ZHU Lian，a pioneer and innovator of acupuncture and moxibustion science in new China

中图分类号：R 2-09文献标识码：A针灸人物

[摘 要] 朱琏同志为中国中医科学院针灸研究所的主要创建人，是西医学习中医的带头人。朱琏同志对针灸事业的主要贡献有学习针灸医学，推广针灸疗法；心系针灸事业，创建针灸研究机构，并较早进行针灸国际交流；注重临床实践，倡导针灸科研；著《新针灸学》，传道后学。

[主题词] 针灸学；传记；中国中医研究院；@朱琏

Comrade ZHU Lian，a pioneer and innovator of acupuncture and moxibustion science in new China

MA Lan-ping，Director： XUE Chong-cheng (Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion，China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences，Beijing 100700，China)

ABSTRACT Comrade ZHU Lian is a main founder of Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion，China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences，and she is the first to learn TCM for a physician of western medicine. The present paper looks back the works of comrade ZHU in acupuncture and moxibustion cause. Her main contributions are learning acupuncture and moxibustion medicine，popularizing acupuncture and moxibustion therapy；being concerned acupuncture and moxibustion cause，establishing organization of acupuncture and moxibustion research，more early conducting international exchanges of acupuncture and moxibustion；paying attention to clinical practice，proposing scientific research of acupuncture and moxibustion；writing New Acupuncture and Moxibustion Science，passing on later generations.

KEY WORDS Acupuncture-Moxibustion Science；Biography；CATCM；@ ZHU Lian

朱琏(1909—1978)，字景雩，出生于江苏省溧阳县。中国中医研究院(现中国中医科学院)第一任副院长，针灸研究所创建人兼所长，共产党员。朱琏同志虽一直担任行政职务，但从1944年学习针灸以来，便开始了针灸医学的研究工作，直到生命的最后一刻。现将朱琏同志在针灸方面的主要贡献介绍如下。

1 接受先进思想，走上革命道路

1927年，朱琏考入苏州志华产科学院，1930年因成绩优异，提前毕业，应聘到上海普善医院妇产科工作。1929年，溧阳县人陶希晋与许闻天等领导的溧阳暴动失败，受到通缉，避难上海，经同学介绍与朱琏同志认识。朱琏对他们的革命行动深为敬佩，给予了支持与保护，后经许闻天伉俪敦促，陶希晋与朱琏同志结为夫妇。1931年陶希晋同志因需要到安徽工作，朱琏同志即辞去上海的工作一同到安徽明光镇，在当地中学当校医和教员。“九一八”事变后，她和陶希晋同志立即组织当地各界成立了抗日救亡组织并领导开展活动。1932年因形势需要，陶希晋同志的工作转到石家庄正太铁路局，朱琏同志亦到石家庄，在正太铁路医院任职。她的医术和对病人的关心，赢得了广大群众的赞誉。她还参加了正太铁路救国会，任宣传委员，工作积极。1935年北平市委组织部长刘汉平到石家庄，介绍他们一同参加了中国共产党。

中共石家庄市委成立后，与上级组织和各地的联系、文件传达，都需要接头地点，于是决定朱琏同志辞去正太医院职务，自开诊所。1936年3月1日朱琏诊所在石家庄成立，它的任务是“搞好医务工作，扩大诊所的社会影响，掩护党的工作；利用看病宣传党的主张，发动群众参加抗日救国运动；组织抗日团体，搞好统一战线工作。”任务繁重，朱琏同志没有丝毫松懈，不但应诊、接生、手术，还宣传抗日、组织写慰问前方将士信、募捐、成立了“石门各界慰劳前方将士联合会”等。在此期间，她还担任石家庄《正言报》医药卫生和《华北民报》妇女副刊的主编、《北风》特约撰稿人。她的活动引起国民党警方的怀疑，说他们夫妇是共产党，要采取行动。由于受朱琏诊所惠济的妇婴家庭众多，群众自发起来保护他们，其中不乏企、事业要员，事便平息。

“七七”事变后，“石门各界慰劳前方将士联合会”改为“石门各界抗日救国会”，为石家庄市委领导的公开的抗日统一战线组织，其后 “石家庄各界妇女抗敌救国会” 成立，朱琏任会长。抗日部队在石家庄成立后方医院，她组织群众为伤病员服务，还在诊所办救护培训班，以备不时之需。妇女抗敌救国会遭到国民党的禁止，她带领数百名妇女到国民党李默庵军部前请愿，高呼抗日救国口号，争得胜利，保住了救国会。

