monitor any wrong doings-what do you think they will find 99% of the time? this is wy it can be said that injuries are so rare in the 1 and 2,000,000 range which is absurd- the chiro association has powered there way into the federal health dept. and now they are protected, this truly is a sham of all shams by an industry that has proven itslf to be a sham. when chiros intentially injure ligiments to weaken a body to ensure return to them or another chiropractor it should be prosecuted as assault and followed by prison- and yet this is what schools of chiropractic encourage freely. if a plummer did this level of work he would be sued- try to sue a doctor and same applies for a chiropractor! they cannot be sued thru small claims and unless you are laying in a coma an attorney will not take the case. i have seen so may permenent injuries from chiropractic from prallysis, nerve damage throughout the body, broken ribs,disk damage, connective tissue damage is so common and underdiagnosed it is one of the great shams being swept under the carpet BY MEDICAL DOCTORS! I DO NOT RECOMMEND CHIROPRACTIC--BUT DO THINK THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO HAVE THEIR OWN DEPT. TO MONITOR THEMSELVES-THIS BELONGS ON REDICULIST! (HEALTH DEPT. WAKE UP!!!)

Awful read. I tried to give it 0 stars but that wasn't allowed. Its embarrassing that someone so threatened by the effectiveness of chiropractic has to bash it. It has been proven again and again in research that chiropractic is no more likely than your general practitioner to increase a risk of stroke. Stroke is very rare to start with following any medical or chiropractic treatment.

Also for anyone who doesn't want to read the research I just want to note that many of the symptoms of stroke are actually many of the same reasons that people seek chiropractic care. From my understanding chiropractors functionally treat the nervous system better than any other doctors out there... Really? What does and M.D. do for the nervous system, give drugs? What does your normal medical neurologist do for the patient assess what is wrong and then decide the right course of treatment. Chiropractors are actually the only nervous system doctors that treat the cause and not just the symptoms. And when looking at it this way. If the patient has numbness and tingling in their body, neck pain, and headache,as well as poor balance and coordination wouldn't your first thought the to go to the chiropractor since they treat this.

Unfortunately what are some of the symptoms of stroke: headache, neck pain, numbness and tingling, as well as decreased coordination and balance. All of these are things the chiropractors are amazing treating. Maybe it is the fault of the chiropractor for taking on previous stroke cases when the patient doesn't know that they just had a stroke, if anything that is the only fault of the chiropractor, not chiropractic as a profession, but the few chiropractors that have not been able to identify a stroke when it walked into their office.

I agree that everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but it is sad that this kind of literature is out there. There is actually as much evidence out there that MDs cause stroke more than chiropractic ever has but that research is included in this book. Also note this book was written in 2003 meaning that the research probably came from somewhere before 2000 to 2002 at the very latest. All the newer research that is out there, that is performed by a legitimate governing body, suggests that these patients who claim to have suffered stroke from chiropractic care more often than not had a previous stroke and were coming in to treat the symptoms of the stroke. PLEASE learn to read research if you want to buy into a book like this.

Newer research: (From Spine, an international peer-reviewed non-biased journal, the leading research on anything spine - medical, orthopedic, chiropractic, etc.) hint hint - mostly written by MDs. NOT chiropractors. Therefore removes bias.

Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care
Results of a Population-Based Case-Control and Case-Crossover Study
Spine. 2008 Feb 15;33(4 Suppl):S176-83.
by Cassidy JD, Boyle E, Côté P, He Y, Hogg-Johnson S, Silver FL, Bondy SJ.
(5)

Also this book was paid for by canoe.ca, which is a news and entertainment company. Neither author has any medical background. Careful what you read.

I have read many books on chiropractic. This is a solid effort and adds the Canadian perspective. Chiropractic is a culture of intellectual dishonesty, dogma and self-interest. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary chiros cling to the "subluxation" theory of disease. MRIs of the spine completely refute the notion that nerve interference occurs much less causes disease. Chiropractors cannot face the facts because to do so would probably cause them financial ruin and it would be very hard to admit your life's work was based on an absurd, discredited and laughable concept. Chiropractors have survived by legislating and litigating their way into the marketplace. This is because the laws of the US and Canada are business laws and not based on scientific legitimacy. They are also effective marketers who use free exams, patient retention psychology techniques and scare tactics to attract and retain customers. Fortunately only about 7% of the population fall for these ploys and sees a chiroprator in any given year.Virtually anything chiros do has one goal- make more money for themselves. Healthcare reform will exclude chiropractic because cost-effectiveness will be demanded. Even for simple back pain a single visit to a primary care provider and generic analgesics is much less expensive than multiple visits to a chiropractor and the functional outcome is the same.

If this book truly does state that there are 200 strokes cause by manipulation per year in Canada, then I would not bother wasting my time with this book.

What I would rather see is a book that reviews all studies done on the subject. For example, some studies have shown that the risk of stroke from manipulation is only 1 in 1-3 million. That's less than the risk of stroke in the general public.

What caught my eye as a potentially interesting book regarding an "expose" into chiropractic turned out to be nothing more than a witch hunt based on biases and misrepresentation. As I read through the chapters, I started to get an impression that these authors were willing to base gargantuous claims on little or partial pieces of evidence simply to make the book more tantalizing.

Spin Doctors is a written form of Jerry Springer if I have ever seen one, but at least Jerry doesn't come across with the supposition of being credible. While his show doesn't disguise the fact that it is not to be taken seriously, I get the distinct impression that Benedetti and Macphail wrote this book with the express purpose of discrediting a profession. Personally, I did not appreciate their attempts at taking advantage of a reader's trust or trying to make money from unjustly attacking others.

Unless you are interested in seeing true "manipulation" at it's best, I'd stay away from this book.

As a PhD in physiology I can say that from a science standpoint this book is sound. As a fan of chiropractic care I am slightly saddened by the claims often made by so many chiropractors. For chronic low back pain MDs fail on a regular basis. However, I would never let a chiropractor touch my neck or my kids!!! Chiropractics lovers and haters should read this book.

This is an excellent book, bringing together the history and facts of what may be one of the greatest hoaxes in history. If you want the straight facts concerning chiropractic, I have found no resource better. I feel sorry for all the desperate people being duped into chiropractic care, or as a career choice. Perhaps this book can serve to avert similar disasters for others.