Update on Acupuncture in Mississippi

By Jerusha W. De Groote, MSOM, LAc

The 2009 legislative session is drawing close and the Mississippi Oriental Medicine Association is gearing up! Our organization made some excellent headway last year, passing House Bill 724 through Public Health and Welfare Committee. The Acupuncture Practice Act of 2008 saw many changes along its journey, but, ultimately, died on the floor of the Mississippi House of Representatives. The demise of this bill followed shortly after the Mississippi State Medical Association, a physicians’ interest group, placed a scathing letter on the desk of each member of the House condemning the licensure for acupuncturists, stating that it was “bad medicine,” and urged the members to vote against it. This coming year, our association is hoping to gather more participants in the cause for initial legislation in Mississippi for acupuncturists.

The legislative history of acupuncture in Mississippi is over a decade long. Previous to 2008, two bills have failed to achieve licensure in this state, leaving it to be one of the last seven in the nation that do not recognize NCCAOM certified acupuncturists. Physicians are the only group allowed to practice in Mississippi if they have attained an additional 200 hours of training. This law is guarded carefully, resulting in admonishment from the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure. This makes acupuncture in Mississippi a crime by anyone who is not a medical doctor. Unfortunately, this struggle has become a battle over territory and scope of practice on many occasions.

After receiving a cease and desist from the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure in July of 2007, I founded the Mississippi Oriental Medicine Association (MOMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to enacting fair and safe acupuncture laws in Mississippi. This group is empowering practitioners and patients alike to make a difference in their community and state by uniting together and letting our voices be heard. The 2008 legislative session was an excellent start, but we still need more help!

Practitioners of TCM in Mississippi are few and far between. Considering the law, no nationally certified practitioners are going to move to a state where their hard-earned education and certification goes unrecognized. Our small number is the main reason we need more help here on the ground. There is strength in numbers! If we explain the need for this licensure in Mississippi to our representatives as a group, we will have a better chance to pass this bill.

As a Mississippian, I greatly desire to practice in my home state where my friends and family live. After Hurricane Katrina, my state was crippled, and I rushed back home to help my family rebuild. There are so many other people out there that are doing the same—coming back to restore. Many practitioners and students of TCM are included in this homecoming and have joined MOMA in the effort to show a need for this legislation. In the meantime, practitioners like myself are forced to work in neighboring states in order to continue their practice. I commute to Memphis, Tennessee, three days a week where I have joined others in providing quality TCM care to the community. That is a three hour drive just to practice! Many patients at this clinic are from Mississippi, so they are compelled to make this drive as well. This is a difficult situation for practitioners and patients, but I believe it shows true dedication for this medicine. With perseverance, this law will change soon.

Properly educated and NCCAOM certified practitioners of TCM and their supporters have been joining forces across the Southeast to help usher in this initial legislation in Mississippi. We at MOMA are sending out a call to action for practitioners in neighboring states and national organizations to come to our aid in Mississippi and help during the 2009 legislative session.

Our website, www.mississippiacupuncture.org, is a resource where supporters can find links to their representatives as well as sample letters they can use to send en masse during the 2009 session. There will also be a link to help supporters track the bill and read it contents.

We are working to expand and become an information source for acupuncture in Mississippi. We have developed a Bill Writing Committee to pen a piece of legislation that incorporates many of the changes that were suggested last year. And most importantly, we are providing contact information for the MOMA office, where you can become a member and join our mailing list. Creating a buzz about this issue within the TCM community, as well as the state as a whole, is of utmost importance. This requires communication. Please consider coming to Jackson to join us at the Capitol where we can help to educate. Our website will have news as it happens, and it will have updates on time and location as the need arises.

Enacting initial legislation for acupuncture in Mississippi is another rung in the ladder of success for the Oriental medicine community throughout the nation. It is only after legislation occurs in every state that our profession will have the unification needed to push for federal recognition and regulation. More research and greater advances for our profession as a whole will follow. Please consider joining our efforts and contact MOMA to see what you can do to help.

Jerusha W. De Groote, MSOM, LAc
4035 D North State Street
Jackson, MS 39206
(601) 398.0081 office
(512) 663.0502 cell
www.mississippiacupuncture.org

Further details:
Mississippi House Bill 724