FSM has issued the following press release regarding the regulation of chiropractors.
The internet has led to media being swamped by ‘fake news’ but it has also led to the Australian public being swamped by ‘fake medicine’.
Following widespread alarm at the video of chiropractor Andrew Arnold manipulating a baby’s spine, Friends of Science in Medicine has again called for limiting the scope of practice of chiropractors.
FSM is a prominent consumer health watchdog which argues that health treatments advertised to the public and practised on them should be backed by evidence that they are effective and, more importantly, not harmful.
“The treatment demonstrated in the video is nothing more than ludicrous nonsense. It is inappropriate for any chiropractors to be treating infants as this is not without risk of significant harm,” said paediatric expert Professor Don Cameron. “Also, the ‘Activator’ device used by the chiropractor, has no sound scientific basis and is, at best, an expensive placebo”.
“Chiropractors continue to pursue expanding their practices into paediatrics, in particular, neonates. The Federal Government should legislate that no child under 8 years can be treated by chiropractors,” said Professor Alastair MacLennan.
FSM President Dr Ken Harvey repeated his concerns that pseudoscientific, ineffective, dangerous and poorly regulated ‘treatments’ and ‘products’ are increasingly being inflicted on a public that is poorly served by regulators such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) who are supposed to protect them.
“Why would you want to manipulate the very soft and moveable skull bones of neonates? Repeated requests to AHPRA and the Chiropractic Board to limit the age to protect our babies and children have fallen on deaf ears” said Professor Harvey.
If the Health Minister Jenny Mikakos is so “outraged”, FSM asks her to demand that the Chiropractic Board limit the scope of practice of their registrants and to set a minimum age for their patients.
See also:
https://www.painscience.com/articles/craniosacral-therapy.php
https://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cranial.html