The Congress of the Chiropractor – Dynamic Growth 2014

Whenever I am reminded of the annual chiropractic event, the Dynamic Growth Congress (DGC), run by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation (ASRF), I think of the Kama Sutra: deep in your heart of hearts you have this ominous feeling that, eventually, someone is gonna get screwed.

The Australian Spinal Research Foundation is a closely related ally of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia (CAA). It is an organisation wherein the magical concept of the chiropractic subluxation reigns supreme. It is an organisation with serious financial questions hanging over its head regarding its stated (charitable) goal of research, as opposed to the reality of its poor research output. It is also an organisation which has a long and tainted history of association with barking mad anti-vaccinationism. Well, maybe that history is not so historical.

The ASRF has hosted anti-vaccinationist Meryl Dorey to present talks, and to act as an exhibitor. It has also hosted the Deranged Californian™ Billy (Lyle) DeMoss as  recently as 2013. Of course the ASRF would not dare host the likes of DeMoss again: associating with him has already seen the removal of one Chiropractors’ Association of Australia New South Wales board member, Tim Shakespeare. Surely, associating with anyone who still holds DeMoss in any esteem would be ridiculed by such an austere organisation as the ASRF. Surely?

So…the ASRF has released its speakers line-up for this year’s Melbourne DGC. Going through the list of speakers there doesn’t appear to be much there about research either. I cannot do justice to their individual blurbs, so I implore you to read them for yourself. I’m guessing that if your desires may tend toward vitalism, back slapping, practice building, cash accumulation, personal growth, motivational speaking, life coaching, and wealth creation, as delivered by a global cabal of true believing mates; then, you may find yourself right at home. I don’t see too much there about evidence based health. I see plenty about chiropractor based wealth. Think of Hillsong, only more annoying; but, maybe with more hymns.

This may not be the final list – two names were added overnight – but, I wanted to have a look through and see if we recognise any of the names, either from my own posts, or from other noticeable activities. So, here we go:

Alison Young (Scott) is a former Board Member of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia Western Australia franchise who was outed by her friend, Olivia Gleeson, as someone who snuck in and adjusted babies in hospital. Young is/was also a member of the rabid anti-vaccination pressure group, the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

Andrew Cameron is someone I haven’t met before, but a perusal of his Facebook page raises some questions about his claims regarding chiropractic’s ability to treat…

1. Cows:

Cameron 1 chiro on cowAnd, 2. allergies:

Cameron 2 spring time allergiesAnthony Golle is an anti-vaccine chiropractor and also the employer of shameless anti-vaccine chiropractor, Rob Hutchings. Hutchings claimed to be a “doctor” in an online news comments section. Hutchings later claimed, in a closed Facebook group, that he had been hacked. Unluckiest guys in the world, these anti-vaccine chiropractors. Always getting hacked by hackers who share their exact beliefs. What.Are.The.Odds?

Billy Chow is an anti-vaccine chiropractor and board member of the CAA National. When Chow was a board member of the CAA South Australia he approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) from – and this is not a joke – Meryl Dorey of the AVN.

Brett Hill is an anti-vaccine chiropractor and wellness evangelical. Hill was a president of the CAA South Australia, as well as being a member of the South Australian anti-vaccine group, VISA. Along with the CAA SA and the ASRF Hill was extremely enthusiastic in promoting the anti-vaccine, chiropractic infomercial Doctored.

Brian Kelly is en esteemed chiropractor, worldwide. He was in charge of the New Zealand College of Chiropractic (NZCC) at one stage. He is now the boss man at Life Chiropractic College West, in the United States. A quick perusal of Kelly’s online activities shows he is a supporter of Andrew Wakefield:

Kelly 2 promoting WakefieldAnd Kelly would appear to have some knowledge of the BRCA1 gene. Otherwise he would shut his damn mouth about Angelina Jolie, right?

Kelly 1 Angelina Jolie having breasts removed for no reasonHe is also a promoter of the anti-vaccine, chiropractic infomercial, Doctored. This is to be expected, given where he now resides:

Kelly 3 Doctored screening Life CollegeBrinsley Lane is not someone I’ve heard of before. He has spent some time in the Solomon Islands, even claiming to have given a presentation to their parliament. What did he present? The chiropractic fuse-box, used everywhere to claim that chiropractic removes nerve interference, or something similar, so that organs work properly:

Lane 1 fusebox in Solomons parliament

I just hope Lane didn’t make any claims like this, in parliament:

Lane 2 paracetamol asthma riskBruce Whittingham has become one of my favourites. He works alongside Adam L Smith, who has featured in my anti-vaccine chiropractors series, making arrogant, ignorant, callous claims like this:

I have not read a media report of an unvaccinated kid dying from any of these diseases. It’s the supposedly protected, vaccinated kids who are getting sick and dying from the very diseases they are supposedly immunised against.

