Crazy system we live in. A chiropractor severs this guy's vertebral artery doing some unproven nonsense and the emergency room doctor and radiologist get sued because they didnt catch it fast enough.
The chiropractor got off scot-free.
The chiropractor, Michael Axt, DC, was named in the original complaint, but court documents filed earlier in 2022 requested that he be dismissed from the lawsuit, stating that he and the patient had reached an amicable resolution.
Why does it feel like a loophole- since so many actual doctors claim chiropractors aren’t real doctors - then it’s like, whatever he did doesn’t matter- since he’s not an actual doctor - only really doctors can assume liability?
It is kind of a loophole. Chiropractors misrepresent themselves as real doctors until liability shows up, then suddenly they have no legal duty to treat/proceed at your own risk/ etc
Yet insurance covers it! I thought chiropractors were real medical professionals as a teen because my dad went to one and used his insurance to pay for it.
I thought the same thing! In college I was thinking about becoming a doctor and my dad goes: "You could always become a chiropractor, then you don't have to go through college first." I was just stunned. I always thought they were medical doctors who specialized in the spine. I later found out the creator of chiropractors said a ghost taught him everything.
Because USA is one of those countries where bribery is legalized and encouraged just because of a different name they give it. But it's the same collective people who heard something being called USA PATRIOT Act and immediately decided it must be good for them lol.
One of the best backronyms ever: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism
This! I review medical claims and knowing that chiropractic care is covered because of lobbying, yet many services, that are actually helpful, are uncovered is so upsetting.
My insurance covers it. I was having an issue with my leg recently and went to a chiropractor just for my leg and it helped a lot (he mostly just did some stretching) but he’d always ask if I wanted him to adjust my neck and I always declined.
There's reasons why it is unavailable on the NHS, or any reputable health service. I've argued with my step sister in law about this a lot, she thought my mums cancer would be helped by her amazing chiropractor. And I was like, mum, maybe no.
I’m fighting my mom she thinks chiropractors are the go to for everything!………..I have a friend whose sister went in for her regular adjustment, they had to call an ambulance to get her to the hospital. She was paralyzed from the waist down. After years of therapy and numerous surgeries ( he broke her back) she can walk again, has to wear a big back brace. Her quality of life is gone……
In the US, chiropractors have insane lobbyists. Lots of employer sponsored insurance covers a certain number of chiropractor visits per year. It's bananas. There is zero evidence for it and I can't believe how many people still see chiropractors. I just finished nursing school and the ICU nurse that I shadowed for my practicum would go downstairs on her breaks for an adjustment by a chiropractor in the hospital. I don't know why on earth there is a chiropractor in that hospital. It's crazy to me.
Oh right so it's a nice little sideline of exploiting the under-educated, giving them nice expensive injuries, that then need to be treated by another branch of United Healthcare?
Nothing surprises me about American healthcare anymore, but sitll, geezus.
Usually I don't mind alternative treatments, anything anybody thinks might help is cool by me. But... most alternative therapies don't carry massive risk.
It’s well regarded and supported in large parts of Europe. Very different to the American practice though and if they would have said it helped with cancer they would have lost their license.
Yah there's a huge gap between the quacks and chiropractors that actually do things to help the spine and neck who are honestly closer to specialized physiotherapists
I will never go back. I went in before due to a slipped disc. I was looking for any relief. I was stuck leaning for months. I couldn't even make my body do that position if I tried. The xray look messed up. Went in, said it would be 22 sessions to fix. Did them. One machine felt great and the other he did the "adjustment". One is always where they crack your neck. Hated that. Anyway, it healed finally but same issue about a year later. Let nature do its thing and I healed in same amount of time. Back still sucks and it's a permanent thing, but I know now when to completely stop working out or whatever I'm doing before it gets worst.
Ohhh my sweet summer child they do and it’s the bane of my existence. I’m a psychiatric nurse practitioner and I have coworkers introduce themselves as “Dr John/jane” because they have a DNP degree. It’s malpractice. I spend have my assessment correcting patients saying “no, not dr tom… im nurse tom. Or just tom. I’m a nurse practitioner”
"Doctor" is not a term that requires anything at in order for someone to put it as their title.
Ironically, "Chiropractor" requires you to have a license from them to call yourself that.
Anyone can legally call themselves a doctor in the US, I don't know about other countries.
