Government and Legal Inquiries

Chiropractic is legally recognized or allowed to be practiced without official sanction in approximately 39 countries. Varying degrees of investigation into the appropriateness of chiropractic treatment preceded the official stance of these countries.

In recent years, the Canadian and United States governments have begun requiring that health professionals provide guidelines for use in assessing the appropriateness of care. In an attempt to address this requirement, 33 chiropractors in North America were invited to participate in a conference held in early 1992 at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, California. A publication released in early 1993 entitled, Guidelines for Chiropractic Quality Assurance and Practice Parameters, related the proceedings of that conference.

During April 1993, the Canadian Chiropractic Association sponsored a conference in Toronto to establish clinical guidelines for chiropractic standards of care in Canada. The participating members included chiropractors from various chiropractic organizations throughout Canada. Results of this conference will be published in a report scheduled for release at the end of 1993.