By Melissa Clarke: An interim ban on the spinal manipulation of children under the age of two has been reinstated by the Chiropractic Board of Australia, which regulates the sector. A ban had been in place since 2019 but was lifted in November last year. But the body that represents chiropractors has described the interim ban as a knee-jerk reaction. Sarah Maunder reports.
Sarah Maunder: A 2018 video posted to social media shows a Melbourne chiropractor using a spring-loaded device called an activator on the neck, tailbone and spine of a two-week-old baby.
Archive: We’re going to come into here. He’s going to squawk a bit.
Sarah Maunder: The video sparked outrage and led to the Chiropractic Board of Australia placing an interim ban in 2019 on the spinal manipulation of children under the age of 12. Dr James Best is the chair of the Child and Young Person Health Group at the Royal Australian College of General Practice.
Dr James Best: I think that when we saw those videos of a baby being held upside down while their spine’s being manipulated, I mean that just looks almost horrific. And I think that really got the public’s attention.
Sarah Maunder: The Chiropractic Board of Australia commissioned healthcare researcher Cochrane Australia to review the safety and effectiveness of spinal manipulation on children under 12, and a review was also done by Safer Care Victoria. Both found not enough research had been done to determine whether the practice was safe or not, and the interim ban was lifted in November 2023. But the ban was reinstated this morning after the Health Minister Mark Butler discussed the issue with state health ministers at a scheduled meeting last Friday. David Cahill is the president of the Australian Chiropractors Association and says he is disappointed.
Dr David Cahill: They seem to be responding to vision that they see which doesn’t represent what chiropractors do. Chiropractic care of children is very gentle and is not cracking babies. We’d like to reassure people that they can absolutely take their children to chiropractic and spinal manipulation is one component.
Sarah Maunder: Dr Cahill believes the response to chiropractic care for children has been blown out of proportion.
Dr David Cahill: Within the newspaper and on the television there was a claim of a broken neck which was just completely false. This has been investigated for the last three years, even four years, very carefully by the Chiropractic Board of Australia and Safer Care Victoria and they found no evidence of harm to a child ever in Australia. So that claim was totally false but unfortunately it gets blown up and I can understand why ministers respond to that because it’s scary and we need to look after our vulnerable young people.
Sarah Maunder: But Dr James Best says there is no evidence to show that chiropractic treatment for babies is effective.
Dr James Best: It just doesn’t make sense that a child getting ear infections or a child who’s unsettled or having reflux or colic, these sort of things, there’s no sensible reason as to why manipulating the spine would help.
Sarah Maunder: And he wants to see the interim ban made permanent.
Dr James Best: I suspect that the Chiropractic Board of Australia’s decision initially to allow this practice has actually probably done the reputation of chiropractors a disservice. To me it’s a matter of portraying them as a bit of a cowboy, that they’re doing something without proper safety data to underlie it. So I think that the reversal now of their position I think is probably serving chiropractors in general’s interests best.
Sarah Maunder: Meanwhile Federal President of the Australian Medical Association, Professor Steve Robson, is calling for more research to be done into chiropractic treatments for children.
Prof Steve Robson: I think if we’re going to offer any treatment to young Australian children, such a vulnerable group, we need to make sure we take the time to get the evidence so every Australian parent can be reassured treatment their children are getting is safe.
Sarah Maunder: The interim ban will remain in place pending further consultation between health ministers and the Chiropractic Board of Australia.
