The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) has recently launched a new Global Patient Safety (GPS) initiative:
Unanimously approved by the WFC Board at its May meeting, the project will be overseen by the Research Committee and involve the establishment of an expert task force. Planned projects will include a scoping review, identification of best practices in incident reporting and learning, risk management in chiropractic practice and knowledge translation activities.
In recent years, patient safety has increasingly been in the spotlight as health systems strive to reduce unnecessary incidents and iatrogenic injury.
“With adverse events having the potential to impact trust and confidence in the chiropractic profession, it is important that we do as much as possible to inform ourselves in relation to the risks and benefits of chiropractic treatments and related activities,” said Prof. Richard Brown DC, LL.M, WFC Secretary- General.
“While we know that serious adverse events are rare, patients with multiple co-morbidities and known risk factors require special attention. The WFC GPS Task Force will highlight key areas of patient safety to support chiropractors, build and strengthen the existing safety culture and help to meet the expectations of patients and the public.”
Chiropractors use a package of interventions in their treatment of patients, including hands-on care, adjunct therapies, health promotion, advice and exercise prescription. The process of shared decision-making involves consideration by the chiropractor of the suitability and safety of each intervention. In addition to direct patient care, chiropractors also have a duty to consider the safety of their offices and clinics.
A WHO resolution on patient safety, passed in 2019 at the World Health Assembly, made a commitment to take global action in tackling avoidable harm.
Its subsequent publication, Global Action on Patient Safety, set out goals and targets to reduce morbidity from healthcare related incidents.
Chair of the Task Force and Research Committee vice-chair, Dr Katie Pohlman DC, PhD, said: “With the current global focus on patient safety, I’m proud to be leading this WFC Task Force, which will support the chiropractic profession but, most importantly, work to minimize adverse events and protect patients.
“The creation of an open, transparent culture of patient safety is key to maintaining trust and credibility. The Task Force is looking forward to adding to the body of knowledge and advancing safe, evidence-based, people-centered practice.”
The WFC GPS Task Force will report to Research Committee Chair, Assoc. Prof Sidney Rubinstein. It will include members of the existing Research Committee as well as external experts.
____________________________
At first, most people will think: WHAT A GOOD IDEA!
After a bit of reflection, however, some might ponder: WHY ONLY NOW AND NOT DECADES AGO?
And after reading the above text carefully, skeptics might feel that the exercise can already be classified as a PR gimmick that will not generate the needed information:
- The WFC has yet again failed to establish a monitoring system of adverse effects; without it ‘patient safety’ is not achievable.
- They claim that “we know that serious adverse events are rare”. How do they know this? And if they already are convinced of this, the new task force is bound to be a pure ‘white wash’.
- They think an “existing safety culture” exists in chiropractic. This is wishful thinking and far from reality.
- They speak of the “expectations of patients and the public” but ignore the need for a monitoring system accessible to the public.
47 Responses to The ‘GLOBAL PATIENT SAFETY TASK FORCE’ of the World Federation of Chiropractic
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Looks like yet just another veiled attempt at prettying things up in the world of Chiropractic nonsense.
I’d like to see this “new expert taskforce” implement or mandate having a large hanging picture of a Chiropractic Stroke Victim, depicting in living color and showing on full display, the graphic horror and exactly what can and does happen in these “rare” events, when an upper neck manipulation goes bad.
The Global Patient Safety Mask Force.
You can put lipstick on a pig…but it’s still a pig.
And have this posted Chiro victim picture hanging eye level, located in full public view directly above Chiropractic reception areas and on all front entry doors.
Might also make sense to list ALL the various injuries, risks and possible different stroke outcomes, in large bold print beneath the picture of a Chiropractic victim. (I know we have some especially vivid pics of Sandy that we would be happy to share if the Chiro Task Force wanted a model)
Much like boldly showing people the risks and effects of smoking on cigarette packages, it may have some positive results in the long run and certainly save lives.
“The WFC GPS Task Force will highlight key areas of patient safety to support chiropractors,…”
Which reminds me of:
“To support the chiropractor!” LOL!
Thank you, Pete, for sharing this quote from Palmer. I had never seen this before.
Kinda says it all.
Wowsa Pete….their founder Palmer actually said this? LOL!
BJ was not the founder.
