The forces interested in suppressing chiropractic are at it again. This time in Edmonton, Alberta. Turns out, an apparently healthy woman who had been receiving chiropractic care for years had a cerebrovascular incident after receiving a cervical adjustment last September. The result is a massive class action suit against all chiropractors in the province of Alberta.
While our hearts and prayers go out to the woman who is now a quadraplegic, the law firm handling the class action lawsuit is operating on the belief that “…there is no scientific basis to the chiropractic theory of subluxations affecting health and the need for routine neck manipulation.” Sound familiar?
Never mind that the deaths caused by adverse reactions to prescription drugs are considered merely the “cost of doing business.”
Would Sandra Nette have had a stroke that day anyway? Without a parallel universe we’ll never know. However, a study in the United Kingdom about “background” strokes is fascinating, especially when evaluated in the context of the 2005 Executive Summary of Current Concepts, Spinal Manipulation and Cervical Arterial Incidents that observed that “incidents following spinal manipulation to the neck is very small and at the same magnitude that occurs in the general population.”
Those in Alberta who have suffered at the hands of a chiropractor are invited to join the lawsuit on a website set up by the law firm, which has already announced its intention to take similar action in other Canadian provinces.
Be ready for another round of “don’t touch my neck” from patients. Do your own research on the risks associated with things most patients would consider safe, comparing them with chiropractic care. And don't forget to compare the malpractice insurance rates that actuaries use, revealing the safety of chiropractic care compared with medicine.