A 31-year-old woman had a stroke after visiting a chiropractor. A jury just awarded her $1 million.
- Becca Barlow, 31, showed signs of stroke after a neck adjustment from a chiropractor.
- As a nurse, she recognized that her vertigo and numbness were stroke symptoms.
Becca Barlow, 31, recognized the signs of stroke as she fell off of the chiropractor's table.
She vomited almost immediately after what was supposed to be a routine adjustment to her neck, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. The journal also reported that Barlow experienced vertigo, dizziness, numbness, and nausea — all of which can be signals of blocked blood flow to the brain, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Barlow, a nurse, said she knew she was having a stroke and told the office staff to call 911. She lost consciousness and had to be intubated in the ambulance, which took her to Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Kentucky.
At the hospital, Barlow needed emergency surgery to repair three torn arteries in her neck, the Courier Journal reported. Although she recovered well from her physical injuries, she told the outlet she will never see a chiropractor again.
In a court case tried in March 2022, the chiropractor's defense lawyer claimed that when a patient has a stroke immediately after an adjustment, it's likely due to preexisting injuries or risk factors. However, the jury sided with Barlow in a 9-3 vote, awarding her a total of $1,130,800 for her pain, suffering, and medical expenses.
Chiropractic neck adjustments can be risky
Most of the 35 million Americans who see a chiropractor each year walk away injury-free, but medical experts with the American Heart Association (AHA) say that chiropractors need to better communicate the potential risks.
Barlow told the court that she visited the same chiropractor, Dr. Leah Wright at Louisville Family Chiropractic, a total of 29 times for adjustments to "nursing mother's neck," the Courier Journal reported. Louisville Family Chiropractic did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
Such neck adjustments, also known as cervical manipulative therapy (CMT), might be linked to strokes in relatively young people, according to a statement by the AHA that was published in 2014 and updated in 2022. The authors of the statement said that while the overall probability of a stroke is still low, patients undergoing CMT should be informed of the risks.
Brian Clare, the attorney who represented Barlow and has represented other similar cases, told the Courier Journal that chiropractic neck adjustments are particularly risky. The procedure runs the risk of tearing important arteries in the neck, which can cause blood clots that may lead to stroke.
"They can go too far, too fast, turning the neck past therapeutic limits," he said.
Other chiropractic patients have been left paralyzed
Barlow was fortunate to fully recover from the physical affects of her stroke, but other clients of Clare's weren't so lucky.
Amber Burgess visited a chiropractor in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, for the first time when she was 33, in May 2020, according to the Courier Journal. She visited a different clinic than where Barlow was injured, but she also believes her neck adjustment caused a stroke.
Burgess was left with partial paralysis in her arms and legs, so she needs a wheelchair or walker to get around now. Her trial date is set for August 28, 2023, in Hardin County, Kentucky.