I need a little help here. I’m having a rough intraprofessional patch as a Doctor of Chiropractic in Denver, Colorado.

Let me explain. Several weeks ago I heard a local Denver chiropractor say this (on the RADIO, no less): “If you have a pinched nerve to your colon, it’s only a matter of time before you develop colon cancer.” !!

Yesterday I was consulting with a new patient in our clinic, a 22 yr-old woman, who told me the previous chiropractor she had seen x-rayed her low back, found a “bone out of place” and told her that she would not be able to have children because of the misplaced vertebra in her low back.

Who is teaching this stuff? Given the pretty impressive quality of chiropractic education these days, how do they find people who will drink their Koolaid? Certainly this type of fiction is not tolerated by the Council on Chiropractic Education, nor is it tested by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

To my esteemed but ill-informed (at best) or ill-motivated colleagues (who should know better): Stop it! Your words and professional practices do harm. They are irresponsible, fear-mongering, and unethical.

Scaring people into a lifetime of weekly chiropractic adjustments by implying that they’ll get cancer if they don’t get adjusted? Really? Unconscionable! Shame on you! Or telling that 22 yr-old woman she will be infertile of she doesn’t see you regularly? Huckster, how can you use your chiropractic license to serve up that self-serving opinion and then go home and sleep at night? OMG!

To the consumer public: Beware of chiro-hype like this. But please understand this also: these shenanigans are not representative of the many reputable, hard-working chiropractors in our fair city who love people, allow themselves to be informed by science, and work judiciously and ethically for the speedy recovery of their patients … WITHOUT HYPE!