Is it safe?
The risks of chiropractic and medical care.
Since a small percentage of my patients have expressed concerns about the safety of Chiropractic and the potential dangers and or risks associated with the Chiropractic adjustment I have taken the time to research information in this regard. Every procedure regarding health has benefits and risk associated with it and Chiropractic is no exception. The data below has no reflection pertaining to any individual practitioner, weather it be a medical doctor, medical specialist, osteopaths, physiotherapist, naturopaths and or Chiropractic; it merely reflects the statistical health risk primarily associated between the chiropractic and medical profession.
For more information see section (6) & (17) of the F.A.Q.
Death by Medicine
PDF DOWNLOAD – by Gary Null, PhD; ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; Dorothy Smith, PhD, Carolyn Dean
Conventional Medicine’s Lethal Dark Side
The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is nearly 582,000 per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is one of the leading causes of death and injury in the U.S. (Based on these statistics deaths by medicine is SECOND, heart disease being number one and cancer being third)
Estimated Annual Mortality and Cost of Medical Intervention
| Condition | Deaths | Costs | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital Adverse Drug Reactions | 106.000+ | 2 Billion | Lazarou (6), Suh (11), FDA (1B) |
| Hospital Medical Errors | 98.000 | 2 Billion | IOM (1a), (12), (13) |
| Hospital Bedsores | 17.160 | 90 Billion | Xakellis (14), Barczak (15), Health Grades (153) |
| Hospital Infections | 88.000 | 5 Billion | CDC (17a), Weinstein (16), MMWR (17) |
| Nursing Homes/Malnutrition | 4.630 | – | Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (18) |
| Outpatient Adverse Drug Reactions | 199.000 | 77 Billion | Starfield (19, 20), Weingart (21) |
| Unnecessary Surgical Procedures | 37.137 | 30 Billion | HCUP (3, 13), Leape (81) |
| Surgery-Related | 32.000 | 9 Billion | AHRQ per Zhan and Miller (92) |
| TOTALS | 581.927 | 215 Billion |
Estimated Annual Mortality and Economic Cost of Medical Intervention As shown in Table , the estimated total number of iatrogenic deaths—that is, deaths induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures—in the US annually is at least 581,927.
It is evident that the American medical system is itself one of the leading causes of death and injury in the US. By comparison, approximately 652,091 Americans died of heart disease in 2005, while 559,312 died of cancer.
Manipulation of the Cervical Spine, Risks & Benefits
The lack of data concerning the practice of manipulation has led to a wide variation of estimates. Rivett and Milburn43 reported that the incidence of severe neurovascular (nerve and artery) compromise was estimated to be within the rather wide range of 1 in 50,000 to 1 in 5 million manipulations. Coulter et al11 used data from a community-based study of chiropractic services167 and estimated that complications for cervical spine manipulation occur 1.46 times per 1 million manipulations. They also estimated the rate of serious complications (6.39 per 10 million manipulations) and death (2.68 times per 10 million manipulations) from manipulation of the cervical spine.
Note that the anatomical area of concern is the arteries in the cervical region. Damage to these arteries is referred to as a Cerebral Vascular Accident or CVA.
Health Risks – The Chiropractic Cervical Adjustment versus Various Medical Treatments
- Dabbs and Lauretti170 suggested that the risk of complications (eg, gastrointestinal ulcers, hemorrhage) or death from the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is 100 to 400 times greater than for the use of cervical manipulation.
- Hurwitz et al44 reported that the incidence of a “serious gastrointestinal event” associated with NSAID use was 1 in 1,000 patients compared with 5 to 10 cases of complication per 10 million cervical manipulations. Cervical spine surgery, by comparison, had 15.6 cases of complication per 1,000 surgeries
Misuse of Literature by Medical Authors
Cases of cerebral vascular accidents which have been attributed to chiropractic and/or Chiropractors when carefully investigated turned out to in fact be due to medical practitioners, medical specialist, osteopaths, physiotherapist, naturopaths, the patient, a kung Fu practitioner, a blind masseur, a wife, a barber in India.
Reference: Vertebrobasilar Stroke Following Manipulation, By Allan G. J, Terrett, 1996, National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company
Due to misrepresentation in the literature one is lead to believe that all cerebral vascular accidents are the result of a Chiropractor performing the cervical adjustment when in fact the literature only mentions that a Chiropractic adjustment was the cause of the CVA. This misleads the reader to believe that all Chiropractic adjustments are performed by Chiropractors when in fact this is not the case as the author has clearly sited. However, the fact is that most CVA involve Chiropractors simply because most Cervical manipulations (adjustments) are performed by Chiropractors (94% in North America).
Chiropractic University Statistics
“Jaskoviak (a chiropractic educator) in 1980 wrote, “over the past 15 years, it is estimated that over five million manipulations have been given in the National College of Chiropractic Clinic “without” a single reported case of manipulation induced vertebrobasilar artery accident.” Jaskoviak PA. Complications arising from manipulations of the cervical spine. J Manip Physiol Ther 1980 (Dec): 3 (4): 213-20
Life is movement, the flow of water is like the flow of nerve impulses, “without it life can not exist”.
