"The head of the Australian Medical Association said the government should stop funding chiropractic treatments, saying the growth in spending on children raises serious concerns.  Treating children with chiropractic treatments could put their lives at risk if heavy force is used in spinal manipulation, or if the treatment is adopted at the expense of traditional medicine, maternal and child health experts say.  Funding for chiropractic treatments for children aged up to 14 has increased by nearly 185 per cent in the past five years, Fairfax Media can reveal.  The biggest increase has been in girls aged up to four, where subsidies have jumped 300 per cent. It is part of a boom in government-funded alternative medicine treatments subsidised under the Medicare chronic disease scheme. In 2010, the government spent $10 million on chiropractors and osteopaths. By 2012, this had increased to $15 million.  Alastair MacLennan, an emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Adelaide, said it was appalling that chiropractors treat children "I absolutely believe it's child abuse," said Professor MacLennan, who is also the vice-president of Friends of Science in Medicine."  Amy Corderoy, Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald (8th March 2013)