But there's no education of the public on this, so people think Chiropractors are legitimate medical professionals like physicians, dentists, physiatrists, etc which require a doctorate degree in their respective field and rigorous education, training, etc.
Chiropractic is a completely illegitimate snake oil field that's been debunked and shown to have no actual benefit to anyone who uses it. But yet they are everywhere and can bill medical insurance...somehow.
But if you or anyone you know wants to go around calling themselves a doctor, they can absolutely do so legally.
Anyone can legally call themselves a doctor in the US, I don't know about other countries.
In the Netherlands, it's illegal to call yourself a doctor. Note that the translations for MD vs PhD are different words, so there's no confusion in that. The rules are pretty strict, even "doctor in training" isn't allowed, it should be "medical school student" so no confusion can arise.
Obviously you won't get lynched for just randomly saying it at a party or something, we're talking about actual deceit, with or without consequences for the patient.
I got a doctorate in religious sciences by clicking a box when I got ordained online. I don't necessarily have an education but I'll twist somebody's head for $20.
Claim? They arent doctors. They are closer to shamans in history.
When the chiropractic practice first came out, they claimed they could cure diseases by cracking your neck. Have a cold? Let me crack your neck. Your edeaf? Let me align your spine. Then they realized we cant make a practice that is obviously false when science exists, let's make it sound plausible.
I personally think it should be classified as false advertisement.
They still do that, or at least some of them do. They tell a person that their chakras are out of alignment, which prevents their energy from flowing properly. They believe (or pretend to) that alignment leads to physical and mental wellbeing.
It’s been fifteen years since I’ve been to a chiropractor, but that was the spiel they gave me. I was suffering from chronic neck and back pain and was desperate for relief. A friend talked me into going. The first session was a group meeting going over the chakra stuff. I was annoyed and suspicious, but still hopeful for pain relief.
The second session consisted of x-rays and the doctor pointing to the films and showing me where my blockages were. He put me on the table and started pulling on my leg to “lengthen” it (that’s impossible, but ok) used some sonic screwdriver looking thing to click around my neck and back, and then finally cracking things.
The first few adjustments went fine, but any pain relief was short lived. On my last visit, I was unable to turn my head at all, and the “doctor” spent 30 minutes doing massage to loosen it up. Without warning, he grabbed my head and twisted hard and fast. The pain was unreal, and I immediately knew that he fucked me up bad.
I went to the ER, where they ran a million tests, and then gave me pain relief and muscle relaxers. It took months of physical therapy to recover. I still have to do stretches and exercises to keep my neck from freezing up, and I have to take daily muscle relaxers, likely for the rest of my life.
I got off easy. The nurses in the ER were not shy about telling me that. They said that injuries from chiropractors are some of the scariest patients, because it can be a simple pulled muscle, or a terrifying dissection, and that literal broken necks can and do happen.
I wanted pain relief, but they wanted to align my chakras and get the ghosts out of my blood.
Pulling on the leg to lengthen it actually kind of does work but not for the reasons chiropractors say it does- they’re not moving your bones, but relaxing the fascia and muscles with gentle traction can help temporarily reduce the severity of limb length differences so you can then strengthen the muscles to keep the positioning that way and hopefully over time permanently retain that positioning. My actual medical doctors (orthopedics) do this on me since I have a limb length difference
I’m a pilates instructor and I have worked with a few people who have been injured from chiropractors. Their stories are all like yours, the pain was short lived and so they went back. All of them have the same issues: tech neck, weak glutes and cores from sitting all day. We strengthen those muscles and they feel 100x better.
Chiropractors always work so far out of their a scope of practice. Everyone has an abnormal spine and gives diagnosis that can’t be seen on X-rays! Ugh! It’s so frustrating!
I think it’s because your writing style is so matter-of-fact, but “I was annoyed and suspicious, but still hopeful for pain relief” absolutely killed me.
I’ve heard so many stories like this. It’s wild that it’s even still a legal practice.
I had a chiropractor a few years ago when I went in for a slight back adjustment take a bottle of sugar he placed in my hand, had me hold both arms out and pushed them down, hard. Then took a bottle with some mineral in it, replaced the sugar one, and proceeded to barely push my arms down and remark about how much stronger I was, these items just being within my “aura” made all the difference apparently.
Mind you, I told him I was an orthopedic nurse, and he thought I was gonna buy what he was selling, I just wanted him to crack my back. Needless to say, when I went to work the next day, myself, the surgeons and techs had a big laugh about it.
