Oregon Jury Finds Chiropractor Negligent After Patient Suffers Multiple Strokes
After three weeks of trial, and one and a half days of deliberation, a Clackamas County jury found in Plaintiff Kaelen Park's favor on a claim for medical malpractice against Dr. Daniel Burnett, D.C. and Boones Ferry Chiropractic & Massage Clinic P.C., awarding past medical expenses and non-economic damages. The Oregon Court of Appeals has since affirmed the verdict.
Kaelen Park, then a 27-year-old international logistics manager, first visited the defendants' clinic in November 2015 seeking chiropractic care for intermittent upper back, shoulder, and neck pain. Dr. Burnett recommended a high velocity, low amplitude ("HVLA") cervical adjustment. The defendants later admitted at trial that they never informed Park that arterial dissections and strokes are known risks of the procedure. Park testified that had she known those risks, she would have chosen massage therapy or another form of palliative care instead.
On August 26, 2016, Dr. Burnett performed an HVLA cervical adjustment that felt markedly different from the dozens of prior adjustments Park had received without incident. She felt an immediate rush of excruciating pain on the right side of her neck and head, and had trouble walking out of the clinic. Dr. Burnett dismissed the pain as a normal side effect and recommended she return the next day for another adjustment.
Over the following days, Dr. Burnett performed additional HVLA adjustments on August 27, August 29, and September 1, despite Park continuing to report abnormal pain. Immediately following the September 1 adjustment, Park began experiencing dizziness, facial numbness, and blurred and double vision, and was unable to get off the treatment table under her own power. One of Dr. Burnett's own office employees suggested calling 911; Dr. Burnett rejected that suggestion and instead offered Park goldfish crackers and rice crispy treats, believing she had low blood sugar. Park remained in the treatment room for the next 45 to 60 minutes before her roommate arrived and took her to a hospital.
Hospital staff called a stroke code immediately upon reviewing her symptoms. Imaging confirmed a vertebral artery dissection and multiple strokes. Park's treating neurologist testified that the dissection occurred on August 26 as a result of the HVLA adjustment, and that the repeated adjustments that followed prevented the dissection from healing, ultimately causing clot material to travel into her brain. The evidence at trial showed Park suffered approximately seven strokes between August 26 and September 2.
The defendants argued it was "impossible" for an HVLA cervical adjustment to cause a vertebral artery dissection, but were unable to identify anything else that could have caused Park's injury. Their own retained experts acknowledged a 2017 scientific paper concluding that HVLA cervical adjustment carries a high risk of abnormal events, including arterial dissection and stroke.
The jury awarded Park $63,274 in past medical expenses and $150,000 in non-economic damages, rejecting the defendants' affirmative defenses of contributory negligence and failure to mitigate damages. The defendants' motion for a new trial was denied, and the verdict has now been affirmed on appeal.
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