Maximized Living in Ontario: The Hardicks, the Scripts and the College

1. What Maximized Living sells

Maximized Living grew out of the consulting business of two Florida chiropractors, Ben Lerner and Greg Loman, in the 1990s. Lerner's 2003 book Body by God: The Owner's Manual for Maximized Living (Thomas Nelson) supplied the brand's faith-based framing. The company's "5 Essentials" combine subluxation-based chiropractic with nutrition, detox, exercise and supplements, sold through member clinics and public "Makeover" seminars.

Lerner remains licensed in Florida (licence CH6491, issued 1992). The Florida Department of Health lists one disciplinary case, number 199813660, with the action "fine and reprimand." The state has no scanned copy of the order online; the file can only be obtained through a public-records request.

The scripts

In 2009 an anonymous website, maximizedlivingscam.com, posted what it said were office scripts supplied by a Maximized Living chiropractor who had quit. The site was run by chiropractors who objected to the company's sales methods, not to subluxation theory itself. Its material therefore needed corroboration. That came in 2018, when The Globe and Mail quoted the same line as one of Maximized Living's "sample recruitment scripts":

"If you have subluxations, this condition is not just causing your pain – it is destroying your body, causing disease and early death." Day 1 new-patient script, posted on maximizedlivingscam.com (archived February 2009); the same wording quoted by The Globe and Mail, 1 November 2018

The scripts lay out a three-visit sequence:

• Day 1: exam and x-rays. The chiropractor torques a spine model "to the point of a very visible movement of the nerve," and says x-rays show "what kind of organs may be involved."
• Day 2: first adjustment. Whatever the patient reports afterwards, the scripted reply is "That is exactly what we expected." Staff insist the spouse attend the next visit and are coached through "3 layers of resistance" if the patient objects.
• Day 3: "Doctor's Report." A group presentation is followed by a private x-ray review that stresses "disease and dying." It ends in a prepaid care plan, with discounts for paying up front and post-dated cheques or a card number held "in the safe."

A street-screening script turns a "$240" first visit into $20 on the spot.

2. London: Hardick Chiropractic Centre

Hardick Chiropractic Centre, at 331 Queens Ave. in London, was founded by Clifford Hardick in 1971. B.J. (Benjamin) Hardick joined the CCO in 2001. Alongside the clinic he owned Hardick Seminars and Coaching Inc., which ran nutrition seminars, sold products and operated DrHardick.com. By his own estimate to the London Free Press, the seminars drew 5,000 to 10,000 people over a decade. Many were held at Westview Baptist Church on Wonderland Road under the Maximized Living Makeover name.

Both Hardicks, along with Waterloo chiropractor Jeff Winchester, appear on the June 2001 member list of the Chiropractic Awareness Council. In my view that Ontario chiropractic advocacy group long took anti-medical and anti-vaccine positions.

Waterloo: Jeff Winchester

Maximized Living's reach in Ontario did not stop in London. In Waterloo, Dr. Jeff Winchester of Bridgeport Family Chiropractic, at 52 Bridgeport Rd. E., ran his own Maximized Living site, maximizedlivingdrwinchester.com, and held public seminars at the clinic. ChiroWatch has followed him since 1998 (Jeff Winchester: The Full Record). One, on Saturday 24 October 2015, was billed as "The Cancer Killers – The Cause is the Cure" presents "a Woman's Guide to Wellness," timed for breast cancer awareness month: "while you won't see us hanging pink ribbons in our clinics … we want to completely change the conversation." It promised that "preventative solutions are the same for most illnesses."

On 19 October 2015 I complained to the CCO about Hardick and Winchester together, over their promotion of The Cancer Killers and The Truth About Cancer. I followed up on 26 October with a separate complaint about Winchester's seminar. The College acknowledged the Winchester complaint on 29 October 2015; I have no record of a decision. His full record, including two oral cautions, is on the Winchester page.

The "Toxicity Health Fair" and the blood tests

In 2008 the website toxicityhealthfair.com advertised a Health Screening Day on 8 November at Hardick Chiropractic Centre. Its pages, archived in September and October 2008, made these claims:

• "our greatest exposure to mercury comes from silver fillings and from vaccinations";
• "proper detoxification at the cellular level" improves ADD/ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, learning disorders and thyroid problems;
• the Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test is "92%–99% accurate in the determination of one's toxic burden";
• the tests were "not available through your family doctor and … not done anywhere else in Canada."

Lab services were "contracted from" LabCorp and Doctor's Data. The VCS test was developed and promoted by Maryland physician Ritchie Shoemaker. A 2005 amicus brief to Maryland's top court argued that his diagnostic techniques were not generally accepted, and a 2002 letter in Environmental Health Perspectives challenged VCS as a diagnostic tool.