B. J. Palmer became known as the “developer” of chiropractic.
What is the Neurocalometer? See:
1. How the Nervo-Scope and Similar Heat-Detection Devices Are Used to Sell Unnecessary Chiropractic Treatment
Stephen Barrett, M.D.
May 18, 2008
https://quackwatch.org/chiropractic/dd/nervoscope/
2. Chiropractic has always been mainly about money: the intriguing story of the ‘Neurocalometer’
Published Saturday 15 February 2020
https://edzardernst.com/2020/02/chiropractic-has-always-been-mainly-about-money-the-intriguing-story-of-the-neurocalometer/
3. The illustrations here are ‘interesting’:
https://edl-inc.com/nervo-scope/
The following article sheds light on B. J. Palmer and it is well worth reading in its entirety:
Thanks for the clarification, Pete.
Looks like the Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
I am not sure who to blame more for this continued deceptional practice called Chiropractic…the father Daniel David Palmer or his infamous son “B.S”. Palmer?
@ David Nette
I’d say his son, here’s why:
QUOTE
“In 1901 D. D. Palmer scuttled the Chiropractic ship; gave it up as a profession; left it in disgrace in Davenport. B. J. Palmer assumed the remnants, although ‘only a boy’—18 to be exact—took the scraps and debts left behind by the elder and reconstructed a business upon the ruins. Upon application, two years later, D.D. was taken into the successful business of B.J. Palmer. He returned penniless, in debt and goods mortgaged. B.J. gave half of all he had, paid his debts and cleaned the mortgage.”
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ADaniel_David_Palmer%2FArchive_1
The following sheds even more light on B.J. Palmer:
Firstly, a brief browse through this link https://tinyurl.com/5dtkyx6e is all anyone needs in order to understand that he was a charlatan, a chancer, and a ruthless businessman who came from a wholly unsavoury background.
In 1910, he testified that, at the age of 11, that he had been “kicked from home, forced to make a living” (State of Wisconsin vs. S.R. Jansheki, December 1910).
He spent years as a vagrant, living largely by hustling on the streets, and slept in dry-goods boxes, hotel kitchens, pool halls, etc. He was permanently expelled from school in the 7th grade, did jail time for petty thievery, and was well-acquainted with the red-light district of town. (Magner, G. Chiropractic: The Victim’s Perspective).
In the preface to one of BJ’s books, a dean of Palmer College wrote, “The first 20 years of this boy’s life were spent in being educated to hate people and everything they did or were connected with”. (Hender H. Preface. In Palmer BJ. The Bigness of the Fellow Within. Davenport. IA: Palmer School of Chiropractic, 1949)
R.C. Schafer DC, a former director of public affairs for the American Chiropractic Association, reported that as a self-proclaimed ‘keeper of the flame’ BJ was suffocating and ruthless to anyone who dared oppose him, and he remembered him as a bigot and an outlandishly vulgar person. Apparently it was common knowledge that BJ openly supported Hitler in the 1930s (Schafer RC. The imbroglio of the professional greyhound. Dynamic Chiropractic 9(17)10, 1991.) and, like his father, BJ was afflicted by megalomania.
His book titles revealed an enormous ego and he made many sweeping pronouncements about the nature of health, disease and the human body. His ignorance and ego also combined to discover a ‘duct of Palmer connecting the spleen with the stomach’ ( https://tinyurl.com/y4kmfkgg ).
During his pre-chiropractic years he worked with a mesmerist and in a circus – both of which may have honed his showmanship and salesmanship. From the beginning, BJ did everything possible to distance chiropractic from medicine and osteopathy. His views came to dominate the profession and he greatly expanded chiropractic’s metaphysical basis, which constituted a major part of chiropractic education. He described chiropractic as a ‘health serve-us’ (Palmer BJ. Selling Yourself. Davenport, IA: Palmer College Press, 1921)
BJ also claimed “I do nothing. It is Innate that does the work’ (Bach, M The Chiropractic Sotr. Austell, GA: Si-Nel Publishing & Sales Co., 1968)
On page 424 of his book ‘Answers’ (1952), BJ refers to Innate as the ‘other fellow’, or the ‘fellow within’, and the real originator of chiropractic.
And, finally, in his book, ‘The Bigness of the Fellow Within’ (1949), he states that “Innate…has been building and running millions of bodies for millions of years” and he exhorted all chiropractors to harness this divine power. He also stated: “One spark of Innate is greater than all the education, books, and libraries of man”.
