ASNY Scope of Practice Consensus

ASNY Scope of Practice Consensus

To Our Fellow New York State Practitioners of Chinese Medicine:

First, we want to thank those of you who returned our recent poll. We studied every response, and gave particular consideration to the comments many of you added to the space provided for additional feedback. The raw data minus comments and names are available at asny.org/poll.xls. The results from over a hundred responders make it clear that our profession has diverse opinions concerning the herbal scope of practice issue. However, from some of your comments, it is clear that there is a misunderstanding of the ASNY board’s position on this issue. We apologize for that and seek to change that now.
ASNY and the Coalition are in full agreement on the legislative objectives regarding the addition of herbs to our scope of practice as stated on the New York State Acupuncture Coalition (NYSAC) website (nysacupuncture.org) As you may well know, currently the use of herbs is legally unregulated and unrecognized by the State of New York. Anyone at all can recommend herbs. What we all desire is to acquire legal protection for the use of herbs for our profession.
The ASNY board is keenly aware of the professional reality involving the differences between the practice of acupuncture and the practice of herbology. We are aware of the differences in training and the fact that acupuncturists have limited academic exposure to herbs within the formal educational environment. In no way is ASNY suggesting or encouraging untrained acupuncturists to use or recommend herbs to their patients. Yet we also recognize that some—perhaps many—have additional training in herbs, some through outside classes and distance learning coursework, some through apprenticing, and some through self-study. We are not suggesting acupuncturists use herbs outside their knowledge base, just that they should be in our legal scope of practice. For this reason we are in support of including “ready made” herbal formulations in the legal scope of practice for the acupuncturist. Any custom made herbal formulas or modifications to standard formulas demand a high level of training. ASNY supports the requirement of additional training and the completion of the NCCAOM Diplomate in Oriental Medicine.
ASNY has an important asset in the fight ahead, our talented lobbyist, Tim Sheridan. Mr. Sheridan was instrumental in getting ASNY’s initial licensure bill through the State Assembly in 1991. He is an expert in maneuvering through the political intricacies in Albany and has been on retainer with ASNY for over fifteen years. In his opinion we face two major challenges: we are two critical votes shy of being able to get ANY legislation out of the Education Committee and onto the floor of the legislature for a vote. Another hurdle will be the AMA (American Medical Association), which has a multi-million dollar war chest designed to defeat any increase in scope of practice of any CAM profession, anywhere in the U.S. We’ve been told that the AMA has earmarked at least $25,000 to New York State for such a battle.
As a tactic for success, we need to ask for more than we want. As our lobbyist states, “If you want five you must ask for ten. Every health profession will have their hands on the bill and each will want to cut out that which is important to them. The AMA, the chiropractors, the naturopaths, the dentists and the podiatrist and physical therapists will all comment and try to alter the bill. The more you include the more you have to bargain with.”
And, most importantly, to win against such strong adversaries requires your help, too. As such, we ask that each of you remain current in your membership, and if it has lapsed, renew immediately through asny.org. Only through strength and unity can we succeed.
We welcome your continuing feedback on this important and complex issue. As your board, our role is to act as leaders and representatives of the profession. However we also try to represent the views of our constituent members. To effectively act as your voice, we must continue to communicate. Please feel free to reply with any comments.

We thank you for your continued support as we strive to do what is best for our profession.

The ASNY Board

Press Release – Town Hall – 2/11/07

New York Stat Acupuncture Coalition Town Hall
Press Release – 2/11/07

On Sunday, February 11, 2007, the steering committee for the New York State Acupuncture Coalition, hosted a town hall meeting at Touro College to discuss proposed changes to the scope of practice for licensed acupuncturists in the state. The meeting, organized by steering committee member, Kathy Taromina, MS, Lac, brought together over 100 people, including practitioners, students, representatives of state and national organizations, herbal growers and suppliers, and interested members of the general public.
Kathleen Golden, MS, LAc, steering committee member, welcomed everyone and introduced the distinguished assembled panel. She gave a history of acupuncture regulation in the state and detailed the contributions that went into the scope of practice initiative.
Michael Taromina, Esq., steering committee counsel, outlined the proposed legislation, which includes the following:
1) language to amend the current acupuncture law to encompass the practice of herbs
2) proposal to include a mandatory continuing education provision to bring acupuncture professional standards in line with other medical providers and many other licensed professions in the state. The proposal includes a CEU requirement of thirty six hours per three years licensure term.
3) setting the acupuncturist membership of the state acupuncture board to the same ratios as other professional boards and
4) allowing for visiting faculty to practice within an educational context.
Following the presentation of the proposed legislation, distinguished panelists from the acupuncture and Oriental medicine field discussed the proposed legislation. Those participating included Yemeng Chen, LAc, president and academic dean of New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and official representative of TCMAA; Jean Giblette, Director of High Falls Gardens; Thomas Leung, owner of Kamwo Chinese Herbal Pharmacy; Marilee Murphy,LAc, RN, dean of acupuncture and Oriental medicine at New York Chiropractic College and steering committee member; Steven Schram PhD, DC, LAc, representing the board of the Acupuncture Society of New York; Betsy Smith, associate deputy director for legislative and state issues at the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Elaine Stern, LAc; and Kejian Xiao,MB, LAc, faculty member, Touro College.
After the panelists concluded their statements, steering committee member Megan Haungs, MS, LAc, LMT, mediated an audience discussion of the proposal. Comments included support for the proposal, questions about the continuing education requirement, and a discussion of the proposed educational requirements for practitioners recommending custom-made herbal formulations.
Taking the floor again, Taromina asked the attendees for a show of applause indicating their support for going forward with the proposed legislation as it now stands…and the response was an overwhelming show of support for the initiative.
Golden then outlined the next steps to be taken, including letter writing and political outreach. A community-wide trip to Albany is planned for Tuesday April 24th.
The meeting was a historic moment for the acupuncture and Oriental medicine profession in New York State and was especially notable for the across-the-board agreement among practitioners, students, alumni associations, schools, and numerous state associations to move forward with the initiative.
For more information on the Initiative please visit nysacupuncture.org.