The estate of deceased “Snapchat queen” Katie May is seeking a financial settlement from a chiropractor who treated May shortly before her death, after the coroner determined that the treatment contributed to May’s death.
The estate’s lawyer, Ronald Richards, told TheWrap in a statement Monday that he has contacted a legal representative for the chiropractor and will submit a demand to the chiropractor’s insurer.
“The coroner’s report takes the unusual but definitive step of concluding the chiropractor’s treatment was the cause and fact of Katie May’s death,” Richards told TheWrap. “We have been in contact with a legal representative for the chiropractor and expect to submit a demand shortly with the chiropractor’s insurance carrier. We are hopeful that the chiropractor will want to resolve the matter to avoid further injury to all parties to this unfortunate tragedy.”
The Los Angeles County coroner determined that May’s death at age 34 in February was caused by “infarction of the brain due to vertebral artery dissection due to blunt force injury of of [her] neck. Initial reports are of an injury of the neck resulting in neck pain for which she sought treatment at Back to Health Wellness Center.”
The autopsy report opinion dated Oct.21 noted that, after the February 1 treatment, May complained of “dizziness, headache and weakness.” May was admitted to Cedars Sinai Hospital and subsequently suffered a stroke despite treatment.
May, who also modeled for Playboy, tweeted on Jan. 29 that she had pinched “a nerve in my neck on a photoshoot [sic] and got adjusted this morning,” adding that she was returning to the chiropractor.
The model’s brother, Stephen May, told People in February that she had not seen a medical doctor for her neck pain, suggesting that her fate “would have unfolded very differently” if she had.
“To the best of my family’s knowledge, and we are fairly but not totally certain of this, Katie did not seek medical care prior to Monday evening,” her brother Stephen May told People magazine. “If she had, it seems reasonable to conclude, the subsequent days would have unfolded very differently.”
May is survived by a young daughter, Mia. A GoFundMe page was set up in February “to help pay for education, Mia’s daily life and to help her dad with the costs of parenting.”
Back to Health Wellness Center didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.