Dry Needling Rulings
Georgia
Is Dry Needling Legal in Georgia?
- On May 12, 2011 the Governor of Georgia signed the Bill into law effective July 1, 2011. Georgia became the first state in the United States where dry needling is part of the Physical Therapy Statutes.
- In February 2011, Representatives Cooper and Lindsey introduced a House , stating that dry needling is also an intervention used by physical therapists. The Bill passed the House of Representatives and was moved to the Senate, which approved the Bill in April 2011.
- In July 2010, the Georgia State Board of Physical Therapy met with the Georgia Composite Medical Board and both boards agreed to collaborate to resolve the dry needling problem.
- After the Acupuncture Statutes were modified in 2009 by including a sentence that "dry needling is a technique of acupuncture," the Medical Board at the request of the acupuncture board began to issue cease and desist orders and the Georgia Attorney General ruled that dry needling would therefore no longer be allowed by physical therapists.
- In 2008, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, which oversees the practice of acupuncture rewrote their practice act.
- In October 2004, the Georgia State Board of Physical Therapy suggested that dry needling would be within the scope of physical therapy practice.
