Anti-vaccine chiropractors 73

On August 8 2013, the Chiropractic Board of Australia sent a strong warning to Australian chiropractors that it would no longer tolerate anti-vaccination and other misinformation in the profession:

The Chiropractic Board of Australia cracks down to protect the public.

The Chiropractic Board of Australia is cracking down on chiropractors who step outside their primary role as healthcare practitioners and provide treatment that puts the public at risk.

To protect public safety, the Board has:

  • ordered practitioners to remove all anti-vaccination material from their websites and clinics
  • removed several courses from the list of approved CPD programs, and
  • introduced random audits of practitioner compliance with the Board’s registration standards.

On March 7 2016, the Chiropractic Board of Australia sent a strong warning to Australian chiropractors that it would no longer tolerate anti-vaccination and other misinformation in the profession:

The Board is very concerned about any chiropractors with advertising (including websites) that may not meet the required standards despite repeated guidance being provided by the Board.

In order to provide further clarity to both practitioners and the public, the Board provides the following clear advice on advertising matters.

Advertising regulated health services

Inappropriate claims of benefit

Patients must be adequately informed when making health care choices. Advertisers must ensure that any statements and claims made in relation to chiropractic care are not false, misleading or deceptive or create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment.

The Board is concerned about a number of practitioners who are making claims in advertising that there is a relationship between manual therapy (e.g. manipulation) for spinal problems and achieving general wellness or treating various organic diseases and infections; or that spinal problems may have a direct role in various organic diseases and infections. There is insufficient scientific evidence to support these claims…

Antivaccination advice

Chiropractors should not display, promote or provide materials, information or advice that is anti-vaccination in nature and should not make public comment discouraging vaccination.

The Code of conduct for chiropractors notes that all chiropractors have a responsibility to promote the health of the community through disease prevention and control, education and, where relevant, screening.

If patients request information about vaccination, they should be referred to an appropriately qualified health professional for advice.

Jason Karalus is a registered chiropractor who runs a business called Darlinghurst Chiropractic Centre:

Karalus’ business biography states:

Jason has over 20 years as a chiropractor both in Australia and overseas. He has worked in the practice since 2007 and is now the owner and principle chiropractor at Darlinghurst Chiropractic centre.

He has worked at Macquarie University as a lecturer and clinical supervisor. He has also been the principle practitioner at many national and international sports events including; surfing, volleyball, ironman, swimming and surf life saving. He also worked on the medical team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

He says that a well functioning and maintained spine is not only less likely to be injured, it also heals faster following a trauma. As the spine protects the nervous system, regular adjustments not only keep the aches and pains at bay but improves your overall health and well being.

Karalus’ chiropractic registration shows that he has been reprimanded by AHPRA for the “improper use of patients’ private health insurance for [his] own financial benefit”:

Dr Jason Karalus you have been found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct in connection with the improper use of patients’ private health insurance entitlements for your own financial benefit. The Chiropractic profession is a profession in which such conduct is never acceptable. You are hereby reprimanded in the strongest possible terms.

Karalus has used his public Facebook profile for the promotion of chiropractic, in 2016 and 2017:

In action brought by AHPRA, chiropractor Hance Limboro was convicted for providing testimonials on his social media:

Limboro, 45, was also fined $2000 for using testimonials – which are banned in health advertising – on the website for his clinic.

One of the testimonials said: “Would have been in a wheelchair.”

Another testimonial said: “Since receiving chiropractic care, I’ve had no asthma, no hay fever, and no back pain.”

Karalus makes use of banned testimonials on many fora. On Facebook, Karalus even provided a testimonial for himself and his business:

Karalus requested that testimonials be provided to his Google Plus page:

Karalus also publishes testimonials on his LinkedIn profile:

Karalus shares the bulk of his anti-vaccination posts from the dishonest anti-vaccination Facebook page, Vaccination Information Network (VINE), which is administered by callous veteran antivaxer, Erwin Alber.

Karalus’ outrageous anti-vaccination commentary from his Facebook posts will also be included.

On September 24 2017, Karalus posted misinformation about the influenza vaccine, which does not cause miscarriages:

To get the best effects of the flu vaccine, start early…..even before they’re born.

