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.