Whittingham was also a member of the anti-vaccine AVN at one stage. He grabbed my attention recently when he implied, in public, that the parents of a baby who had suffered a broken neck following a chiropractic manipulation were the subject of a child protection investigation (DOCS). Yes, he implied that the parents broke their baby’s neck, so he could divert attention from the real investigation. He did that. He later deleted this comment:

Whittingham 3 Mamamia blaming baby injury on parents DOCSThis led to a perusal of Whittingham’s other sites. Apparently he considers himself a guru, and even has an app for that. Ridiculously, on his YouTube channel, The Chiropractic App, Whittingham still, to this day, features one of the most thigh-slappingly comedic videos we’ve seen this year. I strongly urge you to watch this. Here is a still from the video which depicts how Whittingham adjusts a baby via “surrogate muscle testing” and applied kinesiology. Remember – and this is pertinent – he’s giving a talk at the premiere chiropractic talk-fest of the year. He is a leader of chiropractic in this country:

Whittingham 4 surrogate muscle testing AK baby adjustment videoIf you’re lucky Whittingham will cure your dog’s incontinence as well:

Whittingham 2 adjusting dogCarren Smith has featured in my anti-vaccine chiropractors series as a wellness evangelical. She is not a chiropractor. Smith appears basically everywhere with Cyndi O’Meara on the public speaking, wellness evangelical circuit.

Clinton McCauley has a very quiet online presence. He is/was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN. [edit May 12 2015: McCauley shows his true, revolting colours on the Facebook profile of his chiropractor mate, Ben Phillips. McCauley attempts to argue that a real baby’s death from whooping cogh is only worth as much as a baby whom they claim died from a vaccine. The latter baby did not]:

McCauley 1 Riley juxtaposed with another dead baby

Craig Foote features in my anti-vaccine chiropractors posts. He is/was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN.

Cyndi O’Meara is a life-long chiropractic devotee, coming from a family of chiropractors. She never made it through chiropractic school, instead focusing on a lucrative career on the nutrition and wellness evangelical circuit. O’Meara is strongly anti-vaccine and has admitted dissuading friends and callers from immunising their children, using deceptive sources. She features in my anti-vaccine series.

Damian Kristof is another of the anti-vaccine wellness evangelical chiropractors. He has built a very successful career around this evangelism. He is/was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN.

Daniel Malone has a very quiet online presence. He works at Pioneer Family Chiropractic, which prides itself on manipulating babies, and their parents, and using them in advertisements:

Malone 1 babyJohn Hinwood is the founder of the DGC. He is a past president of the ASRF. He has made a career out of practice coaching.

David Jackson is awesome. He is an associate of Billy DeMoss. I want to include his DGC blurb, and you can just gauge it for yourself:

Jackson 3 cash successApart from being a reformed or recovering failure, Jackson is now fully cashed up to the spizz, bro. He has worked it out. And, he’s here to share his secrets with you. And one of the secrets is surely the truth. Here is some of his truth:

Jackson 2 Wakefield added to eventJackson is also the cover-boy of Billy DeMoss’s latest Spizz magazine:

Spizz JacksonAnd, yes, I had to look it up as well. Here is the explanation of the spizz which drives them:

“Spizz – to live ambition and enthusiasm for sharing the truth about chiropractic from the center of your soul.” – Gilles Lamarche

“Spizz is the general excitement we have for Chiropractic borne from a deep knowledge of our philosophy, science and art… and realizing we have a obligation to share this message of hope with the world.” – Rob Sinnott

“Spizz means an uncontainable passion and enthusiasm for ChiropracTIC.” – Liam Schubel

Billy DeMoss also “unleashed the spizz” to DGC in 2013, in Brisbane. So much spizz. So little time. I’m glad they’ve got someone else to do it this year. The ASRF wouldn’t want to bring down the tenor like they did in 2013. But, I digress.

David Hendrey and Doug Herron I’ve not heard of before [see update January 23 2013].

Glenn Maginness is someone who calls himself a paediatric chiropractor. He runs a business program called C4K Chiropractic for Kids. He also runs a business called Mt Eliza Family Chiropractic Clinic. He provides CPD accredited courses, training other chiropractors in the manipulation of babies. His training is so good, so evidence based, he approached the more evidence based association the Chiropractic and Osteopathic College of Australasia (COCA), asking them to also run and advertise his courses. COCA said no:

Maginness 1 COCA CPDI’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you must go to a chiropractor, go to a COCA registered chiropractor. They don’t (shouldn’t) treat children for anything other than musculoskeletal conditions, and you’ll be hard pushed to find a single magical subluxation correcter, or spine wizard, among them. Here is the COCA policy on treating kids.

And, AHPRA accredits his courses? This needs a serious, swift investigation.

We can see that Maginness has previously given DGC talks about treating ear infections (so, COCA was right to ignore him):

Maginnis 2 ear infectionsI’ll leave the “inverted swing test” up to your own imagination. You’ll need to work a subluxation in there somewhere as well:

Maginnis 3 inverted swing testMaginness also shared this absolute rubbish:

Maginnis 4 TylenolAnd where would we be without Mike Adams, Natural News, and water fluoridation lies? I suppose we should be thankful I found no anti-vaccine posts:

Maginness 5 fluoride

Jamie Richards and Jo Dobson are not chiropractors I’ve come across before in any noticeable way.

Kate Golle is the wife and business partner of Anthony Golle, above.