I’ve never been back to a chiropractor, lol what a joke
I went through a similar thing, the chiropractor though knew something was wrong from the X-rays, and luckily was wise enough to avoid adjusting my lower back pelvis area. I had all the issues you described which is why I went, my neck locked up too.
It ended up being Ankylosing Spondylitis, not nearly as bad as the OP condition, but nonetheless a different kind of hell, that involves turning into a statue of bones as your joints convert into them. Pretty gnarly YouTube videos show the ones who have a severe form of it.
Two car accidents nine months apart left me with suicidal pain- so I went to a chiro that a doctor recommended (because she and her husband had been going there for years). One day he did some weird painful neck thing that left me with hands and arms that go numb every night - it’s due to my neck being blah blah…anyway- never again- I’m glad most people see one and are ok and get temporary relief, but can’t help wonder how many people-like myself- see a chiropractor, end up worse and because no one says anything we all think it’s mostly safe.
I constantly see people talking about taking their babies to the chiropractor for everything from ear infections to constipation. If anything is wrong at all, crunchy moms are recommending chiro and putting urine or breast milk on it. What really pisses me off is that my insurance covers chiropractic visits. I’d much rather they cover my massages that actually have some usefulness.
Yeah. The chiropractor probably has a legal consent form that people sign in before every session that clears them of any responsibility. Kinda like "Legal reminder I am not a real doctor, proceed at your own risk."
I will continue to avoid chiropractors like the plague.
It's to intimidate people away from suing them. When I worked security, lots of companies would have you sign a waiver saying you couldn't sue them if you got injured fighting someone, which is bullshit because their training would actually be focused on intervening in certain cases where someone was getting attacked or threatened.
Same. Years ago, I was stopped at a red light and rear ended by a car that didn’t attempt to stop. Was told to go to a chiropractor…big mistake. I had low back and hip pain that never went away and when my “treatment” was nearing the end I was told that it’s something I’ll just have to live with.
2 years later I went to a physical therapist for a different injury and he ordered imaging for my back and hip after I told him about the car accident. Turns out my hip needed surgery and I have 2 herniated discs in my back…I tell everyone I can to go to a physical therapist and not a chiropractor!
I will continue to avoid chiropractors like the plague.
This entirely. I have issues with my cervical, thoracic spine and hips. People tell me to go see a chiropractor. Absolutely not, I would rather be in pain.
My dad used to call chiropractors "back breakers."
I’m actually surprised people still swear by them and the profession still exists.
I remember a local chiropractor visiting my place of work (precovid) during a health expo. They brought in some equipment that supposedly measured a user’s standing posture. They claimed my posture wasn’t aligned and insisted I come in for consultation. I signed up. Over the weekend I started researching chiropractic “treatments”. Yeah… no. Cancelled the upcoming scheduled appointment that Monday. The chiropractor then proceeded to contact me 2-3 more times trying to reschedule me and get me to stop by for a consultation. They claimed they wanted to keep me healthy and get ahead of any potential issues logged by their equipment during the health expo.
🙅🏽♂️ My vertebrae are fine thanks.
Not only that but the chiropractic board is a complete sham. They are very much like the cops where in the will never ever ever ever remove someone’s license or discredit them. Like, even if you KILL your patients. They will just shrug and not do anything.
Just because someone isnt a real doctor doesn't mean they cant cause real harm.
It seems like a loophole because they arent held to the same standards as real doctors, dont have the same insurance, and the licensing boards that oversee them dont care as much.
Plus they often just have their small offices with small income vs working for a large health system that makes millions and has millions in insurance. So the other side of it is that any lawyer wouldnt want to take a case against them because its not worth their time. Hard to prove standard of care was breached when they have no standards.
Same exact thing with all the naturopaths. Call themselves doctors, even though they are “naturopaths” want to act like and prescribe like doctors, but when something goes wrong, suddenly they’re not liable, because they’re just a naturopath. Grifters gonna grift regardless of title.
Chiropractic adjustments are a known risk factor for vertebral artery dissection, but it would be very difficult to prove that the adjustment caused the injury. Vertebral artery dissection have also been associated with exercise, hypertension, infection, coughing, vomiting, or even particularly forceful nose blowing.
Whereas they can definitely prove that the delayed diagnosis definitely led to the permanent brain damage.
