Richard would have been 24 this year. He would have completed high school and college. Perhaps he would have a family and a career, a future, children of his own. But it was not to be, for in 1993 at the age of 8 he met his killer in the form of Dr. Joseph Verbrugge, an anesthesiologist. After 3 surgeries he just ran out of luck and never awoke. This was the life and fate of Richard Leonard of Denver Colorado. I pose the question; did Richard really need to die from the medical treatment for ear infections?
His first surgery was at the age of 3. Tubes were inserted to help drain his chronic middle ear infection. This led to more infection, more scar tissue, more surgery, and eventually a planned tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy, what was thought of by the medics as a minor procedure. Dr. Verbrugge was considered a surly man who was not to be questioned. The doctors and nurses in the operating room were unwilling or afraid to confront him, he didn’t do his job, and Richard died. It all started with an ear infection.
Now I have no ability to say with certainty whether Richard’s fate, and those of many just like him, could have been altered, but I believe it to be the case with all my heart. Was he ever checked for subluxation? Was he ever adjusted? I would guess no to both. Why and what does this have to do with ear infections and life? The answer…Everything!
It turns out that subluxation, often from the birth process, can cause dysfunction of the Eustachian tube, the little tunnel that connects the middle ear with the back of the throat. The job of this tube is to drain the middle ear. When it doesn’t do its job, fluids back up in the middle ear and the bacteria have a party, which we call an ear infection or otitis media. The medical treatment is antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and tubes. But wouldn’t the logical treatment be to fix the cause, the Eustachian tube dysfunction, caused by the subluxation? And therefore, wouldn’t it be better just to correct the subluxation anyway before there is a diagnosable medical condition? Of course.
Joan Fallon, D.C., co-founder of the International Chiropractors Association Diplomate program in chiropractic pediatrics, reviewed 116 cases of otitis media in her practice and published the results. Of the 116 cases, 112 resolved with adjustments only in 5 days or less, 2 took 7 days, and only 2 needed medical intervention. I studied under Dr. Fallon in the early 90’s at the time my second child was born. I remember the first time he had a raging left-sided ear infection and I applied what I had learned from Dr. Fallon. The very next morning Ricky’s ear was normal and clear. That is not an exaggeration. I have done this over and over since with the kids you see today on our Well Adjusted Kids Club picture board.
So while the vast majority of ear infections will respond to subluxation correction, I still contend that it is smarter to correct the subluxation prior to the onset of infection, or whatever other health problem that subluxation may lead to. And I also contend that if Richard Leonard’s parents had been told by a friend to take him to me or Dr. Fallon or so many other pediatric-oriented chiropractors, he might on this very day still be here perhaps with his own kids getting them adjusted by the very chiropractor that saved his life. And it’s with this information that you may one day save a life. Share the story.
His first surgery was at the age of 3. Tubes were inserted to help drain his chronic middle ear infection. This led to more infection, more scar tissue, more surgery, and eventually a planned tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy, what was thought of by the medics as a minor procedure. Dr. Verbrugge was considered a surly man who was not to be questioned. The doctors and nurses in the operating room were unwilling or afraid to confront him, he didn’t do his job, and Richard died. It all started with an ear infection.
Now I have no ability to say with certainty whether Richard’s fate, and those of many just like him, could have been altered, but I believe it to be the case with all my heart. Was he ever checked for subluxation? Was he ever adjusted? I would guess no to both. Why and what does this have to do with ear infections and life? The answer…Everything!
It turns out that subluxation, often from the birth process, can cause dysfunction of the Eustachian tube, the little tunnel that connects the middle ear with the back of the throat. The job of this tube is to drain the middle ear. When it doesn’t do its job, fluids back up in the middle ear and the bacteria have a party, which we call an ear infection or otitis media. The medical treatment is antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and tubes. But wouldn’t the logical treatment be to fix the cause, the Eustachian tube dysfunction, caused by the subluxation? And therefore, wouldn’t it be better just to correct the subluxation anyway before there is a diagnosable medical condition? Of course.
Joan Fallon, D.C., co-founder of the International Chiropractors Association Diplomate program in chiropractic pediatrics, reviewed 116 cases of otitis media in her practice and published the results. Of the 116 cases, 112 resolved with adjustments only in 5 days or less, 2 took 7 days, and only 2 needed medical intervention. I studied under Dr. Fallon in the early 90’s at the time my second child was born. I remember the first time he had a raging left-sided ear infection and I applied what I had learned from Dr. Fallon. The very next morning Ricky’s ear was normal and clear. That is not an exaggeration. I have done this over and over since with the kids you see today on our Well Adjusted Kids Club picture board.
So while the vast majority of ear infections will respond to subluxation correction, I still contend that it is smarter to correct the subluxation prior to the onset of infection, or whatever other health problem that subluxation may lead to. And I also contend that if Richard Leonard’s parents had been told by a friend to take him to me or Dr. Fallon or so many other pediatric-oriented chiropractors, he might on this very day still be here perhaps with his own kids getting them adjusted by the very chiropractor that saved his life. And it’s with this information that you may one day save a life. Share the story.