Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Dry Needling Ruled Outside of Scope for Physical Therapists in Tennessee

On June 19, 2014 the Attorney General of the State of Tennessee rendered the opinion that dry needling is outside the scope of practice for physical therapists in Tennessee. In response to the question
"Is Intramuscular Manual Therapy ("IMT"), also known as Trigger-Point Dry Needling, within the scope of the practice of physical therapy under the Occupational and Physical Therapy Practice Act, Tenn. Code Ann. 63-13-101 to -318?"
The Attorney General rendered the opinion "No".
Functionally this means that acupuncture should only be practiced by fully licensed and trained acupuncturists no matter what else someone attempts to call the techniques of acupuncture. This is a responsible answer to this issue and protects the health and safety of those seeking acupuncture treatment.
If you would like to read the entire opinion statement, it is attached to this posting. Thanks for all of those who performed the hard work of getting our side of the argument into the discussion.
Cheers,
Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

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