Are Chiropractors Doctors?

Chiropractors may call themselves “doctors,” but in fact most are not medical doctors. Chiropractors trace their origins to a 19th century magnetic healer, Daniel David Palmer, who claimed to have restored the hearing of a deaf janitor by adjusting a bump on his spine. Palmer decided that misaligned vertebrae were the root of most human disease and adjusting or manipulating the vertebrae allowed the body to heal itself. Palmer combined two Greek words that meant “done by hand” and coined the name “Chiropractic” for this method of treatment.

Palmer’s concepts are adhered to by chiropractors today in multiple ways, including the claim that spinal misalignment is harmful to general health and that chiropractors can supposedly correct this misalignment by adjusting the spine. Most often, chiropractic care today is used to treat complaints such as neck pain, back pain and headaches. But chiropractors’ methods can cause serious injuries.

A chiropractor can seriously injure a patient by twisting or pressing down on the neck and causing a small tear in the vertebral or carotid arteries. While chiropractors still use Palmer’s concepts, his philosophy that spinal alignment restores “nerve flow” and allows the body to heal itself defies sound medical and scientific principles.  Palmer and his followers were prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license in the early years. Eventually, they convinced state legislatures to recognize chiropractic as a separate type of healing apart from medicine and to allow chiropractors to call themselves by the title ‘doctor.” Still, they are not medical doctors.

Chiropractors receive training at small independent schools, usually called colleges, that are not part of major academic universities. The admissions standards are much less rigorous than admission to medical, nursing or dentistry school and there is no admissions test or requirement that applicants have a college degree. Chiropractic colleges usually require 13 quarters of attendance. Once chiropractors get their degree and pass a national exam, they can treat pediatric patients, pregnant women and geriatric patients without ever having seen this type of patient in a clinical setting.

An important distinction between medical doctors and chiropractors is that a medical doctor will start by assessing a patient’s symptoms and by process of elimination arrive at a diagnosis. On the other hand, chiropractors often start with the assumption that the patient’s problem is one of misaligned or displaced vertebrae and manipulate the neck or spine, no matter what the actual problem. Chiropractors are not licensed to treat disease with surgery, medications or injections.

Among others, chiropractors have been known to claim to “cure” the following maladies by adjusting the neck:

• Arthritis
• Colds and flu
• Tonsillitis strep and sore throat
• Asthma
• Menstrual problems
• Post hysterectomy problems
• Scoliosis
• Learning disorders
• Chronic pain
• Stomach trouble
• Mental health issues
• Allergies
• Immunization avoidance in children.

If you are reading this Web site, you or a loved one has most likely suffered a brain stem stroke; you suspect that a chiropractic neck manipulation led to the stroke, perhaps minutes, days or weeks later. You will want to consult  a lawyer experienced in handling cases of chiropractic stroke injuries to understand your legal rights. You or your family member may be the victim of chiropractic malpractice.  Please contact us for a free evaluation of your situation. Call 1-888-797-4242 or fill out our online form.