Submissions to Government Agencies

As the interest in acupuncture has grown and yet much misinformation regarding acupuncture persists, the Acupuncture Now Foundation has sent in submissions to policymakers in different countries and aided several groups in their submissions. Here is a list of ANF submissions to policy making agencies.

Research

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Acupuncture is “Reasonable and Necessary” for Peripheral Neuropathy

Comments to the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services on chronic low back pain August 14, 2019

California COVID-19 Community Vaccine Advisory Committee

Comments to the California COVID-19 Community Vaccine Advisory Committee on January 4, 2021

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services April 2019

Comments to CMS on Chronic Low Back Pain – Feb 2019, ANF US & Intl. 4o

Recommended, not recommended, strongly recommended

Noninvasive, Nonpharmacological Treatment for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review

Comments from the Acupuncture Now Foundation to the AHRQ draft report December 26, 2017

AHRQ draft report: Noninvasive, Nonpharmacological Treatment for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review (PDF)

Comments from the Acupuncture Now Foundation to the AHRQ draft report December 26, 2017

Acupuncture in Pain Management: Strengths and Weaknesses of a Promising Non-Pharmacologic Therapy in the Age of the Opioid Epidemic. FDA Position Paper

Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

Joint Acupuncture Opioid Task Force CDC Submission 2016

Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule

Full Letter to the Department of Workers’ Compensation (PDF)

ANF Response to NICE Draft Guideline

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent organization, established by the British government in 1999. NICE reviews evidence and decides which treatments are to be made available (and paid for) by the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales but their guidance is considered by healthcare policy makers globally.

When NICE released their draft guidelines on treatment for low back pain and sciatica, they recommended a reversal of their 2009 decision to recommend acupuncture as an effective treatment for low back pain. They proposed that acupuncture should not be used for low back/sciatica because they believe the research does not definitively support that acupuncture works beyond “sham.” The ANF emphatically disagrees with this finding and helped lead an effort to pour over the NICE research methodology. When we did so, we found several outright reporting errors as well as illogical and even unethical thinking behind their rational for their findings. The following submission to NICE as a joint effort between the ANF and England’s Northern College of Acupuncture both of whom registered with NICE as stakeholder organizations. We await word from NICE if they will change their policy due to the substantial missteps in their procedures.