The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE - Patients who depend on acupuncture for pain relief and other ailments are urging Kentucky officials to regulate the practice so therapists can be licensed to operate in the state.
Only a physician or osteopath can legally practice acupuncture in Kentucky. That irks some patients, who travel across state lines seeking the ancient Chinese procedure.
"I don't have any options," said Melissa Brennan, a Dry Ridge resident who was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident nine years ago. Brennan drives 40 minutes to her acupuncturist in Cincinnati, even though the therapist, Mimi Tagher, lives just 20 minutes from her home.
Brennan, 36, has severe pain in her lower back, where a metal plate holds her spine together, and says acupuncture is the only respite.
"I can't do anything in Kentucky. But here, Mimi has all of these diplomas and all of this education. She's amazing."
A bill has been pre-filed for the next session of the General Assembly that would create a board to regulate and license acupuncturists.
The Kentucky Medical Association acknowledges that non-physicians are practicing acupuncture in Kentucky and says it's time to regulate or license them.
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