Lula sanctions law, and fibromyalgia becomes considered disabled

Disciplinary team will evaluate each case. According to the project, analysis will be done by team of doctors, psychologists, among others, to attest (or not) the limitation of the person in the performance of activities and participation in society.)

Standard becomes valid in January 2026, 180 days after publication. In some federation units, the person with fibromyalgia can already be considered PCD, such as the Federal District, which approved a standard on the subject in 2024. With Law 15.176, the practice will now be adopted throughout the country.

What each association says

Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and regional pain syndromes, which are related diseases. Source: Senate AgencySociety Brazilian Rheumatology fears evaluation made by experts. “The great difficulty of this assessment is the high subjectivity of the symptoms of fibromyalgia, which can lead to some difficulty in expertise,” explains the president of the society, the rheumatologist José Eduardo Martinez.

It is not that society is against the law. What we emphasize is that patients have an individualized assessment, which experts recognize which patients can actually have difficulties at work, and which can benefit from medicines, with only ‘temporary’ disabilities. José Eduardo Martinez, president of the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology

On the other hand, Martinez recognizes the benefits of the law. An example is the creation of an official treatment plan for patients with conditions, as well as the encouragement of training more professionals who work in treatment. “Today we have a lack of rheumatologists, but also from other areas, such as psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physical educators,” he explains.