Wow Blue Wode!
Thank you so much for sharing more light on the history and exposing the very roots of Chiropractic.
The house is built on sand. I’m waiting for the tide to come in.
Thanks for your additions, Blue Wode.
It seems only a minority of chiropractors today adhere to such historical views.
“…56.8% were spine/neuromusculoskeletal focused; 22.0% were primary care focused; and 21.2% were vertebral subluxation focused.’
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8491397/
From the same source:
(Survey item #1) In the examination and assessment of a patient’s condition, do you perform
9.0% only perform spinal analysis to assess for presence of vertebral subluxation.
7.7% only perform differential diagnosis.
3.2% usually perform spinal analysis to assess for presence of vertebral subluxation, sometimes perform differential diagnosis.
1.6% usually perform differential diagnosis, sometimes perform spinal analysis to assess for presence of vertebral subluxation.
78.5% always perform spinal analysis to assess for presence of vertebral subluxation and differential diagnosis. [my bolding]
Wowsa Pete…I do believe that would be called a slam dunk!
Thanks for posting!
One might be tempted to assume that chiropractors who (Survey item #1) “only perform spinal analysis to assess for presence of vertebral subluxation” belong to the (21.2%) subgroup who are vertebral subluxation focused. However,
70% belong to the vertebral subluxation focused subgroup.
20% belong to the spine and neuromusculoskeletal focused subgroup.
10% belong to the primary care focused subgroup.
yep, the majority of chiropractors check out the spine because…wait for it…most people come in due to back/neck pain.
“yep, the majority of chiropractors check out the spine…”
Pathetic attempt at distraction.
(Survey item #5) Vaccinations have had a positive effect on global public health
12% strongly agree
28% agree
22% neutral
20% disagree
18% strongly disagree
Of those who strongly agree that vaccinations have had a positive effect on global public health:
0% belong to the vertebral subluxation focused subgroup.
90% belong to the spine and neuromusculoskeletal focused subgroup.
10% belong to the primary care focused subgroup. [only 10%❗️]
Of those who strongly disagree that vaccinations have had a positive effect on global public health:
50% belong to the vertebral subluxation focused subgroup.
25% belong to the spine and neuromusculoskeletal focused subgroup.
25% belong to the primary care focused subgroup. [❗️]
So a minority disagree with vaccinations having a “positive effect on global public health” and they mainly belong to the traditionalist group.
Supports my statement.
“So a minority disagree with vaccinations having a ‘positive effect on global public health’ and they mainly belong to the traditionalist group. Supports my statement.”
LOL!
The majority of chiropractors (60%) do not agree or strongly agree with the statement “vaccinations have had a positive effect on global public health”. Thanks for bringing to our attention this utterly disgraceful fact.
Perhaps these 60% of chiropractors “mainly belong to the traditionalist group”, which has only 21.2% of the chiropractors 🤣
The 22% that were neutral are non-traditionalist because…wait for it…DD Palmer was not neutral on the topic.
chiro‑troll’s comments have become too stupid to be worthy of replies.
For readers who are interested:
• the study data I’ve been presenting is in Appendix 1 at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8491397/bin/12913_2021_7081_MOESM1_ESM.docx
• this study was the topic of Edzard’s blog post
Beliefs and behaviors of US chiropractors
Published Friday 08 October 2021
https://edzardernst.com/2021/10/beliefs-and-behaviors-of-us-chiropractors/
“chiro‑troll’s comments have become too stupid to be worthy of replies.”
I tend to agree.
“chiro‑troll’s comments have become too stupid to be worthy of replies.”
Good, as I am growing weary of correcting you.
I’m growing “weary” of the word salad and constant side stepping. Given all the evidence and victims of Chiropractic, let’s get back to addressing the real dangers of NEEDLESS rapid neck twisting.
In this day and age of modern medicine it still boggles my mind that we as a society would allow such a barbaric and needless act to continue.
Hats off to the small percentage of thinking Chiros out there who have ceased to use this ridiculous neck twisting technique in their quiver of tools and have opted for a saner and scientific approach to helping people.
Unfortunately, common sense is not so common.
