Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

The medical literature is clear: chiropractic neck adjustments carry the risk of stroke. According to the literature, a chiropractor performing a neck adjustment may inadvertently cause a stroke by rupturing the vertebral or the carotid artery. Once bleeding occurs, blood clots form, eventually break off and block blood flow to the brain resulting in stroke.

While there are a small but growing number of cases reported each year, there is a high likelihood that many go unreported. This is due to two reasons. First, the victim of the stroke may suffer irreparable brain damage whereby he or she cannot remember the chiropractic manipulation. Second, the family of a stroke victim is not likely to be aware that a chiropractic manipulation had been previously performed. The family would have no reason to make the connection as to what caused their loved one's serious personal injury.

The next question is whether the risk of stroke is worth it? Chiropractors perform thousands of neck adjustments everyday to treat everything from ear infections in babies to high blood pressure and epilepsy in adults. However, there is no scientific evidence showing any benefit for the majority of ailments treated by neck adjustment procedures.

So, the real concern here should not be the frequency of occurrence, but whether the risk of stroke outweighs the benefits of the neck adjustment. This determination clearly should be made by the patient; but where the chiropractor fails to inform the patient of the risks, the patient’s right to be fully-informed is violated, thus resulting in medical malpractice.

Where there is little or no benefit to a procedure, a complication as severe as stroke or death cannot be risked. If you or a loved one has suffered a stroke, which has occurred within hours, days or weeks following a chiropractic neck manipulation or adjustment, please contact the experienced Pigeon Forge personal injury lawyers at Baker Associates. Call 866-853-2888 for a free consultation today.