Gateshead woman died after chiropractor 'cracked her neck'

Joanna Kowalczyk, 29, from Gateshead, Tyneside, discharged herself from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, and sought alternative treatment from a chiropractor after the incident.

The chiropractor did not see her medical records.

During her fourth session with the chiropractor in October 2021, Ms Kowalczyk experienced dizziness, double vision, tingling in her right hand and foot, and struggled to speak.

She was able to return home but was taken to hospital the next day, where she died.

Assistant coroner for Gateshead and South Tyneside, Leila Benyounes, has now written a prevention of future deaths report, expressing concerns that the chiropractor had not seen Ms Kowalczyk’s medical notes before beginning treatment.

The report says she died "due to a combination of the consequences of chiropractic treatment following a naturally-occurring medical event, on a background of an undiagnosed medical condition."

Most read

• Report unveils hygiene failings at pub near Bishop Auckland

• County Durham shop worker doused in petrol in robbery

• Middlesbrough man guilty of trying to murder Northallerton shop owner

Ms Kowalczyk’s medical history included migraines and joint hypermobility, and the coroner found it was likely she had an undiagnosed connective tissue disorder which made her prone to arterial dissections.

When working out at the gym, she seemed to suffer bilateral arterial dissections when she felt the crack in her neck on September 27 2021.

After attending the hospital, she left having had a CT scan, but before a lumbar puncture could be carried out.

While in hospital, she researched alternative treatments and scheduled an appointment with a chiropractor for the next day.

The coroner said Ms Kowalczyk told the chiropractor about her hospital visit and that she had self-discharged, following which a course of "adjustments and manipulation" began.

During the fourth course of treatment, Ms Kowalczyk "sustained acute dissections in the same location as the previous dissections during the chiropractic manipulation," the coroner reported.

The coroner has asked the General Chiropractic Council to respond within 56 days.

A General Chiropractic Council spokesman said: "We expect chiropractors to provide good quality care that is patient-centred, safe and effective, and that is consistent with the current standards for good healthcare practice.

"We will be carefully considering the important concerns raised by the coroner in her report and will respond directly to her."