The National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (NACM) was[1] a minority chiropractic association founded in 1984[2][3] that described itself as a "consumer advocacy association of chiropractors".[4] It openly rejected[5][6] some of the more controversial aspects of chiropractic, including a basic concept of chiropractic, vertebral subluxations as the cause of all diseases. It also sought to "reform the chiropractic profession away from a philosophical scope of practice and towards an applied science scope of practice."[7] It stated that it was "dedicated to bringing the scientific based practice of chiropractic into mainstream medicine"[8] and that its members "confine their scope of practice to scientific parameters and seek to make legitimate the utilization of professional manipulative procedures in mainstream health care delivery."[4] "While the NACM is focused on furthering the profession, its primary focus is on the rights and safety of the consumers."[8] The NACM was the object of much controversy and criticism from the rest of the profession. It quietly dropped out of sight and its demise apparently occurred sometime between May 30, 2008 and March 6, 2010.[1]
Representing a minority viewpoint among chiropractors that is shared by those known as reform chiropractors,[9][10][11][12] the NACM advocated a highly limited use of spinal manipulative procedures "only for the treatment of some neuromusculoskeletal conditions of musculoskeletal origin,"[4] for example the treatment of "sore backs and other musculo-skeletal problems."[13] By openly rejecting[5][6] some of the more controversial aspects of chiropractic, including a basic concept of chiropractic, vertebral subluxations as the cause of all diseases. NACM members claimed to receive mainstream approval[4] more so than practitioners of straight or mixing chiropractic.
The NACM was a private organization that accepted members by invitation only[4] and did not release membership data, however the neutral Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the antagonistic ICA estimated its membership to be in the low hundreds[14] or less.[15][16]
Groupings within the chiropractic profession have been studied and categorized in various ways and the placement of the NACM within that spectrum has been mentioned in the literature. A 2005 study made with support from the chiropractic community had this to say:
That statement referenced the NACM as a subgroup of evidence-based chiropractors:
In 1998, the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs used communications from NACM's vice-president as a basis for some of the content in their "Report 12".[18]
In 2002, the Journal of Controversial Medical Claims[19] published a paper submitted by the NACM entitled "NACM and its argument with mainstream chiropractic health care."[2] In 2005, chiropractic leader Anthony Rosner had some strong words for the paper:
In 2006 the Maryland Health Care Commission examined and briefly compared the positions of the three chiropractic groups "with policies on spinal manipulation services for children: American Chiropractic Association (ACA); International Chiropractor's Association (ICA – with its specialty department, The Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics; ); and National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (NACM)." It then noted that the NACM position differed from the positions of the other groups, both for adults and children:
The NACM met with strong disapproval from the American Chiropractic Association (ACA),[23] the International Chiropractor's Association (ICA)[15][24][25] and other chiropractic organizations,[11] and sparked controversy within the chiropractic profession in 1986 by coming out in favor of chiropractors using pharmaceuticals.[26]
It was often the object of attack and comments in the magazine Dynamic Chiropractic, as a search of the website will show. In 2002, the Department of Veterans Affairs chose to add Charles DuVall Jr., DC, to the VA "Chiropractic Advisory Committee" to help institute chiropractic care for veterans.[27] At the time, DuVall was president of the NACM, board chairman of The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), and also the chiropractic member of the editorial group running the website Chirobase, a website skeptical of traditional chiropractic beliefs and practices. The website still promotes the reform position advocated by the NACM and contains a list of chiropractors it recommends. Dynamic Chiropractic showed its opposition to DuVall's appointment by calling for an organized attempt to remove DuVall from the committee,[28] and by creating a banner and button to use:
It failed to have him removed, and his role and influence in getting legislation passed which gave chiropractors access to the VA system was singled out for commendation by James Edwards, DC:
The exact time and nature of the demise of the association is not published, but in the April 9, 2010 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic, the editorial staff wrote:
The National Association of Chiropractic Medicine (NACM) apparently no longer exists. Responding to an inquiry regarding the organization's status from another chiropractor, a March 6, 2010 e-mail sent by NACM's national executive director, Ronald Slaughter, DC, said it all: "All good things come to an end. We tried. We failed. Chiropractic is a 'failed' profession. ... As of press time, the NACM Web site (www.chiromed.org) is no longer accessible. Exactly how long the site has been down is anyone's guess. The last recorded existence of the site is May 30, 2008. Like the National Association of Chiropractic Medicine, it too has disappeared with little notice.[1]