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368,379 people killed, 306,096 injured and over $2,815,931,000 in economic damages

What's the harm in going to a chiropractor?

In its original form, chiropractic is a form of energy medicine based on unscientific principles such as 'innate intelligence'. To be fair, not all current chiropractors still believe in these concepts. Read more about chiropractic

Here are 312 people who were harmed by someone not thinking critically.

Linda Barter Age: 42 Sutton Coldfield, England	Permanent neck injury 1997
After a neck manipulation at her chiropractors, Linda now has a permanent neck problem and must take tranquilizers daily. Read more

Kristi A. Bedenbaugh Age: 24 Little Mountain, South Carolina	Died 1993
Kristi sought relief from sinus headaches from her chiropractor. A neck manipulation caused a brain stem stroke and she died three days later. The chiropractor later paid a $1000 fine. Read more

Samantha Cools (athlete) Age: 22 Airdrie, Alberta, Canada	Neck injury just before Olympics May 2008
Her chiropractor over-rotated her neck during a routine adjustment, tearing tendons and muscles. This painful injury even limited her ability to eat, mere weeks before the world championships. She came in fifth, and DNFed at the Olympics. Read more

Frances S. Denoon Age: 28 Bristol, England	Stroke March 1998
She visited a chiropractor to relieve some neck pain. On her second visit, "my world went into a dizzy spin" with nausea and loss of speech. The neck manipulation had caused a brain stem stroke. She now runs a web site for victims. Read more

Linda Epping Age: 8 Los Angeles, California	Died December 29, 1961
Linda was scheduled for surgery to remove a tumor, when her parents met a chiropractor who said he could cure her. He had her swallowing up to 124 pills a day for months. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1967. Read more

Donna Claire Fawcett Age: 34 Barrie, Ontario, Canada	Died 1987
She had a chiropractic neck manipulation and died after several months in a coma. Read more

G. Fowden Sandy, Utah	Died
A lifelong believer in natural cures, she shunned conventional medicine. When she got sick she saw nearly every form of alternative practitioner. When she finally allowed herself to be taken to a hospital, it was far too late to help. Read more

Dr. Ronald Grainger Age: 69 Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Died November 16, 2001
Chiropractic neck manipulation Read more

Brittmarie Harwe Age: 40 Wethersfield, Connecticut	Unable to swallow 1993
A chiropractic manipulation permanently paralyzed one of her vocal cords and left her unable to swallow food. She received $900,000 in a settlement. Later the chiropractor was given probation for harassing her by phone. Read more & more

Amy C. Hays Age: 32 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Bullied into treatment
She feels she was duped and bullied by her chiropractor, read her story in her own words. Read more

Christa Heck Age: 43 Mahopac, New York	Stroke November 2003
Ten minutes after visiting her chiropractor for headaches & back pain, she found herself crumpled & paralyzed in her SUV. She had been given a stroke. Read more

John Hoffman Age: 39 Gaithersburg, Maryland	Died August 5, 2004
His wife found him collapsed in their stairwell. He had had a chiropractic adjustment 3 hours earlier. His stroke was ruled to have been caused by the adjustment. He died 6 days later. Read more & more & more

Yvonne Hoskin Age: 65 Geelong, Australia	Fractured back, chronic pain 2008
She attended a chiropractor for backache. X-ray taken, and cancer of the vertebral body was missed. Subsequent manipulation caused major fracture which required 3-level fusion to fix and resulted in chronic pain.

J. Kesterson California	Mistreated
She had an extremely bad experience with a chiropractor that she has documented on the web. Read more

Karen Labdon Bellevue, Washington	Brain stem stroke March 12, 1997
She had visited her chiropractor before for headaches and stress, but this time she felt sick after the visit. The alphabiotics practitioner had given her a brain stem stroke. She is now suing. Read more & more

Renate Dora Labonte Age: 40 Guelph, Ontario, Canada	Died
Chiropractic neck manipulation for her migraines induced a stroke. Read more