Karalus continued:

From the Fluvax insert…..not even the manufacturers have studied the effects of the vaccine on pregnant women. Even though their studies show that the vaccine can cause a febrile state in children and pregnant women are advised to avoid a fever it seems crazy that they would still recommend this vaccine in pregnancy.

Not a randomised control study. Vaccination status not recorded for 50% of a meager 17 people in study. Dobt know the cause or vaccination status of 4 that died….more likely due to emergency cesarean section.
When the media gets hold of rubbish studies like this their sensational journalism pushed by the pharma propaganda machine just scares the public.
Explain how we have the worst flu season on record despite 400% increase in flu jabs over 10 years? Don’t tell me the unvaccinated are spreading it to the vaccinated (that old chestnut is laughable if you believe vaccines work) OR that vaccinated get a milder dose of the flu (No proof of that-just more proof it doesn’t work)?
Maybe the only positive thing to come of this is that my CSL shares have quadrupled in value over the same 10 years. Boom

On October 2 2017, Karalus posted misinformation regarding the polio vaccine, which has never caused cancer:

50 years later the CDC admitt that up to 30 million Americans contaminated with cancer causing polio vaccine.

On October 5 2017, Karalus agreed with Donald Trump that the influenza vaccine is a “scam”:

I’m on his side with this one!

On October 8 2017, Karalus posted intentionally misleading misinformation from VINE, regarding vaccine adverse events monitoring:

On October 19 2017, Karalus posted the anti-vaccination lie that vaccines cause autism:

Karalus added the ubiquitous, misleading anti-vaccination meme that claims that he is not anti-vaccine:

Karalus posted the antivax meme again, and added:

Ignorance is bliss. If you don’t look you won’t find. It’s obviously feels more comfortable to blindly follow like a sheep than to ever try and join the dots yourself.

Karalus continued:

Matt, there is no scientific proof that vaccines work…….. which is proof for me that it does not work!
You found 1 article about Gardisil, but the head researcher on that paper later came out as a whistleblower about the fraudulent data released from the Pharma. You’d think with the trillions in profits, 50+years of use and millions of vaccinations that you would be able to find 1 decent s scientific paper. NOPE! Blind ignorance is bliss

When the Wright brothers had a theory they could fly, they had to prove it…..its not the responsibility of the non-believers to disprove it. The point is that the non-belivers were right until the Wright brothers proved then wrong.

Time for your flu shot Nicole.
[Natural News link which contains lies about the influenza vaccine]

Karalus continued:

You obviously didn’t read that article either….. and you obviously don’t understand how herd immunity works. The flu vaccine destroys the immune system and increases the likelihood of contacting the flu in the future….. not too mention the adverse reactions. Only natural immunity from exposure to the real virus can truly give you life long immunity….. that a mother Vann pass onto het child. No vaccine can achieve this.

Karalus then posted HIV/AIDS misinformation:

I know that most cases of polio today are caused by the vaccine with exposure during shedding and that HIV was caused by polio vaccine contaminated by simian virus. But you should quote some research rather than just just telling me about your grand mother and friends…..
And before you use them as a case study, ask then if they were vaccinated.

I’d like you to quote 1 double blinded control study rather than than read the emotional crap about your grandmother and insults.

Karalus continued:

Did you read these.
In the 3rd study 24 of the vaccinated still got rotavirus gastro….ie it didn’t work. It didn’t measure how many in the trial had an adverse reaction to the vaccine or how many had permanently damaged immune systems and later developed autoimmune disorders.
The 2nd article studied the hepatitis vaccine with and without HBIg…..it doesn’t address why babies are vaccinated for a disease spread by sex and if drug use. WTF

I didn’t even bother reading the 3rd. Obviously There are studies that show that something measurable changes in the human body after injecting poisons into it…..but no study has been done to show that vaccines are responsible for reducing the incidence of a disease and that the adverse effects are worth the possible benefits. Give me any childhood disease or a flu any day before injecting all that crap into me that they force onto babies that are too young to make a decision for themselves and the negative effects on their health are life long and irreversible.

Typical nasty reaction from an ignorant sheep that believes all the propaganda and not smart enough to have a mind of their own. It’s not dangerous to be well read and well informed and able to make decisions based on all the information. It is dangerous to believe the crap fed to you by those who put profit before people or the media. It is easier to not challenge and conform. So if being uneducated makes you more comfortable don’t read anything that might challenge your beliefs. Ignorance is bliss!

