Editors’ note: Today advertising by professionals, including medical doctors, dentists and attorneys as well as chiropractors is commonplace. But in the 1960s advertising and marketing were new concepts that stirred up debate.

1966 — We are all living in an age where the average person will institute a lawsuit at the slightest provocation if he is injured as a result of someone else’s actual or supposed negligence. With newspapers reporting large sums of money awarded in this type of case and television making amateur lawyers out of the viewers, it is no wonder that the court calendars are clogged three and four years ahead with litigation concerning personal injury actions.

Since the public has become insurance and lawsuit conscious, it requires prudence on the part of the doctor of chiropractic to protect himself in practice to the fullest extent possible. However, due to lack of forethought or information about the subject, the practitioner is ill-prepared for the onslaught of possible claims against him by those who are accident prone, others who consider the professional man fair game and many who are too easily goaded into suing.

There is great need for the chiropractor to protect himself by insuring his automobile to the fullest extent possible. Some have a tendency to skimp on specific parts of this type of insurance with resultant difficulties in the event of a major catastrophe. With the tendency of many juries to award large payments to those injured grievously, you cannot protect yourself any better than by insisting on the largest limits available to you in the category of Bodily Injury Liability. The difference between the cost of minimum and maximum coverage is surprisingly low. Property Damage Liability and Medical Expense should be proportionately extensive to cover any eventuality.

Of greatest importance to the practitioner is malpractice insurance. It is strange indeed that whereas nearly everyone has some form of automobile insurance, there are many chiropractors who are practicing without any insurance coverage whatever relating to malpractice. This article will not go into detail concerning malpractice, which is a vast subject in itself. However, it may be of interest to the reader, especially those without this insurance, to learn that one out of every seven doctors will be sued for malpractice within his professional lifetime. With the increasing tendency on the part of patients to start a suit due to real or imagined poor office practices on the part of the doctor, you conduct your practice without this type of insurance only at tremendous peril to yourself and to your family’s peace of mind. A last word on the matter is that most companies are extremely reticent about issuing malpractice insurance to those who do not belong to a professional organization and private insurance of this nature, if available, will cost you four to five times the amount charged by a national association.

A third necessary office insurance coverage, compulsory is some states and elective in others, is workman’s compensation. This pertains to insurance covering persons working for you, whether these people are permanent or temporary help.

Permanent help refers to your secretary or that person who comes frequently to clean your office. The latter is referred to by the insurance companies as an “occasional inservant.” Also considered permanent is the handyman who, at infrequent intervals, comes to fix or clean up things outside, who is designated as an “occasional outservant.” These two are distinct from each other and are listed individually in your policy.

Temporary help includes carpenters, painters or plumbers who are self-employed. Unless they give you a “certificate of insurance” which indicates that they carry their own workman’s compensation, you must personally assume responsibility for any injury and/or loss of time they incur while working for you. You must notify your insurance agent whenever these people do work for you, the additional premium charged depending upon the cost of the labor performed.

Workmen who represent companies doing any type of work in your office should also give you a copy of their manufacturer’s and contractor’s liability insurance, if this type of coverage is available in you state. This will assure you of adequate reimbursement for any inadvertent damage done in your office by these workmen. Lack of this insurance on their part may necessitate you instituting legal action to recoup your losses.

Absolutely essential for the proper operation of your office is public liability. This coverage is distinct from others mentioned in this article and pertains to any person entering the office who is injured on the premises. However, this form of insurance does not relate to any contingency involving people working for you.

Laws concerning the professional man are in a constant state of flux. There are instances where the patient has fallen off the treating table and the judges have construed the occurrence as malpractice rather than liability. In some states courts have removed the necessity on the part of the working man to prove a demonstrable accident in workman’s compensation cases. In other states courts have ruled that malpractice suits can be initiated from the time the alleged occurrence is discovered by the patient. With the liberalization of laws in recent years in favor of the plaintiff, you have no right to believe yourself adequately protected unless you consider every aspect of your practice and cover every angle with the proper amount and type of insurance.

Call your insurance agent and ask him if you are protected in every manner concerning your office. The modest premium of such coverage is well worth the mental anxiety and the tremendous amount of money any one case can cost you. Protect your future and the investment you have in your office by insuring your assurance. A word to the knowing should be more than sufficient.

— Dr. S. C. Bershling
Lakewood, N.J. By Dr. S. C. Bershling
426 Third St., Lakewood, N.J.