The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing took over responsibility for many of Iowa’s licensing boards in July 2023. (Photo illustration via Getty Images; logo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing)
An eastern Iowa chiropractor who was sued for malpractice has agreed to surrender his license.
Allan Novak Jr., who owned and operated a Cedar Rapids chiropractic clinic known as Chirocare East, was charged last year by the Iowa Board of Chiropractic with failing to notify the board within 30 days of any court judgment or settlement of a malpractice claim, and with failing to cooperate with the board staff during an investigation.
The underlying allegations in the case were only recently made public by the board as part of Novak’s agreement to surrender his license. That agreement has little practical effect due to the fact that Novak’s license expired in June 2022, two years before the board imposed any charges in the case.
The board had alleged that in September 2022, it learned that an insurance provider had recently paid out a settlement in a civil lawsuit involving Novak’s care of a patient in 2018. The board contacted Novak requesting information on the case, but Novak allegedly failed to provide the requested narrative account of his interactions with the patient.
Court records show that in 2022, Novak and his clinic were sued by a patient, Gabriel Golla. Golla alleged that in late 2018, Novak manipulated his spine in such a manner that he had to be admitted to a hospital later that day.
Golla was allegedly diagnosed with a vertebral artery dissection, which is when a tear forms in one or more layers of an artery in the vertebrae. The situation is considered potentially dangerous as it can lead to a stroke. In addition, Golla was allegedly diagnosed with multiple acute infarcts, which are areas of dead tissue created by a lack of blood supply.
The lawsuit was dismissed by Golla prior to trial with no public record of any settlement.