Chiropractic Legal Challenges to the Physical Therapy Scope of Practice: Anybody Else Taking the Ethical High Ground?

I fi nd myself having to start off this editorial in a most unusual way: I believe I need to apologize in advance to all of you reading this editorial for producing what must be the longest editorial in the history of peer-reviewed literature. My only excuse is that this topic is near to my heart and that it is a complex issue that requires a few more pages to discuss. Chiropractic: A Profession in Crisis It has been well over a century since Dr. Daniel David Palmer in September of 1895 performed the fi rst chiropractic adjustment on the thoracic spine of Harvey Lillard, the janitor of the Ryan Building in Davenport, IA, where Palmer had his magnetic healing practice, and thereby reportedly restored the man’s hearing1. Yet, even with such a consider-able period since chiropractic’s founding, even to an outsider like myself it is obvious that the chiropractic profession is at a crossroads when it comes to defi ning its place in the current health care environment. Some prominent chiro-practors even go so far as to say that the profession is in crisis2. They indicate that even after 112 years, the profession has not managed to defi ne itself to society in a way that is consistent, coherent, or defensible. Even within the profes-sion, there is lack of consensus about the proper role of chiropractic. Are chiropractors subluxation correctors, pri-mary care physicians, neuromusculoskeletal specialists, wellness practitioners, or holistic health specialists2? Chiropractic initially earned—and to a large extent up to this day maintains—its unique place distinct from other