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International Digest

CANADA
Jury Finds Death of Canadian Chiropractic Patient "Accidental"

A Canadian coroner’s jury ruled on Jan. 16 that a patient’s death more than two weeks after receiving an adjustment was an accident, and not a direct effect of harmful chiropractic practices. While the five-member jury investigating the death of Lana Dale Lewis was unable to find any direct evidence linking chiropractic adjustments to a stroke she suffered six days after being treated, the ruling of “accident” suggests that the manipulation performed by an Etobicoke chiropractor Philip Emanuele on Lewis may have played a part in hastening her demise, and allows Lewis’s family to proceed with a civil suit against Emanuele.

Lewis was admitted to Queensway General Hospital in Toronto on Sept. 1, 1996, six days after receiving an upper neck manipulation from Emanuele. Prior to suffering the stroke, she had seen Emanuele for approximately 18 months, primarily for treatment of migraine headaches and musculoskeletal pain.

At Queensway, she was diagnosed as having suffered a minor stroke and was hospitalized briefly, then released. However, approximately 10 days after suffering the first stroke, she suffered a second, larger stroke that proved to be fatal. She was readmitted to Queensway, where she died Sept. 12. The initial coroner’s report did not cite the adjustment as the cause of death, and at that time, the Toronto coroner’s office decided not to hold an inquest into the cause of Lewis’ death.

The decision in the Lewis case will allow the family to pursue its multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Emanuele. Lawyers for the CCA and the CMCC expressed disappointment with the jury’s verdict, saying it “represents a massive miscarriage of justice.”

In a statement to the media attorney Tim Danson said the chiropractic profession would appeal the decision on the grounds that there was “a complete failure of justice in the conduct of the inquest.” He also alleged that the coroner’s office suppressed evidence that would have helped the chiropractic profession’s position.

“The public should know, as should the jury, that two of the most distinguished and respected neuropathologists in the world, Dr. David Graham of Glasgow, Scotland, and Dr. Francesco Scaravilli, of London, England, were prohibited from testifying at the inquest notwithstanding the coroner was aware that as leading world authorities, their opinions commanded great respect, and would have carried considerable weight,” said Danson. “Dr. Graham and Dr. Scaravilli formed the opinion that this was the clearest case they have ever seen of a person dying as a result of natural causes, and any other explanation would be grossly speculative and unscientific.”

This decision marked the first time in Ontario, and only the second instance in Canada, in which chiropractic manipulation of the neck was the subject of a coroner’s inquest. The first inquest examined the death of Laurie Jean Mathiason, a 20-year-old woman from Saskatoon, Manitoba, who died in February 1998, three days after suffering a stroke while being adjusted. The jury in that inquest ruled that more research was needed to determine the risks and benefits of neck adjustment, and that the public be better informed.

Even before the jury ruled the death of Lana Lewis an accident, however, Canadian chiropractors were beginning to feel the backlash of the inquest. According to an article in the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Lewis inquest “subjected the chiropractic industry to terrible publicity,” and some practitioners have reported a drop in billings and the number of patients treated by more than 20 percent.

But the battle does not end here. Danson made it clear in his comments to the media when he said, “We have instructed our counsel to bring an Application for Judicial Review before a three judge panel of the Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court) to quash the verdict on the grounds that it is perverse, and on the grounds that there has been a complete failure of justice in the conduct of the inquest.”

Several International Mission Trips Planned

The Christian Chiropractic Association has several mission trips planned for 2004, many of which will be reaching around the globe for chiropractors interested in volunteering a weekend or a few weeks. For more information, contact the CCA at (800) 999-1970.

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© Copyright 2004 Today's Chiropractic

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