Oregon Chiropractic Health and Wellness Month

I have never met the Governor of Oregon, John A. Kitzhaber, M.D. but as a Sacramento, California Chiropractor,  I would like to give him a high five.  

He has issued a proclamation encouraging Oregonians to celebrate October 2014 as, Oregon Chiropractic Health and Wellness Month. 

The details of the proclamation are awesome. I will try to attach it here.  I will highlight a couple of the awesome "Whereas" statements:

Whereas:  The State of Oregon has a goal to produce healthy citizens rather than simply financing and delivering health care:, and

Whereas:  The State of Oregon has one of the highest sales rates for prescription opioid narcotics and spinal surgeries per capita in the nation: and, 

Whereas: A seven-year prospective follow-up study analyzing 70,274 member-months of patients managed by doctors of chiropractic resulted in an 85% reductions in drug costs, 62% reduction in MRI's and surgeries, 60.2% reduction of, in-hospital admissions and a 59% reduction in hospital days.  

There is more, but the bottom line is that I wish our Governor was as wise as Dr. Kitzhaber, and that our system in California will recognize natural health care and the practical contributions of chiropractic care. There are a lot of players in the "Sick-Care" system game, and the politics are nauseating in and of themselves. The political influence of organized medicine has been very successful at keeping the sick care system going, despite its many weaknesses.  There is so little money in comparison in the chiropractic world that most advancements in natural health care are the result of grass-roots efforts of chiropractic patients and the too few dedicated D.C.'s who bother to join their state and national associations. We all could step it up some and let the truth be known. Great to see this prospective study. That took time and effort too. Good work!

Hat's off to the Oregon Gov.   I hope the powers that be, and the citizens will take heed. Pray that our California Gov may be as wise.  

Gregg C. Anderson, D.C.