Their largest malpractice insurer will not give out the figures despite numerous attempts to obtain them. Jerome F. McAndrews, national spokesman for the American Chiropractic Association and a member of the board of directors of the profession's leading malpractice insurance company, tells WebMD there have been only 130 incidents of manipulation-caused stroke in history. I'm certain it is only the tip of the iceberg. Tinker has represented three women who have suffered strokes after chiropractic treatments. All involved strokes of young women with no other stroke risk factors other than chiropractic cervical manipulation.
Spinal manipulation is, in fact, perhaps the safest health care procedure in recorded history.
Two carotid arteries are in the front of the neck and two vertebral arteries in the back of the neck. The two vertebral arteries are the most vulnerable, since they wind around the bones of the neck. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel bringing oxygen and nutrients to the brain bursts or is clogged by a blood clot or by thickening of the artery wall. Because of this rupture or blockage, part of the brain doesn't get the oxygenated blood flow it needs. Without oxygen, nerve cells in the affected area of the brain stop functioning within minutes.