朱琏诊所的工作人员都是党的干部，石家庄市委的工作面扩大后，联系范围更宽，成为中国共产党直中特委和石家庄市委的工作机关。1937年9月周恩来、彭德怀和南汉宸等领导来到石家庄时，多项准备与接待工作也是经这个诊所办理的。

1937年9月下旬，日本侵略军继续南侵，石家庄连续遭受轰炸，各方面撤退。根据平汉线省委关于西上太行山开展敌后游击战的决定，朱琏同志和部分诊所职工，携带药物器械赴太行山参加游击队。从此，她穿上了军装，成为八路军战士。1937年冬，刘伯承师长任命朱琏同志为一二九师野战医院院长。1938年4月，日军分六路围攻一二九师，朱琏同志率领野战医院人员随军转战于太行山，救治伤员，照顾家属，成绩卓著。后来日军又以优势兵力，九路进攻晋东南地区，战斗中，野战医院和师部失去联系，她指挥医院人员、伤员和家属转移到隐蔽的地方。敌人的进攻被粉碎后，她又率领他们寻找部队，胜利会师。在庆祝大会上，她荣获“刚毅果敢”的光荣称号。后朱琏同志被任命为一二九师卫生部副部长兼野战医院院长。

1939年，朱琏和爱人陶希晋到延安马列学院学习。学习期间，她仍然不忘自己的医生职责，一边学习，一边为学习的干部和中央机关的工作人员治病。1940年“三八节”，中共中央授予她“模范工作者”称号。不久，朱琏从马列学院抽调出来，担任了延安中国医科大学副校长、十八集团军总卫生部门诊部主任。不久，遇到离别2年多的周恩来副主席，亲切地对她说：“现在你开始搞党政工作了，可不要抛弃医疗业务呀!业务要精益求精，要多多地为党培养医务人员。你们不要老是执着洋教条，要遵照毛主席教导，努力学习中医，要团结新老医务人员，用中西医两种方法为部队为人民防治疾病，搞出一套我们中国的新医学来。”1944年10月，她参加了陕甘宁边区文教工作者会议，毛主席在有关医务工作的讲话中，号召学习现代医学的医生要学习中医，加深了她对中西医结合重要性的认识。朱琏同志改变了过去对中医的片面看法，决心走中医科学化、西医大众化、中西医结合的道路，从此便与针灸结缘，并为针灸事业的发展贡献了自己毕生的精力。

2 学习针灸医学，推广针灸疗法

1944年朱琏同志参加了陕甘宁边区文教工作者会议后不久，在边区中西医座谈会上，她听了任作田老先生有关针灸治病的经验介绍，即拜他为师(同时拜师者还有中国中医研究院第一任院长鲁之俊同志)。1945年4月，朱琏同志因病到和平医院医治，院长鲁之俊邀她一起学习针灸，她边学习边在和平医院门诊室实践。学习初期，她对针灸的作用抱有怀疑的态度，但事实改变了她的看法。有一位患夜盲症的同志，一到阴天或光线微弱的地方或黄昏的时候，不仅不能读书写字，连一棵一棵的大树都看不清，经过针灸治疗10天后，患者就基本痊愈了。因涉水受凉，朱琏同志患上坐骨神经痛，经打针、吃药、热敷等治疗均不见效，想起用针灸治疗，自己扎了1次后，疼痛便消失，她用针灸治好了自己的坐骨神经痛。自此以后，她用针灸为来自前方的战士、干部和延安的老百姓治疗疑难病症。当时对针灸治病的机理并不清楚，但针灸疗法节省药品，治疗效果好，于是，她决心在实践中去探索，便在她主持的八路军卫生部门诊部推广和应用针灸给病人治病。

1945年冬，朱琏同志回到太行山任晋冀鲁豫边区政府卫生局局长兼边区医院院长。当时因遭封锁，药物缺乏，她便推广针灸，躬亲力行，并举办学习班，要求医院的医务人员都要掌握针灸技术。自1946年起，她举办了3期针灸训练班，为部队和地方培养了很多针灸技术人员，大大缓解了缺医少药的情况。1947年边区开始土改，她给医院参加土改工作队的同志每人几根针，教给他们治疗常见病的穴位、进针手法，要求他们利用针灸为边区农民防病治病，并把它作为发动群众、团结群众的武器，密切了党和人民的关系。