The site disappeared in 2010. In 2012 Hardick's seminar pages were still offering "discounted hormone and nutritional testing, toxicity pre-screening" as part of seminar registration.

What the College eventually found

The Agreed Statement of Facts filed at Hardick's December 2017 discipline hearing sets out how the testing worked:

• Hardick admitted he knew that, as a chiropractor, he could not order or interpret blood tests.
• Gamma-Dynacare staff came to Hardick Chiropractic Centre on set dates and drew blood from his seminar clients.
• The requisitions named a physician identified only as "Dr. A." Since January 2011, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario had restricted Dr. A.'s licence, so he could not order these tests.
• The CCO's own decision of 27 March 2012 drew Hardick's attention to that restriction. Even so, the draws continued until March 2014.
• No other professional authorized to order the tests or receive the results was involved.

"The Member admits that he failed to take sufficient steps to ensure that blood sample test ordering, analysis, and communication of test results for his nutrition seminar clients was being done in accordance with Ontario law." Agreed Statement of Facts, CCO v. Dr. B.J. Hardick, Discipline Committee, December 2017

3. Vaccines

The CCO's standard of practice S-001 bars chiropractors from advising the public on vaccination and requires them to refer such questions to a physician. Hardick's businesses repeatedly crossed that line.

The 2017 oral caution

Another chiropractor, Dr. Janet Walters, complained about Hardick's anti-vaccine posts on social media. The College's Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) retained an expert, who called the disclaimers separating those accounts from his practice "a failed attempt at concealing the true intention." The committee found his comments one-sided and in places non-factual, and the expert called the linked articles "downright misleading." It ordered an oral caution rather than a discipline hearing.

The Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB) confirmed that decision on 8 August 2017 (File 16-CRV-0315), after a review held in London on 26 January 2017. The Board's reasons note:

• Hardick had seven prior complaint decisions, five of which involved statements about vaccinations. They had produced one letter of advice, two reminders and one written caution, and no discipline referral.
• The committee did not refer him to discipline in part because expectations for chiropractors discussing vaccines were "somewhat (but not completely) in flux," and because no one was shown to have been harmed.
• Hardick told the Board he had complied with the committee's decision since it was released.

The committee's decision came before Walters asked for a review on 5 May 2016. The flu-shot post shown above appeared on the clinic's own Facebook page four months later.

4. Cancer

• 2012. Maximized Living published The Cancer Killers (Charles Majors, Ben Lerner and Sayer Ji). Hardick promoted it and listed it among his books.
• March 2012. Hardick's bulletin ran a GreenMedInfo item, "Do Chemotherapy and Radiation make Cancer more malignant?" It also advertised a $5 screening of Cut Poison Burn, a film championing Stanislaw Burzynski, at Westview Baptist Church on 3 April. The bulletin announced a forthcoming Maximized Living book, "There is No Such Thing as Cancer," naming Hardick as a contributing author.
• 2013–14. "Killing Cancer" presentations, including Charles Majors's video introduced to Hardick's patients in London.
• 9 October 2015. An email from DrHardick.com invited readers to The Truth About Cancer: A Global Quest, featuring Sayer Ji, Joseph Mercola and Mike Adams, and promised "proven strategies to prevent (and in many cases, reverse) cancer naturally."
• 2 February 2017. According to the Globe, a Cancer Killers lecture by Hardick at a London church prompted Western University engineering PhD student Ryan Armstrong to start examining Hardick's claims, and later to complain about Clifford Hardick.

The testimonials

HardickChiropractic.com carried more than 30 written patient testimonials and a series of videos. The conditions they credit to chiropractic include asthma; ADD/ADHD (children "off Ritalin," "off Concerta"); Tourette's; verbal apraxia; Hirschsprung's disease; lupus; diabetes and high blood pressure; infertility; incontinence; tinnitus; receding gums; and a video titled "Prostate Cancer Reversal." The CCO's advertising standard requires testimonials to be truthful and verifiable. I have not reproduced patients' names here.

5. The regulator

Clifford Hardick sat on the CCO's council for years. He chaired its Registration Committee in 1999, was president in 2017, and was treasurer in 2019. The Globe and Mail's November 2018 investigation, "Chiropractors at a crossroads," reported that he became executive chair of Maximized Living in early 2017 while serving as the regulator's president. In speeches he told chiropractic students he had adjusted barely verbal autistic children who began speaking within weeks.

The College's own public papers show the concern came from inside the profession too. In the CCO's 2018 consultation on conflict-of-interest rules, a staff summary listed Maximized Living among the organizations whose officers could have a real or perceived conflict. One member wrote:

"I know of council members that use their position on the council as a way to market themselves for these organizations and that is not appropriate." Member comment, CCO Conflict of Interest Considerations Survey, CCO Council public package, 29 November 2018

In 2019 the CCO passed a bylaw keeping faculty of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College off its elected council, even though 78 per cent of members who answered its survey opposed it. The National Post reported that CMCC's president argued it was Clifford Hardick and another former president, Peter Amlinger, who had the conflict. Ontario NDP health critic France Gélinas called for the province to step in. Tim Caulfield said the system "seems to be broken."

