Chiropractor Malpractice Lawyer in Miami

Chiropractic care helps many people with low back pain, neck pain, and headaches. It can also cause serious injury when it is provided by a chiropractor whose technique is improper, who fails to take an adequate history before performing high-velocity manipulations, who treats outside the scope of competent chiropractic practice, or who fails to recognize warning signs of a condition that requires medical (rather than chiropractic) management. Florida chiropractors are licensed under Chapter 460 of the Florida Statutes and are subject to medical-malpractice rules under Chapter 766.

Common Chiropractic Injury Scenarios

• Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) and stroke after cervical manipulation. The most serious chiropractic injury — high-velocity neck adjustments can tear the inner lining of the vertebral artery, causing a clot that travels to the brain and produces a stroke. The risk is small per adjustment but real, and it is most often associated with rotational thrust techniques. Stroke can occur immediately or hours to days after the adjustment.
• Disc herniation caused by aggressive lumbar or cervical adjustment
• Vertebral fracture in patients with osteoporosis or other bone-fragility conditions
• Spinal cord injury from improper technique
• Worsening of pre-existing conditions — for example, exacerbating an undiagnosed disc herniation or spinal stenosis
• Failure to refer for medical evaluation when the patient's condition is outside the proper scope of chiropractic practice (red-flag symptoms, neurological deficits, suspected infection or malignancy)
• Soft-tissue injuries from excessive force
• Treating without proper informed consent regarding known risks of cervical manipulation

Standard of Care for Florida Chiropractors

Florida chiropractors are required to provide care consistent with the prevailing professional standard of care for similarly situated chiropractors. They must take an adequate history, perform an appropriate examination, identify red-flag symptoms warranting medical (not chiropractic) referral, obtain informed consent for treatment with known risks, and use techniques and forces appropriate to the patient's condition and bone density. Pre-manipulation screening is particularly important for cervical adjustments — failure to screen for vertebral artery dissection risk factors is a common basis for liability when a stroke follows.

Informed Consent

Florida chiropractors must obtain informed consent for treatment with known significant risks — including the risk of stroke from cervical manipulation, however small. A chiropractor who failed to disclose the risk of stroke before performing a cervical adjustment that resulted in a stroke faces a viable informed-consent claim independent of any negligent-technique claim.

Florida Pre-Suit Procedure

Chiropractor malpractice cases are governed by Florida Chapter 766. Before filing suit, your attorney must:

• Conduct a "reasonable investigation" under § 766.203
• Obtain a written, signed expert affidavit from a qualified chiropractic expert (or, in stroke cases, also from a neurologist) stating the standard of care was breached and that the breach caused the injury
• Serve a Notice of Intent to Initiate Litigation on each prospective defendant
• Wait through the 90-day pre-suit investigation period before filing suit

Statute of Limitations

Florida medical-malpractice claims (which include chiropractic malpractice) must generally be filed within two years of when the incident was or should have been discovered, but in no event more than four years after the incident itself.

Damages

Damages in a chiropractor malpractice case can include past and future medical expenses, lost wages and earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, permanent impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and wrongful-death damages in fatal cases. Stroke cases involving severe neurological deficits can produce damages in the millions of dollars based on lifetime medical and attendant care needs.

Vertebral Artery Dissection — The Mechanism

The vertebral arteries run up through the transverse foramina of the cervical vertebrae and supply the back of the brain and brainstem. A high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) rotational thrust to the cervical spine can stretch the artery against the bony channel, tearing the inner intimal lining. Platelets and fibrin form a clot at the tear. That clot — or the dissected flap itself — can occlude the vessel or embolize to the basilar artery, producing a posterior-circulation stroke. The clinical signature is the "5 Ds and 3 Ns": dizziness, diplopia, dysarthria, dysphagia, drop attacks, nystagmus, numbness, nausea. Patients often present hours or even days after the manipulation with a headache or neck pain that progresses to focal neurological deficits. Time-to-diagnosis matters: a missed VAD stroke at a Miami ER (Jackson, Baptist, Mount Sinai) is itself an independent malpractice exposure.

Failure to Refer and Failure to Diagnose

Chiropractors must recognize the limits of their scope. Red flags that should trigger immediate medical referral include progressive neurological deficits, saddle anesthesia, bowel or bladder dysfunction, fever, unintentional weight loss, history of cancer, night pain that is unrelieved by position, severe trauma, and bone-fragility risk factors. Treating a patient with cauda equina syndrome or metastatic spinal disease with manipulation — instead of sending them to an emergency department or a spine surgeon — is a classic basis for chiropractic liability.

