A Lesson on Acupuncture

Lawsuit: Unlicensed acupuncturist caused lung collapse

SAN DIEGO — A San Diego woman has filed a lawsuit against a Chula Vista chiropractor accusing him of collapsing her lung during an acupuncture procedure that he is not licensed to perform.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 16 in San Diego Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages, as well as a court order for Dr. Walker Scott to stop performing acupuncture on patients.

Acupuncture is a widely used practice based on ancient Chinese methods of inserting hair-thin needles at strategic points on the body to relieve pain. Most acupuncture points are on or near the surface of the skin, although some spots require needles to be inserted deeper.

Various medical studies and journals have identified dozens of cases of acupuncture-related pneumothorax, which is when air enters the membrane separating the chest wall from the lung and causes the lung to collapse.

State records show Scott does not have an acupuncture license, which is required. He declined to be interviewed for this story.

According to the lawsuit, Scott sold his services to many of the mixed martial arts fighters who train at Alliance Training Center, including head coach and UFC trainer Eric Del Fierro and his now wife, Jamie, who is the gym’s front office manager.

Jamie Del Fierro went for her first treatment in January 2014 and complained of tension headaches. Scott suggested acupuncture, and Del Fierro agreed, since she’d had the procedure done by others before and it had seemed to help, said her attorney, Sean Foldenauer.

The doctor began to put the fine needles in and along her neck, back and chest. He is accused of then piercing through her chest wall and into the tissue surrounding her lung, the lawsuit claims.

Del Fierro immediately told him she was experiencing pain in her chest and left arm and was having shortness of breath, but he waved off the complaints as common side affects, the suit says. He then followed up with a chiropractic adjustment before sending her home to rest, according to the lawsuit.

Del Fierro drove home but the symptoms continued, so she drove herself to an emergency room. Hospital staff quickly learned one of her lungs had collapsed.

Doctors drilled a hole in her chest and hooked her up to a machine that she had to carry around for the next week to regulate her breathing, while her body healed, her lawyer said.

She was 31 years old at the time and otherwise healthy, the lawsuit says.

The source of the report is here.