President Donald Trump signed sweeping opioids legislation into law on Oct 24th, 2018, to combat the opioid epidemic, according to CNN. Last year, more than 70,000 Americans died from a drug overdose. Opioids were responsible for about two-thirds of those deaths. This bill is aimed to control the overuse of addictive pain killer drugs and to look for alternative drugs and treatments which are safer.
What this means to acupuncture?
Acupuncture was mentioned in this bill, “…for the treatment of pain, such as acupuncture…”, as one of these treatments which will be evaluated and will be integrated into the new pain management programs. After the evaluation, acupuncture will become one of the payable treatments in Medicare.
My acupuncture clinic severs Houston, Richmond, Katy and other local areas. The top disorders in my acupuncture clinic are lower back pain, infertility, neck pain, arthritis, allergies, insomnia, headache/migraines, and stroke recovery. More and more people will benefit from acupuncture treatments when they realize the side effects of opioids.
Reference Links
The Bill:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6/text/eh
CNN Report:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/24/politics/donald-trump-opioid-crisis-one-year-later-event/index.html