Speaking on behalf of the board of directors of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance, executive director Michael R. McCoy announced the Alliance's endorsement and support of the reintroduction of the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act as proposed by Representative Maurice Hinchey of New York and a number of co-sponsors.
"This bill marks an important step forward in the recognition and acceptance of acupuncture as a key modality in the American health care system," said Dr. McCoy. "The board is gratified that our legislators have heard the growing demand of the public for access to our medicine and its safe and effective treatment modalities."
Dr. McCoy indicated that beyond endorsement, the Alliance will urge its members and friends to support the legislation by contacting their representatives and senators.
Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) affects more than 15% of the U.S. population but evades most practitioners’ radar. Just five years ago, it wasn’t even on my radar, despite already having 20 years of experience as a clinician at that time. The more I dug (similar to leaky gut and post-COVID syndrome), the more I found my patients were suffering from this disorder.
Research supports the effectiveness of selecting the distal acupuncture points for the treatment of microtrauma and for relieving pain, particularly in cases of chronic shoulder pain. But to make the treatment results long-lasting, clinical experience and research suggest that instead of treating the most painful structure first, we identify the inhibited driver, restore reliable recruitment, confirm it with immediate re-testing, and only then address the painful area as a branch of a deeper pattern.
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The motivation behind our practice of medicine is important, impacting not just our experience but also the experiences of those we treat. It is perhaps for this reason that the aspiration to help not just some, but all beings heal, has historically been an important part of the medical tradition. To explain this, we need to consider how medicine is interwoven with other social domains.