Katelyn McGregor works at Pioneer Family Chiropractic. She featured in my post regarding the chiropractors who sneak into hospitals to adjust babies and other customers. Whilst searching through images for this post I was reminded of this baby-manipulating photo, in which McGregor claims she provided a “presentation” for the Mercy Hospital. Why on Earth would this be the case? I did email the Mercy Hospital(s) to inquire about this claim. I never did receive a reply. Maybe some of you will have better luck:

McGregor 2 Mercy HospitalLaurence Tham is an anti-vaccine chiropractor and wellness evangelical. He’s the guy who is out to turbo-charge your practice, so you make more money health, basically. Tham is/was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN.

Marcus Yeo featured in my anti-vaccine chiropractors series, congratulating an anti-vaccine screed by another chiropractor. He has his own posts which I haven’t shared before, from his own profile, and from his nutrition page.

Mercola, Gardasil, and the “biohazard”:

Yeo 1 biohazard found in Gardasil MercolaAnd Yeo tells us what he really thinks about vaccines; or, as he likes to call them, “poison”:

Yeo 2 flu shot poisonMark Postles is an elder statesman anti-vaccine chiropractor. He is/was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN. He is a fixture of the ASRF.

Martin Harvey is the president of the ASRF, man about the world of spizz, and an anti-vaccine chiropractor. I’ll use any excuse to share this photo again, and again. DeMoss may be absent, but, he’s never far away from the ASRF:

Harvey 2 picture with DeMossPatrick Sim is a board member of the CAA National. As with Billy Chow, above, he was on the board of the CAA South Australia when they approved anti-vaccination zealot Meryl Dorey to provide CPD training to CAA SA members. Again, they approved anti-vaccine training to chiropractors as part of their professional training requirements.

Rosemary Keating has a very quiet online presence. She is/was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN.

Ross McDonald is the president of the Scottish Chiropractic Association. He is also the creator of the Edinburgh Lectures, a chiropractic platform similar to the DGC. In 2010 McDonald was forced to remove claims from advertising material, and from the windows of his business. The claims made therein could not be substantiated. But I wanted to have a look at something from a bit later, given this man is a modern, global powerhouse of chiropractic.

Here is a thread from his 2012 Edinburgh line-up. Such Tim O’Shea. Much Billy DeMoss. Brad Glowaki wow. Very Tony Croke.

Ross McDonald 2012 Edinburgh Lectures DeMoss O'Shea Croke GlowackiLook, maybe I’m being a little harsh. 2012 was a long time ago. Let’s give McDonald – the president of the SCA, the creator of the Edinburgh Lectures – the benefit of the doubt. Who’s up for 2013?

Ross McDonald 2013 Edinburgh Lectures DeMoss FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Shady Botros doesn’t have much of an online presence. Apart from testimonials:

Shady 1 testimonials

I think we all know testimonials are banned, right? It’s a shame we need to remind the chiropractors, and the Chiropractic Board of Australia.

Update August 13 2014

Thanks to a commenter who didn’t make it through the spam queue for making allegations based on her own misunderstandings of the duties of the chiropractor, under the advertising guidelines, I was reminded to revisit Shady’s page at Frankston Chiropractic Centre. Here is a picture boasting of adjusting a 5 week old baby. You read that right:

Shady 2 5 week old baby

Terry (Tez) Molloy is a chiropractor and rugby coach at Life Chiropractic College West. He is also a qualified trainer in Neuro Linguistic Programming. I’m serious. He’s pretty quiet online, but, he provided me with a testimonial, once:

start posting on his blog by starting with “Hi Unreasonable Wank ..” or “Hi Ignorant Flogger …”

Tiffani Clingin is the wife and business partner of Tony Croke. She is not a chiropractor. I once caught Clingin pretending to be a community member on a public Facebook thread, commenters being called there to support chiropractic and provide positive testimonials following the Catalyst episode. Clingin and many other chiropractic professionals did not like being called out as very interested parties pretending to be otherwise.

Tony Croke is an anti-vaccine chiropractor who was a member of the anti-vaccine AVN for a decade. He is a member of the board of the CAA National. He is a supporter of Billy DeMoss. Croke agreed with and condoned the practice of chiropractors sneaking into hospitals to manipulate their customers. Here is Croke encouraging DeMoss to visit Australia again. Remember, this was taken only 6 months ago. Did I mention that Tony Croke is a National Board Member for the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia? I did?

Croke 55 Billy De Moss welcome in Australia antivac autism

Sheridan Brady-Kay is one of the lecturers at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic. She used to post frequently on the AVN Facebook page. Here she is, in February 2012, supporting another anti-vaccinationist for making “wise, researched decisions”:

AVN 4168 Brady-Kay on Louise letterAnd from 2011, here is Kay, the anti-vaccinationist, in a hospital manipulating a 2 day old baby, and its parents:

AVN 4167 chiro 2 day old babyA 2 day old baby fell asleep! WELL &*$@ ME! Chiropractic is a miracle!

