Chiropractic malpractice premiums cost about $1,300 annually. This is some reflection of the relative safety of chiropractic treatment. Generally, spinal pain is painful but benign. However, there are a few concerns. When chiropractors make mistakes it is often for one of the following reasons.
First, they may treat the same pain without improvement for too long, and not make the appropriate referral for diagnostic imaging and/or to another specialist for evaluation. Spinal pain is sometimes caused by dangerous problems, such as cancer, infection, vascular lesions, etc. Hopefully, your chiropractor uses all the available medical resources and medical doctors to help him with his patients.
Second, chiropractic manipulation can aggravate disc problems by doing twisting adjustments to the spine. There is also some theoretical concern that twisting adjustments to the spine can delaminate discs and increase instability.
Third, and very rarely, chiropractic adjustments to the neck can cause damage to blood vessels in the neck. There is no real way to prevent this rare risk if chiropractic adjustments are done.
Overall, however, chiropractic is reasonably safe treatment.