An Open Letter to State Chiropractic Associations: Reclaiming Freedom in Chiropractic
Originally published: 2025-05-26
The Chiropractic Profession at a Crossroads
Chiropractic has always been a profession rooted in freedom—freedom to think differently, to serve patients with compassion and integrity, and to innovate in ways that improve lives. But today, that freedom is under siege. A powerful alliance of private organizations has monopolized the pathways to chiropractic education, licensure, and practice. Their grip on the profession is stifling diversity, innovation, and competition—values that are supposed to be at the heart of every trade association’s mission.
Who’s Really Pulling the Strings?
The chiropractic cartel is driven by three private entities: the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE), the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), and the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). These organizations have woven themselves into the legal and regulatory fabric of the profession, dictating who can enter chiropractic, how they must be trained, and what tests they must pass—often with no accountability to the very practitioners they claim to represent.
NBCE:
This private corporation has established itself as the only recognized testing agency for chiropractic licensure in the United States. Its notorious Part IV exam—administered beginning in 2026 solely at its Greeley, Colorado headquarters—forces every aspiring chiropractor to make a costly pilgrimage just to be licensed. It’s a system designed to enrich NBCE’s coffers while limiting any real assessment of clinical competency. NBCE is also enshrined in state statutes, rules and regulations granting them a monopoly.CCE:
The CCE is the only accrediting body for chiropractic with its mandates enshrined in state statutes, rules, and regulations granting them a monopoly - meaning that schools must toe the CCE line or risk losing their ability to grant degrees that lead to licensure. Worse yet, CCE’s monopoly directly ties into federal student loan money, effectively using student debt as leverage to keep everyone in line.FCLB:
The FCLB claims to represent state chiropractic licensing boards, but in practice, it serves as an enforcer for the cartel’s agenda. It promotes policies that coerce state boards into adopting the NBCE and CCE’s dictates and they also control post graduate education—policies that strip away local control and force conformity to a narrow, profit-driven model. It is funded primarily by student loan money given to it by the NBCE.Chiropractic Summit Group:
Operating largely behind closed doors, the Chiropractic Summit Group functions as a secretive coordinating body that brings together not only the NBCE, CCE, and FCLB but also a wide array of trade associations, private companies, and vested interests. By imposing strict “fight club rules” that forbid open discussion of its proceedings, the Summit Group exerts immense pressure on participants to toe the line, stifling transparency and independent thought. It’s a calculated effort to maintain the cartel’s dominance while insulating its activities from scrutiny and excluding voices that challenge the status quo.
The Elephant in the Room: Student Debt and State Complicity
These private organizations have captured not just the profession, but the future of chiropractic itself. Chiropractic students—our future colleagues—are forced to take on mountains of debt to attend schools that are beholden to CCE’s standards. They are then required to spend thousands more to sit for NBCE exams, with no alternative paths available because the cartel’s mandates are written into law.
“The real absurdity? Student loan money is being funneled directly into this cartel’s coffers—paid by students who have no choice but to comply.”
State chiropractic boards which are run by chiropractors—are pulled into this scheme through their affiliation with the FCLB, leaving them complicit in a system that punishes innovation and prioritizes corporate profits over professional growth.
The Consequences: A Profession in Jeopardy
This monopolistic stranglehold doesn’t just hurt students—it hurts every chiropractor and every patient we serve. It suppresses alternative approaches to chiropractic education. It discourages research, experimentation, and the evolution of best practices. It forces a rigid conformity that threatens to erase the rich diversity of chiropractic philosophies and techniques.
“We must ask ourselves: who benefits when only one voice is allowed to dictate the future of our profession?”
Patients lose access to practitioners who bring fresh perspectives and new solutions. Chiropractors lose the ability to chart their own course and practice according to their convictions. And students lose the chance to explore chiropractic’s full potential—burdened instead by debt and a system that demands they comply or be cast aside.
A Message to State Chiropractic Trade Associations: This is Your Fight Too
Trade associations exist for one reason: to protect and advance the interests of their members. And that means standing up to monopolistic control that undermines the very profession you were created to support.
Yet too many state associations have gone along with this scheme—either out of fear, complacency, or a mistaken belief that the cartel’s mandates are somehow inevitable. Let’s be clear: they are not.
“It is absurd—and a betrayal of your mission—for any trade association to support a system that forces students and doctors to pay tribute to a private cartel.”
Your members deserve better. Your students deserve better. And your patients deserve better.
The Chiropractic Freedom Coalition: Reclaiming Our Future
The Chiropractic Freedom Coalition is a growing alliance of state chiropractic associations and advocates who refuse to accept the status quo. We believe in:
Diverse, student-centered education, free from the dictates of a single accreditor.
Fair and open licensure processes that respect clinical competency—not just conformity.
True practice freedom, unencumbered by arbitrary testing monopolies or rigid one-size-fits-all standards.
We’re fighting to dismantle the legal and regulatory strongholds of the NBCE, CCE, and FCLB. We’re supporting alternative accreditation pathways and pushing for reforms that return control of chiropractic licensure and practice to the states and the people they serve.
Our Responsibility to Students and the Profession
Chiropractic students are not just future practitioners—they are the future of this profession. We owe it to them to create a system that rewards excellence and innovation, not one that traps them in endless debt and forces them to conform to a corporate agenda.
“We cannot, in good conscience, ask students to enter a profession that demands obedience over creativity and independence.”
This is about more than policy—it’s about the soul of chiropractic itself. And it’s about your role as a trade association in defending that soul.
The Choice is Clear: Join Us
To every state chiropractic association reading this: You have a choice. You can continue to legitimize a system that exploits your members and your students. Or you can join us in reclaiming chiropractic’s future—a future defined by freedom, fairness, and the right of every chiropractor to practice with integrity.
We urge you to stand with the Chiropractic Freedom Coalition. Let’s work together to dismantle this cartel, restore choice and accountability, and ensure that chiropractic remains a profession that truly serves its patients and its practitioners.
For more information or to join us, contact vertebralsubluxation@gmail.com
Let’s stand up together—because freedom in chiropractic isn’t just a dream. It’s a responsibility.