Lana Dale Lewis Age: 45 Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Died September 12, 1996
Two weeks after a chiropractic neck manipulation, she suffered a stroke. The chiropractic board ruled her death an accident. Read more

Les Limage Age: 67 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada	Paralyzed by stroke December 5, 2001
Les went to a chiropractor for some neck pain related to his hip replacement. The neck manipulation caused a brain stem stroke that paralyzed him and put him on a respirator. Read more

Jose Lopez Age: 64 Sacramento, California	Died June 10, 2008
He went to see an unlicensed chiropractor at his home. A neck manipulation seriously injured him and left him unconcious. He was declared brain dead at hospital and the chiropractor faces murder charges. Read more & more

Laurie Jean Mathiason Age: 20 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Died February 7, 1998
Laurie had a tailbone injury and sought out a chiropractor who manipulated her neck. She fell into a coma and died three days later. Read more

Kathryn McGlynn England	Brain stem stroke November 1994
After a chiropractic neck manipulation, she felt weakness down her right side. When she went to the hospital she was told she'd had an ischaemic stroke. Read more

Sandra Nette Age: 41 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	Multiple strokes, paralyzed September 13, 2007
She felt dizzy after driving home from her chiropractor. Hospital physicians found she had suffered multiple strokes and required surgery. Paralyzed, disabled and under 24 hour care, she has filed a $500 million class action lawsuit. Read more & more

Pierrette Parisien Age: 36 Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Died February 22, 2006
A regular chiropractic patient for nine years, she had neck pain, headaches and dizziness after two prior appointments. The third time, she fell into a coma and died. Read more

Charles Paynter Age: 68 Columbus, Ohio	Hospitalized with kidney failure 1988
He saw a chiropractor for help with his back pain. He was treated with heat, herbs, tonics and homeopathy. Three days after his last treatment, he was rushed to a hospital and barely recovered. A judgment for $147,500 was awarded by a court. Read more

Donald Pereyra Ridgefield, Connecticut	Died (liver failure) December 17, 1987
After a tumor on his back was surgically removed, his doctors recommended radiation and chemo. His chiropractor disagreed and injected him with unproven substances. He died of liver failure (he had no liver cancer) and a lawsuit resulted. Read more

Trevor Rhiner Age: 17 Des Moines, Iowa	A year of unnecessary treatments 2003
Trevor saw a chiropractor for back pain and numbness in his legs. He was diagnosed with a series of problems and told to take a year of treatments, paid up front. A second opinion from a doctor said there was nothing wrong with him. The family sued. Read more

Diane Rodrigue Age: 36 Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada	Paralyzed by stroke January 1994
She visited a chiropractor with help with her headaches. After a neck manipulation, her headache got worse. A second chiropractor manipulated her neck once more, and she had a stroke. She is now quadriplegic and requires a ventilator. Read more

Elizabeth A. Roth Age: 49 Medway, Ohio	Died February 28, 1997
Chiropractor allegedly used a "Vega" energy machine to diagnose her but withheld information about her diagnosis. Another doctor diagnosed her with advanced breast cancer. A lawsuit resulted after her death.

Eric Sass Anthem, Arizona	Stroke July 3, 2008
Eric is a church youth counselor who is in fantastic physical shape. Following a routine spine & neck adjustment for "wellness" he experienced dizziness, impaired vision and headache. He'd had a stroke. Read more

Marilyn Senzell Age: 59 South Holland, Illinois	Stroke 2001
She claims she suffered a torn carotid artery during a 2001 session with a chiropractor. A week later, she suffered a stroke which has left her disabled. The chiropractor paid her $500,000 in a settlement in 2008. Read more

Kelley Smith Age: 40	Two ruptured disks 1998
An iridologist at a psychic fair seemed accurate to her, and advised seeing a chiropractor. She now has two ruptured disks. Read more

Rachelle Smith Age: 32 Olathe, Kansas	Stroke December 2006
Chiropractor Read more

Linda Solsbury Age: 36 New London, Connecticut	Paralyzed & mute. Her $10 million judgement was avoided via bankruptcy 1985
An LPN, she was left quadriplegic and mute after a neck manipulation. She sued, and became an advocate for changes in the laws regarding chiropractors. She died years later of complications from her illness. Read more

