Pressure mounts on chiropractors to ditch spinal treatments for babies as health minister intervenes [Video]

The federal health minister has asked the Chiropractic Board of Australia for an urgent explanation of its new guidelines allowing practitioners to manipulate babies’ spines and will discuss the issue with his state and territory counterparts at a national meeting on Friday.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Mark Butler said the decision was at odds with the findings of two reviews that concluded there was no evidence supporting the spinal manipulation of children.

This masthead revealed on Wednesday that chiropractors had given themselves approval to resume manipulating the spines of babies following a four-year interim ban enforced by the board and supported by the country’s health ministers.

This decision, which was quietly revealed in updated guidelines published by the boardin …