‘This I saw as a potential growing technology, treatment, that could be centered in Rhode Island.’”

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello

A million-dollar appropriation for a controversial neurological treatment technique developed by a Cranston chiropractor was removed from the state budget for the year that begins July 1 – although House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston says he stands by the chiropractor and believes the issue became “unduly politicized.”

“I will continue to support the doctor, because I think he brings a unique and special treatment to a lot of kids and individuals that have nowhere else to go … We’re going to pull it because the issue has become very controversial,” Mattiello told WPRO host Tara Granahan during a June 20 call-in appearance on her radio show. “But understand when you do that, somebody somewhere that needs a unique treatment badly may be denied it.”

The inclusion of the cortical integrative therapy, or CTI, funding in the state budget plan garnered widespread attention and scrutiny following a June 19 report from Uprise RI’s Steve Ahlquist, as well as subsequent reports from WPRI and other outlets.

An amendment removing the funding and directing it elsewhere – including the provision of a $200,000 grant to the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence – was approved during the budget debate late last week.

At the center of the issue is Vincent Pedro, a licensed chiropractor whose practice, Rhode Island Integrated Medicine, is located near Mattiello’s law office on Park Avenue in Cranston. The practice’s website describes CTI as a “revolutionary treatment methodology” developed by Pedro, who based on all indications is its sole provider in Rhode Island.

“Our multidisciplinary approach is changing the way that many brain-based disorders are treated,” the site reads. “We have state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and more than 20 years of experience treating a broad spectrum of brain-based disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and discomforts of chronic pain.”

Health officials on the state and federal levels, however, have rejected CTI.

In 2015, the state’s Medicaid Medical Care Advisory Committee found the treatment lacked supporting evidence. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services rejected a request from the state to begin a three-year pilot program that would “evaluate the clinical and fiscal effectiveness” of CIT treatment through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“As proposed, the CIT treatment is broadly described, with very few parameters for cost or quality control for the specific array of services billed, the intensity of the services, the length of therapy, or the clinical indications for each service,” the letter reads. “The state has not provided scientific evidence verifying the efficacy of CIT, nor any indication that CIT was subject to such evaluation.”

A letter released June 20 and signed by roughly two-dozen medical experts questioned CIT and urged the removal of the funding from the state budget.

“Cortical integrative therapy is not an evidence-based treatment and it would do our state a severe disservice to fund an unproven intervention and reducing funding to programs which do make a clear difference,” the letter states. “We urge you to revise the 2020 budget so that $1 million … is spent wisely and safely to help the health and welfare of RI residents.”

At press time, Pedro had not responded to a message left with his office.

The $1 million in funding that had been included in the $9.9-billion state budget plan would have allowed the state’s Medicaid program to be billed for CIT payments. The funding was not included in Gov. Gina Raimondo’s budget but was restored in the House of Representatives’ plan.

Since 2004, state lawmakers have provided nearly $2 million in state funding – and, because he is the sole provider, Pedro’s practice – for CIT.

As a result, Mattiello’s ties to Pedro have drawn particularly attention.

Records show Pedro has donated $6,100 to local candidates and political organizations since 2005, including $2,000 to Mattiello since 2011.

Additionally, Frank A. Montanaro Jr., a former lawmaker who is now a top staffer for Mattiello at the State House, previously worked as a lobbyist for Pedro’s Infinite Potential Program and championed the initial state grant funding for CIT.

During his radio appearance, Mattiello dismissed the idea that Pedro’s campaign contributions had swayed his thinking – “Does anyone think that’s a lot of money? Does anyone think that’s a relationship?” – and spoke of both his history with Pedro and belief in the value of CIT.

Mattiello said he first had contact with Pedro through a pair of former legal clients who were also patients of Pedro. The speaker said he then “started hearing through people that [Pedro] was providing a unique service.”

Mattiello said he dispatched his legal counsel at the time to evaluate Pedro and CIT. He also spoke with other people in the medical community about the treatment.

“I started looking at the people being helped. I am very well aware that traditional bureaucracy does not like change … This I saw as a potential growing technology, treatment, that could be centered in Rhode Island,” the speaker told Granahan.

He later added: “Not all people get relief. But some people do. And for those people, we’re dramatically increasing their quality of life, and that’s something that we at least have to look at, and not criticize politically without necessarily knowing all of the facts.”

Mattiello argued that providing financial support for CIT actually saves the state money by directing patients with few – or no – other options away from therapies that are medically accepted but more costly and less successful.

“This treatment saves money,” he said.

The speaker also said the state funding would allow for the creation of a larger data set for CIT in hopes of obtaining future state and federal approval.

“Let me just put the million dollars in perspective for you – it’s not a grant to the doctor,” he told Granahan. “It gives the doctor the ability to bill for his services, just like any doctor in the state does … It’s not a grant to him. Anybody performing this type of treatment can in fact bill for it.”

Pedro’s treatment has received positive coverage in the past from a number of local media outlets. A page on his website included links to segments from NBC 10, WPRI 12 and ABC6 – the first from 2013, the latter two now several years older – along with an interview Pedro did with Bob Lobel and Jack Heath on the program “Sports Legends New England” and a segment from PBS39 in Pennsylvania.

The NBC 10 and PBS39 segments focus on the story of a Pennsylvania student-athlete, Tracy Yatsko, who suffered a serious concussion while playing basketball.

The head injury had severe lingering effects. Yatsko temporarily relocated to Rhode Island to receive treatment from Pedro and told interviewers that she credits his care with helping her recover.

Yatsko has since become a concussion awareness advocate and was featured in a public service announcement about the issue for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pedro’s website also includes a link to 2013 story from PainPathways magazine, in which singer and television personality Paula Abdul credits Pedro with treating her for a condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

Local critics of the state CIT appropriation painted it as an instance of lawmakers directing taxpayer resources to connected friends and associates.

Ken Block, a former gubernatorial candidate, wrote on Twitter that Mattiello “got caught handing out taxpayer dollars as goodies.”

He added: “Now is the time to ensure that this sort of thing cannot happen again. It is time to put proper process and controls around how RI produces its budget. Clearly, we cannot trust one person with total control to do the right thing.”

In a press release, Rhode Island GOP Chairwoman Sue Cienki used the CIT funding to criticize Mattiello’s approach to the state’s finances.

“Here are some ideas of where to cut funding, Mr. Speaker. First, cut the $1 million dollar grant you gave to your campaign donor Dr. Victor Pedro, who appears to be practicing some unique form of alternative medicine,” she said.