Patient Wins $750,000 for Chiropractic Mistake
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In an unusual jury verdict resulting from a chiropractic neck adjustment, a former screenwriter was awarded $750,000 Thursday in a malpractice suit against a West Los Angeles doctor who allegedly left her with permanent brain damage.
Diane Saltzberg, then 31, was being treated for Epstein-Barr fatigue syndrome in 1987 when she went to see Dr. Jeffrey Hawkins, a board-certified pediatrician who practiced holistic and homeopathic medicine.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Nov. 9, 1991 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday November 9, 1991 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 2 Column 5 Metro Desk 2 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Malpractice award--A digest item and headline in Friday’s Times erred in saying that a chiropractic neck adjustment was the basis for a $750,000 malpractice award. The pediatrician sued by a woman who was allegedly left with permanent brain damage is not a licensed chiropractor.
John C. Taylor, one of Saltzberg’s attorneys, said that after the patient complained of fatigue, Hawkins performed a neck adjustment that tore the lining of her vertebral arteries, causing a stroke.
As a result, one side of her body was permanently weakened and she lost sensation on the other, Taylor said. Don Forgey, Hawkins’ co-counsel, said the case will be appealed and declined further comment.
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