Chiropractors are banned from cracking babies’ backs after controversial practice left a child with a broken spine

Chiropractors are again banned from giving babies spinal treatment after health ministers demanded a regulator reverse its controversial decision.

The Chiropractic Board of Australia last week drew the ire of medical professionals and politicians after it decided to resume letting chiropractors use spinal manipulation on children under the age of two.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler demanded an urgent explanation from the board and raised the issue with health ministers at a meeting on Friday.

The board on Monday confirmed it would reinstate an interim policy banning the practice after a request from the health ministers’ meeting.

The policy would be in effect until further consultation with health ministers allowed for a final decision to be developed, the board said.

‘While there has been no evidence of serious harm to infants from chiropractic care in Australia, the board’s role is first and foremost to protect the public,’ board chair Wayne Minter said.

‘We look forward to working with ministers to develop an evidence-based final policy on paediatric care that balances the paramount need to protect patients, with the right for parents and other patients to have a say in the care they choose.’

The board banned the practice in 2019 while it gathered evidence about its safety and effectiveness.

It later commissioned Cochrane Australia to review spinal manipulation in children under 12 and published updated guidelines in November 2023, allowing chiropractors to treat children according to evidence and or best practice approaches.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler demanded an urgent explanation from the board and raised the issue with health ministers at a meeting on Friday

‘The board will consider its obligations under the national law and any further decisions by health ministers in developing a final position,’ the board said in a statement.

Medical bodies opposed the move to allow babies to undergo chiropractic spinal treatment, as two reviews found there was no evidence to support the practice.

Children have needed medical care after some treatments, including one who had a spinal fracture.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners vice president Michael Clements said while there was a role for alternative therapies in the management of certain conditions, it wasn’t the case for babies.

‘The idea that children should now be subject to spinal manipulation … is quite scary,’ he said.

The Chiropractic Board of Australia said it expected chiropractors who did not have the clinical skills and knowledge to treat paediatric patients to refer them to another practitioner or co-manage the patient with them.