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Chiropractic Class Action Lawsuit
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Chiropractic Class Action Lawsuit Contact Neck911.com in Canada
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Stop chiropractic neck manipulation! Canadian regulations must be changed! |
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Spin Doctors The Chiropractic Industry Under Examination Paul Benedetti Canadians visit chiropractors about thirty million times a year, and surveys show that patients are generally satisfied with them. But Paul Benedetti and Wayne MacPhail have another opinion. Their hard-hitting CANOE.CA web site called Spin Doctors I & II were instrumental in educating the public about the excesses of some chiropractors. This book took years to write, and it is a must read for anyone who plans to go for chiropractic treatment, or who pays for insurance that covers it.
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|  The Naked ChiropractorInsider's Guide to Combating Quackery and Winning the War Against Pain Dr. Preston H. Long Dr. Preston H. Long is THE expert. Consumers trust Andrew Weil for reliable information about alternative medicine, Dr. Bernie Siegel for inspiring words about mind-body connection, and Dr. Dean Ornish, for practical ways to keep their hearts healthy, but who the recognized authority on back care and the limits of chiropractic medicine? |
UK chiropractors sue author Simon SinghThe Guardian removes critical article
Chiropractic Stroke Awareness GroupTelevision Awareness Campaign ExpandedA support group for people injured by chiropractors expands its television public awareness campaign. Wethersfield, CT (PRWEB) October 29, 2007 -- The Chiropractic Stroke Awareness Group (CSAG) is expanding its television awareness campaign, this time asking the question, "Have you been injured by a chiropractor?" on the ABC affiliate in Connecticut. The public service announcement (PSA) then provides contact information for victims to seek information and support. The PSA, which can be seen on WTNH-TV News Channel 8, is part of an ongoing public service effort (including print and outdoor advertising) designed to raise the public consciousness about the risks of chiropractic treatment. Last month CSAG launched the television component on WTIC-TV the Fox affiliate in Connecticut. "The response has been overwhelming," said Amanda Thompson of CSAG. "Many people are coming forward to share their horror stories and to seek help." The organization represents hundreds of people across the country who have been injured by chiropractic treatment. Potential risks can include stroke, permanent disability and even death. CSAG is dismayed at the chiropractic community's response of preferring not to inform patients apparently out of fear some people might decide against chiropractic treatment if they were informed. "Sadly, the chiropractic industry remains more concerned about protecting profits than protecting their patients," Ms. Thompson said. "One must ask the question 'what are they afraid of?"
Contact Information: Telephone: 860-529-8826 URL: www.chiropracticstroke.com Edzard Ernst again challenges chiropractors in UKRobin McKie, science editor Sunday September 23, 2007 The Guardian - Observer One of the most common 'alternative' treatments for backache is dangerous and can kill, says Britain's leading expert on complementary medicine, Professor Edzard Ernst. Spinal manipulation, used by chiropractors to treat hundreds of thousands of patients a year, poses serious risks, he warns in a paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine "[It] is associated with frequent, mild and transient adverse effects as well as with serious complications which can lead to permanent disability or death." Spinal manipulation involves sharp thrusts against a patient's spine to push individual vertebrae beyond normal levels of stress. But Ernst says that such violent therapy can seriously damage the arteries running near the spine, triggering thrombosis or a stroke. The claim has incensed chiropractors. In letters to be published in the journal's October issue, they accuse Ernst of distortion, errors and misinterpreting data. "The major body of published evidence points to manipulation being a safe and effective tool," says Barry Lewis, president of the British Chiropractic Association. He accuses Ernst of "puffing up his evidence out of all proportion". One case involves Frances Denoon, who was in her 20s when she pulled a nerve in her neck while exercising. She visited a registered chiropractor and recalled feeling a 'crack' when he began his treatment. "I couldn't focus and realised I wasn't saying words clearly," she says on the Action for Victims of Chiropractic's website. Denoon suffered a brain-stem stroke and now has poor balance and cannot write with her right hand. A court cleared her chiropractor of negligence. Such stories are just the tip of an iceberg, says Ernst, director of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School, run by Exeter and Plymouth universities. He has collected details of about 700 cases. "I am not calling for a ban on chiropractors carrying out spinal manipulation but I think we have to think about regulating the practice far more carefully than we do at present," he said. A spokeswoman for the General Chiropractic Council (GCC) said 2,300 chiropractors were registered with it and that since 2001 only one had been disciplined for breaching guidelines. Peter Dixon, the council's chairman, said the report was 'yet another research scare' story. "This does not serve the interests of the public or those of researchers who are dedicated to improving the public's health," he said.
