Targeting parents
A recurring pattern in the scans: in their own published words, non-physician doctors present themselves as qualified to treat, or give advice on, one condition after another. Every one is on our public list of children's conditions, and a pediatrician or a pediatric specialist treats each one. The pages are written for the adult who does the searching, the booking and the paying.
What the scans show
Read against our public list of children's conditions, across the subjects currently on the Wall of Fame.
Counted from people's own published words and our own scope review, not from any adjudicated finding.
The order is not our opinion about who matters most. It is the order of our public list of children's conditions, and that list rests on three sources. In a 2017 clinical report the American Academy of Pediatrics said high-quality evidence for spinal manipulation on non-musculoskeletal problems is lacking, especially in infants and children, and that for them the risk of adverse events may be the highest because the spine is not yet stable. Australia's national chiropractic regulator has advised chiropractors not to use spinal manipulation on children under two since March 2019, advice replaced in November 2023 and reinstated in June 2024 at the request of that country's health ministers. British Columbia's chiropractic regulator has told registrants since October 2018 that they must not represent chiropractic as helping childhood conditions such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorders. That is the list this page counts against. Where each condition sits on that list reflects our review, not an adjudicated finding.
Put the pieces together and the audience is obvious. A page about back pain is written for the person with the back. A page about colic, reflux, bedwetting or developmental regression is written for somebody else entirely: the adult holding a phone at two in the morning, who has already seen a pediatrician, who has been told to wait and watch, and who is now reading a page that promises a root cause. Every persuasion tactic catalogued on the rest of this site works harder on that reader, because the cost of being wrong is not theirs to carry. So we describe what a person says they can treat or advise on, and who their page addresses, in their own published words, and we stop there.
Where this care belongs
Every children's condition on our public list, and the clinician who treats it: a pediatrician or a pediatric specialist, each time. Nothing on this list is a comment on any practice.
| Condition | Where this care belongs |
|---|---|
| Autism | A developmental behavioral pediatrician or child neurologist |
| ADHD | A pediatrician, child psychiatrist or licensed psychologist |
| PANS and PANDAS | A pediatric neurologist or pediatric infectious disease specialist |
| Infant colic and reflux | A pediatrician |
| Ear infections | A pediatrician or an ear, nose and throat specialist |
| Torticollis and infant development | A pediatrician or a pediatric physical therapist |
| Bedwetting | A pediatrician or a pediatric urologist |
| Chronic childhood illness | A pediatrician or a pediatric subspecialist |
| Developmental and behavioral regression | A developmental behavioral pediatrician or child neurologist |
| Childhood OCD and tics | A child psychiatrist or a pediatric neurologist |
Seen in the wild
Only people who reached the naming bar used on the conditions hub: a federal registry match with a license number, a scope review at high or medium confidence, an active Wall of Fame entry, and at least one advertised activity the review placed outside the cited rule text.
Conditions only a very young patient has
These are conditions of early childhood, so the person reading the page is rarely the patient.
Infant colic and reflux (5)
- Shannon McCarty
Public content appears to address Neonatal (colic, reflux, constipation, gas, irritability). That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Dennis Ray Scharenberg
Public content appears to address Colic Treatment. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Paul Daniel Fay
Public content appears to address colic. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Scott P Burtis
Public content appears to address Colic. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Sarah Drake
Public content appears to address Colic or excessive fussiness. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Ear infections (4)
- Scott P Burtis
Public content appears to address Ear Infections. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Dennis Ray Scharenberg
Public content appears to address Ear Infection. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Julie Gurbacki
Public content appears to address Pediatric concerns (chronic ear infections, constipation, food sensitivities). That is outside a chiropractic license in Nebraska: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Sarah Drake
Public content appears to address Frequent ear infections. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Bedwetting (3)
- Shannon McCarty
Public content appears to address Adolescent transitions (hormone changes, bed wetting, growth spurts). That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Paul Daniel Fay
Public content appears to address Bed-wetting. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Scott P Burtis
Public content appears to address Bedwetting. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
PANS and PANDAS (3)
- Brian Lum
Public content appears to address PANS & PANDAS. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Jaban M Moore
Public content appears to address PANS. That is outside a chiropractic license in Missouri: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Martin Hart
Public content appears to address PANS/PANDAS. That is outside a chiropractic license in Tennessee: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Torticollis and infant development (2)
- Shannon McCarty
Public content appears to address Birth trauma. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Sarah Drake
Public content appears to address Plagiocephaly (flat head). That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Childhood OCD and tics (1)
- Jaban M Moore
Public content appears to address Childhood OCD & Tics. That is outside a chiropractic license in Missouri: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Chronic childhood illness (1)
- Jaban M Moore
Public content appears to address Children's chronic illness. That is outside a chiropractic license in Missouri: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Developmental and behavioral regression (1)
- Jaban M Moore
Public content appears to address Behavioral Regression. That is outside a chiropractic license in Missouri: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
Conditions with a grown-up market too
Plain note, because the grouping above would otherwise overstate things: autism and ADHD are lifelong diagnoses, and there is a large adult market for both. A person saying they can treat or advise on either one is not by itself evidence that the page was written for a parent. It counts because both are children's conditions on our public list, and a pediatrician or a pediatric specialist treats each one. It also counts because they turn up beside colic and bedwetting on the same pages.
Autism (6)
- Patrick Garrett
Public content appears to address Autism. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Timothy Thomas Bertsch
Public content appears to address Autism. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Whitney Paige Rutledge
Public content appears to address Autism. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Bradley Michael Woodle
Public content appears to address Autism Spectrum. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Richard L. Mayfield
Public content appears to address Autism Spectrum Disorder. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Sarah Drake
Public content appears to address On the autism spectrum. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
ADHD (4)
- John W Larson
Public content appears to address ADHD. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Scott P Burtis
Public content appears to address ADD/ADHD. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Timothy Thomas Bertsch
Public content appears to address ADHD. That is outside a chiropractic license in Minnesota: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.
- Kyle A Potter
Public content appears to address ADHD. That is outside a chiropractic license in Kansas: the license covers the spine, joints and muscles.