And, worse, this is from my home state as well:
LANSING - A Rochester Hills chiropractor defended the techniques of a Fenton chiropractor accused of performing unorthodox breast treatments.
The teen girls treated by Robert J. Moore have spinal curvatures that may have caused their bodies to tilt and force one breast to droop lower than the other, said Dr. Robert Ducharme, a chiropractor who testified Tuesday in Moore's defense.
Moore risks losing his chiropractic license after four women, including two teenage girls, claim he fondled them during office and after-hours visits.
Moore, 41, denies touching the girls inappropriately, and his defense attorneys are working to prove his treatment was good chiropractic care, and not for sexual gratification.
"If a person has chest wall pain, we need to see if it's a chiropractic problem or medical malady that needs to be referred," Ducharme said. "In men and women, ribs travel under the breast tissue. We can't ignore the area because (the breast) is there."
Chiropractors provide manipulations of the spine and nervous systems to help the body heal itself without medicine or surgery.
"After hours" visits? That should raise red flags right there.
I suppose that, given the fact that some doctors can't resist abusing their position of trust to cop a feel or do even worse, it would be surprising if "alternative" practitioners didn't sometimes do the same thing. The thing that really irritated me about this article, though, was the last sentence of the quoted material. It should have read:
Chiropractors provide manipulations of the spine and nervous systems that they claim without much evidence can help the body heal itself without medicine or surgery.
This guy needs to move to Washington, where they do "no touch" chiropractic. Believe it or not.
The prosecutor brought in a witness who said the chiro's actions were outside the scope of chiro, and the defense produced a witness who disputed that. Isn't there a licensing board with the final word on this? You can't judge a group by its extremes; but you can wonder if the average (even, tacitly) supports those extremes.
Reminds me of the way that "female nervous tension" was relieved by some 19th century medical practitioners ;-)
I'll bet the chiropractors are less successful.
I've been looking at Bowen Therapy recently (a form of woo massage), which includes something called a Breast Tenderness Procedure.
How do wooists get away with this, when GPs would be publicly pilloried for offering to massage their patients in such a manner?
My mea culpa is that I do lousy chest exams on girls with breasts. The larger the assortment, the worse my exam.
My fear of losing my license exceeds my desire to practice good medicine when I have to lay hands on female chests.
I've tried various strategies (have the girl place both palms on her head so I can auscultate the heart better.
What's the solution? Send the young ladies to the chiro?
best,
Flea
A female chaperone when you do breast exams is the answer. Have your nurse in the room when you do it.
Fortunately, for you, in pediatrics, it's highly unlikely that you'll find any serious abnormalities like cancer, as breast cancer is incredibly rare in such young patients (although I have seen it once in a 19-year-old).
It would have be a lot more exciting in high school if I had use the "trust me, it's medicinal" approach....