Peter Dixon has responded in another newspaper to previous Ernst comments about chiropactic stroke- This one is from December 2006 in the Daily Mail Here is just a short quote from Dixon: As for your reporter’s mention of spinal manipulation carrying the ‘risk of dangerous side-effects including strokes’. Actually, there’s no available evidence to show that manipulation of the neck by chiropractors has ever caused a stroke. Professor Ernst likes to speculate about this and then say that as his assertions have never been proved to be wrong he must therefore be right – which is a bit mischievous – but always good for a newspaper story. Serious side effects associated with chiropractors happen so rarely that meaningful statistics are difficult to gather. It is fair to say though that every form of human activity carries some risk – a walk in the park has risks attached to it – and seeing a chiropractor is just the same.
Here is just a short snippet from Dixon: GCC Chairman Peter Dixon, said, "reporting of medical and science matters can be tricky - overstate the facts, put a sensationalist spin on something to pique press interest, and before you know it there's a distorted story doing the rounds that can create a great deal of anxiety. This is then next to impossible to correct because journalist's interests move quickly on to the next story and there's no putting the genie back into the bottle."
Chirowatch.com's coverage of Denoon goes back many years: Chiropractors must follow the scientific standardJ. William Kinsinger, Marvin Levant, Judy Ford, Sharon Mathiasonwww.neck911.com National Post op-ed article Friday, May 18, 2007 - Page A-17 Laurie Jean Mathiason of Saskatchewan, Lana Dale Lewis of Ontario and Pierrette Parisien of Quebec had several things in common. They were all Canadians, they are all dead. Their deaths have all been directly attributed to chiropractic highest neck manipulation, either by inquest or coroner's report. They were all young women, 20, 36 and 45, like most of the victims of stroke and death due to chiropractic highest neck manipulation. Women appear to be at increased risk. The deaths of these women were not due to a therapy gone wrong. Rather, as Laurie's mother, Sharon Mathiason, said, "Laurie died due to a false non-scientific philosophical belief that chiropractic highest neck manipulation is a cure-all." The basic chiropractic philosophy began with the founding of chiropractic over 100 years ago by a Canadian born "magnetic" healer, named David Palmer. The Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto is named after him. This philosophy states that disease is caused by our spinal vertebrae being out of place and that disease can be treated and even prevented by manipulating the vertebrae back into place. The most important joints, this theory says, are the two in the highest neck area. Highest neck manipulation has always been central to chiropractic. Without it, there is no chiropractic philosophy. Of the many treatments chiropractors offer, some of which are beneficial, chiropractic cannot abandon highest neck manipulation, the most useless and dangerous "treatment" of all. Ms. Mathiason had tailbone pain, yet her highest neck was manipulated over 40 times; Ms. Lewis had headaches, not neck pain. For everyone from young babies to senior citizens, specific attention is focused on the high neck and the need to manipulate it time and time again. The notion that chiropractic high neck manipulation is done primarily to treat neck pain is a myth. According to this philosophy -- taught to students at chiropractic schools and applied by chiropractors and their regulators of chiropractic-- chiropractors can diagnose spinal bones as out of place, even in a baby's neck that is 1 1/2 inches long and covered by fat, and tell which of the seven little bones is out of place causing "subluxations" that lead to everything from ear infections to colic. They then claim they can adjust the bone back into place. No amount of "studies" or "research" can ever make true this anatomical nonsense. As in two inquests, in Saskatchewan in 1998 and Ontario in 2002, and a coroner's report in Quebec this past month, the scientific and legal conclusions all state the same thing: There is something deadly about chiropractic highest neck manipulation. The direct link between highest neck manipulation stroke and death has been shown by 60 years of published scientific evidence in The Journal of Forensic Science, The Journal of Clinical Pathology, The Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, the British Medical Journal, and other journals. Yet the licensing bodies legally responsible to protect the public fully endorse highest neck manipulation. All the provincial licensing boards in Canada and state boards in the United States continue to deny that it causes stroke and death. They make statements such as this, from the British Columbia College of Chiropractors, 2006. "Unfortunately, much of the information now available to the public is based on faulty or biased research." The families of many such stroke victims see this denial by the regulators as absolute proof that the solution cannot come from within chiropractic, that the fox is guarding the henhouse. They are now asking that, just as medical doctors must adhere to scientific guidelines when they prescribe medications and use treatments, so must chiropractors in regard to highest