It is illegal for the VA Board of PT to approve the use of acupuncture needles in Dry Needling by Physical Therapists.  According to 3 State Judiciaries, 6 Attorney Generals and numberous regulatory agencies, the statutory definion of Practice of Physical Therapy does not include any language or explicit authority to use the invasive MEDICAL procedure of acupuncture needles. 

Despite the for profit training programs and wishes of the APTA and FSBPT ( biased professional organizations), the legislatures never intended to define Physical Therapy in such a way to allow the use of acupuncture needles. 

Dry needling is not a manual therapy.  It is a Medical procedure requiring extensive specialized training.

It is a medical procedure that can cause severe injury and death.  It can result in transmission of blood borne pathogens.

Dry Needling is a rebranding of a very invasive style of acupuncture.  Lifting and Thrusting of tender points requires extensive experience and clinical training.

If the proponents of Dry Needling truthfully acknowledged the history and theories behind the procedure, there would be no legal doubt that Dry Needling is Acupuncture.

Dry Needling proponents willfully misrepresent Acupuncture by describing this modern medical system as only "related to energy and meridians."  For over 300 years, scientists, ohysicians and modern acupuncturists have described the mechanics of acupuncture based on modern physiology.