Extrait de l'article:
A recent investigation by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) reveals what we already know, that many chiropractors promote misinformation and medical pseudoscience. The investigation was prompted by an anti-vaccine letter to the editor by a Manitoba chiropractor, Henri Marcoux. He wrote in part:
This letter understandably produced some outrage as every single claim in that paragraph is false or misleading.
(...) What did the CBC Find?
CBC News looked at every website for chiropractors in Manitoba. Here is a sample of what they found:
Offers of treatments for autism, Tourette’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, colic, infections and cancer.
Anti-vaccination literature and recently published letters to the editor from chiropractors that discourage vaccination.
An article claiming vaccines have caused a 200 to 600 per cent increase in autism rates.
A statement that claims the education and training of a chiropractor is “virtually identical” to that of a medical doctor.
Discouraging people from getting diagnostic tests such as CT scans, colonoscopies and mammograms.
An informational video discouraging the use of sunscreen.
(...) First, all these statements and other similar health advice are demonstrable misinformation. The misinformation is designed to convince the public to forgo evidence-based medical treatment in favor of pseudoscientific chiropractic care. Chiropractors like to portray themselves as legitimate healthcare professionals, with education on a par with medical doctors (it isn’t) and able to function as more than just “back crackers.” In fact, once they obtained licensure, they have been constantly lobbying to expand their scope of practice. They would love to be alternative primary care doctors.
(...) The range of philosophy and practice that occurs under the regulatory banner of “chiropractic” is vast, and includes a great deal of pseudoscience and quackery. As a profession they will not gain the respect they crave while they tolerate rank quackery to occur in their name.
The response of chiropractors, the chiropractic profession, and the regulatory agencies to the CBC investigation are shamefully inadequate. First, CBC News contacted many chiropractors for comment, and all refused. This is very telling – if they believed strongly in their services, and could support them with logic and evidence, they should be happy to talk to a news outlet about it. They should be especially interested in correcting the record or putting the CBC report into context, if they had anything useful to say.
Instead chiropractors generally act like cockroaches when you turn the lights on, they immediately scurry for cover. They appear to only want to talk to the public when they can freely promote their practice without fear of exposure or criticism. Otherwise they want to operate below the scientific radar.
(...) This is the ultimate problem – when the state legitimizes quackery by licensing it, paying for it, and then standing by and allowing it to happen. When the outrageous nature of the quackery is pointed out to them, they make narrow legalistic statements or passive statements such as “We support vaccines.” Good for you – now what are you going to do about licensed health professionals that are harming the public health by scaring the public about vaccines or claiming to treat diseases they cannot treat in order to promote their own business?