At least Kay didn’t do this dog in the hospital. She only did the dog in her business. I asked her about the cleanliness of this procedure, and she told me that everything was fine as the table is leather. Well, that’s okay, then. The dog didn’t think so, judging by his tail:

Kay adjusting dog

Skip forward to 2013 we see the premiere New Zealand Chiropractic event, Lyceum. This is the event where Tim Shakespeare took that fateful photograph with DeMoss. Yes, DeMoss was one of the presenters at Lyceum. But, it wasn’t only Shakespeare who posed with him:

Tham 10 DeMoss and KayLast one. I promise. I don’t have much to say about this one. I think this is self-explanatory…

Benjamin Harvey:

Benjamin Harvey DGC blurb

On his Facebook page he describes himself as a “Difference-Maker Accelerator”, whose past institutions include the “Academy of Wealth and Achievement”. Hey, whatever floats your boat, chiropractors who call yourselves primary health care practitioners. Who am I to judge?

Benjamin Harvey Facebook profile Difference Maker AcceleratorThere are 36 speakers listed, so far.

I have nothing to add for 4 3 of them [see update January 23 2013].

Most we have seen before. Some for their unethical entry into hospitals; others for their bizarre claims and treatments, including that of babies. And still others because they are just very silly.

Approximately 22 of them have confirmed links to anti-vaccinationism ranging from overt support to deranged, entrenched belief. The ASRF gets a 61% pass for anti-vaccinationism. This is just for anti-vaccinationism alone, without including anything else. And anti-vaccinationism says a lot about a person. But, it says a lot more about a primary health care practitioner.

And because you asked me to rub some salt into your gaping wounds, the DGC is being sponsored by the Industry Super Fund for healthcare workers, HESTA. If you don’t contact them and tell them that you are displeased at where your money is being used, they won’t ever stop doing it. This needs to stop:

ASRF DGC 2014 Hesta sponsor

I don’t have anything else to say about the ASRF and their Congress. If this is normal for them, Australian chiropractic is screwed.

Thanks for reading.

Update January 23 2013

David Hendrey, of Hendrey Chiropractic, Queensland.

With many thanks to a keen eyed reader who remembered some bizarre treatment claims; and even bigger thanks to colleagues who fired up the Wayback Machine and found the since deleted claims, I bring you three former pages of David Hendrey’s website. All screengrabs go back to March 2012; so it’s not that long ago that these claims were being made on Hendrey’s website.

Hendrey claimed that “Chiropractic correction of the subluxation can aid the immune responses of the body by reducing nerve interference”:

Page captured from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Hendrey made this claim regarding this huge cohort of HIV Positive patients, under the title “Chiropractic and HIV” :

Five patients were adjusted and five were controls. After 6 months, in the control group (not under chiropractic care) the CD4 levels decreased by 7.96%. While the group receiving chiropractic adjustments experienced a 48% increase in CD4 cell count. This indicates that correction of vertebral subluxations enhance the immune system and healing ability of the human body.

Page captured from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Hendrey included this miraculous story of a convert which claims that chiropractic can treat and improve autism:

They are so convinced by the benefits of chiropractic that Quentin is determined to spread the word. “This is the unimpeachable testimony of a man who did not believe in it. We have to raise awareness, because it worked so thoroughly for my son and changed his life and ours. If I can help just one child that’s going through what we went through, then that’s my reward.”

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

Page taken from the Wayback Machine

The only saving grace for Hendrey is that these pages don’t exist on his site any more. But, they did. Only two years ago. That says enough.

About reasonable hank

I'm reasonable, mostly.
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0 Responses to The Congress of the Chiropractor – Dynamic Growth 2014

  1. Steve Dave says:

    David Jackson – 100% cash for 17 hours work a week – hope he is paying tax on that.

  2. Steve Dave says:

    And Spizz. Really?

  3. BlueWode says:

    Superb post, Hank. What I’d like to know is where is the UK chiropractic regulator, the General Chiropractic Council? The bio of Scottish Chiropractic Association President, Ross McDonald, who’ll be speaking at the conference, seems off-the-wall:

    Quote
    “Ross McDonald is co-owner with his chiropractor wife, Rebecca, of a busy family, wellness practice in Edinburgh, Scotland. As President of the Scottish Chiropractic Association (SCA) since 2007, Ross was Chair and co-author of ‘The Vertebral Subluxation Complex – The History, Science, Evolution and Current Quantum Thinking on a Chiropractic Tenet’. A landmark work in chiropractic legislation, it resulted in the *withdrawal* [my emphasis] of the legislative guidance note effectively outlawing the use of the term Vertebral Subluxation in chiropractic in the UK. In 2006, Ross and Rebecca co-founded The Edinburgh Lectures, a vitalistic conference designed to educate, empower and inspire chiropractors and their staff. He is in regular discussion with healthcare policy makers at the Scottish Government and is currently working towards the creation of a vitalistic chiropractic college in Scotland. As a father of three beautiful chiropractic children, Ross believes that every child has the right to be adjusted in order to optimise their potential.”

    In addition to the above, readers may be interested to know that McDonald’s Edinburgh Lectures this year will also be featuring anti-vaccination chiropractors Tony Croke and Brian Kelly (as well as the notorious Billy DeMoss).

    This isn’t healthcare. It’s dangerous cultism.

  4. Alan Henness says:

    Indeed. Where is the regulator. Not protecting the public that’s for sure.

  5. bluewode says:

    Correction to my earlier comment: DeMoss appeared at the 2013 Edinburgh Lectures, but Croke and Kelly are definitely appearing at the 2014 gig.

