January 2005

FSU chiro college caught in political tug-of-war

Jan. 3, 2005 — The nation's only state-funded chiropractic college, originally scheduled to open its doors at Florida State University in Tallahassee in 2006, is under attack by a group of FSU medical doctors who claim that chiropractic is "pseudoscience." Concurrently it is involved in a political tug-of-war over funding.

According to a story in the St. Petersburg Times Online, at least seven FSU medical-school professors are threatening to quit teaching if the chiropractic college is established.

"Please keep in mind that this [controversy] is nothing more at this point than a few [medical doctors] expressing their anti-chiropractic opinions," said Debra Minor Brown, CEO of the Florida Chiropractic Association, which worked with state legislators to make the state chiropractic college a reality. "We do not have a copy of [the petition that was circulated]. All of the signers thus far quoted in reports have been MD extensional faculty for the medical school at FSU. We understand that the gist of the petition is to urge the FSU Board of Trustees not to approve the school. This is nothing more than the usual medical anti-chiropractic propaganda being used in a last-ditch effort to derail the school."

Brown said that the FCA, ACA and other organizations and individuals are responding "in a controlled and professional manner, providing facts to those in a position to vote. We appreciate the ongoing support from the field that makes this possible."

The medical professors' bias is not the only "fly in the ointment" of the chiropractic college. So is its funding.

The school was signed into law in March by Gov. Jeb Bush. The legislation included an annual allocation of $9 million, which did not have to be renewed. "That [automatic funding] is highly abnormal and is causing the controversy," said Brown. Normally in Florida, funds for higher-education budgets must be approved each year.

One of the key lawmakers who designed the funding of the college was Florida Sen. Jim King. In an article in the Florida Times -Union, King stated that the legislature will redraft the funding for the school during its 2005 session and the college will be included in the normal budgetary approval process. He reiterated that he and the backers of the college stood fast on its creation.

"The only downside [to redrafting the funding] is that it the funding for the chiropractic college would be affected by variations in higher education spending year-to-year, just like all other university programs," said Brown.

The petition and the funding issue aside, the college's future is also being challenged on another political front. A group called "Floridians for Constitutional Integrity" has filed a lawsuit that questions the legality of the appropriations for the chiropractic college, as well as other allocations for an Alzheimer's center and a biomedical-research program, which were included in the same bill that funded the college.

At the heart of the lawsuit is a political fight for control of the state's higher-education system. The lawsuit claims that the "chiropractic-medicine degree program at Florida State University and the operation of the Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida [also included in the legislation] are both unconstitutional because neither of these programs was approved, authorized or requested by the Board of Governors."

The lawsuit alleges that the governor and the legislature have violated the constitution by allowing 20 university boards of trustees to bypass the Board of Governors voted into law two years ago.

Gov. Bush, quoted in the Tallahassee Democrat (online), said, "The Board of Governors has powers embedded in the Constitution that are significant … But having said that, the Constitution doesn't require them to act on those constitutional powers."

FCA's Brown said that chiropractors throughout the country can show support of the FSU chiropractic college. "We would request that chiropractors stand by and be prepared to engage in a nationwide letter-writing or e-mail campaign, if and when that would become an effective tool."

Although the FSU chiropractic college was slated to admit its first students in September of 2006, Alan Adams, DC, FSU administrator who will set up the curriculum, speculates that the fall of 2007 is more likely, because of logistical issues with classroom space.

Source: Sources: Debra Minor Brown, Florida Chiropractic Association, www.fcachiro.org; Chiropractic Economics Newsflash, March 3 and March 31, 2004; St. Petersburg Times Online, www.sptimes.com; Florida Times -Union, www.jacksonville.com; Tallahassee Democrat, www.tallahassee.com.

Industry News from:
Chiropractic News from: