Chiropractors are famous for being against COVID vaccinations and other protective measures. This recent case is an apt example.
It has been reported that the tribunal of Alberta’s regulatory body for chiropractors has ruled against Calgary chiropractor, Curtis Wall, for not wearing a mask during the pandemic. The College of Chiropractors of Alberta (CCA) sought to discipline Wall for not wearing a mask at his clinic, not observing two meters of social distancing while unmasked, not installing a plexiglass barrier in his reception area, and not requiring patients to be masked either, beginning around June 2020. In a statement issued Feb. 1, 2023, the CCA’s hearing tribunal wrote: “[T]he Hearing Tribunal has found Dr. Curtis Wall’s conduct does constitute ‘unprofessional conduct’ and their decision for penalty is forthcoming.”
Lawyer James Kitchen who represented Wall, railed against the ruling: “[T]he decision is riddled with errors of fact and law and is so poorly decided it is an embarrassment to the chiropractic profession. It is shocking the lengths the tribunal went to dismiss the evidence of Dr. Wall, three of his patients, and his four expert witnesses while blithely accepting all the evidence of the College…The decision is an egregious manifestation of pre-determined, results-oriented decision-making.”
In an interview, Kitchen said: “I set this whole case up knowing that the tribunal would likely do whatever the college and the college’s expert told him to do. I set the case up such that if the tribunal did that, they would have to make themselves look very foolish to do so. If I’m really putting my cynical hat on, I don’t know if there’s anything that surprises me, really. It should shock me the degree to which they twisted the evidence, left out the evidence. The only thing that surprises me a little bit is the lack of effort they put in to hide their bias.”
The communications manager of the CCA, Dana Myckan, commented: “Pursuant to the Health Professions Act, all Hearing Tribunal decisions are posted publicly on the CCA website. This is the extent of the information that the CCA can share on behalf of the Hearing Tribunal.”
The ruling noted that Wall initially wore a mask, but in June 2020, he “self-diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder. He believed that his self-diagnosis qualified him for a medical exemption from wearing a mask. As a result, he stopped wearing a mask when treating patients.” It added that Wall never contacted the college to let it know his condition or request an exemption, and said Wall’s son also worked at the clinic and did not wear a mask.
Kitchen said Wall could face a suspension of his practice but will appeal this ruling or any attempt to make him pay the CCA’s legal costs, which the college stated during the hearings were in excess of $200,000. Kitchen said a recent court precedent suggests the CCA will be unable to recoup costs in a ruling.
An appeal would be heard by the council of the college, which is the college’s governing body. It consists of five chiropractors elected by their peers along with five members of the public appointed by the government. Should Wall lose there, he could take his case to the Alberta Court of Appeal. Kitchen said Wall will go the distance. “I warned them that this is how I expected it to go. So he was prepared,” Kitchen said. “He’s still pretty dismayed that people could have this much evidence staring them in the face and just ignore it and follow the narrative. It’s hard for him. He’s an idealist. He’s really big on truth and people doing what’s right.”
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To all of this, I have but two questions:
- Is the CCA not also guilty of professional misconduct for calling Wall “Dr. Wall” without making it clear that he is not medically trained?
- If Wall is “big on truth”, how come he works as a chiropractor?
28 Responses to Chiropractor is in the dock for not wearing a mask
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My industrial mask cuts out the smell of burning paint, cigarettes etc. If you can smell smoke it’s no good. Those cloth things are only meant as splash-guards against blood and other bodily fluids otherwise they are useless.
Good for you Old Blob. Better to use a chemical respirator than nothing. I suggest you buy a smoke detector so you’ll know when to call the fire brigade.
We professional health care personnel use proper personal protective equipment, or else there will be no one left to care of you when you need it.
EE: Is the CCA not also guilty of professional misconduct for calling Wall “Dr. Wall” without making it clear that he is not medically trained?
They made it known in the title that he is a chiropractor. It’s not the responsibility, in this case, to go into the differences of the educational and title requirements between the two professions.
“ IN THE MATTER OF A HEARING OF THE HEARING TRIBUNAL
OF THE COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTORS OF ALBERTA (FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE ALBERTA COLLEGE AND ASSOCIATION OF CHIROPRACTORS) (“THE COLLEGE”) INTO THE CONDUCT OF DR. CURTIS WALL, A REGULATED MEMBER OF THE COLLEGE”
glad to see that you have no qualms with my other question.
The second question was sillier than the first one and not even worthy of a response.
Do you remember the old adage: there are no silly questions, only silly answers?
You just confirmed it!
It’s a silly question as it assumes no chiropractor can know truth.
NO, IT DOESN’T!
Then explain away…
“If Wall is “big on truth”, how come he works as a chiropractor?”
it means that, as a chiro, “big on truth” would mean telling patients the truth about chiropractic which, in turn, would mean not having patients
The truth: the real facts about a situation, event, or person (Cambridge).
So what facts about the profession would stop everyone (currently around 35 million people annually in the USA) from seeing a chiropractor, especially in light of this?
“Two-thirds say chiropractic (is) effective for neck, back pain.”
https://news.gallup.com/poll/184910/majority-say-chiropractic-works-neck-back-pain.aspx
“So what facts about the profession would stop everyone (currently around 35 million people annually in the USA) from seeing a chiropractor, especially in light of this?”
CHIROPRACTIC IS BASED ON IRRATIONAL CONCEPTS
CHIROPRACTIC DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD
CHIROPRACTORS’ HEALTH ADVICE IS MOSTLY NONSENSE AND OFTEN DANGEROUS
THE MONEY SPENT ON CHIROPRACTIC IS WASTED
But that is irrelevant. In a free country, it’s one’s own choice. That’s it.