Over-Treatment and Billing-Driven Care

South Florida has a documented problem with chiropractic over-utilization, particularly in PIP-driven personal-injury cases. Treatment plans that prescribe three visits a week for six months regardless of clinical response, "package" contracts that the patient pays for in advance, and excessive imaging not supported by the exam are warning signs. While billing fraud is primarily a regulatory and criminal matter, it becomes a malpractice issue when unnecessary aggressive treatment causes physical injury or when the chiropractor's financial incentive to keep treating delays the medical referral the patient actually needed.

Evidence Preservation

• The complete chiropractic chart, including SOAP notes, intake history, exam findings, and informed-consent documents
• X-rays and any other imaging taken at the chiropractor's office
• The treatment-plan history showing dates, techniques, and forces used
• Billing records and any pre-paid treatment contracts
• ER and hospital records following the injury (Jackson, Baptist, UM Health, Mount Sinai)
• CT angiography and MRI/MRA imaging confirming dissection
• Witness statements from family members who saw symptoms develop

Common Defense Tactics

• "The dissection was spontaneous." Defense experts will argue the artery dissected on its own, with the manipulation as mere coincidence. Temporal proximity, the absence of other risk factors, and the mechanism of injury counter this.
• "The patient consented." Generic consent forms are routinely produced — but Florida informed-consent law requires meaningful disclosure of the actual stroke risk, not boilerplate.
• "The patient had a pre-existing condition." Defense subpoenas prior records looking for any cervical complaint.
• Industry-affiliated defense experts from a small bench of chiropractors who testify almost exclusively for the defense bar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue if my chiropractor said the stroke was unrelated to the adjustment?

Yes. Causation is a question for medical experts and ultimately a jury. The temporal sequence — adjustment followed by neurological symptoms within hours or days — is powerful evidence.

Does my PIP coverage matter?

Florida PIP under § 627.736 applies to chiropractic care arising out of a motor-vehicle accident. It does not bar a malpractice claim against the chiropractor for negligent treatment — those are separate claims.

What if the chiropractor is also the one who referred me to a personal-injury lawyer?

That arrangement creates a clear conflict. You need independent counsel evaluating the chiropractor's conduct, not a lawyer in a referral relationship with that provider.

How is the standard of care for a chiropractor proved?

Through expert testimony from a qualified chiropractor — and, in stroke and neurologic-injury cases, from a vascular neurologist or neurosurgeon. Florida § 766.102 requires the expert to be in the "same or similar specialty" as the defendant, which means a properly credentialed Florida-licensed chiropractor (or one with equivalent training) for the standard-of-care opinion, paired with a treating-specialty expert on causation and damages.

What if I had no neck pain before the adjustment and stroke symptoms after?

That sequence is the classic VAD pattern. Document the timeline carefully, preserve the records of every provider who saw you before and after the adjustment, and consult counsel quickly — the Chapter 766 clock starts running on discovery, not on the date you fully understand the legal theory.

Damages Categories in Detail

• Past medical bills — ER care, hospitalization, neuro-ICU admission, rehab, ongoing therapy
• Future medical care — supported by a life-care plan in catastrophic cases, often including attendant care, home modifications, durable medical equipment, and lifetime medications
• Lost income — past wages and diminished future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering — uncapped after McCall and Kalitan struck down the § 766.118 caps
• Mental anguish — particularly significant in patients facing permanent disability at a young age
• Loss of consortium for the injured patient's spouse
• Wrongful death damages for surviving family in fatal cases under the Florida Wrongful Death Act

Practical Checklist If You Suspect Chiropractic Malpractice

1. Get emergency medical evaluation immediately — particularly for any neurological symptoms following a neck adjustment. Tell the ER physician exactly when the adjustment was performed and what technique was used.
2. Request a complete copy of your chiropractic chart in writing. Florida law (§ 456.057) entitles you to your records.
3. Preserve all imaging, including any X-rays the chiropractor took.
4. Write down every visit you had, the techniques used, and any symptoms you reported.
5. Identify witnesses — family members or others who can describe your condition before and after.
6. Do not give a statement to the chiropractor's malpractice insurer.
7. Consult a Florida medical-malpractice lawyer well before the two-year statute runs.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured by chiropractic treatment in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Monroe County, contact the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin. Call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected] for a confidential, no-cost consultation.