November 2003

Associations respond to WNBC stroke story

WNBC, the New York television station that praised osteopathic manipulation and criticized chiropractic adjustment on September 24, again took aim at chiropractic in a November 6 report.

“Millions of people each year turn to a chiropractor to treat what ails them,” said Dr. David Marks, the same medical journalist who reported on the osteopathic manipulation study for otitis in children. “But some people might not be aware that chiropractic adjustments could increase a person’s chance of getting a stroke,” he said in his opening comments.

Dr. Donald J. Krippendorf, president of the American Chiropractic Association, initiated a conversation with Marks following the first television broadcast and urged him to interview Dr. Scott Haldeman and Dr. Rand Swenson, authorities on chiropractic and stroke. Krippendorf told Chiropractic Economics that Marks declined, stating he had already completed the interviews for his segment.

After the segment ran on the air, each of the three professional organizations responded, accusing WNBC of bias in its coverage of the topic.

The International Chiropractors Association sent a letter to WNBC president and general manager, Frank Comerford. Signed by ICA president, Dr. CJ Mertz, the ICA letter stated, “The issue that concerns ICA the most is that of journalistic responsibility. The research record has shown that chiropractic is by far the safest of all healthcare interventions and the inherently flawed study cited by the WNBC reporter is demonstrably lacking in scientific credibility.

“The question is, ‘Why do the story at all?’ The use of the media for what can only be characterized as the needless raising of public alarm about a health profession the safety record of which is so clearly established raises serious ethical questions and issues of journalistic responsibility.”

The ICA has been in on-going discussions with members of Congress and has asked for Congressional hearings on the issue of the use of the media for anti-competitive purposes in the healthcare marketplace.

“This is a situation that requires all of us to speak out,” said Mertz.

The World Chiropractic Association, headed by Dr. Terry Rondberg, sent a press release to the Associated Press, United Press International and Reuters, as well as major newspapers and wire services. According to the WCA, it was picked up and posted on a number of news Web sites, including CBS MarketWatch, DallasNews.com and Lycos.

The press release opened, “The media’s continued coverage of a supposed link between chiropractic care and strokes is completely irresponsible and another example of the deteriorating credibility of television news reports, according to a leading chiropractic advocacy group.”

Rondberg was quoted in the release, “Americans have come to realize that many politicians are bought and paid for by the medical and pharmaceutical industries. They now need to recognize that the media also has strong financial incentives for its bias against non-medical healthcare approaches.”

Krippendorf, on behalf of the ACA, sent a letter to Marks, stating in part, “We are disappointed that you chose not to interview the country’s most widely respected authorities on this issue — experts who could have provided a great deal of balance to your story … Neither did you mention one of the many studies that points to chiropractic’s effectiveness for headaches and neck pain … For any healthcare intervention, the issue should be appropriateness, which involves balancing effectiveness and safety. Focusing only on risk and not potential benefit demonstrates a bias or a lack of understanding of the issue.”

A print version of the Marks piece is available at http://www.wnbc.com/drdavidmarks/2618209/detail.htm. WNBC can be contacted at healthnews@wnbc.com or by writing to Mr. Frank Comerford, WNBC President and General Manager, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112.

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