neck manipulation. Just as the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. and the Health Protection Branch in Canada impose drug therapy standards that physicians and their licensing boards must adhere to, now all governments must insist on the same for chiropractic highest neck manipulation. The Quebec coroner recognized this need. The scientific standard developed by families and by medical specialists, and by chiropractors who have given up highest neck manipulation, is very simple. In essence it states that highest neck manipulation should not be performed on infants and children, or on people who have no neck pain, or as part of a philosophy that falsely believes it can be used to prevent or treat organic illness. This standard cannot be argued against rationally and scientifically. This standard should be imposed upon the regulators. There are mechanisms for doing so all across North America. The three provinces that provide some public funds for chiropractic should cease payments until the standard is adhered to, as should insurers and workers's compensation boards. All graduates of chiropractic schools should show they adhere to this standard. Teachers at chiropractic schools who teach chiropractic highest neck manipulation philosophy should be dismissed. Chiropractors must be forced to adhere to the scientific standard and cease highest neck manipulation philosophy, a practice that is killing and maiming victims, mainly young women. - J. William Kinsinger, MD, is an American physician with a special interest in alternative medicine. Marvin Levant, MD, is a retired Alberta radiologist. Sharon Mathiason is the mother of Laurie Jean Mathiason. Judy Ford is the sister of Lana Dale Lewis. For a copy of the standard write to stroke@neck911.com © National Post 2007
April 30, 2004 - Chiropractic neck manipulations of the top two vertebra are killing Canadians. Press conferences were held by victims's families and their supporters to demand an immediate cessation of all chiropractic high neck manipulations. The chiropractic regulators across Canada have failed to voluntarily halt this useless and dangerous procedure. Two inquests found that the chiropractors were at fault. There have been numerous lawsuits over the years, and yet these procedures continue with the blessings of chiropractic associations and regulators. Governments that cover chiropractic still pay for this procedure. The families are supported by pediatricians, neurologists, and other experts who have seen the chiropractic regulators dance around any thought of meaningful self-regulation.
Terry Polevoy, MD
When the five families of the victims of chiropractic stroke produced their video, a small part of the 52 minute tape included footage of news reports by CTV's Lloyd Robertson and Avis Favaro. When they saw copies of the tape, CTV called their lawyers and demanded that all copies of the tapes be returned and/or destroyed because of copyright issues.
The families, and their friends may differ in their personal views about complying with the requests by the lawyers who work for CTV, but as an advocate for the families' cause, and staunch supporter of their efforts to educate the public about the terrible price that their families have already paid, I will do everything in my power to see that the public knows about the risks involved even if the few sections of the CTV clips are removed.
CTV's lawyer now feels that their segments on chiropractic neck manipulations have been "taken out of context and selectively used to support a particular position - a moratorium on chiropractic neck manipulation - whether this is characterized as educational, political or even legal".
CTV's W-FIVE production called "Harm or Heal?" about the risks of chiropractic stroke is still featured in its entirety on their own web site. It's there for you to judge for yourself if CTV is a news vehicle, an educational vehicle, and if their broadasts are neutral on the subject. If the politicians and health ministers across Canada have seen the film, it is not because of this web site. I had nothing to do with the distribution, or production of the video tape itself. I only support its point of view.
You can watch CTV's two-part segment any time you want, and there are a number of other links that are still maintained as well. So, why does CTV now want the families and their supporters to return each and every one of the tapes that have been distributed to the media and to hundreds of others across Canada? Why do they think that the tapes are being used for political, not educational reasons?
If the Federal and Provincial governments ignore the risks to the public, and if the chiropractic regulators continue to sweep it under the table, what other recourse do the families have? If the chiefs of pediatrics of all of the teaching hospitals across Canada appealed to the governments about the dangers of pediatric chiropractic and were ignored, what recourse do they have. And finally, when scores of Canadian neurologists signed a letter demanding an end to highest-neck manipulations and were threatened by the chiropractors in writing, and still the government did zero in response, what recourse do these people have?
What was the news worthiness of these stories, and what did CTV have to say about the pediatricians, and neurologists at the time? I guess we will have to ask CTV, won't we.
THIS NOT A POLITICAL MOVEMENT!
