Several medical associations issued a joint statement yesterday opposing a bill that would allow overseas-educated chiropractors to be certified without having to take certification tests.
Taiwan Medical Association president Wu Nan-her (
"Legislators should not customize the laws simply for the few who are educated overseas," Wu said. "Say someone goes abroad to study feet, does that mean there should be laws protecting the interests of podiatrists as well?"
Wu said Department of Health officials have been reluctant to express a clear opinion on the matter.
"Both the Minister of Health and the chief of the department of medical affairs are doctors -- they know [the bill] is wrong," Wu said. "But they have to hold public hearings anyway because of the pressure from the legislators."
Before diagnosing spinal problems, chiropractors should first exclude other potential causes such as tumors, fractures or infections, Wu said.
But chiropractic training does not include the study of internal medicine, and chiropractors are therefore unqualified to make medical diagnoses, Wu said.
He said it would confuse the public if chiropractors were treated like doctors.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
"I just want to say [to chiropractors supporting the bill]: Please take the certification exam in Taiwan," Lai said.
Physical Therapy Association general-secretary Wendy Wang (王子娟) said that as someone with a doctorate in physical therapy, she could not agree with the bill's proposals.
Pointing to a statement downloaded from the Taiwan Chiropractic Doctors' Society's Web page about the treatment of lower-back pain, Wang said that chiropractors attempt to associate all symptoms with spinal problems.
"I am sure chiropractors could find a way of diagnosing someone with low immunity as having spinal problems," Wang said. "What they are doing is confusing the public on the difference between orthodox medical treatment and alternative treatments."
The vice chairman of the Taiwan Chiropractic Doctors' Society, Chen Chia-en (
Chen has previously said that the government's failure to establish a workable certification system for chiropractors had led to an increase in illegal practitioners.
An unnamed chiropractor was quoted in the same report as saying that the WHO recognizes chiropractic treatment.
As a certified physical therapist locally and a certified chiropractor in the US, he has four years of medical school training and four more years of chiropractic training, the man said.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
RSS