    While here, it’s interesting that, despite a request, the UK General Chiropractic Council and the very dubious ‘Alliance of UK Chiropractors’ wouldn’t make McDonald’s co-authored ‘The Vertebral Subluxation Complex – The History, Science, Evolution and Current Quantum Thinking on a Chiropractic Tenet’ available publicly. See here:
    http://skepticbarista.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/subluxations-still-no-evidence/

    Something to hide?

  6. As a chiropractor that has reviewed chiropractic records for the last 20-30, Oh the stories I could tell. Here is one, the chiropractor adjusted his patients x-rays while the patient was on vacation in another country. And, yes he did submit an invoice to the insurance carrier.

  7. @advodiaboli says:

    Moooo.
    Woof.
    Waaaah!
    $Kaching!$

  8. NK says:

    Even after reading all your posts I find it hard to believe that THEY believe in this rubbish. I guess there must be blind belief, or it’s all about the money. Leaning towards the money.

  9. Ken McLeod says:

    The ‘Australian Spinal Research Foundation,’ ASRF, claims that it is an approved Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) under the Australian Income Tax Assessment Act and an Income Tax Exempt Charity. The Foundation is registered as Charity No. 1193 under the Queensland Collections Act. ASIC shows it is a Australian Public Company, Limited By Guarantee, with ACN of 005 305 117 and ABN of 74 005 305 117. The ASRF appeals for donations on its website.

    The ASRF claims to be a not-for-profit organisation, however over the past 13 years the ASRF has grossed an impressive $12.9M largely through promotion of quack subluxation theories, self-promotion, and incidentally, anti-vaccination messages. Only 6.9% of all revenue ended up funding the ASRF’s claimed primary function which is supposed to be research grants.

    The ASRF has just released their 2012 – 13 Annual Report. Net revenue was $1,697,097. The amount of money spent or allocated to research grants was $52,029. This amounts to 3.07% of all monies generated by the Australian Spinal RESEARCH Foundation. Referring to ASRF annual reports as found online, this abysmally low figure is consistent with past reports.

    So what did the donors and the Australian taxpayer get for that abysmally low sum? I just can’t seem to find any published research that was funded by the ASRF in that world-wide repository, the National Institutes of Health site, PubMED or any respected journals.

    The ASRF claims that ‘Over the past 10 years Spinal Research has funded more than 50 chiropractic research projects.’ In their list of projects, five grants were made to ASRF Vice President R Hayek, who is also listed in the 2006 – 07, 2007 – 08, 2008 – 09, 2009 – 10, 2010 – 11, 2011 -12 Annual Reports as Chairman on the Research Committee which ‘….gives time, energy and expertise to ensure the funds invested in research are directed to high quality, practice relevant and scientifically robust studies.’

    An extract from the ASRF site, says about research proposals they have received for funding:
    ”The results have been greater than could be expected. In our 2012 round, we received 12 expressions of interest. This year, in 2013, we received 22 expressions of interest, ” An organisation with such a big infrastructure, budget and profit crows about receiving only 22 expressions of interest?

    According to the ASRF’s annual reports, donations for research over the last four years has totalled $533,127, yet grants of only $376,532 were made; ie only 70% of donations went to the purpose for which they were solicited. In an organisation with a profit of $2,592,728 over 13 years, the public are entitled to know why the ASRF receives tax concessions. The ASRF should be asked to identify the research output that has occurred during these years. It appears that the supposed purpose of the fundraising is just a sham aimed at getting tax concessions.

    The ASRF should also be asked to show how research into a mythical ailment has been of any benefit to the community.

    The ASRF is no charity;

    # The ASRF appeals for donations to research a myth.

    # The ASRF engages in activities contrary to the public interest and in which there is no public benefit.

    # The ASRF does not spend donations on the research the donors were led to expect.

    # What research that the ASRF does fund is inaccessible and by any standard, woeful.

    # Questions of probity are raised when the Grants Committee awards research funds to the Vice-President of the ASRF, and when the Grants Committee Chairman is also Vice-President of the ASRF.

    A full audit is called for, with a view to cancelling all charity licences, tax concessions, and tax deductibility.

    Complaints with requests for a full audit should be made to the Australian Charities and Nonprofits Commission at advice@acnc.gov.au and to your Federal Member of Parliament.

    • Darkly Venus says:

      Hi Ken, I just spammed the Stop AVN page with this: the ACNC is now requiring not for profits to make their accounts public, but the Abbott Government is proposing to abolish the ACNC – which means goodbye transparency and accountability.

      I blogged about a Today Tonight report on the issue http://wp.me/p39BE3-vu and included email addresses for some relevant MPs and Senators. SMH has also run some stories on the issue and apparently MP Kevin Andrews will begin consultations next month on getting rid of it.

      Dire news for us, because the ACNC is investigating my targets and I recently wrote to pollies asking for increased investigative powers. (The investigator on the case uncovered serious issues but has since quit because management was stifling the investigation.)

      Please help out and write to pollies.