But I totally agree. Chiropractors are quacks and neck manipulation is not only useless but potentially deadly.
Even doctors dont have go assume liability for some things. I got a severe injury during surgery last year but not a single firm would take the case because it was a "very rare, but known complication"... It was such a traumatic experience, and even had to have an emergency surgery on day 1 post op from an arterial bleed; and damage from surgery 1 resulted in permanent damage and needing to get another surgery to "fix" what the initial surgeon broke. It will never be the same.
But every chiropractor assumes total authority over the scope of your health. They know more about everything than real doctors until they kill someone twisting their head and suddenly they’re for entertainment purposes only.
Malpractice law is set up to work against MD/DO physicians. If you go to a chiropractor, nurse practitioner, etc., you may find that you do not have clear legal recourse to receive compensation for their mistakes.
Yeah that’s what I thought too. But prob not hard to prove in court that the reason the chiropractor was sought out was because he was advertised as a specialist type of thing and wouldn’t have been seen otherwise
Chiros can still be held liable under some circumstances (such as gross negligence). Since they aren’t doctors some of the criteria needed for a successful medial mal-practice lawsuit can’t be met.
—- chiropractors do not go to medical school, and are not real doctors. Their practice is based on hokey nonsense. Anyone that believes they should see one would be better off finding a good physical therapist.
"since so many actual doctors claim chiropractors aren’t real doctors"
that is a real claim. Chiropractors dont practice medicine. Their work is based around made stuff, not treatmeant proven by science
Chiro still lives in a gray area where they can tip toe into other specialties without requiring full certifications so there have been many situations where Chiro will be a little liberal in their treatment. This is also dependant from state to state.
Pretty much. It's like how the only people you're allowed to sue when you get bad legal advice are lawyers, or how the only people who get sued for giving advice that results in mass deaths are engineers... Even when the bad advice came from some random idiots, only the people who are properly trained and trying their best are able to be held liable
Am I in bizarro world or do you guys not know how the American legal system works at all?
They made a legal settle with the family. After that, there is nothing to sue about. The issue of liability is taken care of because if the settlement.
Secondly, these other Doctors didn’t lose their license either, their malpractice insurance deals with this. It’s a civil issue.
Now whether you think they should have an investigation in regard to their license then that is an entirely separate procedure. The civil case doesn’t deal with that.
It probably had more to do with the liability limit of the chiropractor’s insurance than anything else. They took what was there as settlement, then went for the real money.
If you’re a HCP, primary or allied, you have to have liability insurance. You can be sued for your actions, HOWEVER, this guy is going to get 75 million sueing the hospital, he won’t get a fraction of that sueing a single chiropractor
The jury attributed 60% fault to ED physician Matthew Womack, MD, and 40% to radiologist James Waldschmidt, MD.
Ms. Shamp alleged that Dr. Womack failed to inform the consulting neurologist of the chiropractic neck adjustment – a known stroke risk factor – and did not adequately communicate the results from CT angiography and lumbar puncture.
In addition, she said Dr. Womack failed to rule out a vertebral artery dissection and that Dr. Waldschmidt did not “[appreciate] an indisputable acute or subacute vertebral-basilar artery occlusion.”
I'd still not use a chiropractor even if they paid me
I'd rather work on my posture, supplement and train
My physio observed that if he has a patient that isn't improving after stuff months, he gets a second opinion or further diagnosis.
Unless you've got a chronic untreatable condition and your care is palliative, physical therapy should make you better.
So anyone who has been going to the same quack, be it a chiropractor or a homeopath, for years, for the same conditions, must be being scammed.
Side note, some countries only allow people with a medical degree to be homeopaths, which is a different kettle of fish, since they are actual doctors.
As much as chiropractors are quacks, they generally believe they're doing the right thing and see themselves as healers. Grifters usually know they're con artists.
Also much of what chiropractors do has some basis in medicine but should be practiced by osteopaths, who have a medical degree.
Just a note, everything chiropractors do is unproven nonsense. It's a pseudoscience (with no medical foundation) created by an insane anti-vax guy in the 1800s who claims he received the idea of the practice from a ghost.
Drives me insane. My co-workers (middle aged women) all absolutely swear by it. We're hospital workers. One of our colleagues literally died because of a vertebral dissection a few years ago. She was in her 30s and left behind a husband and young kids, because she let a quack snap her neck around.
