House Bill 65

Kentucky acupuncturists are going to Frankfort on Thursday to try and accomplish two objective:

1. Change our title from certified (CAc) to licensed (LAc) - like almost every other state in the country

2. Delete the need to notify MD if we treat patients with high blood pressure or diabetes since these are not contraindications for acupuncture

We had originally intended to ask for the practice of acupuncture without a license to be considered a felony. Despite winning certification in KY in 2006, there are still plenty of "beauty shop dry-needlers" and healthcare practitioners performing acupuncture without proper training (ahhem, DCs and PTs). Since we are under the KY Board of Medicine and prior to 2006, practicing acupuncture without a license was synonymous with practicing medicine without a license, we figured this was a reasonable request, however our representative thought removing the clause would help our case for the other 2 points.

Oh well.

If anyone out there is an activist kind of mood today, we would really appreciate phone calls to our local representatives who will be voting on this issue. To leave a message in support of House Bill 65, call 1-800-372-7181. Here is their contact info for specific representatives and thank you for your support!


Tom Burch, chair Loiusville 502-564-8100 x601

Bob DeWeese, vice chair Louisville 502-564-4334

David Watkins, vice chair Henderson 502-564-8100 x700

John Arnold Sturgis - 502-564-8100 x709

Jim Glenn Owensboro - 502-564-8100 x705

Joni Jenkins - Shively - 502-564-8100 x692

Tim Moore - Elizabethtown - 502-564-8100 x702

Ruth Ann Palumbo - Lexington - 502-564-8100 x600

Scott Brinkman - Louisville - 502-564-8100 x682

Brent Housman - Paducah - 502-564-8100 x634

Mary Lou Marzian - Louisville - 502-564-8100 x643

Darryl Owens - Louisville - 502-564-8100 x685

Susan Westrom - Lexington - 502-564-8100 x740

Addia Wuchner - Florence - 502-564-8100 x707

New Year News

This is more of Jing Acupuncture news, but I have officially graduated my MSN program (4.0) and plan to take my family nurse practitioner license sometime in March. Most of the research out there lately has involved acupuncture for hot flashes, chemo side effects, and pain management - I think I have covered these areas well enough for the time being. Hopefully something saucy will crop up in the new year. I do not like to engage in politics that do not relate to acupuncture on the blog, but there are certainly all sort of bills about at the moment that could impact both acupuncture and nursing that may be viable reporting subjects in the near future. In the meantime, here is a recent article about the current state of pain management in the US

Pain Management Failing as Fears of Prescription Drug Use Rise