Karalus continued, citing the CDC whistleblower conspiracy theory which forms the basis for the anti-vaccination movie, Vaxxed:

Nick you need open your mind beyond what your friends (who have been told what to believe by pharmas) and Grandma tell you.
Opponents to mass child poisoning (disguised as vaccines) have nothing to gain con disseminating information gained from their readings.
Proponents get their information from a propaganda machine of one of the most profitable businesses in the world.
I have 2 degrees and one is med-science from NSW uni. I have met with the NSW health department in charge of vaccination who have never conducted research and not even sighted referenced material in their parent information pamphlets let alone challenged it. I have met with authors of books opposing vaccine (who gain nothing from their research work) and sighted thousands of articles that shed a bad light on vaccines, their toxic ingredients including heavy metals, horrific adverse reactions including cot death, Pharmas falsifying and manipulating data to make their products seem better (Google Merck falsifying data), the dramatic increase in auto-immune diseases such as asthma and eczema and 10 fold increase in autism in 1 generation (in developed countries where we should be getting healthier) etc etc etc! When Pharmas make trillions in profit yet medical mismanagement is the 3rd largest cause of death in development countries I ASK QUESTIONS. When Pharmas are protected from the freedom of information act (don’t have to release their research) and cannot be sued for injuries their products cause to babies I ASK WHY. When a pharma improve a vaccine (Gardisil recently) I scratch my head as it was supposed to be perfect before they experimented on our children. WHY don’t they push boosters for all these vaccines on adults, maybe because they couldn’t blame all the deaths, brain damage and illness on “it wasn’t the vaccine, little Johnny would’ve been autistic anyway”. WHY do we have vaccines for things that don’t exist anymore (polio and tetanus). WHY are they wanting to force pharmaceuticals on us and take away our civil right of choice. WHO profits from these decisions. When one of the top research scientists (William Thompson) from the CDC gets a conscience and turns whistleblower, discloses thousands of documents proving CDC (a supposed unbiased organisation in place to protect us) deception WHY has he not be subpoenaed for a Senate inquiry. WHY is the board of the CDC not in jail?????? There are so many unanswered questions.

On October 20 2017, Karalus posted the following anti-vaccination meme from VINE:

On October 21 2017, Karalus posted anti-vaccination misinformation from VINE, adding:

Influenza vaccines are approved for use in older people despite any clinical trials demonstrating a reduction in serious outcomes…

On October 21 2017, Karalus made the following unsubstantiated and incorrect claim, sharing a link from antivax website, Mercola:

Unvaccinated kids are healthier.

On October 21 2017, Karalus shared anti-vaccination lies about deaths from measles vaccination, which did not happen:

On October 22 2017, Karalus shared the following anti-vaccination meme from VINE:

On October 22 2017, Karalus again posted influenza vaccine misinformation misinformation from Natural News, stating the following:

Natural selection or irradication of the ignorant.

On October 23 2017, Karalus shared anti-fluoridation misinformation from VINE:

On October 23 2017, Karalus shared an anti-vaccination myth surrounding the Raggedy Ann doll. The creator of Raggedy Ann had in fact taken out the patent for the doll long before his daughter’s immunisation:

On October 23 2017, Karalus shared an anti-vaccination lie which asserts that vaccines are responsible for microcephaly. They are not:

On October 24 2017, Karalus shared an anti-vaccination post in which abusive US antivax doctor Jim Meehan accuses paediatricians of murder via vaccination:

On October 26 2017, Karalus shared anti-vaccination misinformation from online huckster David Avocado Wolfe:

On October 26 2017, Karalus posted misinformation regarding the Gardasil vaccine, from VINE:

On November 1 2017, Karalus posted misinformation from VINE’s Erwin Alber, which deliberately misrepresents the risk of contracting whooping cough in unvaccinated versus vaccinated individuals:

On November 5 2017, Karalus posted anti-vaccination lies regarding the Hepatitis B immunisation, from VINE:

On November 5 2017, Karalus posted outrageous anti-vaccination lies regarding the tetanus vaccine, from VINE:

400% more likely to die from tetanus vaccine than groom tetanus.

