FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/28/2017

Contact: Lindsay Miller, Marketing and Communications, (714) 573-0899 (ext.224), [email protected]
Mina Larson, Executive Deputy Director, (703) 314-2908 [email protected]

CHEYENNE, WY, March 28, 2017 – A long, arduous journey has come to an end for acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioners and proponents living in Wyoming. Governor Matt Mead signed HB 165, the state’s first law regulating acupuncture, also known as “The Wyoming Acupuncture Practice Act”, making Wyoming the 47^th state to implement laws regulating the practice of acupuncture. The Wyoming Acupuncture Society, who worked closely with the bill’s authors to create and pass this milestone legislation, participated in the bill signing.

“With nearly 100% of Wyoming’s acupuncturists backing this bill and very supportive legislative bill sponsors, we were able to successfully share our story of why regulating acupuncture is so important”, said Whitney Fessler, President of the Wyoming Acupuncture Society. “We look forward to increasing the availability of acupuncture in all corners of rural Wyoming.”

This practice act is designed to prevent untrained and inexperienced practitioners from performing acupuncture reducing unnecessary risk to Wyoming patients seeking acupuncture services. The bill requires Wyoming Acupuncturists to graduate from an education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine  (ACAOM) and pass National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM^®) exams.

“Now that Wyoming has become the 47^th state to regulate the practice of acupuncture, this will ensure that its citizens will be better protected and the state will attract acupuncturists who are nationally board certified,” said Dr. Kory Ward-Cook, chief executive officer of the NCCAOM. “When you raise the standards, you attract highly qualified practitioners.”

The creation of a first practice act will establish the board of acupuncture enabling it to regulate the practice of acupuncture and also provide rulemaking authority to include providing penalties. The law will go into effect January 1, 2018.

Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical treatments in the world. It is low-cost, non-invasive and has very little adverse side effects and has been used with great success for more than 3,000 years. Today, many patients and doctors consider acupuncture a mainstream integrative treatment.

To learn more about the NCCAOM, or about acupuncture and national board certification visit www.nccaom.org. To find an NCCAOM board-certified practitioner in your area, click on Find a Practitioner at www.nccaom.org.