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The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has entered into discussions with the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) on a possible merger of the two groups.
A resolution approved by the ACA House of Delegates (HOD) during the organization's annual meeting in September invited the ICA "to join the ACA in forming a `Unity Committee' that will be charged with the responsibility of developing a merger proposal that will be presented to both organizations for formal adoption at the earliest possible time."
The ACA said the merger talks are appropriate since the "ACA and the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) maintain almost identical official policies."
ICA President Dr. Robert Hoffman and Executive Director Ron Hendrickson have already met with the ACA Board of Governors on the possibility of a merger.
The ICA officially stated that the purpose of the meetings was to discuss "more unified action." In an ICA publication, Hoffman noted that "[A merger] is not the intent in the beginning. It may be the end product.
Hoffman also proposed a joint ICA/ACA convention, a joint legislative conference, a joint effort to reform the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and a "joint effort to confront fringe chiropractic groups that publicly criticize the profession! There was no explanation as to which groups they consider "fringe" groups although many observers...