This posting had 1,700 views after only two days and over 200 blogs were linked to it on my old blog platform. This e-mail was the shot of adrenaline supporters of the campaign to grant Simon Sing leave of appeal against Justice Eaddys defamation ruling needed as can be seen from the comments to the quackometer posting
McTimoney Chiropractors were cutting and running and so it became a self-fulfilling prophecy for all registered chiropractors. The ripples cause by this McTimoney e-mail terrified the profession many chiropractors panicked and removed all reference to colic and children from their websites. The Simon Singh case clearly demonstrates why there should only be one organisation representing the interests of chiropractors in a jurisdiction. Self interest of individual associations affects the credibility of the profession as a whole and will happen again in the way the BCA is going alone in implementing prescribing rights for its members who are not very skilled at performing spinal adjustments.
The BCA acted unilaterally in suing Simon Sing and it damaged the entire profession, the McTims acted unilaterally in issuing the advice to remove websites and it damaged the profession. The inability of these two to work out their differences and pretend registration has turned chiropractic into one homogenous group is why Chiropractic regulation has failed in the UK and is not fir for purpose. Unfortunately I can not see that penny dropping any time soon.
There can be no problem with chiropractors explaining the relationship between spinal joints and the autonomic nervous system and how “subluxation theory” could alleviate the symptoms of colic as I have done in a posting about “ Spinal care and colic” .
The Original Posting June 10 2009:
I always suspected that the McTimoney association saw subluxation chiropractic as a flag of convenience, for GCC council member Christina Cunliffe to gain influence within the UCA and ICA and get McTimoney people elected onto the GCC. The spineless McTimoney statement deserves a place on the home page, its a bit like those health warnings in the 80s that everyone was going to die of AIDS unless we stopped having sex.
Well they are now going to make a run for it, frightened rabbits caught in the headlights. The McTimoney association has removed its website and advised its members to do the same and disappear, to let the BCA chiropractors (most of whom graduated from the Anglo European College of Chiropractic after five years full time training)take all the heat. They have taken down their website. This is what Google gave me, but blank pages come up when you click.
McTimoney Chiropractic Association
Professional body providing information on Chiropractic in general and the McTimoney technique specifically.
www.mctimoney-chiropractic.org/ – Cached – Similar pages
:: MCA :: >> What is McTimoney? << Origin & History
The difficulty McTimoney has is they can not even claim that their Technique is “spinal manipulation” as recommended by NICE. They are hoping to sneak out the back door without paying their dues to the chiropractic profession.
The current leadership never had the courage of their apparent convictions and have little to offer chiropractic, they should bring back Tony Gilmore, Dana Greene et al. Christina Cunliffe flirtation with the biomedical model is going to end in tears. My clinic is www.parkclinic.info I will not be taking it down because I have not made any false claims.
Date: 8 June 2009 09:12:18 BDT
Subject: FURTHER URGENT ACTION REQUIRED!
Dear Member
If you are reading this, we assume you have also read the urgent email we sent you last Friday. If you did not read it, READ IT VERY CAREFULLY NOW and – this is most important – ACT ON IT. This is not scaremongering. We judge this to be a real threat to you and your practice.
Because of what we consider to be a witch hunt against chiropractors, we are now issuing the following advice:
The target of the campaigners is now any claims for treatment that cannot be substantiated with chiropractic research. The safest thing for everyone to do is as follows.
- If you have a website, take it down NOW.
When you have done that, please let us know preferably by email or by phone. This will save our valuable time chasing you to see whether it has been done.
- REMOVE all the blue MCA patient information leaflets, or any patient information leaflets of your own that state you treat whiplash, colic or other childhood problems in your clinic or at any other site where they might be displayed with your contact details on them. DO NOT USE them until further notice. The MCA are working on an interim replacement leaflet which will be sent to you shortly.
- If you have not done so already, enter your name followed by the word ‘chiropractor’ into a search engine such as Google (e.g. Joe Bloggs chiropractor) and you will be able to ascertain what information about you is in the public domain e.g. where you might be listed using the Doctor title or where you might be linked with a website which might implicate you. We have found that even if you do not have a website yourself you may still have been linked inadvertently to a website listing you or your services.
CHECK ALL ENTRIES CAREFULLY AND IF IN DOUBT, CONTACT THE RELEVANT PROVIDER TO REMOVE YOUR INFORMATION.
CHECK OUR PREVIOUS EMAILS FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE AND KEY WORDS TO AVOID.
KEEP A LOG OF YOUR ACTIONS.
- If you use business cards or other stationery using the ‘doctor’ title and it does not clearly state that you are a doctor of chiropractic or that you are not a registered medical practitioner, STOP USING THEM immediately.
5. Be wary of ‘mystery shopper’ phone calls and ‘drop ins’ to your practice, especially if they start asking about your care of children, or whiplash, or your evidence base for practice.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE, YOU MAY BE AT RISK FROM PROSECUTION.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE, THE MCA MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ASSIST YOU WITH ANY PROCEEDINGS.
Although this advice may seem extreme or alarmist, its purpose is to protect you. The campaigners have a target of making a complaint against every chiropractor in the UK who they perceive to be in breach of the GCC’s CoP, the Advertising Standards Code and/or Trading Standards. We have discovered that complaints against more than 500 individual chiropractors have been sent to the GCC in the last 24 hours.
Whatever you do, do not ignore this email and make yourself one of the victims. Some of our members have not followed our earlier advice and now have complaints made against them. We do not want that to happen to you.
Even if you do not have a website, you are still at risk. Our latest information suggests that this group are now going through Yellow Pages entries. Be in no doubt, their intention is to scrutinise every single chiropractor in the UK.
The MCA Executive has worked tirelessly over the last week keeping abreast of development and contacting at risk members. We have decided that this is our best course of action to protect you and the Association at this time of heightened tension. This advice is given to you solely to protect you from what we believe is a concerted campaign, and does not imply any wrongdoing on your part or the part of the Association. We believe that our best course of action is simply to withdraw from the battleground until this latest wave of targeting is over.
Finally, we strongly suggest you do NOT discuss this with others, especially patients, Firstly it would not be ethical to burden patients with this, though if they ask we hope you now have information with which you can respond.
Most importantly, this email and all correspondence from the MCA is confidential advice to MCA members alone, and should not be shared with anyone else.
Please be aware that the office phone lines are likely to be busy, so, if you need our help, please send an email to the office and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Yours,
Berni Martin
MCA Chair.
Best wishes,
Nicki
Nicki Choules-Rowe
Administrative Officer – Executive Liaison
McTimoney Chiropractic Association
Crowmarsh Gifford
Wallingford OX10 8DJ
Tel : 01491 829494
