ICA Board Shocks Members & Votes to Accept Georgia Chiropractic Association as Affiliate

ICA Board Shocks Members & Votes to Accept Georgia Chiropractic Association as Affiliate

Decision is Rejected by ICA Representative Assembly

The new leadership of the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) was just ushered in with Stephen Welsh DC as President and he wasted no time furthering his efforts to water down the ICA. In a shock to the ICA membership and especially to the Georgia Chiropractic Council (GCC) which has been a longstanding ICA Affiliate, the ICA Board voted to accept the Georgia Chiropractic Association (GCA) as an Affiliate.

The move was blocked by the ICA's Representative Assembly.

Four out of the 10 GCA Board of Directors are members of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) including its current President:

  • G Clark Stull, DC - President
  • John A. Webster, DC - Secretary
  • Robert L. Alpert, DC
  • Vincent J Erario, DC

The ACA has emerged over the past several years as an anti-subluxation, anti-vitalistic trade organization that forces members to sign a pledge that it will abide by its standards of care and policies. The most well known prohibition is the ACA's rejection of imaging in relation to vertebral subluxation.

The Georgia Chiropractic Association is a signatory to the ACA's Medicare reform plan that includes removing vertebral subluxation from the Medicare legislation and instead placing it in a “purpose clause.”

The "Purpose clause", although part of the law, has no operational effect. It only explains their intent. Of course the Bill would allow for full scope state by state which would also bring drugs into Medicare for chiropractors.

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In a widely circulated letter by long time ICA and GCC leader DD Humber, he referred to the move by ICA's leadership as an "affront" to BJ Palmer, Sid Williams and himself.

Humber (himself a past President of the GCA), Sid and Nell Williams and many other chiropractors left the GCA in the 1980's and formed the Georgia Chiropractic Council which became an ICA Affiliate.

In his letter Humber asked: "Has the ICA leadership slipped to the point where they want to draw closer to the ACA? If so, why? Is a merger considered next?"

Welsh has worked behind the scenes for many years to operationalize the slow but steady slide of the ICA away from its core values and toward an embrace of the Chiropractic Cartel. This was evident by its turncoat endorsement of the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) right before its 2013 Hearing before the USDE.

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Even prior to that Welsh was setting the stage for the ICA's embrace of the CCE when he signed off on so called "necessary drugs" and Primary Care during the Standards review scandal.

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According to a former ICA Board member, as an ICA representative, Welsh also voted for the World Federation of Chiropractic's (WFC) Identity Statement, which made no mention of vertebral subluxation. 

Welsh has embraced the mantra of chiropractic political apologists within the subluxation faction of the profession that have succeeded in convincing the rank and file members that they were going to change the Chiropractic Cartel from within by having "a seat at the table" and "giving a little to get a little".

Even a cursory review of the past decade in chiropractic demonstrates that strategy has failed.

Just recently the ICA had to defend its ongoing financial and political support of the WFC after several members of the ICA leadership spoke on the WFC platform during its convention in Berlin.

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During the same convention WFC research leadership referred obliquely to vitalistic chiropractors as child molestors, called vertebral subluxation imaginary and its management "rubbish". All of this to ovations, clapping and cheering which forced the ICA to file a "complaint" to the WFC about two of its presenters. Nothing is expected to come of the complaint. In fact, following the event, the WFC installed a new President who has vowed to bring unity to the profession as long as "extremists" are not included.

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Even prior to this latest fiasco, ICA members have increasingly been questioning the direction of the organization, its policies and management.

CLICK HERE for the full text of Dr. Humber's Statement

McCoy Press