Misophist chooses not to answer me in open forum, but I chose to respond to the PM here, so that those following the debate won't be left in the dark.
Misophist, Dr. Bell's (and the fictional Sherlock Holmes's) observations can give clues in various situations, but I wonder how often Dr. Bell drew wrong conclusions from his acute observations. History doesn't seem to record that. My father was quite capable of such observations and did indeed make use of them, but in the case of the MD, there was little to indicate what his condition was. He was not sitting there with his hand on his stomach and grimacing, nor was he popping antacids while talking to my father or anything as obvious as that. If he'd had a longer time with the MD or had, say, had lunch with him, he definitely would have picked up clues as any observant person can. But the indication was the badly subluxated twelfth thoracic vertebra. Between my father's knowledge of where nerves go (analogous to a wiring diagram) and his long experience as a health professional, he could feel pretty certain that the MD had some kind of stomach trouble.
Regarding the reading of the X-ray in court, yes, indeed, misophist, think about it: The two sides of an X-ray are virtually identical, that is true. And the same information can be derived from either side. But as I said, an MD is accustomed to viewing his or her patients from the front, in which case, the right side of the patient is to the MD's left and vice versa. A chiropractor is accustomed to viewing his or her patients from the back, in which case, the left side of the patient is to the chiropractor's left, etc. It should be obvious that were you looking at, say, a blueprint, you would orient it in a way to which it makes the most sense to you. Again, think about it.
Going back over the thread, it appears that Joe Offer, NicoleC, and I have responded to your points. The problem, it would appear, is that we have not agreed with you.
If you chose to regard chiropractic as quackery, then be my guest. A lot of people do. But a lot of people don't, and again I say, there has not yet been an unbiased evaluation of chiropractic, and I sincerely wish one would be done, once and for all. But as long as funding for such evaluations comes from the traditional health services and the drug companies, I won't hold my breath. In the meantime, there are multitudes of satisfied chiropractic patients running around out there—many of whom were not able to get relief from medical doctors for whatever conditions they may have had, but did from chiropractors. They are the people who get the most upset when others with no first-hand knowledge blithely bad-mouth chiropractic.