Foundation for Chiropractic Progress Responds to National Drug Epidemic: Non-Drug Chiropractic Approach to Pain Relief
CARMICHAEL, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–According to a recent article
published by The Wall Street Journal, participants in the October
WMUR Granite State Poll in New Hampshire ranked drug abuse as the most
important issue in the 2016 presidential campaign – trumping job and
economic matters for the first time in eight years. As issues
surrounding overprescribing and abuse begin to dominate the conversation
of presidential candidates, experts at the Foundation
for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), a not-for-profit organization
dedicated to raising awareness about the value of chiropractic care,
assert the need for evidence-based, drug-free options, including
chiropractic care, to serve as a primary approach to pain relief.
“For years, the dangers associated with prescription opioid medications
– which include misuse, abuse, addiction and/or fatality – continue to
surface, yet the epidemic continues to sweep the nation,” states Sherry
McAllister, DC, executive vice president, F4CP, who notes that more than 259
million painkiller prescriptions were written in 2012 – enough for
every U.S. adult to have an individual bottle of pills. “As this
epidemic gains attention at the national level, alternative pain
management options, including chiropractic care, must be introduced to
shift the public’s opinion on pain and opioid prescriptions.”
Today, there are more overdose-related deaths than motor vehicle
accidents in the U.S., over half of which stem from prescription
medications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Additional research concludes
that individuals who abuse prescription opioids are over 40 percent more
likely to use heroin. Doctors of chiropractic (DCs), who
have a minimum of seven years of higher education and clinical patient
management, are specifically trained to diagnose, evaluate and provide
appropriate care and rehabilitation to individuals suffering from acute
and chronic pain, which can help to decrease or prevent the need for
prescription opioid medications.
“The public must band together and create a unified movement to modify
the patient care model around pain management,” says Dr. McAllister. “It
is imperative for individuals to educate themselves on effective,
non-pharmacological alternatives for pain relief to help prevent the
risk of prescription drug addiction and the 46
overdose-related deaths per day in the U.S. that are a result.”
Today, health care quality organizations recognize the value of a
conservative approach. Earlier this year, the Joint Commission, which
certifies more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the
U.S., including every major hospital, revised its pain management
standard to include chiropractic services.
For more information about chiropractic care or to find a doctor in your
area, visit: www.F4CP.org/findadoctor.
About Foundation for Chiropractic Progress
A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress
aims to inform and educate the general public about the many benefits
associated with chiropractic care. To learn more about the Foundation,
please visit us on the web at www.f4cp.com
and www.yes2chiropractic.org
or call 866-901-F4CP (3427).
Contacts
Media
For Foundation for Chiropractic Progress
Megan
Kivlehan, 201-641-1911 (14)
mkivlehan@cpronline.com
