In med-legal work, as long as you do whatever the guy who pays your bills wants you to do, you are considered to be doing "great work" regardless of degree. That may or may not coincide with what is good for the patient.
Yes, and this is one of the issues I was referring to; doctors of chiropractic ( although physicians are absolutely guilty of this as well) have a reputation as a "gun for hire."
Unfortunately, I have seen the same chiropractic documentation written in regards to numerous patients, irrespective of their presentation.
On the flip side of this issue, I have also seen ridiculous statements that can't possibly be true in ( the well intentioned ? ) effort to advocate for a claimant.
An example: a younger claimant has a complaint of back pain radiating to
both thighs. The chiropractors cites a " bilaterally positive straight leg raise test." This kind of crap pisses me off.
No, this is not the case.
Is it possible ? Sure, this person could have cauda equina or other serious pathology ( anythings possible - hey, I could own a 24 karat gold toilet , and who are you to judge me ?!) . However, they would likely be presenting to the ER with the other relevant symptoms. Far, far ( far ! ) more likely, the examiner doesn't know what the heck they are talking about , and the patient in question has an exacerbation of back pain with hip flexion. I
cannot count how many times I have read this in chiro reports - it grinds my gears.