The industry regulator last week warned it would prosecute practitioners who refused to correct misleading advertising, expressing its concern about claims “that there is a relationship between manual therapy (e.g. manipulation) for spinal problems and achieving general wellness or treating various organic diseases and infections”.

But one Bendigo-based chiropractor continues to claim on its website chiropractors can assist with “a myriad of different problems”, including asthma, ear infections, strengthening the immune system and general good health.

Bendigo GP Hany Georgeos backed the board’s stance, saying he was unsure how a chiropractor could effectively treat an ear infection, which required medication to be prescribed by a physician.

“If the patient has an ear infection they will need some sort of antibiotic to treat the infection or antifungal, that obviously needs a medical practitioner to diagnose and prescribe treatment for that,” he said.

Dr Georgeos said without appropriate medical treatment, ear infections could potentially spread to the brain, leading to serious medical complications.

“They’re sitting right outside the brain and there’s a very thin layer that separates them so it can lead to serious illness if it’s not treated properly,” he said.

The CBA also flagged “particular concern” about advertising relating to infants and children.

However, another Bendigo chiropractor claims on its website to be able to treat “babies with colic, reflux, feeding, bowel, digestive and sleeping problems and ... pregnant mothers who want their baby to thrive”, as well as “learning difficulties, ADHD and autism”.

This is despite the CBA’s advice to the contrary, which reads:

“Claims suggesting that manual therapy for spinal problems can assist with general wellness and/or benefit a variety of paediatric syndromes and organic conditions are not supported by satisfactory evidence.

“This includes claims relating to developmental and behavioural disorders, ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders, asthma, infantile colic, bedwetting [sic], ear infections and digestive problems.”

Dr Georgeos said he personally would not refer a child under the age of 10 to a chiropractor and that it was “not possible” for a chiropractor to manage a child with autism.

He said there was no evidence chiropractic management could improve a baby’s digestion or assist with crying related issues.

Dr Georgeos said chiropractors who spruiked their services as being appropriate treatments for behavioural disorders were potentially misleading their patients, leading to poorer health outcomes.

“They basically mislead the patient from the right way of treatment and that can lead to further complications or delayed treatment,” he said.

“They should really stick to what they know or what they do, rather than trying to manage everything.”

Dr Georgeos said while chiropractors could provide appropriate treatment for conditions such as sports injuries, those that advertised outside their means gave the profession a bad name.

“Some people are advertising that they can treat these things and some people who are not very well educated or informed get mislead by these things,” he said.

“Not every chiropractor does this but some of them who do really affect the rest, the reputation of the career.”

Ms Hennessy wrote to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the CBA seeking a crackdown on chiropractors performing “unproven and potentially unsafe procedures on young children and infants” on Thursday.

“In particular, I am concerned about chiropractors performing spinal or scalp manipulations on new born babies based on unfounded claims that such a treatment could cure conditions such as colic, autism, ear infections or ADHD,” she said.

The move came after the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners instructed its members not to refer patients to chiropractors in response to a YouTube video of Ian Rossborough manipulating a premature baby's spine.

The Bendigo chiropractors referenced in this article did not respond to requests for comment.