Chiropractic Injury Lawyer Blog

For over a year and a half now, British science writer Simon Singh has been involved in a lawsuit against him brought by the British Chiropractic Association (“BCA”). The lawsuit claims that Singh has Libeled the BCA when he published an article in the Guardian criticizing the BCA for supporting members who claim that chiropractic treatments, which involve manipulation of the spine, can treat children’s colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma, and prolonged crying. In Singh’s article, he wrote about British chiropractors claiming that they could treat children’s colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma, and prolonged crying, with spinal manipulations. Singh pointed to the fact that there was no evidence to support such claims and even called them “bogus.” Singh went on to criticize the BCA for supporting chiropractors who made such claims. As a result of Singh’s criticism of the BCA’s support of members who made such unsubstantiated, and Singh put it, “Bogus,” claims of helping to treat children’s problems like colic through spinal manipulation, the BCA sued him for Libel.

In the United States, such criticism of medical procedures is legally acceptable, and considered by many in the field of science to be beneficial to examining the medical field. However, British laws regarding Slander and Libel differ from those in the United States, and are considered by some to be too rigid and stifle free speech. In May of this year, a British lower court found that Singh’s comments about the BCA carried the legal equivalent of implying that the BCA was being deliberately dishonest. Singh appealed and has won a ruling that found the lower court’s conclusions and interpretations were erroneous. Singh’s legal battles with the BCA continue to date. This appears to be an industries’ attempt to punish Singh for publishing opinions which negatively effect the Chiropractic industry.

There is an excellent article by Dr. Steven Barrett that discusses the cause and effect of chiropractic manipulations and severance of the vertebral artery --thus leading to stroke. Dr. Barrett's article "Chiropractic's Dirty Secret: Neck Manipulation and Strokes" is can be found here.

In sum, Dr. Barrett discusses that "stroke from chiropractic neck manipulation occurs when an artery to the brain ruptures or becomes blocked by a clot as a result of being stretched. The injury often results from extreme rotation in which the practitioner's hands are placed on the patient's head in order to rotate the cervical spine by rotating the head."

Dr. Barrett correctly notes that, "Chiropractors would like you to believe that the incidence of stroke following neck manipulation is extremely small." But it really happens quite frequently.

Dr. Barrett notes that, "In 1992, researchers at the Stanford Stroke Center asked 486 California members of the American Academy of Neurology how many patients they had seen during the previous two years who had suffered a stroke within 24 hours of neck manipulation by a chiropractor. The survey was sponsored by the American Heart Association. A total of 177 neurologists reported treating 56 such patients, all of whom were between the ages of 21 and 60. One patient had died, and 48 were left with permanent neurologic deficits such as slurred speech, inability to arrange words properly, and vertigo (dizziness). The usual cause of the strokes was thought to be a tear between the inner and outer walls of the vertebral arteries, which caused the arterial walls to balloon and block the flow of blood to the brain. Three of the strokes involved tears of the carotid arteries [3]. In 1991, according to circulation figures from Dynamic Chiropractic, California had about 19% of the chiropractors practicing in the United States, which suggests that about 147 cases of stroke each year were seen by neurologists nationwide. Of course, additional cases could have been seen by other doctors who did not respond to the survey."

For more information about the rights of those who have suffered a stroke within a short time after visiting a chiropractor, contact Larry Jones. or visit http://www.kentuckyinjurylaw.com/

A woman and her husband have filed a class action lawsuit in Canada against her chiropractor, the Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors, and the Alberta Ministry of Health. The lawsuit hopes to bring attention to the dangers of chiropractic neck manipulation.

The lawsuit was filed after the woman, Sandra Nette, became paralyzed after treating with her chiropractor in 2007. At the visit, Sandra’s chiropractor manipulated her neck and tore her vertebral arteries. On the way home from the visit, Sandra began feeling dizzy and went to the hospital. Just one hour later Sandra was paralyzed and unable to swallow, speak, or breath on her own. Through physical therapy and rehabilitation, Sandra has regained slight movement in one arm and is able to communicate with a touch pad.

Sandra was never warned that neck adjustments could cause a stroke. She and her husband have filed a class action lawsuit in the hopes of bringing about changes in how chiropractors are regulated in Canada. They also hope by spreading the word about the potential dangers of neck manipulation, they will prevent others from suffering a similar tragedy.

