MANILA (PIA) — The Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care issued an urgent warning recently against seeking treatment from uncertified practitioners after a viral video showed a fatal spinal manipulation performed by a reportedly unqualified individual.
“The person in the video is not affiliated with or connected to PITAHC and has not met our standards to practice chiropractic care in the Philippines,” PITAHC Director-General Ma. Teresa Iñigo said at a media event presented by the Philippine Information Agency.
The video, which circulated widely on social media, supposedly shows a man undergoing a procedure from someone falsely claiming to be a chiropractor, resulting in the patient’s death.
The Association of Professional Chiropractors of the Philippines emphasized that legitimate chiropractic practice requires six to seven years of education at an accredited university, including a year of clinical internship. The profession is regulated by law in 160 countries.
“When chiropractic adjustments are performed by individuals with appropriate training, they are considered safe and effective,” said Dr. Martin Camara, president of the association, citing a 2023 study published in Nature, a British weekly scientific journal, that found serious adverse effects occur at a rate of only two in a million procedures.
Camara advised the public seeking body therapy or manipulations: “The best thing to do is look for a PITAHC certification. If they have that, then they meet the standards.”
“If they are not registered as practitioners with PITAHC and the Department of Health, it means they do not meet the standards for what constitutes a safe and effective chiropractor,” he said.
“The problem is that there are many YouTube videos and a lot of people copying them, claiming to be chiropractors. I don’t think that person actually identified themselves as a chiropractor, but they weren’t one,” he added.
PITAHC confirmed that there is a certification body within its agency.
“Our Standards and Certification Division is in charge of facilitating applications for us,” Iñigo said.
The incident has prompted renewed calls for stricter oversight of Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine practitioners in the country.
PITAHC urged the public to verify practitioners’ credentials through its official website and only seek treatment from certified professionals.
The agency maintains a directory of approved practitioners at pitahc.gov.ph.
“We remain committed to ensuring the integrity of TCIM in the Philippines by promoting certified and regulated practitioners,” Iñigo said. (JCO/PIA-NCR)
