Regulation of Chiropractic Industry
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the regulation of the chiropractic industry raised by Mr Leon Perera regarding industry standards, dispute recourse, and potential licensing under the Allied Health Professions Act. Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong clarified that chiropractic is considered a complementary treatment not currently licensed under statutory legislation, with practitioners instead encouraged to self-regulate through professional associations. He stated that while advertising is governed by the Medicines (Sales and Advertisements) Act, general consumer disputes should be directed to the Consumers Association of Singapore. Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong noted that MOH manages complaints regarding medical claims and maintains a risk-based approach to monitoring patient safety. The Ministry will continue to periodically review the need for formal licensing based on ongoing assessments of safety risks and the necessity of further regulation.
Transcript
47 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health (a) what regulatory guidelines or standards are applicable to the chiropractic industry; (b) whether customers of the industry will be able to find recourse from the Ministry when there are disputes; and (c) whether there is any ongoing process to bring the industry under further regulation such as to consider it as part of the Allied Health Professionals under the First Schedule of the Allied Health Professions Act.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: MOH takes a risk-based regulatory approach. Chiropractic services are a form of complementary and alternative treatment, and are currently not licensed under the Private Hospital and Medical Clinic Act. There is also no statutory legislation to regulate practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine practitioners, including Chiropractors.
Chiropractors are encouraged to practise self-regulation, register with their professional association, that is, The Chiropractic Association (Singapore) and adhere to industry standards set by the association. TCA (Singapore) has developed a code of ethics, scope of practice and advertising guidelines for their profession.
While there are no regulations involving chiropractors and its services, they are subjected to provisions under the Medicines (Sales and Advertisements) Act. For example, their publicity is not permitted to contain any diagnostic or treatment claims for any diseases and medical conditions. Doing so might contravene the Act, and result in penalties. Complaints in this area can be sent to MOH. For other disputes, customers can find recourse through the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).
The Ministry will continuously monitor the risk to patient safety and periodically review the need to license chiropractic professionals and its services.