Death of chiropractor ruled a homicide
EAST PROVIDENCE – The death of well-known Barrington chiropractor Clive Bridgham, who was found unresponsive inside his East Providence home on Pleasant Street last Thursday, has been ruled a homicide, police confirmed Monday.
Police Chief Christopher Parella said a preliminary investigation has revealed that the attack was not random and that Bridgham, 67, was targeted.
Officers responded to Bridgham’s home for a well-being check on Thursday night and found him unresponsive on the floor. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have declined to say how Bridgham was killed, saying the investigation is ongoing. Police say there are currently no suspects.
Anyone with information about Bridgham or the crime can call East Providence police at (401) 431-1111.
Bridgham operated a practice in Barrington called Barrington Chiropractic and Sports Medicine Clinic on Coun- ty Road. He earned his license in 1987 and practiced for 30 years.
He was a past present of the Chiropractic Society of Rhode Island and was named the organization’s Chiropractic Physician of the Year in 2015. last year, he was chosen to attend the Olympic games in Rio for his sports-medicine expertise.
In 2003, the state health board placed Bridgham on probation for three years. According to the consent order, he treated someone suffering from depression after the death of a sibling and engaged in sexual conduct with the client. He also counseled the client in matters on which he had no training, according to the order.
Bridgham voluntarily surrendered his chiropractic license in September 2017 after being accused of unprofessional conduct in another matter two years ago. In the spring of 2016, Bridgham began a therapeutic relation- ship with a 19-year-old male patient who later alleged that Bridgham violated the professional boundaries of the chiropractic physician-patient relationship.
Bridgham, a board-certified chiropractic sports physician, attended Syracuse University and Middlebury College in Vermont and then National University of Health Sciences where he earned his bachelor and doctorate degrees in chiropractic medicine.
Bridgham was a diplomat of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports’ Physicians. He was part of a number of medical treatment teams for international competitions in surfing, skiing, and the X-Games over his 25 years as a chiropractor, and served as a physician for the United States surfing, windsurfing and biathalon teams.
Most recently, Bridgham was the chief medical officer for a rugby tournament in Newport, with more than 100 athletes from middle and high school teams from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut competing.