A group of acupuncturists in Georgia are attempting to change the dry needling laws in the state by demanding through a newly proposed bill that using dry needling in clinical practice would only be allowed after completing 1,365 hours of education. In this proposed amendment of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, 705 hours would be devoted to “medical theory, diagnosis, and treatment techniques specific to acupuncture,” and 660 hours to “dry needling, including clinical observation and clinical internship.”
To support their motion, the acupuncturists even proposed to change the definition of acupuncture from “a form of therapy developed from traditional and modern Oriental concepts for health care that employs Oriental medical techniques, treatment, and adjunctive therapies….” to “a modality practiced on the basis of traditional Chinese medical principles and modern biomedical principles to stimulate underlying neural, muscular, and connective tissue for preventive and therapeutic purposes.”
Once again, disgruntled acupuncturists are claiming that dry needling would belong to the exclusive domain of acupuncture practice, in spite of over 30 states, including Georgia having ruled otherwise. The North Carolina Supreme Court confirmed that in that state dry needling is not the same as acupuncture. A Florida administrative judge ruled similarly after Jan Dommerholt testified in his court on behalf of the Florida Physical Therapy Association. See our previous blog on the Florida case.
The acupuncturists who are pushing this bill have no hard data supporting the underlying premise that dry needling by PTs and possibly other disciplines would carry any significant risks and danger to the public. There is no such data in Georgia and therefore, any suggestion that laws need to be changed are flawed. In the end, it is all about safety of the public.
As we discussed in another previous blog, an independent study demonstrated that 88% of what physical therapists need to know to practice DN safely is covered by their physical therapy education. The remaining 12% need to be acquired during dry needling courses and do not require any education in “acupuncture medical theory, acupuncture diagnosis, and acupuncture treatment techniques.”