On November 5 2017, Karalus posted the anti-vaccination lie that vaccines cause autism:

On November 12 2017, Karalus posted misinformation against the highly effective and highly safe Gardasil vaccine:

Back over on Karalus’ business Facebook page, on April 23 2017, Karalus stated the following demonstrably flawed claim:

No danger associated with neck manipulation.

On April 12 2017, Karalus also used potentially illegal comparative advertising to promote his business:

The following addenda contain excerpts from the Chiropractic Board of Australia’s codes, guidelines, and social media policy from which the reader may wish to choose when lodging a complaint about Jason Karalus.

The Chiropractic Board will surely take strong action against this repeat offender.

__________________________________

Addendum 1

Code of conduct for chiropractors.

1.2 Professional values and qualities

[Practitioners] have a duty to keep their skills and knowledge up to date, refine and develop their clinical judgement as they gain experience, and contribute to their profession.

All practitioners have a responsibility to recognise and work within the limits of their competence, scope and areas of practice. Areas of practice vary according to different roles; for example, health practitioners, education providers, researchers and managers will all have quite different competencies and scopes of practice.

2.1 Providing good care. Introduction

a appropriately assessing the patient, taking into account their history (history includes relevant psychological, social and cultural aspects), views and conducting an appropriate physical examination

b ensuring that the diagnosis/clinical impression is appropriate, relevant, justifiable and based on sound clinical reasoning

d formulating and implementing a reasonable management plan (including providing treatment/care and advice and, where relevant, arranging investigations and liaising with other treating practitioners)

2.2 Good practice

a recognising and working within the limits of the chiropractor’s competence and scope and area of practice, which may change over time

b maintaining adequate knowledge and skills to provide safe and effective care, including providing treatment/care and advice and where relevant, arranging investigations and liaising with, or referring to, other health professionals

e considering the balance of benefit and harm in all clinical management decisions

g providing treatment/care options based on the best available information and practising in an evidence-based context and not being influenced by financial gain or incentives

h ensuring that services offered are provided with the best possible skill, care and competence

m ensuring that the chiropractor’s personal views do not adversely affect the care of their patients, and

n evaluating practice and the decisions made and action taken in providing good care.

3.4 Confidentiality and privacy

b seeking consent from patients before disclosing or sharing information

g ensuring that all staff are aware of the need to respect the confidentiality and privacy of patients and refrain from discussing patients in a non-professional context

j ensuring that use of social media and e-health is consistent with the practitioner’s ethical and legal obligations to protect privacy

3.5 Informed consent

b providing an explanation of the treatment/care recommended, its likely duration, expected benefits and cost, any alternative(s) to the proposed care, their relative risks/benefits, as well as the likely consequences of no care

c obtaining informed consent or other valid authority before undertaking any examination or investigation, providing treatment/care (this may not be possible in an emergency) or involving patients in teaching or research, including providing information on material risks

3.6 Informed financial consent

a ensuring that any financial agreement is based on the clinical needs of the patient

3.7 Children and young people

b placing the interests and wellbeing of the child or young person first

d ensuring informed consent to providing care for children involves the patient’s parent and/or guardian being provided with clinically relevant information for the chiropractic management of the child; unless a chiropractor judges that a child is of sufficient age and mental and emotional capacity to give their own consent to a service and relevant state and territory laws are complied with

e ensuring that risks of care and alternatives to care are sufficiently explained as these are essential elements of informed consent

4.1 Use of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in chiropractic practice

a a full and thorough assessment of patients using tools, tests and procedures that are appropriate for the gathering of information necessary to form a reasonable diagnosis or clinical impression

c only using diagnostic tools, tests and procedures in accordance with established protocols for their appropriate use

d evaluating and reporting the data obtained in a contextual way to ensure that a reasonable and relevant diagnosis/clinical impression is formed, and that appropriate and necessary care is provided

e when using tools, tests and procedures in formulating a diagnosis/clinical impression, management plan and/or for prognostic purposes, the tools used should be for conditions where there are demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability and validity, and

f not misrepresenting the clinical value or significance of the findings of any tool, test or procedure.