If the task force were to set up a monitoring system, do we trust chrios (in US) to report adverse events when they are absolutely incompetent at doing basic paper work: https://edzardernst.com/2023/07/the-dark-side-of-chiropractic-care/#comment-146863?
Unfortunately, not likely Talker.
They seem to operate like a closed society with only internal discipline and accountability.
And our government(s) are making way too much money on this bunch anyway to ever really lay the hammer down on regulations, etc.
Sadly, those seriously injured by Chiropractors are deemed collateral damage for the trade in my opinion. Injuries are just part of the costs of doing business on virtually every strip mall in North America.
Hence you raise a good point, but I still think a picture is worth a thousand words Talker.
Our offer stands.
Don’t leave out gyms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10387331/
“In this case, a 28-year-old male with a non-significant past medical history who recently started a CrossFit boot camp presented to the emergency department with right-sided neck pain, dysarthria, mild right gaze paresis, right dysmetria, and right facial droop with symptoms of Horner’s syndrome. Imaging results revealed an age-indeterminate left lateral cerebellar infarct with right VAD.”
Of course if he had went to a chiropractor within the past month the chiropractor would have been blamed for causing the VAD.
Not many people on this blog are interested in buying red herrings and straw men. Yet, you can’t seem to stop offering them.
You Nailed It Talker!
It’s all about diversion with these guys.
Strawmen and Red Herrings indeed.
Oh, I’m more than willing to discuss the The World Federation of Chiropractic launching a new Global Patient Safety initiative. But others wanted to divert to unrelated or unrealistic topics.
Whatever.
So, they need to address the documentation issue before they get involved in an adverse reporting system? Interesting perspective.
“I can explain this to you; I can’t comprehend it for you.”
Lol. Either comprehension skills are not taught at chiro school or they are taught to use them selectively.
Good point Talker!
More smoke and mirrors by the looks of things.
There are benefits and limitations of such systems.
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/questions-and-answers-fdas-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers/fda-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers-public-dashboard
This does not mean that the drug or biologic caused the adverse event
Data by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic
Duplicate and incomplete reports are in the system
Existence of a report does not establish causation
Information in reports has not been verified
Rates of occurrence cannot be established with reports
What it can do is:
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/surveillance/questions-and-answers-fdas-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers
If a potential safety concern is identified in FAERS, further evaluation is performed.
I’d like for these Chiropractors who still twist necks, to bring their statistics, reports and occurrence numbers, and spend a day caring for my injured wife.
If the TRUTH makes you uncomfortable, don’t blame the truth, blame the lie, that made you comfortable.”
“Chair of the Task Force and Research Committee vice-chair, Dr Katie Pohlman DC, PhD…”
I was interested to learn about this person and their research…
Katherine A. Pohlman, DC, MS, PhD, Director of Research at Parker University [Parker College of Chiropractic (1982-2011)], Dallas, Texas; and an inaugural fellow of the Chiropractic Academy of Research and Leadership (CARL) program.
Here’s the PubMed search I used:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Pohlman+KA&cauthor_id=32863058
She’s certainly not shy when it comes to putting her name on papers that might ruffle a few feathers. E.g. [my formatting for clarity]
WOWSA!
Will be interesting to see how/if, the resident chiropractor will comment and put the twist on this!
And round and round we go…
I thought “chiropractor” was a legally protected title; meaning that nym-shifting Internet trolls are not chiropractors. Hitchens’s razor also applies to protected titles:
What can be asserted without evidence, can also be dismissed without evidence.
“It implies that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim lies with the one who makes the claim; if this burden is not met, then the claim is unfounded, and its opponents need not argue further in order to dismiss it.”
— Wikipedia
David Nette,
Wowsa was my reaction as well, especially after I went back and read my earlier musings: https://edzardernst.com/2023/08/the-global-patient-safety-task-force-of-the-world-federation-of-chiropractic/#comment-147105
Thank you Pete, for giving my ramblings some context.
Which specific part would you like me to comment on?
DC,
“Keep your mind open to change all the time. Welcome it. Court it. It is only by examining and reexamining your opinions and ideas that you can progress.” Dale Carnegie
So you don’t have any specific aspect of the paper that you want me to “twist”. OK.
Sigh….I may have to lower my expectations.
I think you need to read the paper and understand it.
don’t you think that you sound a bit like a patronising git?