2-03-01 Dear Doctor: Chiropractic is a very important part of our lives. Not only is it a means for a very comfortable living, but more significantly it is a way to keep ourselves and our family healthy. The impact chiropractic has on the community is tremendous. Thousands of peoples lives are improved through chiropractic care, not to mention how many people have their life actually saved through regular spinal adjustments. The profession of chiropractic, sadly is not as altruistic as it sounds above. Chiropractic is run by politics. Politics to most of us is an ugly word that we try to stay clear of. Not only is our profession constantly fighting with itself, but we also have to deal with the politics of the pharmaceutical industry, the AMA, health insurers and the state and federal government. I do not have to tell you how a badly worded rule or regulation can effect our practices. Just look at the whole personal injury and managed care mess. How many of us wish that those situations did not exist? This goes to show you how important it is to have the rightly worded laws, statutes and regulations. I try to be politically active in our profession. To me, politically active meant being a member of my national and state organization. My participation was limited to paying dues, donating to the PAC fund and attending a meeting every now and then. Until recently I thought I was doing everything I could. Gradually I became disappointed in the way the national organizations were doing business. I was giving my financial support, but it didn't feel like the profession was advancing the way I thought and believed it should. It also didn't seem like they had the best interest of our profession at heart. Then came along the "new" World Chiropractic Alliance. Since the World Chiropractic Alliance has become a more democratic organization with an expanded Board of Directors and an International Board of Governors, they have accomplished more for our profession in the last few months then the other national organizations have in the last several years. You may have thought that the World Chiropractic Alliance was only about straight chiropractic or represented some radical philosophy, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The World Chiropractic Alliance is all about protecting our rights. It is all about focusing on diagnosing, analyzing and correcting vertebral subluxations. It doesn't matter if you do rehab, personal injury, nutritional or orthopedic supports or use therapies. As long as correcting subluxations is the most important thing you do and everything else is used to help the patient hold their adjustments, then according to the World Chiropractic Alliance you are considered subluxation based. I feel so strongly about the World Chiropractic Alliance going in the right direction that I joined and accepted a position on their International Board of Governors. I am writing this e-mail to ask for your support. I would like you to become a member and attend the Summit in Washington DC March 2-4. http://www.wcanews.com/archives/2000/Oct/oct1600b.htm Please read the list of accomplishments in 2000 for yourself: http://www.wcanews.com/archives/2001/jan/jan0801c.htm I want you to see for yourself that the World Chiropractic Alliance is doing fantastic things for our profession. Please let me hear from you. I would like to know your opinions and concerns about what you perceive is happening in our great profession. I would like to see as many chiropractors as possible join the World Chiropractic Alliance. We must have open lines of communication in order to achieve our membership goals. The World Chiropractic Alliance is here for you and I am here for you. If you have any questions call me at 609-652-6363 or 609-266- 4749. If there is anything I can do for you as a World Chiropractic Alliance representative please let me know. If you fill out an application in The Chiropractic Journal or online at our web site http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org please mention my name on the application as the doctor that proudly referred you to join the World Chiropractic Alliance. Sincerely yours in chiropractic, Dr. J. Zimmerman CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING: * The WCA was instrumental in supporting the Council on Chiropractic Practice, producing the first and only evidence based guidelines included in AHCPR's National Guideline Clearinghouse * The WCA is affiliated and supports the only scientific peer- reviewed, indexed journal that focuses exclusively on the science and research of vertebral subluxation. The Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research JVSR is an electronic publication. Please subscribe at http://www.jvsr.com * The WCA and CLA are currently funding research which hopes to prove that correcting vertebral subluxations has a positive impact on the immune system. * The WCA has the only office in downtown Washington DC established to safeguard the interests of our profession. * The WCA remains the only non-governmental organization (NGO), affiliated with the United Nations Department of Public Information. * The WCA has established "working relations" with the World Health Organization. * The WCA remains the only chiropractic organization that had one of it's board members appointed by the President, to serve on the White House Presidential Commission on Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). * The WCA remains the only political organization that has it's own publication which reaches every doctor of chiropractic and student in the world. * The WCA remains the only International Chiropractic Organization that publishes an electronic Weekly Report called Health Watch. Health Watch is all about chiropractic current events, politics, research, bad medicine and philosophy. It is e-mailed free to any chiropractor or student in the world who registers at http://www.wcanews.com * The WCA is the only International Chiropractic Organization willing to stand alone and oppose the WFC.