Both sides have agreed to a $250,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the teenage daughter of a Playboy model dubbed “The Queen of Snapchat,” who died in 2016 at age 34 after a West Hollywood chiropractor visit left her with a torn artery in her neck.
The suit was brought on the 13-year-old girl’s behalf in Los Angeles Superior Court in June 2017 by her father against chiropractor Eric Marc Swartz and Back to Total Health Inc., alleging that Swartz failed to disclose all information material to the late Katie May’s decision to undergo a medical procedure.
The case was later transferred to Santa Monica Superior Court, where plaintiff’s attorney Ronald Richards filed court papers with Judge Elaine W. Mandel on Wednesday stating that the case was resolved.
The judge scheduled a Feb. 10 hearing on a petition, also brought Wednesday, on behalf of the girl for approval of a $250,000 settlement.
In their court papers, lawyers for Swartz and his company denied any wrongdoing on the doctor’s part.
“At all relevant times, Dr. Swartz acted in good faith and endeavored to provide competent chiropractic treatment to (May),” the defense lawyers stated in their court papers.
“He did not make any guarantees or promises to (May) about her prognosis or the anticipated outcomes of his care or any specific treatments he proposed.”
The lawsuit claims included wrongful death and professional negligence. In December 2020, Mandel dismissed an allegation for negligent misrepresentation.
May died on Feb. 4, 2016. The lawsuit stated that the coroner’s report “confirms that the cause of death is due to infarction of the brain … due to blunt force trauma of (the) neck.”
Then-Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said previously that a chiropractor shifted May’s neck, tearing her left vertebral artery and blocking the blood flow to her brain. Winter retired in 2019.
May went to the defendants’ office for a neck adjustment and was later taken to a hospital after complaining of dizziness and weakness, according to the lawsuit.
“May was not conscious when her parents finally arrived at the hospital in Los Angeles,” the suit stated. “Her parents were never able to speak to her again.”
May’s father and mother ordered life support withdrawn after their daughter was declared brain-dead, according to the suit.
At the time of her death, May had nearly 2 million Instagram followers and was named “The Queen of Snapchat.” She modeled for Sports Illustrated, GQ and Playboy.
