Chiropractic students call for action against unsubstantiated claims

Abstract

Background: The 2019 coronavirus pandemic is a current global health crisis. Many chiropractic institutions, associations, and researchers have stepped up at a time of need. However, a subset of the chiropractic profession has claimed that spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is clinically effective in improving one's immunity, despite the lack of supporting scientific evidence. These unsubstantiated claims contradict official public health policy reflecting poorly on the profession. The aim of this commentary is to provide our perspective on the claims regarding SMT and clinically relevant immunity enhancement, drawing attention to the damaging ramifications these claims might have on our profession's reputation. Main text: The World Federation of Chiropractic released a rapid review demonstrating the lack of clinically relevant evidence regarding SMT and immunity enhancement. The current claims contradicting this review carry significant potential risk to patients. Furthermore, as a result of these misleading claims, significant media attention and public critiques of the profession are being made. We believe inaction by regulatory bodies will lead to confusion among the public and other healthcare providers, unfortunately damaging the profession's reputation. The resulting effect on the reputation of the profession is greatly concerning to us, as students. Conclusion: It is our hope that all regulatory bodies will protect the public by taking appropriate action against chiropractors making unfounded claims contradicting public health policy. We believe it is the responsibility of all stakeholders in the chiropractic profession to ensure this is carried out and the standard of care is raised. We call on current chiropractors to ensure a viable profession exists moving forward.

Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Approaches to COVID-19: A Narrative Review

“…Chiropractic care has been cautioned about overpromoting the benefits of manipulative treatments in terms of COVID-19 prevention or treatment. Social media claims, in specific on Twitter, suggested that spinal manipulation could boost immunity and help prevent COVID-19, a claim that is unfounded and was called out as such by some in the chiropractic community [48,49]. The Chinese practice of Qigong is less familiar outside China but involves body movement synchronized to breathing combined with meditation.…”