1948年晋察冀和晋冀鲁豫两边区合并成立华北人民政府，她任卫生部第一副部长、哈里逊医院院长。1949年2月，为了给解放区培养医生，在华北人民政府董必武主席的支持下，她在河北省平山县创办了华北卫生学校，亲任校长。学校内分4个短期训练班：医生班、妇婴卫生班、助产班、针灸班。针灸班除主要课程针灸外，还开设生理卫生、细菌、解剖、病理、诊断等课程。朱琏同志亲自编写教材，亲自授课。

3 心系针灸事业，创建针灸研究机构

1949年华北人民政府迁移到北京，朱琏同志也随同到京。到北京后任中央人民政府卫生部妇幼司副司长、中央防疫委员会办公室主任。在卫生部工作期间，她积极参与制定了“面向工农兵，预防为主，团结中西医，卫生工作与群众运动相结合”的四大方针，还积极筹划建立中医事业机构。1951年，在她的建议与努力下，“中央人民政府卫生部针灸疗法实验所”得以建立，她任所长。实验所最初设在紧靠协和医院后门外的一所平房内，与协和医院之建筑形成鲜明对比。以后由董必武副主席借用政法委员会一所四合院，情况有好转。该地与朱琏同志住家很近，她到实验所给群众和高干诊治就方便多了。她承担了为中央领导的出诊，出诊多在晚间，常通夜不得休息。1952年实验所要被撤销，朱琏同志多方争取，使实验所得以保留。1954年9月12日，卫生部派鲁之俊、朱琏、何高民同志负责筹建中医研究院的工作。1955年12月19日，中医研究院成立，朱琏同志任副院长，针灸疗法实验所更改成为现在的针灸研究所，朱琏同志兼任首任所长。

1955年毛泽东主席在杭州接见朱琏同志的一次便宴上对朱琏同志说：“针灸不是土东西，它是科学的，将来全世界各国革命人民都要用它……”，说到此，毛主席站起举杯说：“今天为庆祝针灸万岁，干杯!”建国后朱琏同志最早开展了针灸的国际交流，1956年接待了前苏联保健部德柯琴斯卡娅教授等3人为期3个月的学习观察，同时，开办了外宾诊室；同年秋季，朝鲜政府派出了4人医学小组来学习针灸^[1]。

1960年，朱琏随爱人陶希晋调到广西，任中共南宁市委常委兼副市长，分管文教卫生工作。1961年9月，在区、市党委的支持下，组建了南宁市针灸研究组，并兼任组长。其他工作人员则从当时的南宁市工人医院(现南宁市第二医院)、人民医院(现南宁市第一医院)和银行抽调而来，他们是刘显奇、吴怀清、黄爱桂、潘家笑、王思本、刘素华、陈玲等同志。同年12月和1964年10月，广西中医学院先后派韦立富、王登旗和肖继芳三位青年教师前往跟随朱琏老师进修针灸。1962年7月针灸研究组更名为针灸门诊部，由时任南宁市卫生局副局长齐良恭兼任门诊部主任，1963年下半年薛崇成同志从天津调来任门诊部副主任至1965年其调至南宁医学专科学校任教后，由孟伟同志接任副主任职。“文革”期间，1969年下半年针灸门诊部曾一度被撤销，人员下放农村、厂矿。很多病人则到朱琏同志家中求医。1973年2月，朱琏同志在为自治区党委第一书记、区政府主席韦国清同志治病时谈到了成立针灸研究所的事情，得到韦国清同志的重视和支持，筹备成立广西省级针灸研究所，抽调孟伟同志具体负责筹备工作。1976年元旦南宁市针灸研究所正式挂牌成立，由朱琏同志兼任针灸所所长。朱琏同志来到南宁后，积极为医疗卫生事业比较落后的广西少数民族地区培养针灸人才。1961—1964年，她先后为南宁地区、南宁市、桂林地区及桂林市举办过8期针灸培训班；1965年和1971年还专为广西全区及广西军区分别举办过2期针灸提高班；1969—1970年又先后为驻邕空七军、中南地区空军和航空医生举办过3期针灸学习班。均由朱琏同志亲自讲授，韦立富同志协助讲课、辅导和带实习。1976年元月中旬，南宁市7·21针灸大学成立，朱琏同志兼任校长，第一期课程持续1年2个月，朱琏同志亲自讲课，后因身体原因不再授课，由韦立富等同志负责，又举办3期学习班。1961—1977年间，朱琏同志还先后应邀为广西中医院、广西医学院的大学生和越南留学生，以及广西全区和南宁市分别举办了多期“西医学习中医班”，积极传授其所倡导的针灸医学。朱琏同志在广西期间，不仅为广西培养了大批针灸人才，而且对针灸疗法在广西的推广、改变广西民间医疗的落后状况起了重要的推动作用。

