Flawed Gatekeepers: How Chiropractic’s Identity Is Being Rewritten by Subluxation Deniers
Originally published: 2025-09-05
The False Claim at the Heart of the Matter
Stephen Perle, DC, MS, professor at the University of Bridgeport and longtime editorial figure at Chiropractic & Manual Therapies (CMT), has made a shocking claim:
“The authors quote Gray’s anatomy about the idea that the nervous system controls and coordinates all organs and structures. This is not relevant to the study and is untrue. Many organs function well without nervous system control.”
— Stephen Perle, DC, MS
This statement directly contradicts one of the most established facts in human biology, that the nervous system coordinates and regulates every function of the body. Even Gray’s Anatomy, one of medicine’s most respected references, affirms this.
Yet Perle’s assertion is not just a slip. It reflects the deeper problem uncovered in Simon Senzon’s dissertation, Truth, Lies, and Chiropractic (2022), the very journals shaping chiropractic’s professional identity are being led by individuals whose work is deeply flawed, biased, and openly hostile to vertebral subluxation.
CLICK HERE for Senzon’s Dissertation
Senzon’s Findings: A Literature Riddled with Flaws
Senzon analyzed the 31 most influential papers in the chiropractic identity literature. His findings were damning:
27 out of 31 papers contained bias and flaws.
339 fallacies were identified across the sample.
Many of these flawed papers came from Chiropractic & Manual Therapies (CMT) or its predecessor Chiropractic & Osteopathy.
Among the authors tied to these flawed papers? Stephen Perle.
Senzon’s review shows Perle co-authored four of the Top-31 most influential papers, each rated as Critically Flawed or Fatally Flawed. These papers downplay subluxation, redefine chiropractic as little more than spinal musculoskeletal care, and use fallacies to advance those views.
When the Gatekeepers Are the Problem
Here is the real crisis: The same individuals producing flawed, biased papers are also the editors, associate editors, and board members of CMT, the very journal dominating chiropractic’s anti-scholarly discourse around subluxation.
Perle – coauthor on four deeply flawed papers.
Bruce Walker – CMT Editor, whose 2016 paper was rated Critically Flawed and Fatally Biased.
Gert Bronfort & Dana Lawrence – coauthors on Nelson et al. (2005), rated Critically Flawed and Fatally Biased.
Michael Schneider – coauthor on Murphy et al. (2008) and Gliedt et al. (2015), both rated Critically Flawed.
Jan Hartvigsen, Simon French, Pierre Côté – coauthors on additional identity papers rated as flawed.
In other words, the gatekeepers of the chiropractic research record are also its worst offenders.
The Impact: Erasing Subluxation from the Record
These flawed papers are not just academic exercises. They shape:
Curricula – Students are taught subluxation is a historical relic.
Policy – Regulators lean on this literature to marginalize subluxation-based practice.
Public Perception – Media and insurers quote from these journals to argue chiropractic is only about back pain.
“The peer-review process enacting the chiropractic identity literature citation network is broken.”
— Simon Senzon, Truth, Lies, and Chiropractic
When figures like Perle deny the role of the nervous system in health, and their work dominates the journals, subluxation-centered chiropractic is systematically erased from the professional record.
The Counter-Voice: Why Our Journals Matter
Against this backdrop, the journals of McCoy Press (JVSR, Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic, Upper Cervical Subluxation Research, and the Journal of Philosophy, Principles & Practice of Chiropractic) stand as the only peer-reviewed publications dedicated to vertebral subluxation correction.
We publish the research they won’t touch.
We create the tools to help chiropractors educate their communities.
We document subluxation’s clinical meaningfulness for future generations.
Without these journals, flawed papers like Perle’s become the uncontested record of chiropractic.
The Bottom Line
When journal editors and board members publish papers filled with fallacies and openly deny the nervous system’s role in health, they undermine the very foundation of chiropractic.
The profession cannot allow this narrative to stand unchallenged. That’s why our journals exist, why they matter, and why supporting them is not optional.
If we don’t provide the counter-voice, flawed voices like Perle’s become the history and future of chiropractic.
