This article explores the historical and theoretical relationship between chiropractors and conspiracy theory belief. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous journals published articles warning readers about chiropractic conspiracy theories targeting the mRNA vaccine, and for people to approach disproved medical practice with scepticism. COVID-19’s persistent threats prevented further considerations of the anticonspiratorial roots of chiropractic and therefore some of the most significant explanations for some strands of chiropractic’s steadfast commitment to the margins of standardised medical care. From its inception, chiropractic’s architects have positioned it against mainstream medicine and under perpetual threat from legitimating medical institutions like the American Medical Association (AMA). This article recounts chiropractic’s anticonspiratorial roots and its turbulent relationship with the AMA before considering some chiropractic conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although conspiracy theories are common among chiropractic’s founding text, the AMA bears some responsibility for the current state of chiropractic conspiracy theories. The purpose of this article is to inform policy makers, evidence-based chiropractors and researchers about the historical roots of conspiracy theories within chiropractic medicine and the ways that standardised medicine encouraged anticonspiratorial beliefs among chiropractors in its efforts to undermine ‘alternative’ medicine. Without careful consideration of these historical factors, critics risk misidentifying the motivating factors for chiropractic conspiracy theories and therefore risk perpetuating some harmful trends within some strands of chiropractic care. This analysis is especially relevant given the meteoric rise of the wellness industry and its influence on American politicians encouraging suspicion of standardised healthcare. While such developments demand their own specific analyses, this article’s historical exploration of the connection between chiropractic and conspiracy theories will be relevant to those interested in better understanding the sordid history between standardised and alternative medicines and how the popular dismissal of alternative medicines as inherently untrustworthy or irrational risks intensifying the divide.
David Guignion (Wed,) studied this question.