Chiropractor pleads guilty to fraud

Harrisburg Patriot-News ^ | 7/3/03 | PETE SHELLEM

[TomB]

A taped phone call in which a Luzerne County chiropractor assured a woman that a dying epileptic would be all right without anti-seizure medication led to a guilty plea to fraud yesterday in U.S. Middle District Court.

Joanne M. Gallagher, 43, of Hazleton, pleaded guilty to a single count of mail fraud which carries a maximum term of five years in prison.

She also must give up her license and stop practicing under the plea deal accepted by U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Connor.

She could have faced up to life in prison had she been convicted of fraud in the 1999 death of Kimberly Strohecker, 31, of Hegins.

Strohecker died after suffering massive seizures while under the care of Gallagher, who claimed she could treat epilepsy and Down syndrome through chiropractic.

Gallagher's trial was abruptly halted last week after prosecutors announced they had received new evidence in the case.

The evidence was the tape of a telephone call between Strohecker's fiance's mother and the chiropractor the night before Strohecker died.

During the call, Marcella Schade expressed concerns about Strohecker's condition and repeatedly asked if she could die or suffer brain damage without further treatment.

Gallagher assured Schade that the seizures and vomiting were a result of Strohecker's purging her system of medication.

"Eventually you will see her just go into a peaceful sleep," Gallagher told Schade, according to a transcript of the taped conversation. "And it's going to take her brain a little while, she's going to be tired for a while, but she'll recover."

Schade found Strohecker dead the next morning.

When the trial opened, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod told the jury that Gallagher was responsible for Strohecker's "slow and horrible death."

He said Strohecker, who had lived fairly normally on medications, arrived at her last appointment with Gallagher in a wheelchair, wearing adult diapers, choking on vomit, with her tongue nearly bitten through.

Although Gallagher billed for spinal adjustments, Zubrod said her only treatment consisted of waving her hands around her head and lightly touching her in what she termed balancing the meninges, the protective membranes around the brain.

Chiropractors are prohibited by state law from treating illnesses outside their expertise.

Gallagher's attorney, Matthew Gover, initially blamed Strohecker's fiance for the death, saying he was a Jehovah's Witness determined to get his bride-to-be off drugs.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Are people dying in chiropractic offices more than they do in medical clinics and hospitals or something? (Boy, where have I been?)

[HarryDunne]

Riiiight

[TomB]

Have there been any studies on the effectiveness (with respect to promised outcomes) of chiropractic versus that of physicians?

Chiropractors say that they're right around the corner, but we still wait. As a matter of fact, I can't say I've ever seen a study that support chiro theories at all.

[Bluntpoint]

Jack Kervorkian should have simply sent his victims to chiropractors.

If Kevorkian was a chiropractor his suicide machine would have required 38 office visits to kill his patients.

[Roscoe]

http://www.mtn.org/quack/devices/chiro.htm

[Roscoe]

If Kevorkian was a chiropractor his suicide machine would have required 38 office visits to kill his patients.

LOL

[JmyBryan]

I live in Washington State and know a number of chiros personally. Almost all non-chronic injuries are treated a fixed number of times. Car accidents, falls, etc.

In general the younger the chiro, the better. A lot of the older were/are incompetent. Certainly there are misdiagnoses and overactive imaginations, but there is IMHO no question that chiropractic can be/is a proven effective therapy for pain relief and mobility. Unfortunately, the only way to maintain joint health is targeted activity, such as stretching and exercise, and proper nutrition.

[HarryDunne]

As a matter of fact, I can't say I've ever seen a study that support chiro theories at all.

Nor have I seen anything against chiro. I think that if it were so bad, more folks would complain.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I'd like to see them.

People seem to be forgetting that bad things (and ineffective things) happen in a regular physician's care, too.

[Bluntpoint]

When I used to practice law, a large proportion of my junk mail consisted of "referal" client shopping letters from Chiropractors.

[TomB]

Nor have I seen anything against chiro. I think that if it were so bad, more folks would complain.

Don't you find it the least bit strange that chiros can't replicate what they do in a study to prove its effectiveness?

[Bluntpoint]

Don't you find it the least bit strange that chiros can't replicate what they do in a study to prove its effectiveness?

Just like the Democrats inability to prove the effectiveness of liberalism.

[HarryDunne]

Don't you find it the least bit strange that chiros can't replicate what they do in a study to prove its effectiveness?

That question presupposes I've heard that allegation before, which I haven't.

[TomB]

Don't you find it the least bit strange that chiros can't replicate what they do in a study to prove its effectiveness?

Actually, you need no basis in chiro at all to find it strange that there are no studies supporting the subluxation theory.

[HarryDunne]

Don't you find it the least bit strange that chiros can't replicate what they do in a study to prove its effectiveness?
Just like the Democrats inability to prove the effectiveness of liberalism.

False analogy

[Bluntpoint]

False analogy

Are you calling Analogy Retentive

[HarryDunne]

Are you calling Analogy Retentive

I beg your pardon? That makes no sense.

[Bluntpoint]

Are you calling me.... I also suffer from ADDAnalogy

[TomB]

(snicker)

[gitmo]

There used to be a chiropractor who attended the same church I did. Anytime anyone had a grave illness he would pop up with, "I can cure that!". Anything from cancer to epilepsy.