Interview with Dr. Roderic Lacy By TAC Dr. Roderic Lacy is a Palmer graduate (December 1975) who, until 10 years ago, practiced as a DC in Florida since 1977. He also attended medical school in the Dominican Republic from 1991 to 1997, where he lives most of the time and enjoys the privileges of his general medical license. He is on the staff of Hospital Dario Contreras a neuro/orthopedic trauma hospital where he volunteers as a "first entry surgeon" in the ER. He worked three years with his fellow neurosurgical residents until he received his general medical license three years ago. The American Chiropractor (TAC): Tell us more about the FCPA, why was it formed? What is its purpose? How many members are there? Dr. Roderic Lacy (RL): The profession is failing in almost every aspect: there is a terrible lack of new students: schools are begging for money: our laws are antiquated: more DCs are going bankrupt than ever before: we have a huge student loan default rate: the overall recognition of our profession is at an all-time low; we have a mass exodus of DCs leaving our profession and changing professions: and the lack of enthusiasm of DCs in our profession is frightening. All you have to do is look around, ask your fellow colleagues what they think, and they will tell you that we need changes and we need them now. I blame the downfall of our profession on our leaders. Our leadership has failed us by not preparing us for what the future holds in health care. And still they continue to live in a dream world while we pay the price for their lack of foresight. That is where the FCPA (Florida Chiropractic Physician Association) and the FCPAA (First Chiropractic Physician Association of America), both relatively new associations I founded in 2011 and 2012. respectively, come in. We know we need to make changes in our attitudes and leadership now. The majority of all DCs do want advanced rights and they beg to ask the question: Why arc our leaders sitting by while our profession is failing? TAC: What do you offer chiropractors, and how or why you offer them? RL: I am very proud of the FCPA and the FCPAA. and like to brag about their uniqueness. They arc both focused on advanced rights and have the goal of lobbying on behalf of all DCs across the ration—lobbying for advanced rights. There arc 50 different definitions of chiropractic in the US with even more attitudes. We need to come together if we arc to stay competitive as a profession and provide more sen ices to our patients. I fear that many DCs do not understand what having advanced rights means. Advanced rights docs not mean the loss of our roots, which I liavc to tell members often, any more than it means, for example, that if DCs have pharmaceutical rights, they must prescribe deadly chemicals. Advanced rights could mean the ability to sign a form and be recognized as a physician. It could mean the DC can take a patient off meds or change the meds. and. as you might think, recommend meds. Advanced rights would mean different things to different DCs. It means the doors would open and our profession would be able to enter the modem healthcare age as a physician with equal abilities. TAC: What are your goals for the chiropractic profession? RL: Our goals arc simple. We want to see our profession expand and explode, not just survive. We know DCs have a unique philosophy, not just innate, but our philosophy in health in general. The public needs to be able to come to our offices and experience what we have to offer them. Board certifications arc the key to advanced rights. Mam state laws allow for advanced rights because they state that if you arc taught and certified tlirough a CCE school you arc able to provide the service. TAC: What is the most common problem you see among chiropractors today? RL: That is the first $64,000 question. Why some DCs fail to sec the need to advance is beyond my comprehension. I am sure there are many reasons why some DCs fail to see the value in advanced thinking. Perhaps the idea of learning new ideas, going back to school, or taking exams scares them. It scares me. I am not a kid anymore and I find it hard to sit in class, study, and especially to be tested. But this is what must be done if we arc to progress and not fail as a profession. I do not understand win anyone would not want to have more tools in their bag if all it would take is a few-classes and a couple exams. The FCPAA is creating a national network of state associations across the US. which the FCPA (Florida) is part of. They all arc with the same goals: advancing the rights of all DCs. If you go to the FCPAA"s website, you will notice there arc actually 38 state FCPA A associations in the US. all of which arc free to join. This has been a difficult task to accomplish. Many state associations sec the FCPAA associations as competition. And this is not necessarily tnie. For example, our associated association in Arkansas, the Arkansas Chiropractic Society (ACS), associated with us. and we help promote them. We work with them as we both have the same goals and hopes: to advance them and promote our combined goals. If other as- soeiations would understand that our goals may be the same as their goals, we could work together to build a new united profession, one that enjoys the same goals and accomplishments. The FCPAA is not focused on money or salaries. In fact, there arc very few paid employees. We do not have big expense accounts or paid CEOs. We arc mostly volunteers. The presenters at our CE seminars pay their own way. This allows us to offer great CE seminars at a very low cost to our attendees. We average 500 to 600 attendees at our CE seminars and offer them at various times throughout the year in different locations. We arc partnering with the ACS to offer our first CE seminar outside of Florida in Little Rock this September. We arc all very excited about this. Many DCs feel alone now. There is very little intraprofes-sional camaraderie within our profession these days. Many DCs arc becoming depressed because of all the negative forces pounding them on a daily basis. Some are finding out they arc not alone by becoming involved with the FCPAA and our members. I have DCs ask me often if we should change our profession's name to help facilitate our advancement. This is an idea that needs more discussion; it worked well for the podiatry profession. Solutions to our problems could be quite simple. When DCs take the role as primary care physicians with good laws, the marketplace will respond accordingly and allow for choice, which will lift our profession out of the slump it is in and we will be able to help all Americans, not just the 7% we help now. TAC: What is the biggest problem or challenge you see in the chiropractic profession today? RL: Us. Not the AMA. not the OMA. plain and simple, us. We arc splintered: we fight and we stab each other. We cat our own. and until we all understand that our profession is made up of thousands of individual thinkers with thousands of different views and opinions that all need to be expressed, we will continue to fail. We are our biggest enemy. TAC: What do you think of the idea of subluxation-based chiropractic? RL: This brings us to the other $64,000 question: subluxation-bascd practices. Interestingly enough, I like them. They are not for me. but that docs not mean they arc wrong any more than having Rx rights arc wrong. This is where we have to be careful to get the correct message out. We arc all DCs. We all have the same goals, needs, and wants. The question is: How do we provide these goals and sen ices? What is right for me may not be right for you. Does that mean you arc more correct than me. or tliat you have the right to tell me how to practice? No. I do not have the right to tell you how to practice, and yet mam subluxation-bascd DCs seem to think they have the right to tell me how to practice. This is wrong and needs to be corrected. TAC: Do you recommend narcotics? RL: I believe, as do most DCs. the dnig problems of the United States started in medical offices and should end there. I have never written a prescription for any narcotic dnigs. although I work in a trauma hospital seeing major accident victims hourly. This is where the war on dnigs must start. The prescriptions that I write arc for anti-inflammatory, tetanus, and preventa-tivc antibiotic therapy, unless the patient lias been delinquent in receiving care and presents with an infection. Then the antibiotics arc therapeutic and not preventive, and might be increased or changed. TAC: Where do you see the future of chiropractic headed? RL: Without expanded rights. I am afraid we will sec more schools failing, more DCs changing professions, more of all the negative we are seeing today, and we will see our profession go back to the punch cards of the "70s. TAC: Any final words for our readers? RL: On a personal note, please understand we arc all DCs and we all need to bend a little to save this profession. We will abide by the unjust restrictive laws we have now while we fight them every day. We respect the rights of all DCs to practice as they want. We do not believe this profession can survive divided. We believe we all have to unite and find a solution before we fail as a profession. The next time you arc at a meeting, find a DC you know whom you think is "the problem," and tell him or her that you appreciate him or her. ► You can find out more about the FCPAA at www.myfcpaa. org
