Foundation for Chiropractic Progress Supports Opioid Commission Recommendation: Declare Opioid Epidemic National Emergency

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ – August 1, 2017 –

The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, the leading voice of the chiropractic profession, strongly endorses recommendations from the White House panel examining the nation's ongoing Opioid crisis to declare the epidemic as a national public health emergency.

“The chiropractic profession has long recognized the dangers of prescription opioid use and abuse, and has tirelessly advocated for drug-free strategies for patient care," says Sherry McAllister, DC, executive vice president, F4CP.

"A commitment to fighting this scourge must come from the highest levels of government. It will resonate throughout the healthcare ecosystem, and the chiropractic profession welcomes a declaration
of this magnitude. "

A new study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that about one in three Americans -- 91.8 million people -- used prescription opioid painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin.

In 2017, the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommended in an evidence-based clinical practice guideline published in Annals of Internal Medicine that physicians and patients should treat acute or subacute low back pain with non-drug therapies, including spinal manipulation. Low back pain is one of the most common reasons for
all physician visits in the U.S. and a major contributor to Opioid prescribing.