The Cowardice of Today’s Chiropractic Leadership: When Silence Equals Surrender

From its inception, chiropractic has stood apart as a profession rooted in freedom—of thought, of health, and of choice. Early chiropractors were jailed for practicing without a license, refusing to bow to the medical establishment or compromise their beliefs. They fought not to be absorbed into medicine, but to establish their own identity, their own philosophy, and their own regulatory structure. That struggle gave birth to separate licensure boards, dedicated colleges, and a movement that once prided itself on independence.

“Chiropractic is the only profession in America where its founders went to jail for practicing it.”

Yet today, those same hard-won victories are being dismantled from within by a cartel of regulatory bodies, testing agencies, and associations whose grip on education, licensure, and practice has choked the very spirit that gave rise to the profession.

The Cartel Exists—And Your Silence Enables It

Let’s be unequivocal: the existence of a chiropractic cartel is not a theory—it’s a documented, observable reality. It operates through monopolistic control of accreditation (CCE), licensure examinations (NBCE), and enforcement mechanisms (FCLB), bolstered by the silence—or worse, complicity—of trade organizations, college leaders, and state boards.

Despite mounting evidence of restraint of trade, collusion, antitrust concerns, and the destruction of professional diversity, many in chiropractic leadership remain silent.

At this point, silence is not neutrality. Silence is betrayal.

“You are either against monopolies or you are for them. There is no middle ground.”

Freedom Isn’t a Slogan—It’s a Standard

We live in a nation that claims to champion liberty and free markets. So how is it that chiropractic leaders—who supposedly operate under those same principles—support a rigged system that denies students a choice in education, doctors a choice in licensure, and patients a choice in care?

When those in power punish chiropractors for questioning the NBCE’s unjust Part IV testing monopoly, or when they fight efforts to allow alternative accrediting agencies, they are doing more than just protecting their turf—they are actively working against freedom.

“Any leader in chiropractic who refuses to oppose the current monopoly is un-American, plain and simple.”

The COVID Collapse: When Leaders Showed Their True Colors

The defining moment of chiropractic’s moral collapse came during COVID-19. When chiropractors stood up for immune health, for personal autonomy, and for basic constitutional rights, it wasn’t the state or the medical boards that came after them first—it was chiropractic colleges, chiropractic associations, and chiropractic state boards.

Practitioners were disciplined for discussing immunity. Educators censored faculty. Associations issued statements aligning with coercive, unlawful and unscientific mandates. Many who once flew the flag of “vitalism” were suddenly foot soldiers for pharma-driven narratives.

This wasn’t just hypocrisy. It was the final abandonment of chiropractic’s core.

“During COVID, the profession didn’t lose its spine—it handed it over.”

An Unrecognizable Profession: Hijacked From Within

Today’s chiropractic profession—dominated by bureaucratic cowards and cartel collaborators—is a hollow shell of what it once was. The current leadership class, by refusing to challenge the power structure, has rendered the profession unrecognizable to its own legacy.

They’ve sold out to conformity, buried the principle of vertebral subluxation, and driven a wedge between generations of chiropractors who still believe in something bigger than managed care metrics.

“If BJ Palmer were alive today, he wouldn’t be allowed to graduate from a CCE-accredited school or be licensed by a cartel-controlled board.”

It’s Time to Choose: Cowardice or Courage

A must read from McCoy Press

How Failing to Confront the Chiropractic Cartel Betrays a Century of Health Freedom and American Values

The Spirit of Chiropractic Was Built on Rebellion—Not Compliance

To every chiropractic leader, board member, college president, and association executive: If you do not speak out against the cartel now, you are declaring yourself an enemy of freedom, an accomplice to monopolistic control, and a betrayer of chiropractic’s legacy.

There is no middle ground. History will remember where you stood.

“Courage is contagious—but so is cowardice. And chiropractic has had enough of the latter.”

Final Word

The chiropractic profession doesn't need more managers—it needs more revolutionaries. The future depends on reclaiming the legacy of those who fought, sacrificed, and bled for health freedom. Until we do, we are not preserving chiropractic. We are participating in its destruction.