Dr. Cafferty

[Guest guest]

Though and I probably disagreed more than we agreed I considered him a friend. As per what constituted “chiropractic” or “chiropractic practice” we were on two different ends of the spectrum was “subluxation based” I “broad scope” and we had many lengthy and lively discussions over the years as a result. What I loved about my “subluxation brother” was his sense of humor and feistiness the combination of which made me laugh often and much around no matter how much we may have disagreed on a particular issue. Most of all I will remember Dr. Cafferty’s “passion” for the profession and specifically his passionate defense of our beloved chiropractic profession and though small in stature would go “toe to toe” with anyone who would darn attack chiropractic, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” I respected that of him and what I will remember most. Many of the lengthy discussions and I had over the years were usually relative to his view of things or his solution or idea on something and many was the time ’s passionate explanations were rather convoluted at least to me. There were many times in which I had really no idea what the heck he was driving at but would say it with such conviction and passion I just knew there had to be something in what he was saying I just couldn’t “get it” and maybe it was just me. If fact I think that’s what he told me often, “Vern you just don’t get it.” Then there were times of simplistic brilliance. I remember like it was yesterday our meeting in circa 1998 at the then “Night Deposit Restaurant” in downtown Salem it was the meeting of the OBCE’s “Rating of the Scientific Evidence – Sub-committee.” I can’t remember who all was on our committee but I remember sitting across from our good colleague Freeman and of course . The committee was agonizing over determining what procedures would be “appropriate” at what level of evidence should we as a profession say “this is appropriate” based on current scientific literature. Out of the blue says, “Well why don’t we just say they are all appropriate based on a certain level of evidence and then just list the levels as 1, 2, and 3 and just let the insurance companies determine what level they will pay for.” I remember glancing over at Mike Freeman and he at me we both thought for a second and then started to smile almost laughed and said almost together, “that will work!” It was a moment of simple brilliance was like that. Dr. Cafferty “walked his talk” and I will miss the little Irishman, Vern Saboe