S867 - DRY NEEDLING BILL - up for a full vote in the Senate this Thursday

Earlier today, a NJ Spotlight News article entitled, “Is dry needling acupuncture? Lawmakers may decide” was published online. As you will gauge from the article, APTANJ has never given up on bringing dry needling back into the PT scope of practice and has been actively working on a legislative solution. 

And, we’ve taken a few positive legislative steps forward…

In early November, S867, which “permits certain physical therapists to perform dry needling under certain circumstances,” was voted out of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee, by an overwhelming margin of 10 (yes) – 1 (no) – 1 (abstain). On Thursday, December 2nd at 1:00 pm, the full Senate will vote on S867.

APTANJ needs everyone's help if we are going to protect this manual technique as a law - once and for all. There is opposition hoping to derail our efforts by providing inaccurate and misleading information to legislators.

Here are some ways you can support our efforts:

• Call or email your local Senate representative and ask her/him to support S867. Ask your patients to do the same.
• When you call or write, please remind your elected officials that PTs have been “essential’ healthcare providers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and have also been administering Covid-19 vaccines for nearly a year.
• Reach out to your colleagues (members and non-members) and tell them to call or email their legislators in support of S867. It doesn't matter if they perform dry needling or not. What bonds the profession together is that you are licensed physical therapists in the State of New Jersey.

Here’s a list of phone numbers and email address for our elected officials in New Jersey.

You can also find your local Senate representative by accessing the Municipality Index located on the New Jersey Legislative website.

Thank you for your continued advocacy efforts on this dry needling legislation. APTANJ will continue to stand up for what we believe in on behalf of our members, their patients and the PT profession in New Jersey.

Megan Gardner, PT, MPT, MHA, CLT

APTANJ President