A Warning About Spinal Traction/Decompression

By Aline Miranda on February 2, 2011

Earlier this week, ConsumerAffairs.com reported that a California chiropractor has been charged with consumer fraud in a lawsuit by several district attorneys. The suit alleges the Danville, California chiropractor sold a $115,000 DRX-9000 spinal-traction (spinal decompression) machine to other chiropractors and encouraged them to provide expensive treatments for their patients.

The DRX-9000 was advertised as a breakthrough in medical technology with a scientifically-proven, 86% success rate in the treatment of disc injuries such as disc herniation. The same ads claimed the DRX was an FDA approved and patented alternative to spinal surgery and was endorsed by NASA. As reported by ConsumerAffairs.com: ” Consumers rely on healthcare professionals to explain their treatment options so the consumer can choose the appropriate treatment. It is both unethical and unlawful for healthcare professionals to use false and deceptive statements or unsubstantiated junk science to promote their services.”

The suit seeks restitution for patients who paid for expensive treatments that didn’t work and civil penalties for deceptive business practices. The suit was filed in Alameda County Superior Court by the district attorneys of Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, and Sonoma counties.

The company that manufactures the DRX 9000 has had its own legal problems too. In 2007, an injunction in U.S. District Court barred the company from representing that the DRX-9000 is FDA-approved or is endorsed by NASA.