Malpractice at It's Best

The recent quarterly from the chiropractic malpractice insurance company NCMIC, called the Examiner, had an interesting true story of a DC who apparently was an expert on dizziness.  The chiropractor, Dr. "Chin", adjusted the neck of a woman who immediately showed symptoms that included numbness on her left side, had trouble speaking, could not walk because of dizziness, and could not swallow.  I may be confused, but these are not good things to have happen after one's neck is manipulated.  My hunch would be a nasty vertebral artery insult of some kind.

But Dr. Chin didn't get it, although he had some compassion for the patient.  The family called him for advice, and he figured she had a case of "dizziness" and should take some dramamine.  If they didn't have any, he had some at home and he would be happy to drop by with a few pills.  Well, when he got there, the woman was unable to swallow, so reportedly Dr. Chin in a moment of chivalry, forced the pills down her almost paralyzed throat.

Ok, the husband is not convinced things are ok, so he finally gets his wife to the ER, and tests show she has a vertebral artery and a brain stem infarct.  So where was Dr. Chin educated...Auschwitz?!  Why not also bring along some other drug goodies for her, like left-over oxycodon or a hit of meth?  Since he was making a house call, why not adjust her neck again...and maybe again, until he's got it right?

This case is one of the most outlandish I have come across.  The DC must have slept through that course that taught how to think like a five-year old.  "Bad thing happened, call Mommie!", would have been my reaction at age five.  But Dr. "Chin" lucked out when it turned out the patient actually healed up better than anyone would have thought, and surveillance videos showed her as a star in aerobics classes at the local YMCA.

Let this be a lesson:  Don't take drugs over to a patient that you injured by cracking their neck, without calling an ambulance.

FIRST POST FOR THE PARACLETE

Why not have a "blog"?  I failed at Facebook, so why not?  I have hesitated to do so, because of time constraints mostly.  I already write for Dynamic Chiropractic magazine, and that has been therapy enough for me...I thought.  Now, my motivations include self-amusement, including the occasional feed-back of my friends and colleagues, and to read the "posts" of anonymous cowards who will be ridiculing anything most anybody has to say.

Speaking of Facebook, my wife signed me up, (as she did with this blog, actually), and I must say it intimidated me.  I have said, "Ok, I know one can use it like a Cool-Guy, but I'm too busy to be a Cool-Guy." I didn't check it for many days after it went "live", so I was surprised to get my first contact:  the younger sister of a girl in high school that I dated twice, and probably hadn't seen since 1966.  I got the high school annual out, and found her picture.  Sure enough, I remembered her, and was flattered that she contacted me, until I noticed that she had about six or seven-hundred "friends".  I now have two Facebook friends, which include my wife and Jan, the younger sister.  But I somehow enjoy learning when Jan is making potato soup, or taking some kind of personality test.

The next post should probably have something about chiropractic or healthcare...?