CHICAGO CHIROPRACTOR MALPRACTICE LAWYERS

Can You Sue a Chiropractor?

If your injury was caused by chiropractic negligence and led to financial losses, you have legal options available. Many chiropractors, just like medical doctors, have to carry medical malpractice insurance. So the answer is a resounding yes. If you are unsure about starting a legal claim against your chiropractor, call the attorneys at Curcio & Casciato. We can evaluate your claim and determine the best course of action in your case.

How Can Chiropractic Treatment Injure Me?

Chiropractors are not medical doctors and often have limited training and education. Chiropractors may boast that they have comprehensive knowledge about the human body, but this is not always the case. You wouldn’t go to a heart surgeon for a headache. You shouldn’t see a chiropractor for an unnecessary adjustment. Chiropractic care should be complementary care, meaning it should be used in addition to traditional medical care from your regular doctor. A primary care physician should always supervise your health. Chiropractic adjustments can lead to severe, life-threatening injuries and even death. Read on below to find out more about how chiropractic treatment can injure someone.

Negligent Manipulation

Musculoskeletal manipulation can provide pain relief for many people, but negligent manipulation can often cause more harm than good. Too-forceful manipulation and/or inexperience can lead to many issues, including:

• Broken ribs
• Broken vertebrae
• Herniated discs
• Nerve damage
• Localized pain
• Premature labor in pregnant women

Bone cracks and pops are satisfying when they relieve built-up pressure and tension, but a bone crack from a bone breaking is definitely not as delightful. There are many types of spine fractures and the long-term effects of broken vertebrae can be painful and costly. To learn more about the average cost of a broken bone and how to recover damages for fractures, contact a Chicago chiropractor malpractice attorney today.

Failure to Diagnose

Chiropractors are healthcare professionals, so they should be able to recognize emergency medical situations. Unfortunately, their judgment is often clouded by how spinal manipulation can fix the problem. If a patient comes in complaining of a headache, stiff neck, and blurred vision, the chiropractor may believe the issues can be fixed with cervical manipulation. Unfortunately, the chiropractor may ignore or fail to see all the signs of a ruptured aneurysm. This failure to diagnose an emergency medical condition can result in the patient’s condition worsening without the necessary medical treatment.

Chiropractic-Induced Stroke

A chiropractic-induced stroke occurs when cervical manipulation goes wrong. Cervical (not to be confused with a cervix) refers to the cervical spine in your neck. Neck pops and cracks may be satisfying and may be able to release some pressure, but improper manipulation can result in life-threatening injuries. A stroke happens when the brain loses blood flow. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot blocking an artery. A hemorrhagic stroke is caused by a leaking or burst artery. Your neck houses two major arteries. You have a carotid artery on either side of your neck and a vertebral artery that runs through your spinal column, also in your neck. When chiropractors are negligent, they can cause a tear in one of these arteries, leading to a stroke.

Vertebral Artery Dissection

A vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a medical condition where the artery in the spinal column of the neck is torn. This tear can lead to a significant amount of blood loss to the brain. This results in a hemorrhagic stroke. If the tear is small and forms a blood clot, the blood clot can block an artery in the brain and lead to an ischemic stroke.

Carotid Artery Dissection

A carotid artery dissection can lead to the same issues as a vertebral artery dissection. Negligent manipulation from a chiropractor can cause a severe stroke and even lead to death. If the chiropractor twists your neck too far or pulls too hard, they can damage the delicate tissue around the arteries. In some cases, the tear may be minor and grow over the course of days or weeks. Strokes from negligent manipulation aren’t always immediate. Delayed injuries like this can make it hard to link back to a specific source, but having an experienced team of Chicago medical malpractice lawyers on your side can make this process much smoother.

Unnecessary Procedures

Chiropractors are health care providers. As such, they have a duty to provide only necessary procedures to their patients. When a chiropractor oversteps their boundaries and performs unnecessary procedures, they can cause undue harm to their patients. Unnecessary treatment can result in additional injuries or make an existing injury worse.

Lack of Informed Consent

Patients have a right to know all the risks associated with their medical treatment. This is called informed consent. Even if the risk is minimal, chiropractors must still inform their patients of any possible negative outcomes of spinal manipulation. Patients cannot provide the proper consent if they are not aware of all possible outcomes. When a chiropractor fails to do this basic component of medical care, they can and should be held liable for any injuries.

To learn more about what is informed consent, contact a Chicago medical negligence attorney today.