From Tedd Koren, DC 1-20-00 The response to the Special Report has been intense. I've enclosed the letters at the bottom of this newsletter. It's easy to criticize but I'd like to offer my suggestion on what can we do with the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE). How about dismantling it? The charade must end. Get rid of it entirely. The test is pointless, useless and bears no bearing on the reality of chiropractic practice and science. Take the $9 Million and use it to let the schools contact each state Board to find out if their curriculum can be approved so their graduates can practice there without Nat'l Boards. Actually, the Association for Chiropractic Colleges may be the best vehicle for that. Since it the ACC is already made up of all the schools they can collectively go to each state board for collective approval. That shouldn't cost $9 million and the remainder can divided up amongst the schools or given back to the students in some way. Of course if a class action suit is filed the NBCE the $9 million may be decreased a bit. By the way, my attorney is Jim Turner 800-510-0151 if anything is thinking of that. OK, let's move on. Erratum: Dr. Fudenberg's correct address is http://members.aol.com/nitrf (sorry for the mistake). Here's a study the American Cancer Society has attacked (notice it wasn't done in America): (Medical Tribune) - According to Danish researchers, the use of routine mammography to screen women for breast cancer is not saving lives. "Screening for breast cancer with mammography is unjustified," the researchers wrote in the January 2000 issue of The Lancet. The report was refuted by the American Cancer Society. Study authors reanalyzed data from eight previous breast-cancer screening studies. They looked at these data after a 1999 report showing a national mammography screening program in Sweden had no effect on that country's cancer mortality rate. Looks like the next issue will have a great back and forth in the letters section. To see the Lancet article go to: http://www.intelihealth.com/enews?261784 Since I'm left handed, I feel obligated to send this to you. "LEFT-HANDERS HAVE LARGER INTERBRAIN CONNECTIONS The two halves of the human brain are connected by a bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is thought to help integrate the activities of the right and left brains which, for reasons unknown, seem to specialize in different kinds of mental operations. Studies of the corpus callosum reveal that it is about 11% larger in left-handers than in right-handers. In terms of interconnecting nerve fibers this comes to 25,000,000 more for the left-handers. Just what sort of information flows along these myriad pathways is not known, although we do know that left-handers have greater bihemispheric representation of cognitive functions; i.e., the brain functions are not so specialized in each half of the brain. But why should left-handers and right-handers be different at all? Are they born with unequal corpus callosa? Or are these nerve highways equal are birth and atrophy in right-handers ? (Witelson, Sandra F.; "The Brain Connection: The Corpus Callosum is Larger in Left-Handers, " Science, 229:665, 1985) http://www.knowledge.co.uk/frontiers/sf042/sf042p22.htm And you ask why I vote Libertarian? Here is a review from the Quality Paperback Book Review, Winter 1999 : From the notoriously slippery ("It depends on what the meaning of the word is is" - President Clinton) to the geographically challenged ("It's wonderful to be herein the great state of Chicago"- Dan Quayle) the new book The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians, will give you a serious aversion to a voting booth. Marion Barry, mayor Washington, DC: "If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very low crime rate." Vice President Al Gore, referring to the busts of Washington, Jefferson and Franklin: "Who are these guys?" White House spokesman Barry Toiv: "It's not easy getting up here and saying nothing. It takes preparation." Not long ago Jay Gordon, MD was on GOOD MORNING AMERICA with Cindy Crawford, (1/5/00) criticizing vaccination. But you'd never know it from the actual GMA piece. Dr. Gordon reveals: "They edited the piece in a manner which eliminated all my statements about the possible problems with vaccinations. We shot over an hour's worth of tape for the 3-4 minute segment and the main thrust of my comments was to say that doctors and manufacturers have never presented an honest picture to parents. I discussed mercury, research funding for committee members, statistical implications of the rise in diabetes and other autoimmune phenomena associated with vaccines and many other controversial topics. They edited the segment to make me sound like a vaccination proponent. We also have to understand the impact of a person as well-known as Cindy Crawford delaying vaccines for over six months." Did vaccinations get rid of infectious disease? According to epidemiological studies by the time vaccines came out deaths from pertussis, measles, mumps, diphtheria, scarlett fever, tetanus had dropped over 95%. They were on a downward slide long before the advent of vaccines. Dr. Koren speaks!! See me almost live in Novi, MI (near Detroit) tonight Jan 20th (Thursday) night. Call Dr. Sam Caruso at 248-693-4800 or 248-656-8566 for info. National Board Letters Response The response has been strong and universal in its condemnation of the National Board. Some of the posts: Tedd, "I can't believe the extortion of this NBCE panel. Well, I can because I am one of the many chiropractors in debt because of their costly boards! Thanks, For the information!" "SOME OF MY FRIENDS COULD NOT TAKE FOUR THIS PAST TIME BECAUSE THEY NEEDED TO SAVE UP SOME MONEY WHICH ULTIMATELY COST THEM MORE MONEY BECAUSE OF THE MONEY THEM WOULD BE MAKING WITH A LICENSE." Dr. Koren, "Nice work... Ouch, I would hate to be one of those board members right now. I have a better solution for those guys. Instead of screwing over students after 100K of college, why not limit