ACA Responds to American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
Scientific Statement on Cervical Manipulative Therapy
Stroke and Informed Consent Resources Available to the Profession
The American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association (ASA) today released a scientific statement on cervical manipulative therapy (CMT) and the association with cervical artery dissection (CD).
Read ACA’s response here.
As a result of the scientific statement, there might be coverage in local and national media about the issue of neck manipulation and the purported risk of CD/stroke.
Talking to Concerned Patients
Some patients may come into the offices of doctors of chiropractic concerned about having their necks adjusted. To help make it easier for DCs to talk to their patients about the issue, ACA has created a stroke resources web page that provides links to research studies that demonstrate the safety of chiropractic, related articles, patient fact sheets and links to other educational tools such as a new infographic. Key messages are also available that can help doctors touch on important facts during their discussions with patients. You’ll find all these resources at www.acatoday.org/resources.
ACA also has compiled several resources on informed consent that may be helpful to review, including ACA’s informed consent policy and a list of state statutes, legislation and legal precedents related to the issue.
Dealing with the Media: ACA Spokespeople Ready for Interviews
If you are contacted by a member of the media regarding neck manipulation and the purported risk of CD/stroke or regarding the issue of informed consent, please know that ACA can help. ACA’s media spokespeople are well prepared to answer questions regarding the risk of serious injury following cervical manipulation and the practice of informed consent. Feel free to refer any media inquiries to the ACA PR team:
Annette Bernat, abernat@acatoday.org, (703) 812-0226
Amanda Donohue, adonohue@acatoday.org, (703) 812-0209