  10. keith Kelley says:

    So you guys have done studies on Chiropractics? Or do you just base your criticism on the blind medical indoctrination of, “we’re right and all those other ‘nutters’ who dare to do something different, are wrong.”(?)
    And there seems to be much criticism about them making money with what they do. Well it’s a shame that medical doctors only make enough to feed themselves and their families, and rent a modest shack in the boondocks, but hey, that’s life.
    But as always there are rogues in all walks of life, and I am not aware of these particular folk, but chiropractors in general are good, well meaning and their work is very effective.

    • “So you guys have done studies on Chiropractics?”
      – Plenty have. There’s not much in the way of evidence, apart from musculoskeletal stuff, especially the rubbish shown in this post.

      “blind medical indoctrination”
      – Do you mean facts? Those pesky facts?

      “And there seems to be much criticism about them making money with what they do”
      – I don’t care if chiropractors earn a living for legitimate practice. Go them. I know some evidence based chiros. I want them to have success in feeding their families. I do have a problem with the type of wealth creation practised by the guys in the post. Not much health, plenty of wealth.

      “there are rogues in all walks of life”
      – Don’t belittle the influence this bunch of heavy hitting chiropractors has on the profession as a whole. These guys heavily influence who represents them in largest association in the country. They are more the norm than not.

      • KS says:

        To add, chiropractors and doctors have the same expectations placed on them, that is, that they will treat patients with conditions for which they have been trained using accepted treatment methods, even if there is doubt over the effectiveness of the treatments as nothing is perfect. There are probably doctors out there that don’t follow the rules and they should be reported to the HCCC.

    • Mv says:

      Hi Keith,
      I studied chiropractic and practised for 10 years. There is NO credible evidence to back the insane claims these people make. I have met and studied with many on the list and totally support hanks assessment that financial gain and deluded arrogance and stupidity drives these clowns.
      As a student many years ago I went to dynamic growth to see for myself what went on…..embarrassing.

      • keith Kelley says:

        HI M.V. It seems that it’s this particular group that’s under the spotlight. Is that correct?
        If that is so then my apologies.
        And ‘Hank’ I won’t apply it here now, but I stand by my statement of “blind medical indoctrination”. It does get in the way at times. More than some would want to think.(had first hand experience with it)
        I will now opt out of this link because even though you may have a case against this group, the comments tied to the photos, statements, read a little like ‘school yard talk.’
        Also I do detect a certain amount of righteousness here. (My interpretation could be awry, but…….)
        Anyway keep up the passion, and like we all have to do, keep those egos in check. 🙂

        • Thank you so much for your sage advice, Keith. I like to be reminded of the righteousness I display when discussing anti-vaccinationists. They only have a body count to show for their beliefs after all. I’ll remember my place in future.

        • Darkly Venus says:

          Yes, sarcasm is so much more harmful than life threatening medical misinformation.

        • MV says:

          Hi again Keith,
          Having been associated with this group of Chiropractors through my studies and professional life and also worked with many “medical practitioners” professionally there is much more blind indoctrination going on with this group than within the medical profession.
          As mentioned in my student days I went to DG conference, for two reasons the first being when I had criticized this gathering many chiro’s (mentioned in this post and others posts by Hank) challenged me witt the comment how can you have an opinion if you haven’t been and also because the Saturday night ball was the student social event of the year. It was like an Evangelical Church meeting…the highlight being when at the end everyone had to join hands and sing “We are the World” and hug the person next to you…I am not kidding at this point I did a little spew in my mouth.

  11. Ken McLeod says:

    Hey Keith Kelley, please show us the research that demonstrates the efficacy of chiropractic treatment of incontinence in dogs.

  12. Meleese Pollock says:

    Oh look (you might have already seen this) Adjustasaurus Rex moaning about the HCCC submissions.

    http://timshakespeare.wordpress.com/

  13. Tom Armour says:

    Just sent a “please explain” to HESTA about their support of the event. I will be sure to let you know if and when they respond.

    • Magnificent. Thank you, Tom.

      • Tom Armour says:

        Well, here’s the response:

        “Thank you for your e-mail dated 19 January 2014.
        Chiropractors represent a part of HESTA’s member base. We sponsor industry events to engage with our members across all sectors in health and community services. Our sponsorship of such conferences does not mean we support the views of those presenting or the subject matter of presentations.”

        So I suppose that means HESTA has judged that it’s in their commercial interest to support these events, regardless of whether they are full of charlatans. Truth be told, there is probably a fair bit of money associated with chiropractors, so I can’t say I’m surprised. Still, as a HESTA member myself, I’m disappointed.

          • Stephen says:

            “Our sponsorship of such conferences does not mean we support the views of those presenting or the subject matter of presentations”

            What? Did I really just read that?

            Thanks, Indeed, Tom.

        • Andy says:

          Sponsorship is support of a most-important kind.

          Presumably they don’t just rubber-stamp ever sponsorship request put before them – so there must, presumably, be some sort of vetting process. Or would they openly sponsor a “Benefits of Smoking” conference if one of their member groups decided to hold one? (And let’s face it, if every dis-ease is caused by spinal irregularities, smoking shouldn’t be a health risk, should it?)

