| Action | Practice of dry needling |
| Stage | Proposed |
| Comment Period | Ended on 2/24/2017 |
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Below I have listed examples as to why dry needling can be a threat to public safety. Based on these examples, it is imperative for public safety that the Physcial Therapist in Virginia not be allowed to practice dry needling unless they are a Licensed Acupuncturist.
Example 1
In Colorado, a physical therapist punctured freeskier Torin Yater-Wallace’s right lung with an acupuncture needle, causing an injury to the lung, which resulted in a pneumothorax (an accumulation of air between the lung and the chest wall, causing the lung to collapse) [1,2]. He required surgery to treat the pneumothorax and was hospitalized for five days [1].
Example 2
In Maryland, a physical therapist punctured a nerve in high school teacher Emily Kuykendall’s left leg with an acupuncture needle, causing an injury to the nerve, which resulted in pain and suffering [3]. She required drugs to treat the pain [3].
“[The pain] is really taking a physical and emotional toll on me,” Ms. Kuykendall wrote approximately three weeks after the dry needling-related nerve injury. “There is almost not a minute in the day that goes by that I wish that I had not gone to see [the physical therapist]” [3].
Example 3
In Arizona, three physical therapists inserted acupuncture needles through patients’ clothing, which resulted in “findings of substandard care” [4-6]. This practice placed the patients at risk for injury, for example to the heart or lungs, and infection, for example with “flesh-eating” Streptococcus pyogenes or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) [4].
Example 4
In Arizona, a physical therapist disposed of used acupuncture needles in a public recycling bin, which violated Arizona’s Biohazardous Medical Waste and Discarded Drugs regulations (Arizona Administrative Code (A.A.C.) R18-13-1401 et seq.) [7]. This practice placed people, including recycling workers, at risk for needlestick injury and infection, for example with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Example 5
In Georgia, a physical therapist performed dry needling on a 15-year-old girl without obtaining the consent of her mother [8]. She collapsed from the dry needling [8].
Example 6
A physical therapist punctured a patient’s lung with an acupuncture needle, causing an injury to the lung, which resulted in a pneumothorax [9]. She required surgery to treat the pneumothorax and was hospitalized for three days [9].
Example 7
A physical therapist was performing dry needling on a patient’s hip when the handle of the acupuncture needle broke off—probably due to the physical therapist using excessive force when manipulating (rotating or pistoning) the acupuncture needle, leaving the shaft of the acupuncture needle lodged in the hip [9]. She was hospitalized and underwent surgery to remove the shaft of the acupuncture needle [9].
Example 8
A physical therapist punctured a patient’s right lung with an acupuncture needle, causing an injury to the lung, which resulted in a pneumothorax [9]. She was hospitalized and underwent treatment for the pneumothorax [20].
Example 9
A physical therapist punctured a patient’s left lung with an acupuncture needle, causing an injury to the lung, which resulted in a pneumothorax [9]. She was hospitalized and underwent treatment for the pneumothorax [20].
Example 10
A physical therapist performed dry needling on a patient’s calf while failing to adhere to basic infection prevention and control practices, which resulted in a calf infection [9]. She required “intravenous therapy and two surgical procedures” to treat the calf infection [9].
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