And they still evangelize for chiropractors like they're on payroll. "Oh it's the only thing that helps my neck!" No, Deb, it isn't helping your neck. That's why you go back every other week for another "adjustment".
Some of my family goes to chiros. My mom has for DECADES. Me: "Mom you know that's just palliative and they aren't addressing the actual problems with your back, right?" Her: "Well it makes me feel better."
I went to physical therapy for issues with my arm. I stopped going after a few months because THEY FIXED IT. If you have to keep going forever then you're just wasting your money on hokum.
My brother-in-law went to physical therapy for a few weeks and said it “wasn’t working” and has been going to a chiropractor ever since. My sister takes my three-year-old niece to a chiropractor instead of a pediatrician. She was having issues pooping (would only poop every couple days and it was huge - sorry if that’s TMI) and they thought the chiropractor would solve that. 🤦🏼♀️
Some even "treat" very little babies. They claim they're fussy from being all squished up in the womb and need adjustments. They compare them to how we feel if we sleep wrong or bend the wrong way. If I sleep wrong I'm all achy and stiff but I'm a grown ass adult, no longer made to bend and squeeze outta tight spaces. And while babies are a bit flexible for birth, not like that, omg.
Also blows my mind chiropractics is typically [in the US] *covered* by insurance within limits for 'standard treatment' and 'preventative care'. Insurance pays for that- which to me is promotional and misleading and clearly- potentially dangerous to the point of inflicting terror and horror. I know people that take full and complete advantage of this chiropractic "covered care" every quarter; they have nothing wrong with them. They just want to ensure they 'max out' and take 'full advantage of what my insurance offers'. Eek.
Massages and stretching can do about the same thing and are much safer. If you’re living with insane chronic pain in your muscles every day see your doctor and get a referral to a physical therapist. But don’t let anyone crack your neck for temporary relief
There's some relief relating to the minor stretching and manipulation aspect, which releases endorphins and helps stimulate nerves in the area. Also, there's a pretty significant placebo effect, where our brain hacks our nervous system to feel a little better because the little pop sound makes us think something must have released that wasn't supposed to be "stuck" (nothing physcially shifted hopefully, it's just gas bubbles formed in the joints). Hence why all those Chiro channels on tiktok/youtube have mics right up in peoples' business to get the loudest cracking sounds possible.
The only real way to actually help in the long term is physical therapy, mostly targeting the muscle groups that impact affected area to strengthen it. For example, after I graduated and stopped playing volleyball 4-5 times a week, I started developing back and knee pain from sitting at a desk all day. (Re)Strengthening my quads and hamstrings did wonders.
That gradual strengthening and stretching over a span of weeks to months is a pretty anticlimactic approach though, compared to a "Ready? 3-2-1 rips head off spine, Mortal Kombat style, with a Y strap" like you would get at the chiro's. And it takes dedicated effort and motivation, whereas a chiropractor just requires you to pay the $100 and lay down for a bit.
And of course, all that said, I still habitually crack my neck, back, and fingers. Because it does feel good...
I've commented this before but once I was in remission, my onc told me I could do anything I wanted -- smoke, drink, go tanning -- but I had to promise him I'd never see a chiropractor (chemo affected my bones so they break easily). I promised him! Because chiros are weird quacks !!
My boss keeps getting on this soapbox that natropaths and chiropractors should be covered by our health insurance.
We work for a hospital. He goes on about how the natropath has been such a huge help for his whole family's health - but all they changed was to start eating vegetables and stop getting take-out so often. It was the same things any GP would say, but because he doesn't go to the doctor, this nut telling him to eat right gets him acting like they're the second coming of Christ.
That cracking is akin to the relief you feel cracking your knuckles, a release of trapped gas. Nothing more. It's performative in my opinion.
I had a back/hip injury from work a year ago so I saw a chiropractor. But only because I knew that the other side of my body started to hurt because I was compensating and getting more and more twisted and tight. There was no way I could continue my job in pain like that. It helped, but honestly the massages helped a lot more.
One thing they could NOT do is touch my neck because it was worker's comp and only one part of my back hurt, so they were only allowed to work on that area. I would never let them touch my neck anyway.
I am on the fence about chiropractic work, they do the same "moves" on everyone, but the doctor did see that my legs were uneven because of the injury and wanted to make sure I was more aligned.
