Strong Support for New Dry Needling Legislature

Group Picture

By Carol Cote, PT, CCTT, CODN, CMTPTOn Monday, March 16 the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee hearing at the State House in Trenton took place. Many supporters were present to support legislative bill (A1648) – The Physical Therapy Practice Act as well as the issue of dry needling.Testifying at the hearing in support of Dry Needling were:

  • Mr. David Diehl, Retired Offensive Lineman, New York Football Giants (far left)

  • Dr. Brian Mason, President, American Physical Therapy Association of New Jersey (second from right)

  • Dr. Richard Podell, Medical Doctor, Clinical Professor, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (far right)

  • Dr. Josef Tuazon, Physical Therapist/Owner, A Better Life Physical Therapy (not pictured)

  • Also seen in photo:

    • Daniel Klim, Executive Director, American Physical Therapy Association of New Jersey (second from left)

    • Carol Cote, President and Director of North Jersey Physical Therapy Associates (in front)

The prepared testimony included the following:

  • Dr. Mason provided an overview of the bill to inform the legislators of its contents.  He cited that the biggest conflict lies with dry needling.

  • Dr. Podell followed and provided insight and support for why a physical therapist is more than qualified to perform dry needling.  He gave this from the credible perspective of a double board-certified, Harvard-educated clinician.

  • Mr. Diehl gave the patient perspective and reflected on his 11-year professional football career.  He cited that he used both dry needling and acupuncture as a player, and drew the following distinction: he used acupuncture to relax his muscles, while using dry needling, performed by the Giants’ PT Dr. Leigh Weiss, to rehab from injury and stimulate his muscle recovery.

  • Dr. Tuazon anchored the panel, speaking about the small business side and how he uses dry needling on a daily basis.  As a former professional fighter and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion who trained in Asia and studied Oriental Medicine, he distinguished between dry needling and acupuncture and why dry needling is a more effective technique for his patients.

The following legislators were extremely engaged and followed up with questions at the hearing:

Giblin, Thomas P. - Chair (District 34)Jimenez, Angelica M. - Vice-Chair (District 32)Ciattarelli, Jack M. (District 16)Diegnan, Patrick J. (District 18)Handlin, Amy H. (District 13)Kean, Sean T. (District 30)Mazzeo, Vincent (District 2)Moriarty, Paul D. (District 4)Muoio, Elizabeth Maher (District 15)

Convincing arguments were presented to the legislators to hopefully have them vote “Yes” on A1648 and permit dry needling to remain in the bill in the future!

Dry Needling