Enough with the Redefining: New White Paper Challenges the Politics Behind Chiropractic’s Subluxation Identity Crisis
Originally published: 2025-04-15
When Definition Becomes Distraction
In the wake of yet another high-profile attempt to redefine the chiropractic subluxation—this time under the familiar banner of “consensus”—the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation (FVS) has released a powerful new white paper that cuts through the noise.
Redefining Subluxation: How Politics, Not Science, Keeps Shifting the Meaning of Vertebral Subluxation takes direct aim at a trend that’s become all too common in chiropractic: rewriting core concepts in the hope of achieving unity, political credibility, or academic approval. The result? An endless loop of diluted definitions, fractured consensus, and a profession further from its roots than ever before.
“Attempts to define the term are regularly made, only to fall afoul of political considerations rather than scientific ones.”
— Dana Lawrence, DC, FICC
A Profession Still Searching for Itself?
The timing of this publication is no coincidence. It arrives just as some within the profession are heralding yet another “new” definition of vertebral subluxation—promoted as a path to unity, yet curiously familiar in its ambiguity and scientific emptiness. While the rhetoric may be fresh, the pattern is not. FVS argues that these repeated attempts to redefine subluxation are not signs of progress but of stagnation—and worse, of surrender.
“You don’t build unity by erasing identity. You build it by grounding your profession in the truth and doing the hard work to investigate it.”
What This Paper Offers Instead
Drawing on the foundational work of B.J. Palmer, R.W. Stephenson, and modern thinkers like Boone, Dobson, and Kent, the paper puts forward a clear message: we don’t need another definition—we need to operationalize the one we already have. The white paper walks readers through the Early Vertebral Subluxation Model (EVSM) and highlights Boone and Dobson’s proposed modern interpretation, which integrates advances in neurology, systems theory, and information science.
The paper also shines a spotlight on the deeper issue: the deliberate distortion of chiropractic literature and history by a small group of academics with ideological agendas. It builds on the dissertation work of Simon Senzon, whose meticulous research uncovers a web of misrepresentation that has shaped much of today’s anti-subluxation discourse.
A Call to Action
Rather than calling for more definitions, the Foundation’s white paper calls for:
Investment in research infrastructure to validate subluxation-based models
Restoring semantic clarity and philosophical integrity to the profession
Exposing and correcting the political manipulation of chiropractic discourse
Supporting operational, evidence-informed models grounded in tradition
“This is not about the past. It’s about the future. And if chiropractic is to have one, it must stop apologizing for what it is.”
Read and Share
This is a must-read for anyone who believes chiropractic has something unique to offer the world—something worth defending, developing, and delivering. The white paper is now available through the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation and will be of interest to practitioners, researchers, students, and policymakers who understand that real unity starts with truth, not compromise.
CLICK HERE to review the paper