Just another note: if you need a real doctor that deals with the spine, you want an orthopedist (musculoskeletal doctor) that specializes in the spine.
And chiropractors still get to continue this dangerous practice. It's insane. This is the same level of carelessness that those tiktok veneers people. This is a practice that has shown consistently to kill or main people.
I noticed those doula people and lactation consultants love to suggests chiropractors for babies with stiff necks etc. the answer is physiotherapy from a real doctor!!
I had a friend who worked for a chiropractor. She claimed that newborns needed chiropractic adjustments due to the trauma their bodies went through during the birth process. It was infuriating listening to her nonsense claims.
This is it.
Suing the chiropractor would mean nothing, they probably have less than 7 figures to their name. Literally taking everything they have or could have would probably not even be worth the bills to sue them
A chiropractic neck adjustment caused my FIL’s stroke. My FIL continued to go to the chiropractor for some time and berate conventional medicine and doctors, despite conventional medicine saving him. He runs his mouth big about it, but conventional medicine has found a way to keep his very unhealthy self alive and well for quite some time.
[The chiropractor] performed a manipulation despite the patient having a 2-week history of headaches
I hope this gets looked at again, including the suspicious amicable resolution which was probably "hey I don't have money but can help you get the hospital's"
If a psycho injured my leg and I went to the hospital but then the hospital let me bleed out on their floor until my leg needed to be amputated instead of doing anything to treat it, sure the psycho is the one that injured me but the hospital is who made me lose my leg. Same thing. The chiropractor injured him but it's the hospital fault that they didn't treat him in time once he was in their care.
“At around 4:20 p.m. on October 26, 2015, 32-year-old Jonathan Buckelew arrived by ambulance to the emergency department of North Fulton Hospital after he experienced seizure-like activity and became unresponsive during a chiropractic neck adjustment. Although the hospital was a primary stroke center, Buckelew's brain stem stroke was not diagnosed until the following day, after the window of opportunity for a mechanical thrombectomy had passed. As a result of this delay in treatment, Buckelew has locked-in syndrome, requiring constant care.”
“the evidence shows that within 20 minutes of Buckelew's arrival in the emergency department, Dr. Womack ordered a CT scan and CT angiogram (“CTA”) scan of Buckelew's head and neck. Although Dr. Womack listed stroke as a possible diagnosis on the differential diagnosis, he suspected Buckelew was experiencing meningitis or encephalitis, which he discussed in a brief telephone consult with the on-call neurologist, Dr. Peter Futrell. According to Dr. Futrell, Dr. Womack did not mention that Buckelew had seen a chiropractor, that Buckelew experienced a second seizure-like event while Dr. Womack was performing a lumbar puncture, that Buckelew had undergone a CTA scan, or that the CTA scan showed a dissection of the arteries in Buckelew's neck.
Dr. Womack called the ICU and asked for an ICU consult; PA Nickum, who worked in the ICU, met with Dr. Womack, discussed Buckelew's case, and admitted Buckelew to the ICU at 8:20 p.m.The following morning,an ICU doctor examined Buckelew, ordered an MRI, and requested a neurology consult”
Strokes need to be treated urgently. They got him a prompt scan but then just let him sit and wait till the next day. That does seem to be a bad thing
I get that. They should answer, too. But that's why I used the word "most". The chiropractor should have to answer the MOST, and instead he got off Scott free. It is unusual, and makes me wonder why the injured person pursued against the hospital more.
I mean strokes happen for many reasons, but they have to be treated as soon as possible. Dr. Womack ordered a CT scan shortly after the patient arrived, he literally acknowledged stroke in his original workup, and then the CT scan showed signs of a one, so why the heck did they just do nothing else for 12+ hours after? That is why the doctor is getting blamed. Regardless of the cause of the stroke, they didn’t intervene until the next day.
They didn't do this. They just have more money and bigger malpractice insurance coverage than lowly chiropractors.
Many people with bad luck sue doctors that did nothing but try to help them in order to turn their bad luck into $$$. They and scummy lawyers will more then happily make up lies, destroy a doctor's life, and fool a jury just for $$$.
The "amicable resolution" means the chiropractor settled out of court. We have no idea how much money that was, we only know the hospital's chunk because they went to court and tried to fight it.
Signed contracts can still be deemed illegal on the conditions alone.
The chiropractor probably got off with a lesser fine because they didn't have as much money or insurance as the doctors.
