Hartford - Stroke victims and their families say all they want is for patients to have more information about the possible risks of a chiropractic procedure called cervical spinal manipulation.

"It doesn't seem like we're asking for much - just disclosure," said Sean Madden of New London, son-in-law of Linda Solsbury, a former Lawrence & Memorial Hospital nurse who suffered a stroke in 1985 at age 40 after having the procedure, which involves twisting of the neck vertebrae to relieve pain.

Solsbury, who helped found the Chiropractic Stroke Awareness Group, died three and a half years ago, but her family has stayed active in advocating that patients be told of the risks ahead of time and to watch for stroke symptoms afterward so they can get immediate medical care if necessary.

"You'd just hate to see it happen again," Madden said Tuesday.

Madden represents one side in a contentious proposal being considered by a state Department of Public Health panel over whether chiropractors should be mandated to warn patients that the neck procedure may carry a risk of a rare kind of stroke. The first day of a two-day public hearing on the proposal took place Tuesday at the Legislative Office Building before the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners, which is expected to make a decision in about three months.

Dozens of chiropractors from around the state attended the hearing to oppose the proposal, which is also opposed by state, national and international chiropractic groups. They argue that the proposal, which would make Connecticut the first state with such a mandate, would exaggerate what may be merely coincidence or the result of a patient's pre-existing condition into an established cause-and-effect relationship between neck manipulation and stroke. They say it would single their profession out unfairly.

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