THIS IS A MOVEMENT TO DEFEND FAMILIES FROM ASSAULT FROM THE LEADERS OF CHIROPRACTIC WHO STAND BY THE STRANGE TENETS OF THEIR BLOODY UNSCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHY AS IF IT IS CARVED IN STONE. THEIR INNATE INTELLIGENCE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OF THIS HAS SOMEHOW BEEN LACKING.
As a direct result of the video that was produced by the families of the victims and their friends, CTV's position is that THEY don't want the video to be used by people who have been victimized by the chiropractors. THEY think that the families are POLITICIANS.
What's the position of the respective "Colleges" of chiropractic across Canada on this matter? That is the real problem here. By saying nothing, in my opinion, the chiropractors have admitted that they are incapable of governing their own flock of philosopher kings. They have defended the indefensible position that they are NOT responsible for any of this, and the carnage caused by chiropractic highest-neck manipulation continues to exact a toll on our communities.
From a personal point of view, it might matter to the readers and critics of ChiroWatch to realize that in my own personal practice over the last twelve years, I have had three patients who have had strokes following chiropractic treatement. I run an acne care clinic, I am not a neurologist or neurosurgeon. These are primary care patients. The statistic in my office is that 1:5000 patients in my own practice have suffered injury after chiropractic treatment on their upper necks. That is a far cry from the 1:1,000,000 or 1:5,000,000 that the leaders of chiropractic in Canada usually use to indicate that chiropractic neck manipulations are safe.
Tell that to the Mathiasons, the Fords, the Graingers, the Limages, the Labontes, and to the Rodrigues of the world.
A campaign by five families reignites the debate over the chiropractic industry. This is a scathing endictment of the chiropractic community's failure to take action against their members for promoting quackery, and of performing high neck manipulation. She reviews the research done by Dr. Herzog at the University of Calgary and attacks it without mercy.
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Lana Dale Lewis InquestLes Limage - Waterloo victim of neck manipulation
Chiropractic neck crack can cause strokes:
Chiropractic strokesChiropractors are causing strokes in young, healthy women. Read this before your next appointment.
"While these dissections account for only about 2 percent of all nonhemorrhagic strokes, they are an important cause of stroke in young and middle-aged patients, accounting for as many as one-quarter of cases in these age groups."
Should Chiropractors Warn of Real but Small Danger? Neuro-ophthalmology 2000 Dec;20(4):236-9 - Devereaux MW Department of Neurology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio 44106, USA.
Stroke Consortium publishes paper in CMAJSudden neck movement and cervical artery dissectionJohn W. Norris, Vadim Beletsky, Zurab G. Nadareishvili, on behalf of the Canadian Stroke ConsortiumCMAJ 2000;163(1):38-40Two recent deaths from artery dissection following neck manipulation by chiropractors have focused media and medical attention on the relation between sudden neck movement and cervical artery dissection. Although the first case of carotid artery dissection due to chiropractic neck manipulation was described over 50 years ago, the frequency of carotid and vertebral artery dissection as a cause of stroke has only been recognized in the last decade. Since then, there have been many publications and case reports on this topic. In a recent Canadian survey, dissection of the cervical arteries was one of the most common causes of stroke in patients less than 45 years of age.Most patients undergoing therapeutic neck manipulation will have no ill effects, but there is no doubt that chiropractic neck manipulation can result in dissection of the carotid or vertebral arteries leading to stroke. Until a high-risk group can be identified, chiropractors should inform all patients of possible serious complications before neck manipulation. This is already emphasized in their current training programs. Finally, physicians should be made aware of this potential complication, and all patients with suspected ischemic stroke should be questioned on hospital admission about recent head or neck injuries or neck manipulation.
Vertebral artery injuries
Vertebral artery techniques by chiropractors
Pictures of the brain and blood supply to brain
Why do chiropractors crack necks and why should we care?
Check it out - before you check outCanadian neurology and stroke resources
WCA Position Paper on StrokeThe World Chiropractic Alliance wanted me to post their position paper on the risk of strokes from chiropractic neck manipulation. In order to be fair to the chiropractic profession, we are posting it here. We are also going to invite those of you who want ot raise any questions about their statements to get back to us, and we will post the best ones here. |
ChiroWatch Main Spin Doctors Interactive Reports from CANOE.CA
Paul Benedetti and Wayne McPhail's interactive chiropractic "investigation in a nut shell" for CANOE.CA
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