Final Federal Rule on Dietary Supplements Released:

This is an update from the NYS Acupuncture Coalition. The legislative initiative to include herbs in the scope of practice is going strong. The Coalition wishes to work in an inclusive manner and would like to facilitate communication wherever possible. The goal is to send an email update biweekly.

The most recent event was a presentation to the New York State Acupuncture Board in Manhattan on Friday June 1, 2007.

The NYS Acupuncture Board is an official arm of the New York State Education Department. Every licensed profession in New York State has a Board. The current Executive Secretary is Mr. Larry De Mers. The Chair of the Board is Peter Dubitsky, LAc and Vice Chair is Yemeng Chen, LAc.

Part of the legislative process in Albany involves the State Education Department being asked for an opinion on any Bill that effects one of the licensed professions. When the State Education Department is officially asked for an opinion it is customary for the Board of that profession to participate in information gathering and dialogue to support the State Education Department in handing down an opinion to legislators. As such it is important for the Board to be as informed as possible about the legislative effort we are undertaking. It is important to keep good communication with the Board as the process moves forward. This enables the members of the Board to be up to date and able to have an informed discussion about the legislative effort to include herbs in the LAc practice act. It also gives a favorable and supportive opinion to the administrators of the State Education Department, which can be passed on to the legislators.

As part of preparing a professional-looking presentation for the meeting with the Board, a binder packet was assembled. The packet included about 20 letters of support from state and national organizations. These included professional organizations, alumni organizations, NYS AOM schools, Chinese herb growers and suppliers, and national certifying bodies. The letters are impressive. The packet is impressive. To view the packet go to the website at www.nysacupuncture.org.

The organization and preparation of the binders was done with fervor and passion over Memorial Day weekend by members of the Steering Committee and spearheaded by Michelle Helfner, recent AOM grad of Touro and Michael Jabbour, current AOM student of Touro. They were supported by members of the Touro student body and faculty.

The meeting was attended by members of the NYS AOM community as well as members of the NYS Coalition Steering Committee.

The speakers to the Board were Dr. Mark Seem of the Tri-State College of Acupuncture. Dr. Seem read a statement prepared by a consortium of NYS AOM schools regarding the training and practice of Chinese herbology in New York.

The NYS Coalition was skillfully represented by Mr. Michael Taromina, ESQ, legal consultant to the Coalition. Mr. Taromia persuasively presented the legislative goals and explained the reasons for these goals to the Board. Mr. Taromina concluded his presentation with a request for Board support for the update to the LAc practice act when they are asked for an opinion from the State Education Department and Albany legislators.

Kathleen Golden, M.S, LAc, Steering Committee member, impressed upon the Board the importance and timeliness of this project and entertained questions and concerns from members of the Board regarding the legislative initiative.

Both Mr. Taromina and Ms. Golden made the point to the Board that the Coalition is a consensus-building and broad-based effort by the LAc profession to update the practice law in NYS. The evidence of this was the cross section of AOM community members present at the meeting. Present were: current students from the AOM schools of Touro College, Pacific College and Tri-State College, school administrators Gina Lepore and Wendy Matus from PCOM, PCOM Alumni Association President Jeremy Pulsifer, Michael Gaeta, Past President of ASNY, as mentioned, Mark Seem President of TSCA, and a handful of practicing acupuncture and Oriental medicine professionals.

The meeting went very well and the profession was represented in a polished, cohesive and professional manner. This was a successful group effort; and an impressive first brush with Albany on the legislative initiative.

Since the June 1 meeting the presentation packets prepared for that day have come in very handy for our lobbyist David Carroll in his presentation to legislators in Albany. As always, it is important for members of the profession to stay connected, check the website and PLEASE make a financial contribution to the effort. Thus far we have paid our lobbyist for 2 months of work and the July bill is just about due. In addition, we have paid professional Bill writers to work on the language of the Bill. To see the amazing and professional job they did with the language of the draft look on the website. The effort needs financial support, make a donation via the website at www.nysacupuncture.org. We must pay the lobbyist to continue to pursue our goal.

The next Town Hall/fund-raising meeting will be held on July 15 at:
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine - 915 Broadway @ 21 St., in Manhattan, to begin at 5:30 PM

Please plan to attend and bring a friend from the NYS AOM Profession.

Your Colleagues, The NYS Coalition Steering Committee

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Press Packet - June 2007

June 1, 2007

A new press packet has been released in the form of two packets. One containing a summary of what we have done so far including research and support letters. The other packet is just the 18 letters of support we have received from national, state, and educational organizations.

http://www.nysacupuncture.org/NYASC-Public.pdf (retired - get latest here: 2008 Legislative Guide)

http://www.nysacupuncture.org/NYSAC-Support.pdf

Please contact nysacupuncture@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

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