4 注重临床实践，倡导针灸科研

朱琏同志一贯坚持临床、教学与科研相结合的方针，三者不偏废。她从不脱离临床，公务再繁忙，也坚持看门诊，她看病细心，对高级领导和普通群众态度一样。1966年，董必武副主席在广州突发三叉神经痛，经过朱琏同志20多个日夜的精心治疗而痊愈。她注重开展针灸的科学研究，20世纪50年代前期即主持进行了针灸对疟原虫的抑制、对人体补体的影响、对血吸虫病治疗中锑剂中毒的解除作用等实验。她认为针灸治病是通过神经系统的作用，在南宁又积极支持了针灸与神经系统关系的研究。薛崇成研究幻肢感传需要先天缺肢者，朱琏同志即联系南宁市委和南宁地委，自400多万人口中找到2例，完成了研究，使经络与神经的一致性更为明确。朱琏同志认为对待中医与针灸，应遵照毛主席对文化遗产的去粗取精、去伪存真的原则，学术上应该遵循“百花齐放，百家争鸣”的方针发挥不同的见解。在针灸中，她认为中医所论的经络与现代医学所论的神经系统与血循环系统有一致性，针灸的作用在于调整与激发神经的功能，按照她的论点进行取穴与手法操作，治疗效果与旧有方法相比，有过之而无不及。学术上她认为针灸与中医必须用科学原理和方法加以整理，但不能脱离古人的叙述与记载，也不能不顾现代医学研究的成果，时代不同，认识与论点可以不一，但同是研究人体的学科，其间必有共同基础。她认为人体必有一个起主导作用的系统，这个系统，只能是神经系统，体液系统不能与之平行看待，不能在主导方面形成二元论或多元论的观点。主导系统必然又有其层次，只有神经系统具有这种层次，这才符合辩证唯物论的观点，传统的经络理论，达不到这一点。她还认为不能把经穴之间的联系看作平衡关系，因为这与实际生理情况和辩证唯物论的观点都是不一致的。她认为针灸治病的机制在于刺激神经的周围部分而调整神经系统，特别是对其中枢部分的调整以达到治疗的目的，因而她强调治疗的部位、手法、时机等3个因素。她坚持自己的学术观点与理论，认为不应有神经与血管以外的经络结构存在。当金奉汉发现经络结构的事件大肆报道、影响很大时，她却不受干扰，广西医学院有人好意，请薛崇成转达朱琏同志，劝她发一电报对金奉汉表示祝贺，为自己下台阶，但被朱琏同志拒绝。后来的事实证明了她的判断是正确的。

5 著《新针灸学》，改革创新，传道后学

早在1948年，朱琏同志就写了针灸学讲义作为华北卫生学校的针灸教材。因在实习中同学们都反映需要针灸方面的书籍，朱琏同志组织了一个编写组，帮着整理材料，组长是彭庆昭同志，组员有当时卫校教务主任兼诊断学教员张殿华同志、解剖学教员甄石度同志、病理学教员燕图南同志、卫生学教员李解同志、生理学教员王雪苔同志(负责编制彩色插图)及卫校门诊部负责针灸的医助杨喆同志，另外还有卫校针灸班学员代表张景廉、赵焕文两位老针灸医生，紧张地工作了几个月，才把原来训练班的讲义写成了《新针灸学》的初稿^[2] 。1951年3月，在董必武副主席的支持下，《新针灸学》一书问世，由北京人民出版社出版，朱德总司令为本书题词：“中国的针灸治病，已有几千年的历史，他在使用方面，不仅简便经济，且对一部分疾病确有效果，这就是科学。希望中西医团结改造，更进一步地提供其技术与科学原理。”董必武副主席为本书作序。《新针灸学》共分5篇：第1篇绪论，第2篇针灸治疗原理，第3篇针灸术，第4篇孔穴各论，第5篇治疗。针灸学自有记载以来，均因袭旧论，基本观点大体相同。朱琏同志从实践出发，结合古今医学理论而有所创新，开辟了针灸学的一个新阶段，所以称“新针灸学”^[3]。本书为中华人民共和国成立后出版的第一部针灸医著，先后被译为朝鲜、俄、越南等文版，影响较大。

