The TCA Tour of Texas, TCA’s grass-roots initiative to reach out to doctors of chiropractic across the state, will roll into Lubbock this weekend during the 2016 Mid-Winter Conference. The reception will take place from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, in the Horizon Ballroom at the Overton Hotel & Conference Center (2322 Mac Davis Lane, Lubbock, TX 79401). TCA's legislative team will discuss key issues facing the chiropractic profession in Texas. Find out what your state association is doing for you. If you aren't registered for the Mid-Winter Conference and wish to attend the TCA Tour of Texas reception, email info@chirotexas.org. You also may register for Mid-Winter on-site.

Concussion has become a public health crisis in America. Four to six million people suffer concussions, are often mismanaged and have a very long road to recovery. On Saturday, March 5, TCA hosts a sports chiropractic workshop. DCs are some of the best trained practitioners to deal with this injury. Learn how and why to become the local expert by doing the proper physical exam. Find out what you need to know from sports chiropractor Kelly Ryder, DC, ART, CCSP. Ranked as one of the country’s top experts on concussions, Dr. Ryder has consulted with 13 NFL teams and currently works with more than 500 pro athletes. Time is running out so register now.

TCA is also bringing you discounts on your live-webinar courses in partnership with online CE provider CCEDSEMINARS.

Dr. Jennings Smith, DC, of Amarillo grew up in Flat, Texas, ten miles southeast of Gatesville. Serving in the Old Guard, 3rd Infantry, the oldest active duty regiment in the US Army, Dr. Smith carried the nation’s flag in front of Ronald Reagan’s casket when he was taken to lay in state at the Capitol after he passed away, Dr. Smith began his practice as a two room solo office. Read more about February’s Doctor of the Month.

The Texas Chiropractic Association’s Annual Convention, Chiro Texpo, will take place June 10-12 at the Arlington Convention Center. Doctors of Chiropractors from Texas and surrounding states will converge to Learn, Connect and Grow at the state’s premier wellness conference and exposition – TCA Chiro Texpo ’16. Register online now.

In January, federal and state law enforcement agents raided compounding pharmacies in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Utah. For several years, the Department of Justice has been chasing down compounding pharmacies that participate in a "systemic fraud" against TRICARE. These pharmacies used marketing companies to cold-call beneficiaries and pitch the use of the creams, collect TRICARE information and the name of the beneficiary’s physician to generate a prescription, often delivered without an office visit beforehand. TRICARE has been billed as much as $15,000 for a single prescription.

Snippets of random news.

Unsanitary hydroculator units with dirty and odorous water are being discovered around the state by TBCE investigators. Keep your equipment and facilities in sound, sane, healthy working order.

Feb. 26-28, 2016 – LUBBOCK, TX, TCA Mid-Winter Conference, Overton Hotel & Conference Center
Feb. 27-28, 2016 – DALLAS, TX, Personal Injury – Collum

Last year, three separate pieces of legislation were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and one into the U.S. Senate that would expand patient access to the essential services provided by doctors of chiropractic in several federal health care delivery systems. It is very important that doctors of chiropractic and chiropractic students immediately contact their elected officials in Washington. Learn more in this article.

President Obama revealed his eighth and final White House budget sketching out plans for spending priorities in fiscal year 2017. These include a $6.98 billion request for the CDC. Almost exactly one-quarter of the president’s $4.1-trillion proposal for the entire government is destined for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Approximately $82.8 billion is marked as discretionary funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, and $33.1 billion to support biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, and $5.1 billion for the FDA.

Instead of banning tackling in youth football, coaches should instruct players on proper tackling technique and implement reduced contact during practice.

The Obama administration will request more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding from Congress to respond to the Zika virus. The bulk of emergency funding, $1.48 billion, would support the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a White House press release.

Chronic back pain‘s prevalence and impact have spawned a rapidly expanding range of tests and treatments. Some of these have become widely used for indications that are not well validated, leading to marketing abuses. Recent studies document a 629% increase in Medicare expenditures for epidural steroid injections; a 423% increase in expenditures for opioids for back pain; a 307% increase in the number of lumbar magnetic resonance images among Medicare beneficiaries; and a 220% increase in spinal fusion surgery rates.

A piece of legislation In Wisconsin would create a Primary Spine Care Practitioner (PSCP). It would allow doctors of chiropractic who choose to take extensive education in pharmacology and pharmacotherapy and 500 hours of clinical training to be dually licensed as Doctors of Chiropractic by the Chiropractic Examining Board and as Primary Spine Care Practitioners by the Medical Examining Board. Dual licensure is becoming more common, comparable to how some chiropractors are dually licensed as Doctors of Chiropractic and Physician Assistants, Advanced Practice Nurses or Pharmacists. Only doctors of chiropractic who complete the additional PSCP education would be allowed to obtain PSCP licensure and the ability to council their patients on over the counter medications and prescribe pharmaceuticals. A PSCP may more proactively and conservatively manage over the counter and prescription medications reducing the risk of addiction and may provide the PSCP the opportunity to reduce the medication load of some patients.

The Medical College of Wisconsin would consider developing a master’s program for doctors of chiropractic if the state creates a new Primary Spine Care Practitioner. According to the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association, it would mark the first time a medical school developed a program for chiropractic doctors.

Lack of health insurance hasn’t discouraged Americans. Between 30% to 40% of adults in the U.S. used complementary approaches. "These data suggest that consumers are increasingly willing to pay out of pocket for the use of acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage."

The American Medical Association supports Non-physician practitioners focused on providing treatment within their scope of practice consistent with their education and training.

Ordering medical services for patients is the "practice of medicine" in the eyes of organized medicine. "Legislation to authorize non-physicians to prescribe physical therapy and other medical care services should be opposed."