Dear Board of Physical Therapy, 
  
I am a licensed acupuncturist and am writing to object to the intent to draft "dry needling" regulations.  I believe the regulations present a serious threat to public health and would authorize physical therapists to engage in acts that are clearly outside the scope of practice for physical therapy that has been adopted by the Virginia General Assembly. 
  
I encourage you not to draft regulations because: 
 

1. 54 hours of training is a completely inadequate level of training to qualify a physical therapist to safely insert acupuncture needles into patients and the regulations therefore are a serious threat to public safety;
2. Dry needling constitutes the practice of acupuncture under Virginia law and there is no basis for allowing physical therapists to practice acupuncture with only a small percentage of the training required for acupuncturists and even medical doctors; 
3. The dry needling rules are illegal, because they would allow physical therapists to engage in acts that are outside the legal scope of practice for physical therapy as defined by Virginia's General Assembly. There is nothing to support that the General Assembly ever intended to allow physical therapists to insert acupuncture needles into patients absent the same level of training required for licensed acupuncturists.  

I have observed another concern about this whole process that has been presented by physical therapists in many different states.  In the beginning they were asking for approval for dry needling claiming it is definitely not acupuncture.  Then as the acceptance grows, one of the main teachers publishes a book calling it the definitive book on medical acupuncture.    

Thank you for considering my comments. 
  
Sincerely, 
  
Don Wetsel 

dewetsel@gmail.com