          • This is precisely what I mean, Andy. perhaps we can dig up Christine Maggiore, call the Foo Fighters, invite the list of live AIDS-denialists, and see where HESTA sits with that conference: as long as there’s a buck to be made they should be good. Surely some of them would be health workers of some manner?

  14. Stephen says:

    Blimey, that list of the speaker’s beliefs and behaviours would be difficult to compose if it wasn’t true. Thanks for continuing to shine a light on these entertaining folk.

  15. lucy grant says:

    I would have to say that the only group guilty of indoctrination are these same bunch of amoral, unethical quacks who shamelessly abuse the naïveté of their clients. Do chiropractors take any sort of oath when they qualify?

    • bluewode says:

      I don’t know about an oath, but in the UK the chiropractic Code of Practice requires the following from chiropractors:

      Quote
      “You must act with honesty and integrity and never abuse your professional standing by rousing people’s fears or imposing your views on them.”

      However, that would appear to be a pretty meaningless rule since the regulator doesn’t seem to understand that, for the most part, it’s regulating quacks.

  16. Thinking_Chiro says:

    ASRF was the right idea at the right time. Chiro’s coming together and donating their time and expertise to promote and fundraise for research which is desperately needed! This great idea has been derailed by the subluxation true believers. Brian Kelly and Martin Harvey in particular have a lot to answer for. Its time the profession in Australia stop ignoring what is going on, Ignorance is no defence!
    The Rogue Chiropractor wrote a recent article/blog on the abysmal levels of funding of research by the ASRF (with all figures coming off the ASRF’s own website and annual reports) and has subsequently been accused of disloyalty, misrepresenting the facts and lying.
    Its time for a shakeup of the ASRF and CAA. This can only happen if the members pull their finger out and act!
    The speakers all do it Pro Bono! It actually costs them time and money to appear at DG. Have any of them questioned the ASRF over their levels of funding for research or pulled out in disgust?
    It is frustrating to be lumped in with the extreme elements of our profession, but as Blue Wode has said “if they are the only voice being heard”, then the silent evidence based, ethical chiropractors have no one to blame but themselves!
    As you can see from above, Reasonable Hank is only using material provided by these chiropractors. He is not making it up! He carefully researches everything he posts and its well written! Unfortunalely, the subluxationists when cornered and threatened are becoming more vocal and are digging in. They fail to see a door of opportunity right infront of them that leads to dialogue and cooperation and a future as evidence based spine specialists!
    All chiro’s who feel the the same and are reading this article – GET OFF YOUR ARSE AND TAKE ACTION!

    • Sue says:

      Well-said, Thinking Chiro. Attack and criticism from outside the profession only leads to circling of the wagons. For effective change to happen, standards need to be set from inside the profession, and effective regulation needs to occur.

      The theoretical concept of The Subluxation, however defined, leading to ”nerve interference” and ”dis-ease” has never been demonstrated – despite the advanced technology now available. Time to drop that and move on.

      • Thinking_Chiro says:

        Sue I agree that change has to come from within. Support from without is also appreciated. There needs to be a balance of the two.

      • Thinking_Chiro says:

        Criticising is fine, but it needs to be balanced by support for the chiro’s doing the hard yards and making changes. Otherwise the subluxation true believers think “gee, we must be doing something right as Big Medicine and Big Pharma are really attacking us hard, they feel threatened”. They must see an alternative or they won’t change!

  17. Lucy Grant says:

    I have sent an email to my federal member and the Charities Commission voicing my concerns about the ASRF. The more the merrier I reckon.

  18. Sue says:

    Speaker Glenn Maginness is down on the programme for a talk entitled ”Paediatric Certainty”. What on earth could that mean.

  19. Steven Adams says:

    Dear (Mr?) Hank – reasonable or otherwise.

    Firstly, unlike your public outing of seemingly every chiropractor in Australia, I am unsure firstly of who you are, so it is a little hard to address you in the correct grammatical style! So please pardon me if I have your gender wrong. I have assumed Hank is your Christian name, as in Hank Marvin, rather than surname as in Tom Hanks.

    So this is my first conundrum, I think any “scientific” debate, as you often seem to refer to is based on honest conversation. It appears to me as someone who has no affiliation to the chiropractic community short of as a client, that you are not exactly playing on an even field with the poor people you out!!! That in itself I think dilutes credibility, reliability and authenticity to your debate. But, given that this is a blog on social media, I’ll forgive you this oversight!

    Secondly, I cannot pass comment on vaccination, cows, dogs, children or anything else your somewhat wandering diatribe focuses upon in this rather extensive and at times laborious prose. However, keen to understand more, I have duly read your entire blog. Thank you, if nothing else it is highly entertaining! I can only speak, as a single voice, with little or no scientific evidence behind me. I speak as an Ironman triathlete, who regularly pushes my body to the limits of physical and mental endurance. During my time racing, I have suffered multiple injuries that have seen me visit physios, sports medicine doctors, osteos, massage therapist, biomechanists etc etc, in fact anyone that can keep my body in the best possible shape. I have found, in my experience, that chiropractic has a valuable role to play in ensuring I can make the start line of an Ironman distance triathlon, which in case you are interested, given the rambling nature of your blog, I will indulge you in the distances….! An ironman is a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike and a 42km swim, that can take up to seventeen hours. I believe this qualifies me to talk about optimal performance for MY body. I have found regular adjustments (weekly and biweekly during my race preparation) to be massively beneficial in improving my recovery, range of movement, and most importantly reducing the likelihood of injury in a way few other “medical” practitioners have been able to do. Whether this is “luck” or “good fortune” I cannot say, but it has, for me, made a massive difference and has for many of my fellow athletes, whether professional or amateur.

