The Curious Case of the Concussion Chiropractor

Victor Pedro got acclaim and state funding for his unusual method of treating brain injuries. There’s a lack of evidence that it works, and medical experts are outraged. But his patients insist he’s cured them. Here’s how that’s possible.

Illustration: Jon Han

The Rhode Island Integrated Medicine clinic appears an unlikely spot for medical innovation. And yet people travel from distant places to get treatment here.

It’s a chiropractor’s office in a two-story white house located right off the highway from Providence, in the city of Cranston. The clinic’s neighbors are a half-dozen houses of similar height and siding but in lesser condition. At the nearest intersection are two churches, a gas station, and a boarded-up building alongside an empty lot scattered with trash.

The chiropractor is Victor Pedro, and he says he’s developed a unique and powerful method of treating brain disorders. This includes learning disabilities and neurological issues such as ADD, speech problems, Tourette’s syndrome, vertigo, migraines, concussions, and other forms of traumatic brain injury.

Pedro’s treatment doesn’t involve drugs, surgery, or even brain scans. Instead the…