A patient advocacy group announced Thursday it is suing two Connecticut chiropractic trade groups, accusing the chiropractors of violating patients' right to know about the health risks of neck manipulations and committing hundreds of violations.
Victims of Chiropractic Abuse Inc. is suing the Connecticut Chiropractic Council and the Connecticut Chiropractic Association. Neither group, which the advocacy group claims represent the most chiropractors in the state, immediately responded to requests for comment.
The complaint, filed in Hartford Superior Court and in the process of being served Thursday, claims members of the two organizations are leading patients to believe the procedure of neck manipulation is safe by failing or refusing to inform them about the risk of stroke from neck manipulations.
The chiropractors, however, have argued the risks are very low and they are unfairly being singled out.
"The time has come to hold chiropractors in this state accountable for their reckless and deceptive actions," said Janet Levy, founder of the patients group. "The defendants and their members have deceived the public for their own financial gain while denying their rights and potentially putting people in harm's way."
Levy's group also accuses the chiropractors of misleading patients and violating state law by using the title of "doctor" in advertising and elsewhere. The group believes the law requires chiropractors to identify themselves as licensed practitioners of chiropractic or doctor of chiropractic.
"I think many people think, when they hear doctor, they think Marcus Welby," said attorney Norm Pattis, referring to the famed physician on the 1970s TV show "Marcus Welby, M.D." Pattis is representing the patients group.
If the chiropractic associations try to claim they don't represent individual chiropractors to avoid the lawsuit, the advocacy group has identified 453 chiropractors it believes have violated state laws, and "we'll start picking them off, one after another," Pattis said.
The group is seeking financial damages, an injunction forbidding what it considers "deceptive tactics" and other relief, such as an order requiring some chiropractors to pay fines.
The lawsuit comes three months after the Connecticut Board of Chiropractic Examiners voted 4-1 to reject a proposed declaratory ruling that would have required chiropractors to warn their patients about the risks of neck manipulations. The board reaffirmed its decision Thursday.
"We went to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners, which is sort of like going to the fox to ask what they like about the chicken coop," said Pattis, who said his clients had no other choice but to file a lawsuit.
Copyright 2010 AP News