    What interests me in your tirade against chiropractic is that in all likelihood traditional medicine has “killed” more people than chiropractic through the misuse of drugs and misdiagnosed conditions! The multinational pharmaceutical companies are far more nefarious than the spinal research foundation you seem so keen to lambast! If we are talking “bang for buck” wouldn’t your literary skills be better put to use against those behemoths or perhaps against the large companies that are pumping fructose and high fructose corn syrup down the mouths of our children! Perhaps the impending obesity epidemic is likely to be a far bigger killer than the vaccination debate globally in the coming years! By the way – who makes the money from those vaccinations? Oh yes, the pharmaceutical companies!?! Irony perhaps here!?!

    Well thanks for your blog. It was interesting, humorous and in my opinion a personal vitriolic attack by an unnamed individual!

    So, take the mask of Hank…. Put your name to your blog and come clean. Are you a competing medical practitioner? Perhaps you work for a pharma company. Perhaps the jilted ex lover of a chiropractor!!!! Let’s have honest and open debate, but let’s look each other in the eyes while we do it!!!

    Kind Regards
    S Adams

    • Hi Steve,

      I published your comment not because you addressed or understood any points or concerns raised in my post; but, only so that readers can look in awe.

      Is The Mask of Hank similar to The Mask of Zorro? Please say it is.

      If you would like to add any more for my testimonials page, see here:

      https://reasonablehank.com/aboutcommentstestimonials/

    • Sue says:

      Steven Adams abuses his body, gets manipulative therapy, and eventually heals up. Good luck to him. Some forms of manipulative therapy seem to be good for injuries – even if self-inflicted.

      Does this make him more credible in his assessment of the risk-benefit ratio of the entire field of medicine, or even of vaccination? Nope.

      Medical practitioners don’t claim to be physios – that’s why we have physios. But some chiropractors claim to be doctors, and claim that ”The Subluxation” leads to ”nerve interference” that causes ”dis-ease”. They take money from families to treat newborn babies and children who have nothing wrong with them and won;t benefit from ”adjustment”. Because of blogs like this, these people are exposed.

      No amount of criticism of the medical profession or pharmaceutical companies will make evidence appear for ”subluxation” – it just isn’t plausible.

      Keep reading while your injuries heal, Steven Adams. You might learn something.

  20. Thinking_Chiro says:

    Yes, there are massive issues in medicine, but that does not excuse or downplay the problems within chiropractic. The sad fact is that Reasonable_Hank has achieved more in 6 months of blogging than AHPRA/CBA/state boards have done in 10 years. If you have read his blogs you will see that they are very well written and referenced. All information has been gathered of chiro’s websites and Facebook pages.
    The chiropractic profession is not very good at self criticising and critically examining what we do. It is still in short supply! We can stick out heads in the sand or we can accept the criticisism, take it on board, learn from it and evolve. I prefer option 2.

    • DS says:

      I just posted on another thread but that’s it. The professions foundation is logically and effectively procedurally flawed. You can’t build up a real profession on an undetectable, ineffable and irrefutable hypothesis. I recall the futile attempt to develop a research methodology which could investigate (metaphysics) something which cannot be logically or experimentally approached. Because I was naive to science methodology, the philosophy of science and logic I too thought that it was plausible. Argumentum ad ignorantium. I don’t understand so anything is plausible. Its the undercurrent of every ill thought out rebuttal on this blog. So ingrained that it’s blinding. BUT be careful about personal attacks. As soon as we do we’ve missed the target. We should all be prepared to be wrong and to argue our cases. Eg 10 yrs ago I would be up in arms over the actions of FSM et al. Their opinions are not always strictly sound however these days I support their case. They got fed up with poor standards. We accept very poor standards for a health profession. The profession fought for inclusion, sensed that its ideology might be at risk, decided to refuse change and as a result became even more stridently irrational.

  21. SM says:

    You need to forward all of this to AHPRA with a bow around it and see what they do.

  22. Darkly Venus says:

    Was thinking, lobbying the private health insurer peak body http://www.privatehealthcareaustralia.org.au/about-us/ could be an option for getting these chiros to knock it off with peddling anti vaxx misinformation.

    Insurers would be the most savvy about the economics of anti vaxx, – hospital stays, the ongoing costs of caring for people who survive whooping cough etc – and it might work to lobby the industry to threaten anti vaxx health care providers with having their rebates pulled.

    And while they’re at it, they could penalize wack job anti fluoridation dentists. Like Rachel Hall – don’t get me started.

    It’s a long game, and a brutal rationalist perspective and I’m not sure about the legals, but I sense the insurers are more likely to take action against these tossers than AHPRA. AHPRA doesn’t give a damn about economics and less of a damn about protecting patients. It was set up to take money from health professionals, to push emails around and provide jobs for suck holes.

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