Ground-breaking legislation passed by the California Assembly (68-0 vote) and now under review by the state Senate requires doctors to inform pain patients about the dangers of opioids and the benefits of conservative care options before prescribing.
AB 888, introduced by acupuncture advocate Assemblymember Evan Low, goes a key step further by requiring doctors to offer patients a referral to an acupuncturist or other nondrug pain management provider (as determined by the doctor) in lieu of opioids; and requires both parties to sign a form acknowledging they have discussed the above.
"[A] prescriber shall discuss all of the following information with the patient, or, if the patient is a minor, the minor, the minor's parent or guardian, or another adult authorized to consent to the minor's medical treatment, before directly dispensing or issuing to a patient the first prescription in a single course of treatment for a controlled substance containing an opioid:
(1) The risks of addiction and overdose associated with the use of opioids.
(2) The increased risk of addiction to an opioid for an individual who is suffering from both mental and substance abuse disorders.
(3) The danger of taking an opioid with a benzodiazepine, alcohol, or another central nervous system depressant.
(4) The availability of nonpharmacological treatments for pain.
"Clearly, Assemblymember Low has become a fierce advocate for both patients and the acupuncture profession," said Rona Ma, president of the California Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine Association (CalATMA), in a press release. "If Governor Jerry Brown is the 'Father of California Acupuncture' for legalization [of] acupuncture, then Assemblymember Low is the 'Uncle of California Acupuncture' for his work expanding access to it."
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
| Digital Exclusive
One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
| Digital Exclusive