September 2002

Veterans Secretary Appoints
Chiropractic Advisory Committee

Washington, D.C. – An 11-member advisory committee, which includes six chiropractors, has been selected to oversee implementation of a new law establishing a chiropractic health benefit within the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA).

Anthony Principi, secretary of the DVA, has designated Dr. Reed Phillips, president of the Southern California University of Health Sciences, to serve as chair of the DVA Chiropractic Advisory Committee.

The advisory committee also includes five non-chiropractors – two medical doctors, a doctor of osteopathy, a physical therapist, and a physician’s assistant.

Legislation mandating the establishment of a permanent chiropractic benefit within the DVA health-care system became a law in January. The law authorizes the hiring of doctors of chiropractic in the DVA health system, sets a broad scope of chiropractic practice, and involves the new DVA Chiropractic Advisory Committee in the development and implementation of the new benefit.

The requirement to establish an advisory committee was designed to help ensure appropriate input by the chiropractic profession into the implementation of the new benefit. The agreement is similar to legislative language that became law in 2000 requiring the Department of Defense to establish a permanent chiropractic benefit for active duty military personnel.

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