In the US, how many chiropractor patients are injured as the result of chiropractic treatment, annually?

The many, so-called, experts on this forum will correctly say, "a very small percentage", but what is the actual number and who tracks that number and who holds chiropractors accountable for reporting those numbers?

Maybe there is some misunderstanding... I am asking how many patients of chiropractors are injured as the result of cervical manipulation. Mr. Neutral, fretochose, I am aware that patients of physicians die every day, but those numbers are readily available.

How many chiropractic patients are injured, though? You can't, possibly, claim that it is none!

I'm not sure of the recent numbers, but here's some compelling evidence about the damage that Chiropractic does: http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.htm...

"In 1992, researchers at the Stanford Stroke Center asked 486 California members of the American Academy of Neurology how many patients they had seen during the previous two years who had suffered a stroke within 24 hours of neck manipulation by a chiropractor. The survey was sponsored by the American Heart Association. One hundred seventy-seven neurologists reported treating 55 such patients, all of whom were between the ages of 21 and 60. One patient had died, and 48 were left with permanent neurologic deficits such as slurred speech, inability to arrange words properly, and vertigo."
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRela...

EDIT:
Fretochose - You are obviously referring to Dr Steven Barrett who runs Quackwatch.

DR Barrett is a qualified Infectious diseases doctor, not an 'unlicenced psychiatrist'. Any issues with his psychiatry training have nothing to do with his qualifications as a medical doctor. This is called a logical fallacy (http://www.logicalfallacies.info/).

Please provide evidence for this particular statement, 'sued successfully numerous times by altmed practioners'.

Furthermore, he provides many links to scientific studies to back up his medical opinion.

Your response is fallacious and inadequate as you've selected one of my several links provided and based your argument upon that.

Here are some more while you're at it:

"Chiropractic therapy for neck pain has a high rate of adverse reactions, according to the results of a randomized study published in the July 1 issue of Spine."

"Of 280 participants (83%) who responded, 85 (30.4%) reported 212 adverse symptoms after chiropractic care."
http://quackfiles.blogspot.com/2005/07/c...

鈥淐ervical manipulation is a preposterous thing to do, and it should be banned.鈥?br>
"But despite patients鈥?enthusiasm for the neck adjustment [...] researchers have not produced definitive proof of its medical value"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18871755/

"It is the consensus of medical and scientific opinion that chiropractors should not be allowed to treat infants and children"
http://www.spinalrehab.com.au/Updates/Ch...

"there is a new study providing more solid evidence that chiropractic treatment increases the risk of stroke"

"Neurologists think chiropractors can damage the vertebral artery, which rises to the stem of the brain in two right-angle turns, by twisting the neck beyond its natural limits, tearing the artery in a sudden, jerky motion. The researchers concluded that there may be a 鈥済ross underreporting鈥?of chiropractic manipulation as a cause of stroke"

"Chiropractors usually rely on anecdotes to defend their practices. Supporting scientific evidence is lacking, and most scientific studies that have been advanced in support of the practice are not up to scratch"
http://www.hfienberg.com/statstuff/chiro...

PS. Your name is spelled incorrectly.

Thanks for the Best Answer!
I do have to mention that Dr Barrett is an MD, not an ID doctor (stupid slip up on my behalf), but you can check his qualifications here: http://www.quackwatch.org/10Bi...
It's a worry that people debunking him don't actually research to see what he is... Report Abuse

Funny how assassins pop up from time to time. Chiropractic is licenses in all 50 states, their malpractice is a tiny fraction of MDs and DOs. Millions of individuals see Chiros each year. Consumer reports puts Chiropractic approval ratings higher than all alternatives for Low Back Pain.

Who tracks the numbers? I suppose WHO, med malpractice insurance companies etc.

We do know that approximately 50,000 are killed by hosptals each year and 10s of thousands more by medications.

So enough now.

studies did not say how many were treated....100,000?, 200,000?
Neurological researchers state that chances of stroke after a visit to chiro are no higher than the chances after a visit to family physician.
Canadian nerorsurgeons state chance are about 1 in 14,000,000 of having a stroke after a visit to a chiro.

the author of the sites quoted has been sued successfully numerous times by altmed practioners and natural food supplement manufacturers for the lies he publishes. he is an unlicensed.

psychiarist with no patient contact and is in no position to state scientifically the garbage he puts on the web. the ama pays him well for his propaganda.

does he post that 180,000 people die in hospitals each year for medicine errors (drug interactons or wrong Rx)
does he post 16,000 people dies annually from NSAID's (arthritis drugs and aspirin

my dc in practice 22 years has had no injuries requiring more than continued ice therapy for a longer period of time.