The Flexner Report of 1910 was commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation to reform medical education in the United States. Its recommendations were specific: Standardize medical training, close schools deemed subpar, and emphasize a biomedical model of health. While these reforms arguably improved medical standards, they also cemented an allopathic, pharmaceutical-centric approach as the “gold standard of care.”
This shift came at a steep cost. Chiropractic colleges, along with institutions teaching homeopathy, naturopathy, and other holistic modalities, were marginalized, slandered, ridiculed, and prosecuted. The report's underlying assumption—that medicine should be grounded solely in Western science—dismissed the centuries-old traditions of holistic principles and therapies that offered a broader understanding of health and wellness.
The Flexner Report instigated a battleground that has only grown fiercer to this day. This is not merely a battle for chiropractors or holistic health practitioners. It is a fight for every citizen who wants to pursue health based on their beliefs and needs. It is a fight for the freedom to choose paths that honor the body’s innate ability to heal itself and function at a very high level, as long as it is not interfered with. And, most importantly, it is a fight for a healthcare system that serves humanity, not just the pharmaceutical industry’s bottom line.
John D. Rockefeller and Pharmaceuticals
One of the most striking ironies in the history of healthcare is the story of John D. Rockefeller and the Flexner Report. Originally commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation, John D. Rockefeller, through the Rockefeller Foundation, was also a significant funder of the Flexner Report. This funding made it possible for Abraham Flexner to focus his review of medical care on medical schools in the United States and Canada.
That support, though substantial, pales in comparison to the money Rockefeller knew he stood to make. Most people today don’t realize that almost 99% of pharmaceuticals contain petrochemicals. Rockefeller’s initial motivation was his desire to use “coal tar, a petroleum derivative, to make substances that affect the human mind, body, and nervous system.”
To that end, he purchased part of I.G. Farben, a large German pharmaceutical company. The coal tar drugs that were created out of that union set the standard of not curing the underlying cause of disease but merely masking, stopping or altering the symptoms. Once he was able to create the drugs, was when he hired Flexner and funded the Flexner Report.
Rockefeller and Chiropractic Care
Yet, while all of this was going on, John D. Rockefeller turned to chiropractic care during the last seven years of his life. He credited chiropractic with improving his health and extending his longevity. Ironically, he invested millions to marginalize and even demonize the very type of care he personally relied upon.
The story of John D. Rockefeller’s reliance upon chiropractic care is well documented in What Chiropractic is Doing, by H.B. Shields, D.C. It highlights the glaring disconnect between the public narrative promoted by powerful figures and their private healthcare choices. While millions were denied access to holistic treatments due to the Flexner Report's influence, Rockefeller quietly benefitted from the care he helped to stigmatize. (While the book is long and out of print, click here to gain access to a digital copy.)
Chiropractic Resilience
The end result is a fragmented healthcare system that excluded chiropractic and other holistic practitioners from the mainstream healthcare discussions, limiting opportunities for patients to seek and benefit from holistic, integrative solutions. Those patients who sought those holistic, integrative solutions often faced limited access and higher costs as insurance coverage and healthcare policies aligned with FDA-approved interventions.
Despite all these challenges, chiropractic care survived and even thrived in some areas where public demand outweighed systemic suppression. The public continued to choose chiropractic care because of its safety, the trust they had in the providers, and the high percentage of success that was being achieved. Chiropractic’s non-allopathic approach in alleviating pain, improving function, increasing mobility, and overall wellness could not be denied or ignored.
Additionally, chiropractic schools continued to graduate trained professionals who spread all over the world to create patient-centered practices. Those practices gained loyalty for the profession through personal results rather than institutional support. The success of chiropractic care in alleviating chronic pain, improving mobility, and enhancing overall wellness is what kept it relevant, even as regulatory hurdles persisted.
The Promise of a New Era
With Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as head of Health and Human Services, chiropractors and other providers of holistic healthcare are excited about what is to come. His professional experience, broad base of knowledge, and deep appreciation for the struggles of American families make him uniquely qualified to reshape healthcare policy.
His values—transparency, accountability, and freedom of choice—align with the principles that holistic healthcare advocates, including chiropractors, have long championed. We will finally, during our lifetime, have someone in a position of power who values and gives more than lip service to the Hippocratic Oath, First do no harm.
Kennedy has spoken openly about the need to break the stranglehold pharmaceutical companies have on public health. A stranglehold that we now know has developed over decades. For Americans, this will clearly mean greater health freedom and a greater variety of effective health interventions to choose from.
For chiropractors, with Kennedy long being an advocate for chiropractic care, this will mean greater recognition of the body’s innate ability to heal with less emphasis on the pharmaceutical industry. It will hopefully lead to an increase in research funding and insurance coverage for chiropractic care.