A few days later, Tina goes to the chiropractor for her "free" session. She completes a health history form and reports nagging headache. The chiropractor recommends an adjustment of her upper neck, her cervical spine. Tina is not advised of any risks with the procedure, and she readily agrees to proceed.
The chiropractor manipulates Tina's neck, and Tina feels a "pop" followed by dizziness and pain. "Those are just toxins that your body is giving off," the doctor explains. Tina leaves the office and within 20 minutes, begins experiencing radiating pain down her leg, with weakness. She goes to the emergency room and is referred to a neurologist. The next morning, Tina goes to a neurologist, and reports increased numbness and difficulty walking or forming words. The doctor immediately admits Tina to Emory where she undergoes a battery of tests. Later in the day, a grim-faced doctor comes to her room, and informs the 24-year-old mother: "You have suffered a stroke."
Tina had never imagined a visit to a chiropractor could result in stroke. Certainly, she was never informed of this nightmare scenario or she never would have consented to the procedure. When Tina's husband contacted my law firm from the waiting room of the Emory Stroke Clinic, he asked the question I have asked myself over and over, "How could this happen?" How could a healthy, young woman suffer a stroke from having her neck manipulated by a chiropractor?
A simple Google search on "stroke" and "chiropractor" will result in hundreds of articles and commentaries on this issue. For example, E. Ernst has published a fascinating article in the Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine entitled, "Adverse effects of spinal manipulation; a systematic review." Dr. Ernst surveyed 75 authoritative texts addressing this issue and concluded spinal manipulation can result in "serious complications such as vertebral artery dissection followed by stroke."
Many chiropractors, however, strongly disagree with this view, and insist the incident of vertebral artery dissection, "VAD" is extremely rare, on the order of 1 in a million. Others claim that a cervical manipulation performed by a well-qualified and experienced chiropractor can reduce the risk of stroke.
Tina is not buying these arguments. "I should have been warned," she says. "I never would have allowed them to touch my neck if I knew I could wind up permanently disabled."
