Chiropractic Board of Australia reinstates ban preventing spinal manipulation of babies
The controversial lifting of the ban preventing the spinal manipulation of infants has been overturned once again following concern from health ministers and industry experts.
Chiropractors have again been banned from manipulating babies’ spines after a previous ban was lifted sparking concern among industry experts and health ministers.
Health Minister Mark Butler last week asked the Chiropractic Board of Australia for an “urgent explanation” after a ban preventing chiropractors from manipulating the spines of infants was rescinded.
“The Health Minister is writing to the Chiropractic Board seeking an urgent explanation on its decision to allow a resumption of spinal manipulation of infants under two, in spite of two reviews concluding there was no evidence to support that practice,” a spokesperson for Mr Butler said on Friday.
The Chiropractic Board of Australia released a statement on Monday advising chiropractors not to use the practice on children under the age of two.
“The Chiropractic Board of Australia (the Board) has reinstated the Interim Policy – Spinal manipulation for infants and young children at the request of Health Ministers pending further review between the Board and Health Ministers,” the statement read.
“For the purpose of this interim policy, ‘spinal manipulation’ means moving the joints of the spine beyond the child’s usual physiological range of motion using a high velocity, low amplitude thrust.”
The policy is set to remain in place until further consultations with health ministers occur.
The practice sparked controversy in 2018 when a video of a Melbourne chiropractor manipulating the back, hips and collarbone of a two-week-old baby surfaced online.
The chiropractor could be heard saying “he is going to squawk a bit” while the baby cried in a video thats has since been deleted from social media.
The decision to overturn the ban deeply concerned industry experts, with Royal Australian College of General Practitioners chair of child and young person health Dr James Best telling The Australian last week that there is a much higher risk of injury for babies during spinal manipulation as the spinal column is very “malleable” and “manoeuvrable”.
“I’ve certainly spoken to orthopaedic surgeons and spinal surgeons about this topic and they are very concerned about any manipulation being done,” he said.
“While there’s no great data to suggest harm, there’s no data to suggest that it’s safe either,” he said.
A 2022 review by Cochrane Australia and a 2019 review by Safer Care Victoria (SCV) both found it “difficult to draw conclusions about the safety and effectiveness of spinal manipulation in children due to the paucity of research studies and reported information”.
Notification data from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency also did not identify “any reports of serious harm in children receiving chiropractic care in Australia”, according to the Australian Chiropractic Board.
The health regulator has received 335 concern notifications about chiropractors since January 2021, five of which were relating to child patients.
Of those notifications, four resulted in no further action against the practitioners involved, while one young child’s case underwent regulatory action unrelated to the treatment provided.
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