Enforcement Committee reviews draft consumer guide, asks profession for evidence‑based language

At a meeting of the Enforcement Committee of the California Acupuncture Board, members reviewed a new draft of a consumer guide and agreed to solicit written input from professional associations and alumni groups to refine language by Jan. 31, staff said.

The committee’s staff presented a text‑only draft and repeatedly warned the committee against crossing into professional advocacy. "Our primary mandate is protection of the public," a staff member said, urging that the guide focus on what consumers need to know rather than endorsing treatments.

Public commenters and practitioners called for clearer, evidence‑based wording. Ann York Lee, an online commenter, asked the committee to "be neutral, use the evidence base" and suggested including links to research such as work from UCI’s Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute so readers can verify claims themselves. "Allow the public to search by themselves," she said.

Neil Miller, representing Cal Aetna, praised the draft as a useful foundation but urged replacing solely traditional phrasing with modern biomedical terminology so acupuncture reads as part of integrative medicine: "It's not an alternative medicine, it's a form of integrative medicine," Miller said. He recommended the committee delay formal action until professional groups provide suggested language.

Farshid Namin, a faculty member who called in, warned that public sources such as Wikipedia sometimes describe acupuncture as "pseudoscience" and urged the board to be proactive in correcting misinformation; he and other callers offered to help craft neutral, science‑oriented text. Namin also recommended changing the draft’s use of the word "bruising" to the medical term "hematoma," saying the latter is more accurate and less likely to be misinterpreted in enforcement contexts.

A patient who identified himself as Chad recounted personal benefit from traditional Chinese medicine and urged the committee to include a concise, evidence‑based list ("12 or 13") of conditions commonly treated by acupuncture so prospective patients can better recognize when to seek treatment.

Committee members and staff said they will send a request to professional associations and alumni groups for proposed language and references; the committee agreed to a Jan. 31 deadline for submissions and asked legal counsel to review any suggested language to ensure it does not constitute professional advocacy. The committee noted prior versions of the brochure were posted in the 2010–2015 period and that the new text is intended as a concise, consumer‑facing summary rather than an in‑depth treatment manual.

The meeting also included routine business: the committee approved the minutes for the March 6, 2025 meeting by motion and roll call vote earlier in the session. Staff said the draft and related materials are posted under Item 4 on the board meeting materials page and that a revised draft incorporating association feedback will be returned to the committee for further review. The committee adjourned after completing the agenda.