I see loads of patients with arthritis. Before Andy (the author of Quakometer reports me to the Advertising Standards Authority)
let me say there is no cure for osteoarthritis, however chiropractic, osteopathy and physiotherapy can help people cope better with it. Osteoarthritis was once a small ache, became chronic, and over time the joints degenerated. Presumably because the problem was not managed properly when it was a small ache, usually by medical doctors prescribing medication.
For years chiropractors have been saying drugs only mask an underlying problem and have dangerous side effects, at least they did until in 2005 when chiropractor Warren Gage was suspended by the GCC for telling war hero Stan Proctor and his wife Audrey that they should try chiropractic instead of drugs (comes under criticising another health professional in the code of practice). “Truth” Andy,you cant handle the truth lets compare body counts.How many people have died in the UK after chiropractic treatment. ZERO none, not one, how many people have died because medical doctors have followed the best evidence and prescribed co-proxamol. Lets add a few thousand to the body count by including Vioxx. Thats truth Andy, chiropractors can not say that to chiropractic sceptics because the GCC will punish them, I resigned from the register so I could continue to speak truthfully about over prescription of drugs.
Andy Lewis speaks about “Ad hoc thinking” and “ad hominem attacks” I have asked Stan to comment on this verbal masturbation to see if he cares about what you have to say or your “super hero”commitment to exposing quackery wherever it may lurk. I have no doubt you are a very knowledgably man but you show little wisdom regarding what happens in my clinic every day. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it a fruit salad. The sceptics knowledge regarding chiropractic is based mainly on regurgitating Ernsts anecdotes and stories from the US antichiropractic website Chirobase yes some of these stories are true and reflect badly on chiropractic but to brand an entire profession on them shows a lack of wisdom and maturity like I do not presume that Harold Shipman tells us anything about the practise of medicine. If I live to Stans age, I will never lose one wink of sleep about “ad hoc thinking” and neither will Stan or Audrey or the people I see every day. Why the BCA worried so much to sue Simon Sing for his opinions is more a reflection on the BCA leaderships incompetence rather than chiropractic.
Stan cared about his chiropractor not because he had been seduced by some cult of healers and pseudo science, because he appreciated how Warren Gage helped change the quality of their lives in their 80s. Thats the bottom line not the research or lack of. Stan wrote to everyone and sundry after the PCCs decision went against Warren, Stan wrote to his MP, the newspapers,Clair Rayner anyone who might listen and in the coming weeks I will publish some of his fantastic letters on the blog. The GCC seemed to take the view Stan was delusional and had received a bang on the head when he was “protecting the British public” not GCC “protecting the public” protecting the British public in France on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. Talking to Stan was the day I decided I would not rest until these jobsworths who had treated Stan with such distain were given their P45s and not involved in regulating my profession.
GCC executive officer Greg Price is gone resigned in shame, former chairman Michael Copeland Griffiths had to go after failing to win a vote of confidence. Margaret Coats is hanging on by her finger tips her days as Registrar and Chief Executive of the GCC are numbered. No doubt like Fred “The Shred” Goodwin she will get her golden hand shake and pension for bringing the chiropractic profession to its knees, with a little help from the sceptics.
Ten years from now no one will remember Margaret Coats or Andy Lewis, they will remember Stan and patients chiropractors have helped will remember them. Let the Phoenix rise from the ashes.
Painkiller ban ‘has cut suicides’ BBC NEWS
Co-proxamol is linked to fatal overdoses
The controversial withdrawal of a common painkiller has dramatically cut suicides, say researchers.
A gradual phase-out of co-proxamol led to 350 fewer suicides and accidental deaths in England and Wales, a study in the British Medical Journal reports.
Regulators removed the drug’s licence in 2007 after fears about the risk of overdose but the move proved unpopular with some patients and doctors.
Arthritis Care says some patients now struggle to control their pain.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency announced the withdrawal in 2005.
There is no robust evidence that co-proxamol offers any advantage over paracetamol or ibuprofen at normal doses
MHRA spokesman
GPs were encouraged to move patients to other painkillers before the drug’s licence was revoked in 2007.
After that time doctors could prescribe the drug on a "named patient basis" for those who could not manage their pain with alternatives but as it is unlicensed they did so at their own risk.
Study leader Professor Keith Hawton, director of the Centre for Suicide Research at Oxford University, said before the restrictions co-proxamol was responsible for a fifth of all drug-related suicides.
By the 2007 deadline, prescribing of the drug had fallen by 59%, his analysis showed.
Over the two-year period, deaths from co-proxamol fell by 62%.
Specifically there were 295 fewer suicides and 349 fewer deaths from the drug including accidental overdoses.
The research also showed that had been no increase in deaths from other painkillers, despite large increases in their use.
Initiative ‘effective’
Professor Hawton said authorities in the US were now considering withdrawing co-proxamol, which is a mixture of paracetamol and an opioid drug.
"This marked reduction in suicides and accidental poisonings involving co-proxamol during this period, with no evidence of an increase in deaths involving other analgesics, suggests the initiative has been effective," he added.
In 2008, there were 380,831 prescription items for co-proxamol, showing some GPs are still prescribing the drug.
A spokesman for the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said prior to its withdrawal co-proxamol was involved in 300-400 self-poisoning deaths each year, of which around a fifth were accidental.
"Co-proxamol is extremely dangerous in overdose – only a small overdose can be fatal, and death can occur very rapidly – before medical attention can be sought."
He added: "There is no robust evidence that co-proxamol offers any advantage over paracetamol or ibuprofen at normal doses."
But Federico Moscogiuri, head of policy and campaigns at Arthritis Care, said many people who used to be prescribed co-proxamol were now struggling to control their pain.
A survey done last year by the charity found most people could no longer get prescriptions of the drug from their GPs and many said they had not found an effective alternative.
"For them, co-proxamol makes the difference between being able to perform simple everyday activities and living in chronic, debilitating pain.
"This is an intolerable situation for a society committed to high quality care for all.
"If the named patient system is to work, GPs should feel supported in prescribing co-proxamol for patients who really need it."