《新针灸学》第1版的稿费人民币800元，朱琏同志一文未要，全部交给针灸疗法实验所。

1954年10月，朱琏同志又将《新针灸学》内容进行了修订，由北京人民出版社进行了第2版印刷，理论上深入一层；方法上创新艾卷灸法，将艾绒用纸卷起，并在上面标有刻度，1寸大约可以燃烧10分钟。20世纪70年代末，准备第3次修订出版，朱琏同志突然患病，辞世前数小时仍在工作。之后，薛崇成、许式谦、韦立富、黄鼎坚组成整理编写小组，薛崇成等遵她的原意编写，《新针灸学》第3版于1980年，由广西人民出版社出版发行。第3版增加了“简易取穴法”和“医案选录”；对穴位插图作了更新和增删；归纳了下睛明、鱼腰、鼻梁、水沟、海泉、下巨髎、下禾髎、下承浆、新会、新设、凤眼、新社、虎口、新主、剑门、新义、革门、新建、内犊鼻19个新的有效穴位；删去了前2版的附录；对于部分医案，编写组加写了按语。

在石家庄双凤山陵园，朱琏同志的陵墓处铸有朱琏同志的一座铜像，安放在印度红花岗岩石材上。设计者独具匠心地在铜像旁用汉白云雕刻了一本《新针灸学》，打开的2页上分别刻有朱德的题词和董必武手书序言，形象而又生动地展示了朱琏在祖国传统医学领域作出的不可磨灭的贡献。

(致谢：在文章撰写过程中，得到了朱琏同志亲属管新凯老师大力支持，并赠送北京研究出版社出版的《朱琏诊所》一书作为本文的主要参考资料；朱琏同志弟子韦立富老师提供了朱琏同志在广西工作生活资料。在此一并表示感谢!)

6 参考文献

1 汪丝益，鲁崎唔.鲁之俊与针灸.中国针灸，2006，26(11)：809

2 朱琏.新针灸学.2版，北京：人民卫生出版社，1954：18

3 周雨浇.中国新针灸学的开拓者——朱琏.江苏省溧阳文史资料第1辑：16

(收稿日期：2007-02-15，王晓红发稿)

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

A Brief History of Acupuncture in the United States. By ashu

http://www.positivearticles.com/Article/The-History-of-Acupuncture-in-the-United-States/16719 By: ashu

Acupuncture has been an excepted medical practice throughout Asia for thousands of years. The history of acupuncture in the United States is less lengthy.

The History of Acupuncture in the United States

Acupuncture found its way into the United States in the same manner that so many other things have reached this country. It was brought with the immigrants. In this case, it was with Chinese immigrants brought into the West to work on railroads and in the fields. Large Chinese enclaves grew up in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and in New York City on the east coast. Acupuncture was a standard form of treatment in these settlements just as it had been back home in China. The Chinese had been using acupuncture for centuries and also had very little trust for Western Medical treatments.

Although there were a few incidents of Westerners becoming involved with the study and practice of acupuncture in the United States during the 19th century, it was never widely practiced outside Chinese areas. It also was never widely accepted. It was considered superstition and totally unscientific and little attempt to understand it was ever made. When the Communist Government started a campaign to rid China of all traces of Classical Chinese Medicine, many acupuncturists made their way abroad. Some of these came to the United States which increased the number, but still little was done to understand and adapt it to Western use.

One of the big turnarounds for acupuncture in the United States occurred during a State visit to China by Richard Nixon in the 1970’s. During this visit, a member of the U.S. delegation was given an emergency appendectomy. The only anesthesia that was used was acupuncture. The President was duly impressed and when he returned to the US, he called for further study of the procedure. It was the beginning of the move of acupuncture from a foreign voodoo-hoodoo type of thing to a respectable and accepted alternative Medical treatment procedure.