If you say so!
CHIROPRACTIC IS BASED ON IRRATIONAL CONCEPTS
Many of DD Palmer’s “irrational concepts” were dismissed in the first textbook of chiropractic written in 1906 by Langworthy, Smith and Paxson.
CHIROPRACTIC DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD
Not based upon the current evidence.
CHIROPRACTORS’ HEALTH ADVICE IS MOSTLY NONSENSE AND OFTEN DANGEROUS
Most chiropractors advocate and recommend a healthy lifestyle and proper movement. Those are “mostly nonsense and dangerous”?
THE MONEY SPENT ON CHIROPRACTIC IS WASTED
A conclusion not supported by any evidence that you have provided.
All you did is supply a vague response for a request for real facts/truth. I am not surprised.
TROLLING FOR BEGINNERS:
DD Palmer’s “irrational concepts” were dismissed
A conclusion not supported by any evidence that you have provided.
Not based upon the current evidence.
A conclusion not supported by any evidence that you have provided.
Most chiropractors advocate and recommend a healthy lifestyle
A conclusion not supported by any evidence that you have provided.
All you did is supply a vague response for a request for real facts/truth.
A conclusion not supported by any evidence that you have provided.
I was looking for you to provide credible evidence to back up your claims of “truth” but apparently that’s asking too much. Ironic.
No, you are trolling, as so often:
you ask a question, I give an answer, and you ask for evidence knowing very well that this would require many pages and simply open a can of worms.
It’s a fun game, I know – but you can play it with someone else who has more time and patience.
Yes, it’s easy to make a claim that something is the truth. It takes time and effort to support it with credible evidence.
ever easier to troll
Sorry …just a little off topic but can anyone here on this site help me locate the link, where it names victims of chiropractic and gives their ages, of those who have died as a direct result of upper neck manipulations? I believe the extensive and lengthy post was North American victims but may have been worldwide.
I don’t believe it mentioned or named those who suffered major strokes as a result of neck manipulations but was focused on deaths numbers only.
Many thanks in advance!
David, I do recall seeing that list but I don’t have it bookmarked.
This paper found that 1:30 cases are published re complications. If that can be extrapolated to deaths idk.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168605402003513?via%3Dihub&fbclid=IwAR3xXqnETZHvLNyEfBdRMlTU_Fj6Arycu-R8jY7PYRr0tUCGhNT5BqjQD5g&mibextid=l066kq
I recall that in the medical profession the ratio of serious complications is 1:20. I don’t have a reference handy.
With the Fox guarding the Hen house, it will be interesting to see how the five Chiropractic Board members deal with this.
Once again, it shows how blatant and willfully ignorant this group operate. It’s Rules for Thee, but NOT for Me!
But then again, they have stated repeatedly in their defense, that much like their various “treatments”, they maintain the right ultimately as individual chiropractors, to interpret and do as they please.
David Nette wrote: “can anyone here on this site help me locate the link, where it names victims of chiropractic and gives their ages, of those who have died as a direct result of upper neck manipulations? I believe the extensive and lengthy post was North American victims but may have been worldwide.”
I think you might be looking for this https://tinyurl.com/kzmcc8ym
Thank you Blue Wode! Yes…I believe this is the list of names I was looking for. Many thanks!
It would be interesting to see if there is a study beyond 2001. We could certainly add Sandra Nette to the list.
One thing I noticed in particular was the overwhelming “young” victims. So very sad.
going thru the list that Wode provided I looked at cases where death was associated with cSMT.
A total of 42 cases from 1934 to 2001
Chiropractor…22 Of those 3 were lawsuits, 14 in papers, 2 from the internet, 3 autopsy
Physician…9
Wife…1
Naturopath…2
Unknown…5
Osteopath…2
Physical therapist…1
By decade
1930s…1
1940s…1
1950s…2
1960s…2
1970s…7
1980s…17
1990s…13
It’s interesting that:
chiropractors do over 90% of cSMT yet only have 52.4% of the cases
physicians do less than 1% of cSMT (assumed) yet have 21.4% of the cases
Of course one would have to look closely to make sure the author of that paper isn’t guilty of any misattribution, that the practitioner was properly trained and licensed in that country to do cSMT, any prior trauma, red flags or contraindications, etc.
We know underreporting is a major issue here. Work those numbers anyway you like but the facts remain, people are being needlessly put in harm’s way, every time a neck manipulation is performed.
And of course, one does wonder just how many people have undergone neck manipulations and subsequently died soon thereafter. Perhaps mistakenly judged at the time, to be merely the victims of an unfortunate “natural” accident i.e. crashing their car, falls, etc.
I’d like to see what the numbers are of people who were involved in any serious accidents causing serious bodily injury or death, for those poor souls having just been to a Chiropractors office. When injured, how many people make the connection… probably few at best. Perhaps Surgeons and ER Departments could have a questionnaire at time of Hospital Admission, asking such questions as, “when was the last time you visited a Chiropractor?” That’s assuming the victim can speak.
One thing is certain; When the risks of serious injury outweigh the benefit of any long-lasting remedy, my advice would be to avoid Chiropractic Rapid Neck Manipulations like the plague.
Questionnaire is fine. But it can’t establish causation.
For those I’ve talked with the claim a chiropractor caused a VAD or stroke they often report that the ER attending physician asks them that question.
What chiropractic researchers don’t have is an easy means to acquire that data and other necessary medical records.
My research proposal is just that, a questionnaire, albeit to investigate for a possible new risk factor/contraindication.