Kimberly Lee Strohecker Age: 30 Hazleton, Pennsylvania	Died (epileptic seizure) April 29, 1999
A chiropractor advised ceasing anticonvulsive medication and treated her with cranio-sacral therapy. When seizures returned, he insisted they were normal. She died in a later seizure. He got 18 months in prison. Read more

James Turner Age: 11 Barrie, Ontario, Canada	Paralyzed July 24, 2000
He was taken by his parents to a chiropractor, who manipulated his back, but failed to notice he had a spinal cord tumor. His was left paralyzed. The parents sued for $2.75 million. Read more

Wendy Venegas Age: 34 San Diego, California	Died 1999
Wendy, a mother of three young children, went to her chiropractor for help with sinusitis. A neck manipulation led to a brain stem stroke. Read more

Theresa Wilkin Masterton, New Zealand	Delayed treatment for serious illness February 2008
She was sick for a while and saw a chiropractor for the headaches. He told her that she had a pinched nerve in her back. She actually had a rare neurological illness that has had a local outbreak, and barely got to the hospital in time. Read more

Over 200 chiropractic patients Age: 31 - 80	Serious harm including strokes, paraplegia 2001 - 2007
This meta-study in JRSM found more than 200 patients who were suspected to have been seriously harmed by spinal manipulation. Read more

34 child chiropractic patients Age: 3 months - 15 years	Serious injury, delayed diagnosis of disease December 18, 2006
This meta-study in Pediatrics found one death and 13 other serious injuries to children undergoing chiropractic manipulation. It also found 20 other cases of delayed diagnosis of disease or inappropriate use of chiropractic. Read more

36 Colorado patients western Colorado	6 died, 10 colectomies, 36 total infections 1982
This New England Journal of Medicine report is on an outbreak of amebiasis spread by colonic irrigation equipment at a chiropractic clinic in Colorado. Six patients died, thirty others required surgery or hospital care. Read more

"Mrs. A." Age: 33 New Zealand	Stroke November 9, 2007
This mother of two saw a chiropractor for relief from headaches. After the fourth visit, she felt dizzy, lost sight in one eye and could not concentrate. This was caused by a stroke. A government commission recommended the chiropractor apologize. Read more

"A.K." (woman) Tucson, Arizona	Died (untreated cancer)
Over the ten months she saw the chiropractor, he assured her at least twice that she did not have cancer. He even missed it on an x-ray at first. Finally he referred her to a doctor but it was too late. She died and he was suspended for a year. Read more

"Miss H." Age: 43 Sheffield, England	Disabled, cannot work July 18, 2000
Chiropractor Read more

"Margaret X" Liverpool, England	Brain stem stroke January 2003
She visited her chiropractor due to neck problems. She felt sick and nauseous after a neck manipulation. She had been given a brain stem stroke. Read more

Return to the list of topics

What's the harm in going to a chiropractor?

Linda Barter

Kristi A. Bedenbaugh

Samantha Cools (athlete)

Frances S. Denoon

Linda Epping

Donna Claire Fawcett

G. Fowden

Dr. Ronald Grainger

Brittmarie Harwe

Amy C. Hays

Christa Heck

John Hoffman

Yvonne Hoskin

J. Kesterson

Karen Labdon

Renate Dora Labonte

Lana Dale Lewis

Les Limage

Jose Lopez

Laurie Jean Mathiason

Kathryn McGlynn

Sandra Nette

Pierrette Parisien

Charles Paynter

Donald Pereyra

Trevor Rhiner

Diane Rodrigue

Elizabeth A. Roth

Eric Sass

Marilyn Senzell

Kelley Smith

Rachelle Smith

Linda Solsbury

Kimberly Lee Strohecker

James Turner

Wendy Venegas

Theresa Wilkin

Over 200 chiropractic patients

34 child chiropractic patients

36 Colorado patients

"Mrs. A."

"A.K." (woman)

"Miss H."

"Margaret X"