While Canadian and U.S. regulations are different, the risks associated with chiropractic treatment is the same. If you would like to speak with an experienced attorney about a chiropractic injury or the legal rights of the injured in the United States, please call Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC at 1-866-587-0002, or email Jasper.

Here is a lesson learned the hard way that while chiropractors may be professionals they are not trained medically the way your physician is. In June an Australian chiropractor made statements in court that while performing neck manipulation on a patient, the man suffered a fatal heart attack. While there is no allegation that the neck manipulation caused the heart attack, the chiropractors complete lack of recognition that his “patient” had suffered a heart attack while on the table seems alarming at best.

The chiropractor, Dr. Mario Forte, only noticed that James Gordon Halloran had no pulse after calling 000 (Australia’s version of 911) and being instructed to attempt CPR. Forte, who is blind, said that shaking and convulsions by Halloran (presumably the heart attack he was suffering from) seemed only like seizures. Why this “medical professional” would not respond in some way to his patient’s seizures while getting neck manipulation is bizarre in the firsts place. Apparently Forte was not concerned that whatever he was doing to Mr. Halloran was not causing the seizures and didn’t even seem inclined to stop manipulating his neck to determine what was causing the seizures.

One has to wonder if Forte had stopped the manipulation when he sensed the seizures, of if he had even asked Mr. Halloran what was wrong, whether anything might have been done to save his life. Moreover, it appears that Halloran came to Forte complaining of headaches, vertigo, and visual problems. Instead of manipulating Mr. Halloran’s neck when he presented with these symptoms, Forte should have referred Mr. Halloran to medical professional who could have diagnosed that he was having a heart attack and might have saved his life. To read more about this tragic story, visit http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25714309-2682,00.html.

Remember, chiropractors are not doctors and are not a sufficient substitute for true medical care. Heart attack like symptoms should always be treated by a trip to the emergency room and not on a chiropractor’s table. For more information about injuries due to the negligence of chiropractors, please talk with one of the chiropractic injury attorneys at Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC.

If you have had a stroke at anytime after seeing a chiropractor, you should research and consider whether the stroke was the fault of the chiropractor’s treatment. Did your chiropractor warn you that the neck manipulation you were undergoing could cause a stroke?

For more information on the rights of person’s injured by chiropractors, including persons who suffered a stroke at anytime in the near future after seeing a chiropractor, email attorney, Brent T. Ackerson.

From a former chiropractor:

"I have been doing a vascular surgery rotation for the past month, which is part of my postgraduate medical education. During my chiropractic training, when the subject of manipulation-induced stroke was brought up, we were reassured that "millions of chiropractic adjustments are made each year and only a few incidents of stroke have been reported following neck manipulation." I recently found that two of the patients on my vascular service that suffered a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) had undergone neck manipulation by a chiropractor, one the day that symptoms had begun and the other four days afterward. If indeed the incidence of stroke is rare, one M.D. would see a case of manipulation-induced CVA about every 10 years. But I believe I have seen two in the past month! I therefore urge my medical colleagues to question their patients regarding recent visits to a chiropractor/neck manipulation when confronted with patients that present with the neurologic symptoms of stroke. I also urge potential chiropractic patients to not allow their necks to be manipulated in any way. The risk-to-benefit ratio is much too high to warrant such a procedure."

—Rob Alexander, M.D.

Cited from: a reader’s comment to: Chiropractic's Dirty Secret: Neck Manipulation and Strokes by: Stephen Barrett, M.D.

The best kept secret of the Chiropractor industry is that there is a serious risk of stroke and other injuries associated with certain chiropractic adjustments. While these injuries aren't widely known, there have been a few jury trials across the country on these sorts of injuries. For instance, in 2008, a woman in Kane County, Illinois, received a jury verdict of $2.8 million after suffering a stroke, which caused permanent damage on the left side of her brain.

According to the Sept. 9, 2008, Chicago Law Bulletin, the jury heard evidence that the woman had migraine headaches and was referred to a chiropractor. Under the chiropractor's standard of care in Illinois at the time, the chiropractor was supposed to determine whether he was in the best position to treat the patient's injury or should send the patient somewhere else. The chiropractor performed adjustments to the plaintiff's neck and she ultimately suffered a stroke due to blockage in her vertebral and carotid arteries. She had two surgeries to treat the stroke.

