When Acupuncture Goes Wrong: Patients Deserve Protection from Harmful Practices
Posted on April 13, 2025
When Acupuncture Goes Wrong: Patients Deserve Protection from Harmful Practices
Acupuncture, when performed by a licensed and properly trained practitioner, is a time-tested, evidence-informed therapy that supports healing, pain relief, and overall wellness. But in the wrong hands, acupuncture becomes dangerous—and in some cases, permanently harmful.
Across the country, an increasing number of patients are being injured by a practice misleadingly called “dry needling.” This procedure, which uses acupuncture needles to penetrate muscle tissue, is being performed by individuals who are not licensed acupuncturists—including physical therapists, chiropractors, physicians, dentists and other healthcare professionals. These individuals are often allowed to practice acupuncture under a different name, with as little as 20 hours of training and no requirement to pass a national or state acupuncture board exam.
When this happens and a patient is harmed, states—and in some cases the federal government—may be held responsible for not requiring adequate education, training, and examination to practice acupuncture, or dry needling, or recommending patients consume Chinese herbal medicine (supplements).
Unlicensed Practice, Permanent Harm
Many patients have experienced:
– Punctured lungs (pneumothorax)
– Nerve damage
– Chronic pain
– Infections
– Disability or loss of physical function
These are not rare accidents—they are predictable outcomes when invasive procedures are performed without the necessary education and clinical training.
Licensed acupuncturists receive 3–4 years of graduate-level education, including thousands of supervised clinical hours, training in anatomy and needling safety, and must pass national board exams. By contrast, individuals performing dry needling often receive only a few hours of training, sometimes online or over a weekend.
Legal and Ethical Responsibility: States and Disability Codes
When the state permits unqualified individuals to perform acupuncture or dry needling without adequate education or licensure, it fails in its duty to protect public health. In cases where this leads to long-term injury, chronic pain, or permanent disability, the state may be in violation of both its own laws and federal protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or other disability-related statutes.
– Under the ADA (42 U.S. Code § 12101), individuals who acquire a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities are protected from discrimination and entitled to reasonable accommodations.
– A patient who develops a qualifying disability due to state-sanctioned malpractice may have grounds to seek damages and pursue legal action against both the provider and the state regulatory system that enabled the harm.
– At the state level, tort law, healthcare liability statutes, and patients’ rights laws may also provide a legal foundation for recovery of damages and policy change.
When a state’s policies allow individuals to be harmed by procedures deceptively separated from the term “acupuncture,” the state becomes complicit in causing lifelong harm, suffering, loss of function, or permanent disability.
What You Can Do If You’ve Been Harmed
If you or a loved one has been injured by dry needling or acupuncture performed by someone who is not a state-licensed acupuncturist, you may be entitled to compensation and legal protection. Here’s what you should do:
1. Get medical documentation of your injury immediately.
2. File a formal complaint with your state acupuncture board and health department.
3. Contact a licensed attorney experienced in medical malpractice, disability law, or personal injury. You may be eligible for:
– Medical expense reimbursement
– Pain and suffering damages
– Long-term disability compensation
– Legal action against the provider and state agencies
4. Request ADA accommodations if your injury has impacted your ability to work, function, or carry out daily activities.
5. Demand your state revoke the right of non-licensed practitioners to perform needling procedures under deceptive names.
Protect Yourself and Others
Changing the name of a procedure doesn’t change the risks. “Dry needling” is acupuncture, and acupuncture requires a license.
If you’ve been harmed, you have the right to justice—and your experience can lead to real policy change. States must be held accountable when they sacrifice patient safety for professional lobbying or convenience.
You deserve care that is safe, competent, and regulated. And if you’ve been injured, you deserve legal protection, compensation, and a voice.
For patient safety we recommend all healthcare providers who practice acupuncture, or dry needling in the USA- must complete the educational requirements and examinations required to be a state licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.).
A case report published in the state of TN where dry needling was provided to a 15-year old after surgery highlights the dangers of states allowing none-licensed acupuncturists to utilize acupuncture needles for ‘dry needling’. “Deep infection from acupuncture may contaminate existing spinal instrumentation and require operative debridement, implant removal, and long-term antibiotic therapy. Accordingly, there is an increased risk for deformity progression in this scenario related to the implant removal.”
Errors may be present in this article–this is an opinion piece in regards to scope creep which may and has harmed patients.