Shared by: michaelr@global.net.au
Michael McKibbin DC .. Perth Australia

A NEWS-BRIEF FROM THE
ATTADALE CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC
WOW!!!
Let us demolish the myth, that when compared to Medicine, Chiropractic 
posed a greater risk. MPs and
medical bureaucrats used that myth to justify keeping chiropractic out of 
public health. Let me stress that
when properly used, Medicine does a great deal of good, deserving our 
respect and support.
While preparing a submission to the WA government my fellow 
chiropractor, Dr Doug Winter and I
researched harm arising from medical treatment as distinct from the 
patient¼s disorder. That term for that
harm is åiatrogenesis¼. We came to understand that seemingly Australia¼s 
iatrogenic toll qualifies
iatrogenesis as the third leading cause of death. The data is so imprecise 
that totals are guesstimates!
What looks to be a more recent and perhaps more comprehensive study 
was published in LE Magazine
March 2004 under the title; AS WE SEE IT DEATH BY MEDICINE. 
Here is a key quote;
'The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number 
of deaths caused by conventional medicine
is an astounding 783,936 per year. It is now evident that the 
American medical system is the leading
cause of death and injury in the US. (By contrast, the number of 
deaths attributable to heart disease in
2001 was 699,697, while the number of deaths attributable to 
cancer was 553,251.5)'
Normally, and in the cases of lesser numbers of industrial deaths such as 
airline crashes or mine disasters,
government legally requires extensive reports and where necessary, 
remedial action.
When referring to iatrogenesis, Australian authors use the term åepidemic¼. 
Its extent is unknown to The
Australian Bureau of Statistics, (ABS) whose cause of death data derives 
from cause of death on death
certificates. Apparently, åiatrogenesis¼, rarely if ever, appears on a death 
certificate.
Potential iatrogenic victims should be able to make informed decisions 
prior to submitting to the medical
treatment that may cause their death. A national iatrogenic register could 
serve to define the causes and
rates of thousands of such deaths and thus serve patient and public interest. 
However, a national iatrogenic
register may increase the exposure of litigation against medical 
practitioners.
Government has a massive conflict between the interests of patients and 
medical economic interests.
Iatrogenesis provides an exquisite definition of government loyalty.
It is hard to accept that government knowingly sponsors an epidemic, fails 
to both collect adequate data and
then to decisively, and clearly, forewarn thousands of patients who are 
about to place their life at risk.
Unless I have the foregoing all wrong, when compared to Medicine, 
Chiropractic is remarkably safe. On
safety grounds alone Chiropractic should be integrated into public health.
I have written to each political party¼s health spokesperson to ask for 
her/his guesstimate of iatrogenic
deaths and what if anything, they intend to do to forewarn future 
generations of medical patients.
Regards,
Michael McKibbin DC