Article - April 16, 2008 - California Progress Report

State Audit Vindicates Push for California Chiropractic Board Reform

By Deborah Snow

On March 25, 2008 state Auditor, Elaine Howle, released a report finding members of the California State Board of Chiropractic Examiners violated laws and took other inappropriate actions. This audit details serious flaws in the chiropractic board’s enforcement, licensing, continuing education, open meeting laws, and the actions of the chiropractic board members.

The auditor contends in the introduction of the audit that “in fact the chiropractic board’s handling of complaints is so flawed that it fails to promptly process its most serious complaints -- those it defines as having priority. Our review of 11 priority complaints revealed that it took the chiropractic board from one to three years to process nine of them, potentially leading to repeat offenses and a failure to protect the public.” The board’s primary responsibility is to protect California consumers against fraudulent, negligent, or incompetent chiropractic practices. The flaws that have existed in this board for years have overwhelmingly let down the people of California.

The Chiropractic Board, which oversees about 15,000 chiropractors, was thrown into controversy in March 2007 when it took illegal steps to fire executive director, Cathy Hayes, without due notice and failed to adhere to the Bagley-Keene open meeting act. This led the board which had normally operated below public radar, into full legislative and media scrutiny. The “Sacramento Bee” began a series of investigative articles which were published in many California newspapers and Senator Ridley-Thomas led legislative hearings to investigate the serious allegations of board misconduct.

Both Assemblyman Mike Eng and Senator Ridley-Thomas introduced bills that, if placed on the ballot and approved by California voters, would have placed the board under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer Affairs like all other State healthcare boards and subjected it to the same legislative oversight. Lawmakers passed Ridley-Thomas’ Senate Bill 801(Chiropractor Consumer Protection Act) only to have it vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who counts the two most controversial board members among his closest friends. When the Governor vetoed this bill it left the board with half of its’ budget.

The Chiropractic Board has had no true oversight since 1976 when it withdrew and declared its independence from Department of Consumer Affairs. The board withdrew alleging “conflicts of interest and clear bias and prejudice ……... “The board was allowed to withdraw because of the phrasing of the 1922 California Chiropractic Initiative Act which needs updated to fit into our current society.

There is a long history of animosity between the medical profession and the chiropractic profession. The chiropractic community often mentions a lawsuit a chiropractor initiated against the American Medical Association in 1976 (Wilk vs. AMA) in which federal court found that the AMA was guilty of conspiracy and restraint of trade of the chiropractic profession. What they don’t mention is how times have changed since then. In 1992 the AMA stated that it is ethical for physicians to refer patients to chiropractors and a further acceptance came in 1997 when an AMA report states that “manipulation has a …reasonably good degree of efficacy in ameliorating back pain, headache…”

It’s time to put the consumers need for board protection before their fear of bias. Their withdrawal from Consumer Affairs left the board without oversight, and left the consumer without any recourse if they experienced a problem with the board. As I detail in an earlier article, I was told by the (then) executive director, Kim Smith, that the only authority to appeal to regarding my complaint was the Governor. With any other consumer board the public can file a complaint with DCA. At the Chiropractic Board meeting on March 27, 2008, board member, Jim Conran, said that he believed that this board started unraveling when they withdrew from DCA. I wholeheartedly agree with him.

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