The malpractice suit:
The Pt came in July 1997 complaining of neck pain from lifting an 
air-conditioning unit. He was a smoker in his 40's, with no familial 
history.  He was a maintenance man for an apartment complex.  After 
7 visits he did not return.  I remember seeing him in the reception 
room 4 weeks later, I said how are you doing?  He replied "I had a 
stroke" I said well get back in here so we can get you feeling better. 
(he was there to get his records I later found out) Next I remember 
receiving a letter from a MD/JD telling me to cease and desist all 
manipulation, that I was to be sued for causing a stroke.  I had been 
out of school for 6 months imagine my surprise.  I immediately 
called NCMIC and told them what happened.  An attorney for NCMIC 
came to see me.  The other party wanted to settle, but I was 
innocent so we continued.  It turns out he was bent over washing his 
boat when he felt a funny feeling and fainted.  His friend took him to 
the hospital.  The hospital notes were humorous, the first doc wrote 
"he suffered from a stroke," the next doc wrote "he had a stroke and 
had been to see a chiropractor" the next doc wrote that the 
"chiropractor caused the stroke" Interesting how that played out 
between different doc's (he was working on the boat 8 days after he 
last saw me).  Here is how the case ended; the doc's at the hospital 
diagnosed a dissection of the vertebral artery, not an embolus.  
Therefore I could not be responsible for a dissection since I had not 
seen him in 8 days.
The case was eventually dropped as it had been a year and the 
statute of limitations had run out and they never officially filed a 
suit.  They just kept wanting to settle.
NCMIC took care of everything it did not cost me 1 penny, just grief 
and stress.
I was very grateful that I was signed with such a great malpractice 
company in NCMIC I would recommend them to anyone. I was very 
paranoid for the next couple years as every neck I touched I thought 
back to the case.  I am now back to normal although it does linger in 
the back of my mind often.  Time does seem to heal.
I hope this helped, more on other issues later.
Healthy regards,