MICHIGAN: The preparation to burn his chiropractic office will cost a Jonesville man five years of probation.
James L. Steveson, 37, was sentenced after being found guilty by a jury of preparing to burn property worth $20,000 or more.
Hillsdale County Circuit Court Judge Michael Smith said the only reason Steveson was not going to prison was because he had no prior offenses; however, he will continue serving a 12 month jail sentence.
Steveson will also have to pay approximately $51,000 in restitution for damages caused by the fire on June 31 in the Chiropractic Health Clinic of Jonesville.
Hillsdale Daily News
Parties Settle Libel Lawsuit over Yelp Review
CALIFORNIA: A San Francisco chiropractor, Steven Biegel, and his former patient, Christopher Norberg, have settled a libel lawsuit arising out of a bad review that Norberg posted on Yelp.
The case appears to mark the first time that a Yelp user was sued for defamation for posting a bad review. Some observers had warned that the lawsuit could scare consumers from posting negative reviews on sites like the fast-growing Yelp.
Norberg posted a brief statement on his Web site, standforspeech.com, which he launched to inform people about the lawsuit. “A misunderstanding between both parties led us to act out of hand,” he wrote after the case was resolved through mediation.
Norberg’s original review, written in November of 2007, complained of a billing matter. He said that he expected a bill for $125, but was instead sent a $500 bill. “He couldn’t give me a straight answer as to why the jump in price,” Norberg wrote. He also reported that he later found “a much better, honest chiropractor.”
Biegel alleged in his lawsuit that the post defamed him by suggesting that he was dishonest.
In the statement posted recently, Norberg said he “should have remained open” to Biegel’s concerns. “Both Dr. Biegel and I strongly believe in a person’s right to express their opinions in a public forum,” he wrote. “We both encourage the internet community to act responsibly.”
It wasn’t clear whether Norberg also paid any monetary damages to Biegel.
Mediapost.com
Study Links Chiropractic Care with Reduction
of Blood Pressure.
ILLINOIS: Researchers at the Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center are reporting stunning reductions in the blood pressure of patients afflicted with hypertension following simple and painless chiropractic care.
In the study, published in the March 2, 2007, issue of The Journal of Human Hypertension and featured on WebMD, fifty patients with hypertension were divided into two groups of 25 each. One group of 25 received a specific light force chiropractic adjustment (administered by a chiropractor) to the atlas vertebra. The other group of 25 received a similar procedure but with no adjustment being given. Researchers called this procedure the “sham adjustment.” Since the type of adjustment given was very light force, the patients involved in this study did not know if they were receiving the real or sham adjustments.
After 8 weeks of care, the 25 people in the group receiving the real chiropractic adjustments all showed a significant reduction in blood pressure compared to the group that received the sham adjustment. Those patients who got the real adjustment showed an average of 14 mm Hg greater drop in systolic blood pressure and an average of 8 mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure over those who got the fake or sham adjustment.
X-rays confirmed that the chiropractic adjustments actually changed the position of the atlas vertebra among those in the study group.
The study leader reported that the procedure had the effect of not one, but two blood pressure medications given in combination. And, his team reported no side effects whatsoever from the adjustment.
PGFreePress.com
Chiropractor Gets Prison for Fraud
GEORGIA: A Norcross, GA, chiropractor was sentenced to prison in mid-January for health-care fraud and possession with intent to distribute testosterone.
Stephen Catterton, 39, got three years and one month, must pay $1.3 million in restitution and must perform 300 hours of community service.
In 1998, Catterton opened two chiropractic clinics in Norcross. In 2006, the FBI began a criminal investigation into his activities for the submission of false claims to federal and private health insurance companies.
The FBI found that, between June 2001 and December 2006, Catterton billed in excess of $3 million, and was paid in excess of $1.2 million from various health-care benefit programs for services he never performed or provided. In some instances, billing codes for more advanced procedures were used when patients really only received massages. Catterton modified the billings for the services that were actually performed to maximize his reimbursement from the insurance companies.
When agents executed a search warrant on Catterton’s business in October 2006, they seized bottles of injectable testosterone, typically used for anti-aging and hormone replacement therapy. Catterton was not licensed to distribute such materials.
Atlanta Business Chronicle