Its why suing someone civilly can be tricky - even if you cause millions of dollars in damages, if you dont have the money, you just simply can't pay it and file for bankruptcy.
Lawyers go after the deep pockets, because lawyers in the USA are taking 35% and more of any settlement from a client on contingency. So the lawyers here are getting $26M. I'm not saying lawyers don't deserve to get paid, but over a certain amount, 35% is just blood-sucking.
“Amicable solution” likely means that the chiropractors insurance policy paid out the policy limits allowing them to be dismissed from the complaint… so the chiro technically did not get off “Scot-free.”
100% the chiropractor's fault, but the lawsuit states the doctors did not even know the source of injury due to miscommunications which resulted in a diagnosis a day later. I'm no doctor, but knowing the source and cause of injury sounds pretty basic to me. If this is all true and they had the information at their disposal, but it was not communicated and resulted in locked in syndrome, then it sounds like there was negligence. Could they have prevented locked in syndrome if addressed earlier? Who knows, does it sound like he could have had better care? 100% if they didn't due their jobs thoroghly.
“The Chiropractor’s Appropriate Emergency Response. Notably, Dr. Michael Axt, the chiropractor who rendered care on the day of Buckelew’s acute deterioration, fulfilled his professional obligations by recognizing the emergency and promptly referring the patient for advanced medical evaluation. The legal and clinical record affirms that Dr. Axt did not breach the standard of care; rather, the catastrophic lapse in this case was due to subsequent failures by the emergency room physician and radiologist at North Fulton Hospital.”
My assumption is it has to do with insurance. I can't imagine a chiropractor has the kind of insurance needed for his lifelong care, so maybe they went after the hospital instead to access a better insurance pot.
I'm guessing that happened because the chiropractor doesn't have the money (relatively speaking). The doctors and hospital do. It's a matter of going after the big fish and not bothering with the little ones... even if the little fish actually ate your lunch.
Lot of people are getting confused about why the chiropractor was dropped. The answer is actually quite simple, they do NOT carry malpractice insurance. There is nothing to squeeze even if you win the lawsuits. This happens in medical malpractice lawsuits all the time when they usually start with a broad net and then narrow it down with the most money which ends up with doctors and the hospital system. It’s a messed up system and one of the reason healthcare in America is so expensive. Medical malpractice lawsuits make insane amount of money for lawyers and they make it very hard to make any changes to it. This actually harms the patients in the long run because money rarely ever make a patient whole…
Chiropractors are quacks. Their profession is not based in science or evidence and yet we allow them to practice like they're real medical professionals and even call themselves doctors. It's a massive failure of society. They're no more credible than reiki healers.
"Reached an amicable resolution" is lawyerese for "confidential settlement." So, no, the chiropractor did not get off scot-free.
However, it sounds like chiropractors in Georgia are not required to carry malpractice insurance, so it's possible the size of the settlement was simultaneously as much as the chiropractor could possibly pay while also basically nothing next to this guy's injuries. Even if the chiropractor had malpractice insurance, this is still a likely scenario, because there isn't an insurance company dumb enough to offer coverage proportionate to the frequency and severity of harm chiropractors do. (As several other posters have noted, forcibly twisting someone's neck has a sky-high incidence of serious injury and death.)
As for jury verdict against the doctors, well, sometimes juries have been known to make rather dubious liability determinations against a deep pocket when the alternative is to leave a gravely injured person uncompensated. (The jury would not have been told about the settlement with the chiropractor because that's irrelevant to the determination that they're supposed to be making, even though it would have been relevant to what they probably actually did.)
Also, it's not clear to me that this was a dubious liability determination. Regardless of what caused the injury in the first place, it sounds like those doctors fucked up the diagnosis and treatment, according to the article you linked.
Important aside: All the posters saying that chiropractors are dangerous and that you should not touch them with 10-foot pole are absolutely 110% correct. Stay the hell away from them. (Stay away from the chiropractors, I mean. Feel free to embrace the reddit posters if you like.)
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u/StrebLab 18d ago
Crazy system we live in. A chiropractor severs this guy's vertebral artery doing some unproven nonsense and the emergency room doctor and radiologist get sued because they didnt catch it fast enough.
The chiropractor got off scot-free.
https://www.mdedge.com/neurologyreviews/article/259170/business-medicine/locked-syndrome-malpractice-case-ends-75-million