Acupuncture Massachusetts - article about Acupuncture Massachusetts

The Committee On Acupuncture In Massachusetts

The practice of acupuncture has become well known in the United States over the past 25 years as a holistic approach to medicine. It is currently being embraced and recognized as a practicing medical technique. It is widely used by athletes, their trainers and physical therapists in treating joint and muscular problems. Massachusetts was one of the first states in the country to regulate the practice and safety of acupuncture. The Committee on Acupuncture in Massachusetts was first established in 1987. These members are appointed by the Board of Registration in Medicine. This committee works with the Board to regulate the safe practice of acupuncture in Massachusetts.

The Committee

Because there are so many acupuncture practices in Massachusetts, the government needed to find ways to observe and regulate these businesses. There were too many lawsuits being filed against these practitioners who would conveniently disappear when the going got tough. It was too easy for someone to call themselves a knowledgeable and skilled practitioner of acupuncture. Training, or the lack of, could quite possibly consist of a week or two.

These supposedly practitioners were using family members as assistants and they were charging overwhelming high fees for their treatments. Because of the lack of credentials and licenses required for this specific medical practice, malpractice was widespread. There was no sterilization required and needles were being used more than once. But when the government realized how the public was being taken advantage of, Massachusetts acupuncture became structured and regulated. The Committee on Acupuncture in Massachusetts consists of one public member, one physician member of the Board of Medicine, four acupuncturists and one physician with acupuncture experience.

One of the committee’s main functions is to license acupuncturists and discipline acupuncturists who engage in misconduct. They also have produced regulations that govern acupuncture in Massachusetts. The regulations include the educational and examination requirements for licensure, the grounds for disciplining acupuncturists, the use of acupuncture assistants, continuing acupuncture education, safe practice of acupuncture and truthful advertising. They also repealed a law that required a patient to obtain a physician’s referral in order to see an acupuncturist.

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