An Iowa-based chiropractor has voluntarily relinquished his professional license following a malpractice lawsuit. Allan Novak Jr., who ran Chirocare East in Cedar Rapids, faced allegations of negligence and non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
The Iowa board of Chiropractic accused Novak of two major violations. First, he failed to report a malpractice settlement to the board within the mandated 30-day window.Second, he did not cooperate fully with investigators during thier inquiry into the matter. These charges stemmed from a 2022 case involving a patient treated in 2018.
Although Novak agreed to surrender his license,the action is largely symbolic. His license had already expired in june 2022, well before the board officially brought charges against him. The details of the allegations were only disclosed recently as part of the settlement agreement.
In September 2022, the board discovered that an insurance company had paid a settlement related to a civil lawsuit against Novak. The board reached out to Novak for a detailed account of his interactions with the patient,but he allegedly failed to provide the requested information.
Court documents revealed that the lawsuit was filed by Gabriel Golla, a former patient. golla claimed that during a late 2018 visit, Novak performed a spinal adjustment that resulted in severe complications. Later that day, Golla was hospitalized and diagnosed with a vertebral artery dissection—a tear in the artery wall that can lead to stroke—as well as multiple acute infarcts, areas of tissue death caused by interrupted blood flow.
The case was dismissed by Golla before it reached trial, and no public record of a settlement exists. While the lawsuit’s dismissal closed the legal chapter,the incident raises broader questions about patient safety and regulatory oversight in chiropractic care.