5.1 Respect for colleagues and other practitioners

b acknowledging and respecting the contribution of all practitioners involved in patient care

6.4 Public health matters

a understanding the principles of public health, including health education, health promotion, disease prevention, and control and screening

b participating in efforts to promote the health of the community and being aware of obligations in disease prevention, including screening and reporting notifiable diseases where relevant

6.5 Provision of care in a healthcare facility

Good practice involves:

a seeking permission to access and provide care

b adhering to and following the policies and procedures of the facility

c communicating effectively with other practitioners involved in the management of the patient

d keeping the the facility informed of any care

e ensuring professional indemnity insurance (PII) coverage to cover care in that facility, and

f keeping adequate records.

9.6 Advertising

a complying with the National Board’s Advertising guidelines and relevant state and territory legislation and Commonwealth law.

b making sure that any information published about services is factual and verifiable

10.2 Chiropractors’ health

c understanding the principles of immunisation against communicable diseases

_____________________________________

Addendum 2

Guidelines for advertising regulated health services

6.2 Prohibited advertising under the National Law

Section 133 of the National Law prohibits advertising that:

– is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to be so
– offers a gift, discount or other inducement to attract a user of the health service without stating the terms and conditions of the offer
– uses testimonials or purported testimonials
– creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment, and/or
– encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of health services.

Maximum penalty—

a in the case of an individual—$5,000; or

b in the case of a body corporate—$10,000.

6.2.1 Misleading or deceptive advertising

Section 133 of the National Law states:

1 A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that –

a Is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to be misleading or deceptive

Eg:

– mislead, either directly, or by implication, use of emphasis, comparison, contrast or omission

– only provide partial information which could be misleading

– imply that the regulated health services can be a substitute for public health vaccination or immunisation

– advertise the health benefits of a regulated health service when there is no proof that such benefits can be attained, and/or

– compare different regulated health professions or practitioners, in the same profession or across professions, in a way that may mislead or deceive.

6.2.2 Gifts and discounts

Section 133 of the National Law states:

1 A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that –

b Offers a gift, discount or other inducement to attract a person to use the service or the business, unless the advertisement also states the terms and conditions of the offer

Advertising may contravene the National Law when it:

– contains price information that is inexact

– contains price information that does not specify any terms and conditions or variables to an advertised price, or that could be considered misleading or deceptive

– states an instalment amount without stating the total cost (which is a condition of the offer), and/or

– does not state the terms and conditions of offers of gifts, discounts or other inducements.

6.2.3 Testimonials

Section 133 of the National Law states:

1 A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that –

c Uses testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or business

6.2.4 Unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment

Section 133 of the National Law states:

1 A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that –

d Creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment

6.2.5 Encouraging indiscriminate or unnecessary use of health services

Section 133 of the National Law states:

1 A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that –

e Directly or indirectly encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services

Advertising may contravene the National Law when it:

– makes use of time-limited offers which influence a consumer to make decisions under the pressure of time and money rather than about their health care needs.

_____________________________________

Addendum 3

Social media policy

When using social media, health practitioners should remember that the National Law, their National Board’s code of ethics and professional conduct (the Code of conduct) and the Guidelines for advertising regulated health services (the Advertising guidelines) apply.

Registered health practitioners should only post information that is not in breach of these obligations by:

– complying with professional obligations
– complying with confidentiality and privacy obligations (such as by not discussing patients or posting pictures of procedures, case studies, patients, or sensitive material which may enable patients to be identified without having obtained consent in appropriate situations)
– presenting information in an unbiased, evidence-based context, and
– not making unsubstantiated claims.

Additional information may be available from professional bodies and/or employers, which aims to support health practitioners’ use of social media. However, the legal, ethical, and professional obligations that registered health practitioners must adhere to are set out in the National Boards’ respective Code of conduct and the Advertising guidelines.

___________________________________________

 

About reasonable hank

I'm reasonable, mostly.
This entry was posted in anti-fluoride, anti-vaccination, anti-vaccination dishonesty, Anti-vaccine thugs, chiropractic, Health Care Complaints Commission, Immunisation, public health, skeptic, stop the australian vaccination network, vaccination and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Anti-vaccine chiropractors 73

  1. Steve says:

    I love how with Trump people who know he is crazy about EVERY OTHER THING HE SAYS, are happy to say “I’m on his side with this one”.

  2. Dr Jason Karalus is an example who does not comply with the strict policy by Chiropractic Board of Australia. The fine is huge, bad for business. This post reminds all Chiropractor practitioner to follow Chiropractic Board of Australia.

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