them prior?" Dear Tedd, "Thanks for this update. What goes around comes around....It sounds as though NBCE is about to get theirs. " From the researcher Dr. Leonard Faye: "What a great can of worms to open. I am for high standards, but not for scams like this. The nine million should be financing research. Please don't lower the standards to the 50s. It was pathetic." From the President of the International Chiropractor's Association: "Dear Tedd, The groundswell against the Nat Board is begin to take off and gain serious momentum. My letter to them asking for reform will be in the chiropractic press in about 2 weeks. If you would like a copy of the letter, contact the home office for it. Thanks for supporting the wave." Bob Hoffman, DC ALERT TO NEW JERSEY DOCTORS Dr. Koren, "Thanks for the info on the NBCE. I'm currently on the board in NJ. Recently, acceptance of Part IV in lieu of a test was slipped in. It's not formalized yet. The language is still being written by the attorneys and it should be published for public comment soon. I'm having trouble getting the support to stop this. I've gotten some info from the ICA and have talked to a few of their representativesä. Any info you have would be helpful. Specifically, I've got other board members who are interested in abuses by the National Board and information about how they are controlling and hurting the profession. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks", Kim Stetzel (LifePage@aol.com) Dr. Koren, "I have always felt that the test questions were bogus and had the same answers as my fellow colleagues that passed. There is no way to review the exams as the NBCE has no provisions for review. I have been thinking about suing the NBCE because I have felt victimized by testing procedures and the belief that the NBCE has to have a certain quota of failures for what ever reason. With your letter it now all makes sense." From our Australian distributor of Koren Publications Mr. Ralph Levetan, a retired attorney (Barrister?) who runs SmartPractice: "Interesting report on the NBCE. Sounds like a good plot for a movie or at least 60 Minutes! What amazes me is that you can put that out in writing. In this country there'd be a writ for damages for libel issued within hours of your activating the "send" button! The laws of libel must be very different in the States. Come to think of it, I seem to recall that they are different." Ralph Dear Dr. Koren, "At 47 I entered practice one year ago. I have extensive business experience, and so when I got a load of the costs involved in getting licensed I was flabbergasted! I'd been professionally licensed twice before, and the cost was a pittance in comparison. The [NBCE] people slurp the blood, sweat, and tears of the innocents who believe it's acceptable to mortgage their lives for the profession they long to be a part of. Gee, it's nice to think of them dining on my dollars..." Dr. Koren, "I am a 55 y.o. recent graduate of Logan Chiropractic College. All of your conclusions and the information sited in this article are accurate. The debt is not nearly as traumatic as are the tests themselves. However, when I started at Logan in January of 1995 the cost for Part IV was $200. Currently it is $800 with Board Reviews running $500 plus. The reason I mention Board Reviews, is because if you do not take one of them, specifically NBS, you will probably wind up on the bottom end of the Bell Curve. Education and knowledge are not tested with this kind of preparation. It seems that NBS "knows" what to study for. I wonder how and why? It is great to be among men of integrity. Please continue to send me your newsletters and any updates." Hey Tedd; "Interesting report, to say the least! Sounds a lot like the Int'l Olympic Committee (IOC) mess with their luxurious lifestyles at the expense of "amateur" athletes who flew in second class as the IOC executives flew in first-class and stayed in the 5 star hotels as the athletes stayed in the dorms. Just too familiar. Hopefully Don Petersen's article may expose this mess, but I doubt he'll take a strong stance since he rarely, if ever, has before taken an attack mode on any issue, especially those concerning the "establishment."" JCSmith, DC Dear Dr. Koren, "Thank you for your newsletter outlining the unbalanced use of funds derived from examination fees. This is particularly of concern to me because our provincial regulatory board, the College of Chiropractors of Ontario is just in the process of divesting itself of the responsibility of examining applicants wishing to practice in our province. The national examining board will take over this function. I saw this as a step toward standardizing access to all Canadian provinces but now I'm sot so sure." Dear Dr. Koren, "It's about time somebody started sticking up for the poor students paying outrageous fees to NBCE. I graduated in DEC'96. Because of the politics and expense it took me 2 years to get through PartIV. I had absolutely no problem passing the first 3 and PT with flying colors after barely reviewing the material because it actually tested what we learned. PartIV was a farce. After not passing by fifteen or so points the first and second time (both times my scores were almost identical no matter how much I reviewed and practiced) I was so humiliated I considered doing something else. I got together the $850.00 for the application and borrowed money from my mother ($550.00) to take Irene Gold. I spent a total of $2750.00 to get through. Funny how I managed to keep my GPA up and graduate with honors, yet couldn't get through PartIV. These factors may not seem related but it was my observation that the best students that might not be the darlings of the administration were also the folks that struggled with PARTIV." That's all for now. Send us the names of your friends if you'd like them to get this. Visit our website at www.korenpublications.com for the best patient education materials in the profession (even the gov't says so). Check us out and help us so we can continue to help you.