Good News From Brazil

The Chiro.Org Blog


SOURCE:   World Federation of Chiropractic


Beginning in early 2007, 95,000 Brazilian physiotherapists, through their national regulatory board, the Council of Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists (COFFITO), attempted to seize control of the Chiropractic Profession, by trying to pass a law stating that chiropractic was a (sub)specialty of physiotherapy.

This presented a serious problem for the 200 Brazilian chiropractors, because at that time the practice of chiropractic was not regulated by law, even though the Brazilian Chiropractors’ Association (ABQ) had been working tirelessly since 2001 to pass that legislation.

Fortunately the World Federation of Chiropractic with the support of it’s President Gerard W. Clum, D.C., provided significant financial support, to help fund their struggle.

Finally, on March 3, 2009, Federal Judge Diana Brunstein ruled strongly in favor of the ABQ. “Chiropractic is a profession not a technique”, says Judge Brunstein, and “PT authorities should not seek to declare it a specialty of physiotherapy”. An appeal by CREFITO, asking to remove an earlier court injunction against CREFITO was denied.

You can learn more about this case at the World Federation of Chiropractic website.