May 6, 2016
Allison Worrall
VIDEO OF CHIROPRACTOR TREATING A 4 DAY OLD INFANT
The Victorian Health Minister has called for urgent action against rogue chiropractors amid outrage over the manipulation of babies’ spines.
Doctors have led a chorus of concern about the safety and efficacy of chiropractic procedures after a video surfaced online showing a Melbourne chiropractor manipulating a newborn baby’s spine to treat colic and reflux.
The footage, which has been watched more than a million times on YouTube, was met with a furious response from health professionals but so far, no formal investigation into the procedure has been launched.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy has written to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the Chiropractic Board of Australia seeking a crackdown on chiropractors performing “unproven and potentially unsafe procedures on young children and infants”.
The AHPRA said it could not discuss individual matters, but stated that it – along with the Chiropractic Board of Australia – had “a number of investigations underway, particularly in relation to advertising claims being made by chiropractors”.
Ms Hennessy said she was left “physically shaken” after viewing the YouTube video of Ian Rossborough manipulating a premature baby’s spine.
“I can understand doctors are outraged by the extremely distressing image of a four-day-old baby having its spine cracked,” she said.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has told its members to not refer patients to chiropractors and has called for the federal government and private health insurers to stop paying them for questionable treatments.
In March, the Chiropractic Board of Australia warned chiropractors not to make claims that spinal manipulation could produce general wellness or treat diseases, development problems and infections in children.
But Ms Hennessy said she was concerned about persistent claims from a “small cohort of chiropractors” that spinal or scalp treatment could cure conditions such as colic, autism, ear infections of ADHD.
In her letter to the board, she expressed doubt the current regulations were preventing rogue chiropractors from making unsubstantiated and dangerous claims and asked the board to review its accountability mechanisms.
Ms Hennessy also said she had been contacted by “alarmed” members of the public who reported they had witnessed chiropractors advising parents against vaccinating their children and openly promoting anti-vaccination materials in waiting rooms.
“It’s also reprehensible that chiropractors would pedal anti-vaccination myths outside their scope of practice,” she said.
“That’s why I have requested the Chiropractic Board of Australia and AHPRA take urgent action to crack down on rogue chiropractors in the interests of children and babies.”
In a media statement on Friday, the ARPA said it recognised the Health Minister’s concerns.
“The public are entitled to receive safe, ethical and competent care from chiropractors,” the statement said.
The Chiropractic Board of Australia regulated individual chiropractors and set the standards they must meet, it said.
The requirement for chiropractors to provide care that was “evidence-based” was a key component of those standards.
The AHPRA said anyone who held concerns about a chiropractor should phone them on 1300 419 495.