September 2003

Associations rebut WNBC
segment on osteopathic manipulation

SEPT. 30, 2003 — The WNBC news segment on ear infection, aired in New York on Sept. 23, contained misinformation, according to the World Chiropractic Alliance and the American Chiropractic Association.

One of the anchor reporters introduced the story on osteopathic manipulation for chronic ear infections as “ground-breaking information,” but according to both organizations, research going back decades has shown the benefit of chiropractic adjustment as a relief for otitis, making the description “ground-breaking” misleading.

“A simple search of the Internet would have led WNBC reporters to an abundance of information about chiropractic and ear infections,” said Dr. Terry Rondberg, president of the WCA. “Instead, they chose to ignore more than three decades of scientific information and labeled this recent research as ‘ground-breaking.’”

A number of research projects that show the benefit of chiropractic adjustment for chronic otitis are available on the Web site of the Children’s Chiropractic Research Foundation, part of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

In August 2002, the Journal of the American Chiropractic Association published an article on the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustment for otitis. In one study cited in the journal, conducted by Joan Fallon, DC, of Yonkers, N.Y., 332 children with chronic ear infections received a series of chiropractic adjustments. Nearly 80 percent of the children treated were free of ear infections for at least six months following their initial visits.

In contrast, the study used as the basis for the WNBC story included only 57 patients.

The WNBC segment suggested that osteopathic manipulation was “more gentle” than chiropractic adjustment. “There is simply no basis for such a subjective statement,” said Rondberg. “The two techniques are different, but not because one is gentler than the other.”

Dr. Jerome F. McAndrews, ACA national spokesperson, said: “The origins of osteopathy relate to the ‘manipulation’ of the soft tissues of the spine, not its articulations, which are the cause of most of these types of problems.

“Chiropractic uses true ‘spinal manipulation,’ which is widely understood to be directed at returning functionality to the articulations/joints of the musculoskeletal system. If the massaging of the soft tissues relieves the otitis media, and there is a joint dysfunction in the area, the otitis media is likely to return until the joint dysfunction is corrected. It would be wise for the patient to be seen by a doctor of chiropractic before assuming the underlying problem is permanently corrected.”

Rondberg affirmed one point made in the news story: “Parents should only go to doctors well trained in the procedures that will most effectively help their children. That means their first trip should be to a doctor of chiropractic, whose education includes extensive training in spinal adjusting — and more classroom hours studying anatomy, physiology and orthopedics than that of the typical MD.”

To read a transcript of the WNBC segment, go to: www.wnbc.com/drdavidmarks/2505797/detail.html. To view the video clip, click on “Feed room: New treatment for ear infections.”

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