"With malice aforethought": revisiting the BJ Palmer "patricide" controversy

For over eight decades of chiropractic's existence, one of the myths associated with Founder Daniel David Palmer was the unsupported and largely surreptitious allegation that his son, B.J. Palmer, was somehow respondible for his death; What became known as the Palmer "patricide controversy" involved many of the players in early chiropractic and became little more than a sordid melodrama involving rival schools, chiropractic politicians and lawyers. It involved three Iowa grand juries and lawsuits and brought out the worst passions and actions of a family that had never really understood the father or the son. This study will review the original events, the allegations by those who sought to indict B.J. Palmer for the wrongful death of his father and the ultimate disposition of the incident, which still finds credence today among some who see conspiracy theories within the evolution of chiropractic.