Albany Chiropractor Malpractice Lawyer

What Do Chiropractors Do?

Chiropractors can improve musculoskeletal pain and disorders through spinal manipulation, stretching, massaging, relaxation, and various forms of exercise. Chiropractors cannot prescribe medications or supplements like medical doctors can. They can, however, provide exercise and diet tips along with their normal chiropractic procedures.

A chiropractor will begin their treatment like a medical doctor: by asking about the patient’s symptoms, taking an X-ray, and performing a physical examination. Once the chiropractor identifies the problem, they will create a unique treatment plan in order to improve the patient’s pain or medical condition.

Common Reasons Why People Seek Chiropractic Treatment

Chiropractic medicine can be very beneficial for many people. Someone may undergo chiropractic treatment to:

• Improve their head and neck pain
• Improve their lumbar pain
• Make pregnancy and birth as easy and comfortable as possible
• Improve neuropathy pain
• Promote musculoskeletal healing from an auto accident, a work accident, a slip and fall accident, a sports accident, etc.
• Improve headaches
• Improve flexibility and range of motion

Common Chiropractic Injuries

Chiropractic treatment can be very beneficial for pain, but it can also be very dangerous. Chiropractic manipulation often involves moving around the vertebrae in your neck and back. One wrong move here from a negligent chiropractor can result in a serious injury. A chiropractor’s negligence can result in the following types of injuries:

• Neck injuries
• Frequent and intense headaches
• Herniated discs
• Tingling and numbness in the limbs
• Vertigo
• Partial or complete paralysis of the face or body
• Spinal stenosis
• Muscle weakness
• Bladder and bowel issues
• Pinched nerves and arteries
• Rib fractures
• Making an existing injury worse
• Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) which can cause stroke symptoms

Nearly 94% of the chiropractic malpractice cases involved in a 2021 study were the result of spinal manipulation injuries. The most common alleged injury was C5-C6 disc herniation (32%). The second most common injury was C6-C7 disc herniation (26%). This study claims that 14% of cases involved strokes and 4% of cases involved rib fractures. The majority of victims (83% to 88%) who suffered disc herniations required surgical intervention.

Chiropractic Induced Stroke

Possibly the most life-threatening chiropractic injury that can occur from negligent manipulation is chiropractic induced stroke. This type of injury can occur through cervical manipulative therapy, which is supposed to adjust the bones in the neck for the sake of pain relief. If the neck is rotated, popped, or jerked at too forcefully, the vertebral and carotid arteries can tear. This is called vertebral artery dissection (VAD).

VAD can turn into a stroke if a blood clot develops at the site of the tear and then travels to the brain.

Chiropractic Malpractice Lawsuit 2013

There have been chiropractor malpractice lawsuits filed in the past for this very issue. In 2013, an Alabama man claimed that he suffered stroke symptoms immediately after undergoing cervical manipulative therapy to treat a “crick” in his neck. The patient claimed that the defendant chiropractor failed to provide informed consent about this type of treatment and all its risks.

The chiropractor’s manipulation of the patient’s neck resulted in torn arteries, which led to a stroke and a 13 day hospital stay. According to a 2013 news report, the patient recovered $575,000 in damages.

Chiropractic Malpractice Incident 2022

More recently, a Georgia woman suffered a stroke, partial paralyzation, and a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from her chiropractor’s negligent manipulation. According to a 2022 news report, her initial injury was four torn arteries in her neck. From there, she suffered cardiac arrest and a stroke.

These health complications caused her heart to stop for 10 minutes before she was revived. Because the patient didn’t receive oxygen and blood flow to the brain for 10 minutes, she suffered a traumatic brain injury and partial paralyzation.

At the time of writing, this chiropractic malpractice patient is still recovering from her injuries. So far, there is no word of a possible lawsuit or settlement amounts.

How Often Do Chiropractic Injuries Occur?

There’s no way to truly know how many patients suffer health consequences from chiropractic practices. A 2015 study claims that the risk of traumatic injury for chiropractic patients between the ages of 66 and 99 was approximately 40 injuries per 100,000 subjects.

Meanwhile, a 2007 study claims that up to 61% of patients involved in the study suffered mild health consequences from their chiropractic visit. The study also claims that spinal manipulation performed in the neck (cervical) vertebra has the highest risk of mild to moderate health consequences.

Can You Sue a Chiropractor?

Even though chiropractors aren’t medical doctors, you can still sue them in a medical malpractice case, especially if you’ve suffered a serious injury.