According to the American Medical Association AMA Annual June 11-15, 2016 Report [Dry Needling Resolution], Physical therapists are not qualified to be performing acupuncture even if they call it dry needling. Medical practitioners should not be performing treatments that they have not been trained for.
“Dry Needling is an Invasive Procedure. This resolution asked our AMA to “recognize dry needling as an invasive procedure and maintain that dry needling should only be performed by practitioners with standard training and familiarity with the routine use of needles in their practice, such as licensed medical physicians and licensed acupuncturists.”
See more information from other major Medical organizations about untrained physical therapists performing acupuncture. Click here to read more.
Legislature Needs to Act
Colorado legislature should be deleting an amended, actually added, term in a section of HB18-1155 – Continuation of the Physical Therapy Board. A seriously dangerous addition to Section 5 (6)(b)(II)(A) (page 5) has been added to the former PT Board’s definition of safe practices. No other procedure listed in this section is invasive and breaks the skin – a major determinant of what is legally safe in PT practice. It is called DRY NEEDLING. Dry needling is acupuncture requiring much less training and increases the risk of medical to the patient. If the procedure goes awry, this can negate the patient’s ability to receive compensation for malpractice, and cause an additional burden to our already overloaded health care system.