How Can A Chiropractor Hurt You? (Podcast)

Chiropractic Malpractice Can Lead to Injuries

In this podcast Kurt Holzer discusses some types of chiropractor  malpractice.
 Click Here to Listen to the Entire Podcast

First: Failure to diagnose a medical condition that requires immediate care.

Kurt: Chiropractic care is limited in its scope. However, one of the standards of care is to evaluate a person’s condition and not perform an adjustment, just to perform an adjustment. Do it only if it’s appropriate. They are supposed to be trained to evaluate conditions that need a medical doctor or emergency care. Some chiropractors believe chiropractic care can take care of everything. Regardless, they have to be able to say, “This is something I can’t take care of and you need to see a doctor right now.

Second: Lack of informed consent.

Kurt: This is where chiropractors can fall down. Some believe in the sales job of chiropractic to the point they don’t provide a full understanding of the benefits, risks and alternatives to chiropractic care. Research shows there are benefits to chiropractic care, but it’s equally clear there are risks. Risks of broken bones, injury to connective tissue or ligaments, nerve damage, etc. There are alternatives. Sometimes the passage of time will do as much good for a person as chiropractic care.

Having a conversation about all the benefits, risks and alternatives is required of chiropractors. Then a person can say. “Okay, you can do that to me. You can adjust my spine or my shoulder.”

Third: Negligent manipulation of the body.

Kurt: There are many types of chiropractic manipulation and the chiropractor should tell you there are many schools and approaches. It’s art, it’s not science. Although they don’t like to say it that way. Negligent manipulation, that is an improperly performed adjustment, can cause fractured vertebra, nerve injury, or an injury to the spine. It’s a manipulation that shouldn’t have been performed because of other symptoms present in the patient.

Fourth: Chiropractic induced stroke.

Kurt: The vertebral artery feeds blood to the brain.  A dissection of, or injury to that artery can lead to stroke and blood clots in the upper part of neck and brain. The Chiropractic industry is fighting back and have industry generated research that says, it’s no worse to have a chiropractic adjustment than anything else. It’s rare when a chiropractor adjusts the upper neck, the cervical spine, and a person has a stroke. But it does happen. It’s a real risk of chiropractic care and the American Heart Association agrees. Chiropractors can cause stroke and the outcomes can be horrendous.

University of Michigan’s Mollie McDermott, MD agrees,

“Anecdotally, many stroke neurologists have seen patients present to the emergency room directly from their chiropractor’s office with stroke symptoms, and that temporal association can be difficult to ignore.”

How does Hepworth Holzer help?

Kurt: What are the damages? The goal of a Chiropractic Stroke Attorney Boise ID is to help you recover those damages. To that end, do you need medical care? Can we get that paid for and, can it make you better? Can we get you the rehab you need to make your arm, spine or brain work? If it can’t be completely fixed, at least, make better the things that can be made better. Do you need speech or occupational therapy after a chiropractic stroke? If you’ve been unable to work, we can make up for those losses You might not get back to 100%, but we can help you improve.

Call Attorney Kurt Holzer for a free consultation at (208) 328-6998