Fwd: Some acupuncturists resent Arizona's new regulations

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>Some acupuncturists resent Arizona's new regulations

>Mon, 12 Jun 2000 03:55:44 -0700

>

>Some acupuncturists resent Arizona's new regulations

>

>

>

> Monday, 12 June 2000

> Some acupuncturists resent Arizona's new regulations

>

> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

>

> PHOENIX - Last week's approval of the first regulations for

>licensing acupuncture treatments has pricked the sensibilities of some

>practitioners who say Western medicine is stabbing at their traditional

>Eastern therapy.

>

> " It is like the grandson is testing the grandfather, " said Dr. Peter

>Chow, who sees the requirement for outside certification by a national

>board as an insult to methods handed down from older generations.

>

> Chow trained in mainland China and Hong Kong and has practiced in

>Phoenix for eight years. He and other traditionalists believe the national

>board's requirements for schooling and testing are too rooted in Western

>standards.

>

> " Chinese medicine and acupuncture has been around for 5,000 years,

>and the national certification board has been around for about 20 years, "

>Chow said. " Why do they say that is the authentic one? "

>

> But the regulations are needed to protect consumers, argues Dr.

>Kelly Hsu, chairwoman of the newly formed Acupuncture Board of Examiners.

>Although some acupuncturists have trained over many years, others have as

>little as three months of schooling.

>

> In 1998, when the Legislature required acupuncturist licensing, more

>than 35 states had licensing requirements, said Catherine Niemiec, director

>of the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture. " Without

>regulations, Arizona could have become a magnet for practitioners unable to

>earn licenses in other states. "

>

> Only 55 of the estimated 250 acupuncturists in the state are

>licensed by Arizona, but all are required by law to apply before the end of

>the year.

>

> Under the regulations approved Wednesday by the Governor's

>Regulatory Review Commission, new practitioners need 1,850 hours of

>training and must be nationally certified.

>

> Acupuncturists who have practiced two years or more can be

> " grandfathered in, " but they must pass a test on safety issues and pay a

>$650 fee.

>

> Practicing without a license is a misdemeanor charge with a maximum

>punishment of six months in jail, a $2,500 fine and three years' probation.

>

> Dr. Y.M. Chen of the Chinese Health Center in Phoenix said he fears

>that some of the best acupuncturists in the state, those with the most

>experience, will retire early or go underground.

>

> Some are operating quietly out of their homes, seeing only two or

>three patients a day, Chen said. For them, the $650 fee is a great deal of

>money, he said.

>

>

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