Robert S. Baratz, MD, PhD, DDS is a practicing primary care internist and the Medical Director of South Shore Health Center in Braintree, Massachusetts. Dr. Baratz has also practiced emergency medicine since 1991, and has practiced dentistry since 1972. He formerly was a full time professor at Boston University School of Medicine, in the Anatomy Department where he taught Cell Biology and did basic research on allergies, pattern formation, embyrogenesis, diabetes and cancer. His interests are broad and involve integrating all of his training in solving complex medical problems. Currently he is on the Faculty of Northeastern University. Besides his academic background he has worked in industry and has been the medical director of several medical device companies, and has helped form and direct clinical research on devices and pharmaceuticals. He is considered an expert on interactions of materials with the body, including dental materials. Dr. Baratz has served as an expert for the US Food and Drug Admnistration, the VA, The US Air Force, The Centers for Disease Control/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, The United States Senate, and numerous state licensing authorities. He also has consulted widely in legal cases regarding health fraud and with the insurance industry. Dr. Baratz is currently President of the National Council Against Health Fraud. Dr. Baratz is also considered an expert on the fraudulent aspects of claims for multiple chemical sensitivity, chiropractic care, chelation therapy, chronic pain, and a number of alleged dental conditions, including temporomandibular joint disorders.

Bo asks:
I recently had a neck adjustment and have had a headache ever since. I went back to the chiropractor and had it done again and am still having headaches. I have contacted 2 GP doctors who have pooh-poohed the idea that the headaches can be related to a neck adjustment. Neither one of them knew anything about the possibility of an adjustment being a precursor to a stroke and treated me as if I were a total ignoramus. In fact one sent me to a supposed neurologist and when I got to his office I discovered that his background is in chiropractics. I have absolutely no faith in anyone who has a background in chiropractics and am at a loss at what to do. Anything that you can suggest to me will be of great help. Thank you for your response.

Baratz's response:
Find a real neurologist. There are many causes of headache, and getting a correct diagnosis is important before any treatment is done.

Dr. Matt Erickson asks:
Considering the study by Dr. Scott Halderman D.C., M.D., PhD. which demonstrated the risk of arterial dissection to be approximately 1 in 5 million why are so many MD's jumping on the band wagon over a flawed Canadian study which court testimony by an MD revealed that it was flawed because data was omitted? In addition, why is the medical profession so against chiropractors? Consider that between medical errors and adverse reaction to prescription your profession is the 3rd leading cause of death on the planet just behind heart disease and cancer.

Also consider that your profession is losing billions of health care dollars annually to alternative procedures. Consider how my malpractice insurance is less that 2K per year because of how safe my profession is. Consider just yesterday I had a patient misdiagnosed with tennis elbow that required a second opinion of another doctor to make sure and then within 5 minutes of being in my office the "tennis elbow" was completely resolved. Consider that your own monstrating that flouride is toxic and actually causes tooth decay. I would also like you to provide me with the stats on effective spinal surgeries. I would also love you to provide me with one double blind placebo study that proves that medicine outside of emergency medicine has increased life expectancy at all in the past 100 years.

Baratz's response:
Let's try to stay on point, or at least on the topic. The risk of arterial dissection is real and much higher than 1:5,000,000 as stated by me and by many studies on the topic. Not wanting to believe that this is a real problem will not make it go away. There is no justification for manipulating necks for the alleged "treatments" being given for the alleged subluxations. The first duty of a health care practitioner is to do no harm. If there is no benefit and there is clear risk, even if only 1:5,000,000, then the procedure shouldn't be done. The FDA has taken drugs off the market for lower risk numbers than that.

Shandra asks:
Re: Chiropractic manipulation. How does adjusting the neck form blood clots in the vertebral artery? Aren't these arteries very well protected in the body? What scientific evidence do you have that this can lead to stroke? In the study that linked chiropractic manipulations to stroke, were the percentages of people that had a stroke any higher for their age group than the people who never saw a chiropractor? I appreciate your timely response.
Thank You.

Baratz's response:
Rapid torque applied to a kinked blood vessel stretched over a bony prominence can cause a tear in the innermost lining layer of the vessel. Once this lining is disrupted theunderlying connective tissue (collagen) is exposed. Exposed collagen causes platelets to stick. When the platelets stick they begin the process of forming a clot. The clot can then propagate. It can also break off and travel, causing a stroke when it eventually reaches and blocks a smaller branch of the vascular tree in the brain. The percentages of people who saw chiropractors that had a stroke were higher for their age group than the people who never saw a chiropractor.