The jury found the chiropractor liable for the plaintiff's injuries, along with the referring doctor, and awarded $1.5 million in pain and suffering, $500,000 for permanent disfigurement, her medical expenses and other damages.

If you would like to speak with an experienced attorney about a chiropractic injury or the legal rights of the injured, please call Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC at 1-866-587-0002, or email Jasper.

Here is an interesting article about vertebral artery dissection, its causes and the risk factors.

It is a shame that chiropractors continue to do the neck or cervical manipulations despite the clear evidence that the force of turning the neck from side-to-side forcefully can result in a stroke to the chiropractic patient. These stroke have a tendency to cause permanent impairment to someone who visited a chiropractor in search of pain relief. Instead, they leave much worse than they were.

For more information about the rights of those injured by chiropractors, contact Larry Jones or visit his profile for more information.

We are starting to see a very disturbing trend of individuals who are having strokes after visiting the chiropractor. This happens after the chiropractor engages in cervical manipulations and severs the vertebral artery. Sometimes the patients have the stroke right there on the table but many times it takes days or even weeks for the stroke to occur.

Numerous medical doctors have said that chiropractors should not be engaging in cervical manipulations because of the risk of severing the artery. There is even a web site that attempts to make chiropractic stroke victims aware of this risk. For some reason, this particular maneuver tends to effect younger women more often than other groups.

For more information about the rights of those who suffer a stroke after visiting a chiropractor, contact Larry Jones.

A consumer health outlet reports that in 2002 a jury entered a verdict for a Terry Smith, a 42 year-old plumber's helper. The jury agreed with Mr. Smith's evidence that chiropractic manipulations to his neck resulted in a stroke. They awarded $700,000 to Mr. Smith in his lawsuit against the chiropractor for injuries and problems including severe headaches, difficulty walking and difficulty swallowing that has led to the required use of a stomach feeding tube and the inability to work.

The jury listened to evidence that established the stroke occurred when the chiropractor caused dissection and blockage of both vertebral arteries leading to the brain. Mr. Smith's medical expert testified that the stroke was caused by the chiropractic manipulations and not something else because both arteries were involved at the same time and at essentially the same level in the neck.

We've started this new blog to get the word out about an issue we think is currently underreported on and essentially unknown about by the general public. We aim to change that. For more information on this subject matter, feel free to contact Will Nefzger at the following link: e-mail Will. You can also find out more information about me and my firm by clicking on the Website link at the top of this page and going to my bio page.

Americans make some 250 million visits to a chiropractor each year, and 105 million of those appointments include neck manipulations, according to the American Chiropractic Association.

Spinal manipulation or adjustment is a manual treatment where a vertebral joint is passively moved between the normal range of motion and the limits of its normal integrity, though a universally accepted definition does not seem to exist. It is occasionally used by osteopaths, physiotherapists and physicians, and it is the hallmark treatment of chiropractors. Practically all chiropractors use spinal manipulation regularly to treat low back and other musculoskeletal pain. It often involves a high velocity thrust, a technique in which the joints are adjusted rapidly, often accompanied by popping sounds. This results in transient stretching of joint capsules which, according to chiropractic belief, resets the position of the spinal cord and nerves, allowing the nervous system to function optimally and improving the body's biomechanical efficiency.

Many researchers have voiced doubt about the safety of spinal manipulation—especially manipulation of the cervical spine (above the shoulders). Of particular concern is stroke after upper spinal manipulation.

A 2003 study in the journal Neurology confirmed the connection between cervical manipulation and stroke. In the study, patients with strokes caused by torn arteries were nearly five times more likely to have had a recent neck adjustment than those with strokes caused by something else, indicating that recently seeing a chiropractor is an independent risk factor for stroke. This connection has been confirmed in follow up studies, such as a 2007 study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, which identified adverse effects of spinal manipulation in published cases and found that the patients identified were mostly young healthy individuals treated for benign, self-limiting conditions such as neck pain or headache; dissection of the vertebral arteries was the most common problem; other complications included dural tear, oedema, nerve injury, disc herniation, haematoma and bone fracture. In the majority of cases, spinal manipulation was deemed to be the probable cause of the adverse effect.

If you would like to speak with an experienced attorney about a chiropractic injury or the legal rights of the injured, contact injury attorney Shawn Cantley toll-free at (866) 587-0002 or click this link: email_shawn.