A week later, on CBC Radio One in Kitchener-Waterloo, Professor Pierre Côté of Ontario Tech University said the College should investigate chiropractors who claim to treat "asthma, diabetes, autism, even some types of cancers." He also stressed that only a small proportion of the profession makes such claims.

6. My complaints, and what came of them

The discipline outcome

The Discipline Committee heard the case on 22 December 2017. The panel was chaired by public member Judith McCutcheon. The College was represented by Chris Paliare and Karen Jones; Hardick by Marie Henein and Matthew Gourlay. The case proceeded on a resolution agreement:

• Findings: professional misconduct on two allegations, contravening a standard of practice and conduct members would regard as unprofessional, covering blood-sample handling from 2012 to 2015. The College withdrew the allegations that he failed to refer clients and that he provided unnecessary diagnostic services.
• Penalty: a reprimand and a three-month suspension starting 22 December 2017, with two months waived once he passed the CCO's ethics exam and record-keeping workshop. The suspension was lifted on 21 January 2018.
• Other terms: a peer assessment, $12,500 toward the College's costs, and an agreement not to appeal.

Hardick told the London Free Press he accepted responsibility, that "I had not done adequate due diligence," and that the seminars continued without the blood tests.

Sources

1. College of Chiropractors of Ontario, Discipline Committee, CCO v. Dr. Benjamin J. Hardick (Reg. #4051), Decision and Reasons, heard 22 Dec 2017; Resolution Agreement (Agreed Statement of Facts; Joint Submission on Penalty and Costs; Undertaking), Dec 2017.
2. CCO Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee, referral decision, Hardick-14-MR-19 (Polevoy), letter of 13 Jan 2017.
3. Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, Walters v. Hardick, File 16-CRV-0315, Decision and Reasons, 8 Aug 2017 (reproduced in CCO Council public package, 16 Sep 2017).
4. CCO Council public package, 29 Nov 2018: Conflict of Interest Considerations Survey; CCO email to members, 2 Nov 2018; reproduction of the Globe and Mail article.
5. Wayne MacPhail, "Chiropractors at a crossroads: The fight for evidence-based treatment and a profession's reputation," The Globe and Mail, 1 Nov 2018.
6. Wayne MacPhail and Paul Benedetti, "Ontario chiropractors governing body in feud with college for allowing chiropractors to make false medical claims," National Post, 4 Dec 2019.
7. Jonathan Sher, "London chiropractor suspended for illegal blood tests," The London Free Press, 28 Dec 2017.
8. CBC Radio One Kitchener-Waterloo, interview with Prof. Pierre Côté, 10 Dec 2019 (author's recording).
9. maximizedlivingscam.com, pages "Scripts," "How They Operate" and others, Internet Archive captures, 22 Feb–2 Mar 2009.
10. toxicityhealthfair.com, Internet Archive captures, 25 Sep and 26 Oct 2008; maximizedlivingdrhardick.com "Vaccinations," capture of 13 Feb 2009.
11. Hardick Chiropractic Centre / DrHardick.com: HCC Bulletins (Feb 2010, Mar 2012); seminar page (captured 5 Jan 2012); events calendar (Aug 2011); email of 9 Oct 2015; Facebook posts of 11 Mar 2015 and 11 Sep 2016; clinic testimonial pages and videos (author's captures).
12. Facebook event, "Vaccination Awareness Debate," London, 20 Feb 2010 (captured 29 Jan 2010).
13. Chiropractic Awareness Council, members list, updated 1 June 2001.
14. Florida Department of Health, MQA license verification and board actions for Ben S. Lerner, CH6491 (accessed 8 Nov 2026).
15. Amicus memorandum, Montgomery Mutual Insurance Co. v. Chesson, Court of Appeals of Maryland, Sept. Term 2005; correspondence on VCS, Environmental Health Perspectives 110(3), 2002.
16. Author's complaints to the CCO (8 Apr 2009; 13 Jul 2009; 29 Jan 2010; 5 Nov 2010; 19 Mar 2012; 12 Mar 2014 and follow-ups; 19, 26 and 27 Oct 2015) and submissions to HPARB (18 Jan and 20 Oct 2010).

This page reports findings of the College of Chiropractors of Ontario and the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, published news reports, and archived public web pages. Statements about the author's complaints are his own account, supported by his correspondence. Comments marked as the author's views are opinion. Corrections are welcome: drpolevoy@yahoo.com.