At the time of the first appointments, the inside word was that a chiropractor or two would be added to the commission. And indeed, on October 19, in the second round of appointments to the commission, President Clinton announced the addition of the first doctor of chiropractic: Palmer alumna Veronica Gutierrez,DC, of Lake Stevens, Washington.
Dr. Gutierrez has a private practice in Lake Stevens, and is an active member of the chiropractic community. She has served on a number of boards and commissions and has received special recognition from the Chiropractic Society of Washington, the Straight Chiropractic Academic Standards Association, and the International Chiropractors Association.
The commission, which is chaired by Harvard-educated James Gordon,MD, a psychiatrist based in Washington, DC, will be making legislative and administrative recommendations on alternative health care issues as they relate to research, training/certification of CAM practitioners, and insurance coverage.
ACA Announces Free 1st Year Membership to Recent Grads
DENVER, Colorado - The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has approved a new rate package for new graduate DCs. With the new member rates, the ACA said that each Student ACA (SACA) member will save over $1,700 in dues over the first four years of membership.
The membership incentive package for new graduates looks like this:
| Year | SACA | non-SACA |
| one | free | free (with $30 application fee) |
| two | $65 | $99 |
| three | $225 | $250 |
| four | $400 | $450 |
Dr. Winterstein Honored
Dr. James Winterstein, president of National University of Health Sciences, was named "Chiropractor of the Year" by the Illinois Chiropractic Society (ICS). The honor was presented to Dr. Winterstein October 7, at the ICS fall conference in Springfield, Illinois.
Dr. Winterstein was instrumental in the reorganization of the National College of Chiropractic into the National University of Health Sciences in September 2000. The university now offers a five-year program in chiropractic programs in acupuncture and naturopathic medicine. The university also has a College of Allied Health Sciences that offers a massage program to prepare students for national certification.
International Chiropractic Solidarity Day
November 29th was International Chiropractic Solidarity Day. Doctors in North America were asked to devote the proceeds from the first three patient visits on that day to help the Manitoba Chiropractors' Association (MCA) in its defamation lawsuit against the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons (MCPS).
The MCA's lawsuit was prompted by the MCPS' use of the media to malign chiropractic care. The MCPS has presented chiropractic as unsafe, called into question the quality of chiropractic care and the competence of DCs, and circulated false information on chiropractic education. These are not isolated incidences. The lawsuit asserts that the MCPS has "historically acted in a malicious and defamatory manner" toward chiropractors in Manitoba.
"There are times when the attacks of the medical establishment cross the line, and it is time to fight back with all of the resources at our profession's command," said ICA President Robert Hoffman.
"The Manitoba Association has led the way and fought on their own for many months, to bring this case to the courts and to the court of public opinion. They deserve our help," said Dr. Daniel Schaeffer, the ICA assembly representative for Manitoba.
The ICA has been collecting donations, converting the donations into Canadian funds and forwarding the amounts to the Manitoba Association. For more information, go to http://www.chiropractic.org.
Speaking of Research . . .
BackStrong International has completed the first phase of a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant - "Development of a variable angle Roman chair (VARC)" - was obtained through the NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant and assigned to the National Institutes of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS.
Phase I activities included an EMG study of the lumbar extensor musculature confirming the progressive resistive protocol by changing hand positions and angles of the device. This study will be submitted to Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Phase II for this grant should be funded by March 2001. Activities for the phase will include a study on chronic low back pain with a subset of postsurgical patients and an injury prevention program.
The board of trustees for the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) has approved these research projects for funding:
- Lumbar spine segmental flexion-extension induced during chiropractic manipulative therapy. Nelson Marquina, DC, PhD, and Scott Banks,DC. The research will be conducted at Logan College of Chiropractic.
- Comparison of treatment outcomes and cost-effectiveness between chiropractic and back surgery for the treatment of low back pain and sciatica secondary to lumbar herniated disc. D. Gordon McMorland,DC.
- The Biochemical Profile of Myofascial Trigger Points: a clinical microdialysis study. Veronica M. Sciotti, PhD. The research will be conducted at New York Chiropractic College.
- A multisite trial: chiropractic and asthma with physiological markers. Ray Hayek,Bsc (Hons), MChiro (Australia), at Macquarie University.
Studies 2,3, and 4 will be funded by NCMIC and managed by FCER.
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