Why did the Alberta Society of Radiologists
SAY
NO to chiropractors?
Background and other stories about
chiropractic tragedies from Alberta
THERAPY BLAMED WOMAN FAULTS TREATMENT FOR BRAIN
INJURIES
PAINFUL TREATMENT ... Barbara Hofforth says her
sore neck led to brain damage after treatment by a chiropractor. She's
considering legal action.
Tuesday, November 3, 1998
BY LICIA CORBELLA, CALGARY SUN
An Olds woman is considering suing an Innisfail
chiropractor, alleging she suffered brain damage following a neck adjustment
she received in his office. Barbara Hofforth, 33, claims she suffered a
bilateral vertebral artery dissection, which led to a warning stroke and
permanent brain damage at the base of her brain stem within moments of
having her neck adjusted by chiropractor George Herman.
Hofforth and her husband Pete Lauzon went to Herman's
office Sept. 25 to get treated for sore shoulders. Hofforth alleges she
almost immediately felt nauseous after the neck adjustment. She made it
to the waiting room where she planned to wait for her husband, but before
he could be tended to by Herman, he was beckoned by the receptionist.
"When I saw her she was completely grey and
on her hands and knees trying to crawl to the bathroom to throw up,"
says Lauzon. "She kept telling me, 'Pete, I'm so scared. I can't see,
I can't see.' "
Herman's office staff called an ambulance and
when the paramedics arrived, they could not find a pulse. "I thought
I was dying and on my way to heaven because all I could see was white fog,"
said Hofforth, who has two young daughters. Herman acknowledged that Hofforth
fell ill almost immediately after his treatment.
"We haven't received our reports back from
the Calgary hospital, but she was taken from the office to the hospital
here," said Herman, referring to the Innisfail hospital. "I've
never had a situation like that before," said Herman, who has been
practising for 38 years. The doctor at the Innisfail hospital treated Hofforth's
nausea symptoms for seven hours and then sent her home.
It wasn't until her husband's father heard of
her symptoms and recalled reading about a recent case in Saskatoon where
a woman died following having a neck adjustment that Hofforth sought further
care.
Laurie Jean Mathiason, 20, died at Royal University
Hospital on Feb. 4 one day after suffering a massive stroke while on her
chiropractor's table, where she had just received a neck adjustment. An
inquest which was held into Mathiason's death received nation-wide publicity.
Hofforth, who still has troubles holding a pen,
eventually was sent to Foothills Hospital by her family doctor where she
received an MRI -- or scan of the brain -- and an angiogram. Dr. Doug Zochodne,
a neurologist and professor of clinical neurosciences at the University
of Calgary, was the on-call neurologist that day.
Zochodne says Hofforth suffered a bilateral vertebral
artery dissection, possibly as a result of the therapy. "She had a
warning stroke from the chiropractic neck manipulation and then a small
area of brain stem infarction, (or brain damage)" said Zochodne last
night.
PAINFUL TREATMENT ... Barbara Hofforth says her
sore neck led to brain damage after treatment by a chiropractor. She's
considering legal action.
Copyright 1998, The Calgary Sun, Sun Media Corporation
- reproduced with permission
RADIOLOGISTS ALARMED BY TREATMENT CHIROPRACTIC
PATIENTS MAY BE REFUSED X-RAYS
Wednesday, November 4, 1998
BY LICIA CORBELLA, CALGARY SUN
Alberta radiologists say recent examples of chiropractic
patients suffering strokes after having their necks adjusted proves their
decision to refuse children X-rays at the request of chiropractors is sound.
The Alberta Society of Radiologists unanimously
passed a motion at its annual meeting recently recommending that all Alberta
radiologists refuse to give children under the age of 18 X-rays asked for
by chiropractors.
The decision, which isn't binding and can't be
enforced, refers to a statement by the chiefs of pediatrics of Canadian
hospitals saying chiropractic treatment or associated X-rays can be harmful
to children.
"Recent tragedies including the death of
a 20-year-old Saskatoon woman as a result of a neck adjustment by a chiropractor
and an Olds woman who suffered a mild stroke after visiting her chiropractor
reaffirms the decision made by the Alberta Society of Radiologists at their
annual general meeting to limit the X-rays provided to chiropractors,"
said Calgary radiologist, Dr. Marvin Levant.
"Neck adjustments can tear the vertebral
arteries which supply blood to the brain," said Levant, adding too
many X-rays can cause cancer in children.
Allan Halowski, president of the College of Chiropractors
of Alberta said he "doesn't understand" the reasoning behind
the radiologists' decision. "Seven out of 10 times we don't X-ray
children who come to see us," said Halowski. "We don't take X-rays
just for the sake of taking X-rays," said Halowski, who added that
the radiologists' decision is "political."
Yesterday the Sun revealed that Barbara Hofforth,
33, of Olds suffered brain damage following a neck adjustment from a chiropractor
on Sept. 25. Within moments, she became nauseous, was blinded and couldn't
walk as a result of a mild stroke.
Copyright 1998, The Calgary Sun, Sun Media Corporation
- reproduced with permission
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