Rabid Dogs in the East

by

Bruce Vaughan DC

A 'pioneer' as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is a person who is among the first to go into an area or country to settle or work there, or a person who goes into previously unknown regions. This book is a historical account of the work of one such pioneer, Dr Bruce Sinclair Vaughan who made a significant contribution to the establishment of the chiropractic profession in Hong Kong. Those of us who came later should realize that what is now possible for the profession is due to the foresight and perseverance of individuals like him who had the conviction to go beyond what was then impossible.

Edward Lee MD, DC

Past President HKCA

Past Chairman Chiropractors Council of Hong Kong

Review By Dr. Joseph C. Keating, Jr., PhD

Dr. Bruce Vaughan, former president of the World Federation
of Chiropractic, has written a first-person account
of chiropractors' struggle for survival, legitimacy and licensure
in the former British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. A graduate of the Palmer College of Chiropractic
in 1966, he has practiced in this capitalist outpost in China
ever since. The founding president of the then three-man
Hong Kong Chiropractic Association, his career has
involved a continuing confrontation with an entrenched,
multi-tentacled bureaucracy dominated by political medicine.
For those who know about chiropractors' quest for
licensure in the United States, the thrusts and parries will
be all too familiar: disputes over title (should chiropractors
be called "doctors"?), resistance to referral, the arrogance
of medical gatekeepers, social ostracism and the
insult of boldface lies, confrontation in person and in
print, arrests on various dubious charges, and endless political
lobbying for legal recognition.

  The opening chapter recounts the legislative session
wherein the colony's chiropractors finally secured legal
recognition, this after decades of opposition from an entrenched
allopathic establishment. The account then
backtracks to earlier times: Vaughan's youth (he's lived
in England, South America and elsewhere), first encounter
with chiropractic, his training at Davenport, Iowa, and
his return to Hong Kong to establish his practice and the
small, local professional society. Dr. Vaughan's practice building
coincided with his early political education.

  There were peaks and valleys, some the result of the colony's
crises and tribulations and others the product of a
medical domination of health care that in some respects
more closely mimicked the American than the British experience.
However, the flavor is ultimately unique, as is
Hong Kong, and the young chiropractor's crusade embedded
him in various elements of the culture: government
and its bureaucracies, the media, local merchants
and the courts. As has so often been the case in chiro history,
patience and perseverance would pay off, although
this is not so clear to the swimmer struggling upstream.
The influence of international organizations and events
is related in sections dealing with the New Zealand Commission
of Inquiry, the flicker of free speech in Peking's
Tienanmen Square, the World Federation of Chiropractic's
visit to Hong Kong, and the transfer of authority
over the colony from Britain to China. Vaughan skillfully
pulls this all together, and helps us to understand how the
individual threads weave through the broader tapestry. As
he suggests, the chiropractors' experience in Hong Kong
offers an "accelerated version" of the profession's journey
through the last century: a microcosm of the broader
chiropractic yarn.

  What may come as a surprise to insular American DCs
is that much of this saga unfolds after 1974, when Louisiana
became the last state to authorize the practice of chiropractic.
What makes this book special is Bruce Vaughan's skill as a raconteur. Written in a very reader-friendly style, Dr. Vaughan tells us enough about himself to make his professional crusade vivid and understandable.
He spices the text with anecdotes and perspectives that carry the reader along willingly through drudgery and crisis. Vaughan balances the frustration inherent in this tale with a frequently dry and subtle humor that hints
at his British roots.

  Rabid Dogs in the East is interesting also for the glimpses it offers
of Hong Kong and its evolution during the past 35 years.
Chiropractors and historians will value this work for its
detail and documentation of the quest for legitimacy in
this little bit of England in Asia. Offered in paperback at
very modest price, one can't go wrong: a good read.
Joseph C. Keating, Jr., PhD
Phoenix, Arizona Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association.

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