Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Taking “touchy-feely” to a whole new level

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.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

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