Dear Virginia Board of Medicine,

I am writing to express strong opposition to Petition18VAC85-120-110 , which seeks to amend 18VAC85-120-110 to permit athletic trainers to perform dry needling. 

Dry needling is an invasive procedure that involves penetrating the skin with solid filiform needles to stimulate muscle tissue. It carries real clinical risks—including infection, nerve injury, pneumothorax, and in some cases death. Dry Needling requires extensive knowledge of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and clean needle technique. Athletic trainers do not receive the depth or breadth of education in these critical areas during their core curriculum to ensure safe performance of this technique.  

By contrast, licensed acupuncturists in Virginia have

• At least 1,800 hours of entry-level education in acupuncture, of which:

  • Didactic (classroom) instruction must be at least 1,500 hours

  • Clinical training must be at least 300 hours, including supervised patient care

Most acupuncturists far exceed these minimums through accredited master's or doctoral programs, often completing 3,000+ total hours of combined education and clinical training.

Expanding the scope of athletic trainers to include dry needling would:

• Jeopardize patient safety by allowing inadequately trained individuals to perform invasive care;

• Dilute professional standards, undermining the integrity of established health professions! 

• Increase risk of harm to the public, especially athletes and youth under athletic care.

I urge the Board to deny this petition and reaffirm its commitment to protecting public health by ensuring that invasive procedures like dry needling remain in the hands of highly trained, licensed acupuncturists 

Thank you for your time