BY ALAN M. IMMERMAN, D.C., WCA POLITICAL ANALYST Just four short months after promising to stop airing the profession¼s internal conflicts in public, Don Petersen lashed out at Terry Rondberg once again in the 9/04/01 issue of DC in an article entitled "ICA Threatened." As a member of the National Chiropractic Leadership Forum (together with ACA, ICA, WCA, COCSA, FCER, FCLB, ACC, etc.), Mr. Petersen pledged on May 4th and 5th, 2001, that he would exclusively bring all conflicts to the open forum of the NCLF for resolution and "not air them in public." So much for pledges. Nearly every chiropractic political leader came to NCLF in May, 2001 for the express purpose of "fostering unity within the profession." This sense of unity was quickly shattered when Mr. Petersen accused Dr. Rondberg of aggressive business tactics or possibly coercion or blackmail. We are still awaiting the grand jury indictments, arrest warrants or any other official notification that Dr. Rondberg has been charged with any of the above crimes, not to mention convicted. "Coercion?" "Blackmail?" Has anyone ever heard of the word "HYPERBOLE," aka "overstatement?" How about lies, lies and damn lies? What horrific event caused Mr. Petersen to even mention words like "coercion" or "blackmail?" ChiroSecure crashed and burned when its insurer dropped to an A.M. Best rating of "E." Don¼s buddies/political cronies/advertisers needed cover so Don turned the spotlight where else? Onto Dr. Rondberg of course. By the way, Dr. Rondberg had nothing to do with the collapse of ChiroSecure and Mr. Petersen never so-accused. Was this objective coverage of the news? Consider that when Dr. Rondberg¼s CBS insurer Reliance was downgraded earlier this year, Don treated the profession to a front page article "Bankruptcy Looms for Reliance/CBS:CBS Malpractice Insureds Exposed." There was no similar diversionary attack on the ChiroSecure to cover CBS¼ problem. There was just the strongest article possible to shake doctors¼ confidence in CBS. Of course Don has never found a SINGLE CASE where a doctor was left high and dry by CBS, but why confuse oneself with the facts? It is obvious that Don likes the folks at ChiroSecure better than those at WCA, not too mention the ChiroSecure does not compete for newspaper advertisers. We do not protest Don¼s choice of friends, but we do protest the twisting of facts in DC to help friends and harm competitors. The entire profession is dog tired of the enmity. After all, we are chiropractors! How did Dr. Rondberg purportedly "threaten" ICA? By first suggesting that ICA endorse the CBS malpractice program to save face with doctors who had weathered the crash and burn of three consecutive malpractice programs, and second by noting that news of the down rating of ChiroSecure insurer would soon be widespread. Soon thereafter both Dr. Rondberg in the WCA members¼ email newsletter and Don Petersen in DC spread the news of the down rating. We are to believe, according to the gospel of Don, that the WCA released this news in a possible effort to coerce or blackmail ICA but DC, on the other hand, released the news in a front page story because it was a legitimate news story. Please recall once again that just four months before publication of Petersen¼s upteenth Rondberg slam, Mr. Petersen had solemnly subscribed at NCLF that he would abide by the "St. Louis Principles," number five holding that all chiropractic leaders should "Air our differences inside this forum (and not in public)." Mr. Petersen has solemnly broken his word. The WCA was truly sorry to hear of the collapse of ChiroSecure. The WCA considers ICA a close ally on many issues including protection of traditional chiropractic. The WCA did nothing to harm ChiroSecure before, during or after the transition period to a new insurer. But that didn¼t stop Petersen from taking shots, again, at Dr. Rondberg. Need more proof that Don Petersen has abandoned objective news reporting? Now that you know the facts about the recent anti- Rondberg vitriol, contrast this with DC¼s treatment of very, very close Friend of Don, Arlan Fuhr. Mr. Petersen has censored all news about Dr. Fuhr¼s ever-building serious problems. You have never read in the pages of DC about Fuhr¼s firing of Dr. Chris Colloca or Dr. Colloca¼s lawsuit, a story of great interest to thousands of doctors. Nor have you heard that William M. Harris, D.C., 83 year old chiropractic leader and philanthropist, President of the Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Education (FACE), donor of more than four million dollars to chiropractic educational and research projects, more than once described by Dr. Fuhr as "my mentor," said the following in a 7/02/01 letter to all Activator Instructors and Board Members: "We have lost more than a dozen instructors due to Arlan¼s unfair treatment of Dr. Chris Colloca . . . Chris was doing a terrific job of handling his position in Activator. He has a contract to buy out Activator, but at the last minute of the three-year contract, Arlan fired him for no reason. If you think there was a reason, ask Arlan, and see what he says. His reasoning is very askew on this subject, IF he will even answer you." "Arlan approached me to help finance Kinex (his cervical motion indicator) when he knew that the instrument was beyond saving. He would have swindled one of his biggest donors, and never looked back. If he will do this to me, ladies and gentlemen, MAKE NO MISTAKE, he will do it to YOU if you give him the chance." "In my opinion, it is up to each and every one of you to do whatever you think is right in your heart to correct the great wrongs that have recently been done in Activator. If enough pressure is brought to bear on Arlan, maybe we can turn this around before it gets to court and the chiropractic press, but only YOU can do it." Not a word in DC. Not one single word about the lawsuit, the firing of Dr. Colloca, the dismissal of Activator Instructors Drs. Tom Morgan, Don and Mark Kimble, the accusation of "swindling" by the highly esteemed Dr. Harris, not one word. The silence is absolutely deafening, especially in contrast to the constant sound of fingernails scraping a chalkboard as Don Petersen continues his Jihad against Dr. Rondberg. Mr. Petersen has abandoned his commitment to foster unity in the profession. If you are distressed by DC¼s "National Enquirer" style of journalism, you might drop Don a note and say so. You can reach Don at Email:Editorial@MPAmedia.com Phone: (714) 230-3150 Fax: (714) 899-4273 Say "Hi" to him for us ‚ he refuses to return our phone calls or emails when we attempt to reduce the hostilities in keeping with our promise at NCLF. (Dr. Immerman graduated from National College in 1980 and has been practicing in Arizona ever since. He led the successful Arizona effort in the 1990s to end insurance discrimination against DCs through enactment of three laws, and has been a leader in the effort to promote "Live and Let Live" among the various factions in the profession. Dr. Immerman currently consults with doctors regarding all aspects of practice with an emphasis on rebutting false defense engineer arguments. He invites your comments at or 928.522.0600.)