[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 145 (Monday, September 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1797-E1798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               OBSERVANCE OF THE CHIROPRACTIC CENTENNIAL

                                 ______


                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 18, 1995

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, today is the centennial observance of 
the discovery of chiropractic on September 18, 1895 by Dr. D.D. Palmer 
in Davenport, IA. The name chiropractic was derived from the two Greek 
words of chiro meaning hand and praktos meaning done by hand. According 
to Webster's Dictionary, ``Chiropractic is a system of healing holding 
that disease results from a lack of normal nerve function and employing 
manipulation and specific adjustment of body structures--as the spinal 
column.''
  Today, chiropractors are recognized by the Federal and State 
governments in licensure, education, continuing education, student 
financial aid programs, radiation certification, legal expert 
witnesses, hospital staff membership and insurance recognition as 
stated in the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor and other official sources.
  Chiropractors also are recognized by the Federal and State 
governments as primary health care providers. The U.S. Public Health 
Service classifies doctor of chiropractic among medical specialists and 
practitioners and includes chiropractors in its Health Manpower 
Sourcebook, and includes a chapter covering chiropractic in Health 
Resources Statistics. The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, lists chiropractic in its Occupation Outlook Handbook as 
``Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners.'' Chiropractors are a 
listed occupation for purposes of taxation by the U.S. Internal Revenue 
Service and under the Internal Revenue Code, chiropractic care is a 
medical deduction.
  Mr. Speaker, in saluting this chiropractic centennial, I take 
pleasure in including with my remarks a summary statement about the 
profession that was written at my request by my chiropractor 
constituent, Dr. Rita Schroeder of Fresno, and one of my California 
advisers, Dr. L. Ted Frigard of Beverly Hills.

                 Chiropractic, Past, Present and Future

       On September 18, 1895, Mr. Harvey Lillard, who had been 
     deaf for seventeen years sought the services of Dr. D.D. 
     Palmer. Mr. Lillard stated that he was exerting himself in a 
     cramped, stooping position and he felt something give way in 
     his back and immediately became deaf. An examination revealed 
     that a vertebra was twisted from its normal position. Dr. 
     Palmer reasoned that if that vertebra was replaced, the man's 
     hearing should be restored. With this object in view, Dr. 
     Palmer maneuvered the vertebra into position using the 
     spinous process as a lever and soon Mr. Lillard could hear as 
     before. Thus the science and art of chiropractic were formed 
     at that time.
       Chiropractic was founded on anatomy: osteology, neurology 
     and function of bones, nerves and the manifestation of 
     impulses. Chiropractic is a science, a knowledge of health 
     and disease reduced to law and embodied into a system. A 
     vertebral subluxation occludes an opening through which 
     nerves pass, producing a pressure upon nerves causing 
     interference with the transmission of a normal quantity of 
     abstract force generated in the brain and expressed at the 
     end of the nerve in physiological function.
     
[[Page E 1798]]



                               education

       Chiropractic education is recognized by the Federal and 
     State governments. The Commission on Accreditation the 
     Council on Chiropractic Education (C.C.E.) is recognized by 
     the United States Department (Office) of Education and by the 
     Council on Postsecondary Accreditation


                     student financial aid programs

       Chiropractic students qualify for financial aid programs 
     for their chiropractic education. Financial aid programs 
     consist primarily of Federal and State loans, grants and 
     scholarships. Student aid programs for chiropractic students 
     demonstrates that the Federal and State governments not only 
     encourage education for chiropractic students but establish 
     ways to finance that education.


                               licensure

       Chiropractors are licensed in all fifty states, U.S. Virgin 
     Islands, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, by an Act 
     of the United States Congress. Chiropractors must meet the 
     individual State requirements and pass a State Board 
     examination for licensure.


                        radiation certification

       Chiropractors must meet the educational requirements and 
     pass a State examination for certification for the 
     supervision and use of radiation and x-ray machines.


                             expert witness

       Chiropractors are accepted as expert witnesses within the 
     lawful scope of the limited speciality of their practice in 
     the County, State and Federal Court system.


                         insurance recognition

       The Congress of the United States, with Presidential 
     approval, has authorized the provision of chiropractic 
     services under federal law for all Americans in Medicare and 
     Medicaid. Federal employees have chiropractic coverage in the 
     Federal Employee Health Benefit Program and coverage in the 
     Federal Employee Workers' Compensation program, and in leave 
     approvals, for illness suffered by federal employees. 
     Chiropractic health services are included in the Railroad 
     Retirement Act, State MediCal (Medicaid) program, State 
     Workers' Compensation Insurance program and virtually all 
     insurance carriers in the United States provide policies 
     covering chiropractic care. Chiropractors perform disability 
     evaluation for the courts and workers' compensation insurance 
     programs. Chiropractors perform physical examination for 
     school children and employment and insurance companies.


                       hospital staff membership

       Chiropractors are entitled to hospital staff membership by 
     the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH). 
     The JCAH is a hospital standard setting organization which 
     has the power to define and regulate the activities which 
     take place in hospitals. In 1983, the American Medical 
     Association, the American Hospital Association, the American 
     College of Radiology and the American College of Surgeons 
     participated in the revision of the Accreditation Standards 
     for Hospitals with the JCAH. The 1983 revision liberalized 
     the prior standards regarding admission to medical staffs or, 
     and allowance of hospital privileges to limited practitioners 
     which include chiropractors.
       The chiropractic profession has an effective and valuable 
     health care service to render humanity. We are sure that the 
     profession has strived mightily over the last century to 
     achieve the high standards that are now evident.

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