Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine:
Focus on Justice

By Gregory T. Lawton, DN, DC, C.Ac.

Editor’s Note: This article is a rebuttal response to an article previously published in HGJ (July/August 2004) entitled, “Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine: Legislative Overview for Michigan.”

The Michigan acupuncture community is strongly divided over support for the Acupuncture bill, House Bill 5205 that has been written by the Michigan Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAAOM) and sponsored by House Representative, Republican Randy Richardville.

House Bill 5205 is currently stalled in the House Health Policy Committee that is chaired by Representative Stephen Erhardt and it is unlikely that it will be voted on this year which means that the bill will die in committee on December 31st, 2004. HB 5205 was reviewed in a work study meeting on May 12th, 2004. This meeting was attended by a diverse group representing both conventional and complementary medicine. The only support that the bill received in this meeting was from the members of the MAAOM who were in attendance.

The purpose of the work study meetings is to bring together the parties who will be affected by the bill, and through the process of group consultation, to unify these parties behind the bill. Numerous concerns regarding the bill were voiced by the members of this work group and several suggestions for changes and improvements to the bill were made during this meeting. To date, none of the parties involved has received any contact from either the MAAOM or Representative Richardville’s office indicating that they have any intention of modifying HB 5205.

HB 5205 as it is written would provide broad practice privileges to the acupuncturists of Michigan. The bill refers to Chinese medicine as primary health care, and has provisions that would allow acupuncturists to treat patients without medical oversight or referral.
The Michigan acupuncture community is itself very diverse and is represented by medical and osteopathic physicians, allied medical personnel, medical acupuncturists, traditional Chinese and Asian acupuncturists, as well as, martial art practitioners of acupuncture and Chinese health practices. HB 5205 would only recognize and provide licensure to the NCCAOM certified members of the MAAOM. HB 5205 would require licensed physicians and medical personnel to leave Michigan and to attend acupuncture schools in other states, and to then be tested by the NCCAOM. HB 5205 would deny practice rights to chiropractors who have trained in medical acupuncture and have been certified through the International Medical Acupuncture Association.

Also disturbing is the acupuncture bill’s discrimination against traditional Chinese and Asian acupuncture practitioners who have served their Asian communities for decades, but who for various reasons are not members of the MAAOM or certified by the NCCAOM. This group includes acupuncturists and Asian physicians who have trained in acupuncture and oriental medicine in their homelands.

The Asian Center of West Michigan, headed by Dr. Douglas Chung is presently conducting a survey of the Asian community of Michigan to determine the impact that HB 5205 will have upon Asians in Michigan. The MAAOM did not consult with the Asian community in the development of their acupuncture bill and the MAAOM has very few Asian members and only fifty members overall. A number of very prominent and long term Asian acupuncture and oriental medicine practitioners will be denied the ability to practice in Michigan if the MAAOM acupuncture bill is passed as it has been written by them.

The Michigan Medical Acupuncture Association, which represents over eighteen hundred members, has attempted to educate and to unify the efforts of all of Michigan’s diverse acupuncture community. The MMMA believes that any legislation that proposes to regulate acupuncture in Michigan should certainly include the cultures that originated this healing art and should not discriminate against any group of acupuncturists simply because of different beliefs, training or certification.

Dr. Gregory Lawton is the owner and founder of the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences. GTLawton@aol.com.

For more information regarding acupuncture, medical acupuncture, and HB 5205, please visit the MMMA website at www.michiganmedicalacupuncture.org.