#1082: Terry Rondberg

There are many roads to fame and fortune, and among the least honorable is the way chosen by Terry A. Rondberg. Rondberg has made a name for himself as among the most unhinged woomeisters in the chiropractic profession. He is president of the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), which claims to be “the only major chiropractic organization which passionately defends the rights of subluxation-based doctors and will stand up against those who would corrupt chiropractic by denying its philosophical and vitalistic foundations,” and believes that spinal adjustment should begin at birth and continue for life even in the absence of symptoms. He is also founder the Vertebral Subluxation Research Institute (VSRI) and president of Chiropractic Benefit Services, a malpractice company that insures subluxation-based chiropractors and publishes in various questionable venues, including WCA News/Health Watch, a weekly electronic newsletter that attacks what it considers to be “the dangers and abuses of medical and drug interests,” usually translatable as “the threat posed by evidence- and science-based practices to the possibility of justifying Rondberg’s own practices” (which are, needless to say, not remotely related to neither evidence nor science). VSRI is particularly famous for teaching chiropractors how to recruit “research volunteers” and convert them into lifetime chiropractic patients through telemarketing and other, less legal and ethical practices (described, together with the similar practices of Tedd Koren, here).

And yes, Rondberg and his followers are the kind of chiropractors who claim that, well, pretty much any ailment or health problem is located in the spine.

Rondberg and the WCA were heavily involved in the AzScam scandal in 1991, and their practices have been widely condemned, even by other chiropractics organizations. In the eyes of Rondberg and the WCA they are of course persecuted by powerful enemies, and have launched aggressive countercampaigns.

In addition to Rondberg and his wife Cindy, prominent WCA persons include Vice President Timothy J. Feuling and Director of Communication Barbara Bigham, just in case you should ever come across any of these names elsewhere. There is a good discussion of veterinary chiropractic practice, where WCA’s dubious ideas are discussed as well, here. Rondberg is of course also an antivaxxer, to the extent and degree of hysteric insanity that his screeds on the topic have been picked up by whale.to.

Diagnosis: Woo comes no more belligerent than this, and Rondberg’s organization still presents a significant threat to health and well-being. His actions are, on all levels, indistinguishable from evil.