In 1994, the Washington Post was reporting that almost 15 million Americans had tried acupuncture. This was almost 6% of the total population. In 1995, The United States Federal Drug Administration classified acupuncture needles as medical instruments. The biggest turnaround came in 1997 when the National Institute of Health issued a report titled, “Acupuncture: The NIH Consensus Statement.” This report stated that acupuncture was indeed very useful in the treatment of certain conditions. It also stated that the side effects of acupuncture were less adverse than those resulting from either surgery or drugs.

The NIH report further encouraged Insurance Companies to give full coverage to acupuncture treatments for certain conditions. This was a major endorsement of the procedure. Today, acupuncture is becoming more and more accepted as an alternative treatment and is gaining acceptance by the Western Medical Community. Some Medical schools including UCLA have begun to offer acupuncture as part of the curriculum.

Acupuncture has been an excepted medical practice throughout Asia for thousands of years. The history of acupuncture in the United States is less lengthy.

Dr.Fan notes: Some of the points are not correct, such as the Nixon’s team member got sick and had operation under acupuncture anesthesia.

Read Full Post »

Jing Nuan Wu,published on HerbalGram by Holly H. Shimizu

Arthur Fan Note: After I published my article about Dr.Wu, I found this article online. I really hope I could read it earlier,if I read this, I will not spend so much time to find the truth–this article is very similar to my one.

Jing Nuan Wu 1933—2002 HerbalGram. 2003; 57:66

http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/issue57/article2460.html

Jing Nuan Wu, O.M.D., a noted leader in Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Washington, D.C. area, passed away on December 3, 2002. He was well known for his pioneering leadership in acupuncture and herbal medicine in the Capital area, and for helping a broad spectrum of patients – from those with drug addictions and terminal illnesses, to prominent politicians and celebrities.

Dr. Wu was born in Tai Shan, in the province of Giangzhou, China and immigrated to the United States from China as a small child. He was a laundryman’s son who graduated from Harvard University to become a successful venture capitalist on Wall Street.

Reconnecting with his Eastern roots, Wu journeyed to Hong Kong to study Chinese philosophy and healing. He received his degree (Oriental Medical Doctorate) from Hong Kong University in 1956.

He then practiced acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for over 30 years in Washington, D.C. at the Green Cross Clinic and the Taoist Health Institute, which he founded in 1973. The Green Cross Clinic was a pioneering, multi-ethnic clinic that was the first to provide acupuncture detoxification treatment in Washington, D.C. and one of the only clinics in the U.S. that provided care on a sliding scale. Dr. Wu translated the book of Yi Jing (I Ching), the ancient Taoist book of Divination as well as Ling Shu (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic), the first known inner treatise on acupuncture. In addition, he prepared the first fully illustrated English version of the Chinese Materia Medica that is being published by Oxford University Press and will be available in 2003. He was widely known and loved for his energy, exuberance, vision, wisdom, and healing skills.

The band Steely Dan named a song after him on their 1975 album, Katy Lied, the lyrics of which may be found in their entirety online at <www.steelydan.com>:

Are you with me Doctor Wu

Are you really just a shadow

Of the man that I once knew

Wu began creating art to interpret the holistic ideas of the traditional Chinese healing system. His vision for the artwork grew when a patient who was ill with cancer asked him to paint a picture for him. Suddenly Wu realized that he had found a way to heal more people than the number he could see in his office every day.

His paintings and sculpture are therapeutic devices, used to promote health, balance, and relaxation by communicating with the inner aspects of one’s being. Traditional Chinese Medicine says there are three levels of energy that interact in a continuing dynamic. Externally, the three are heaven, man, and earth. Internally, they are shen (spirit), jing (essence), and qi (energy). All of these resonate with each other. When they are in harmony, there is health. When in dissonance, there is illness.

In Wu’s words, “I attempt with my art to change the clockwork of our inner being to the most beneficial and health-inducing rhythm. When reset and unburdened from the ties of anxiety, stress, and social pressure, one’s being enters a calm field where new patterns of behavior can develop and take hold.”

A recent show at the U. S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. featured Dr. Wu’s large works that he called “Gateways to the Soul.”His aim was to show that art may be used as a device to help alter the normal sensory processes and connect with the deeper side of existence. His paintings came as visions with certain meanings, but they are experienced uniquely by each person. Like prayer, meditation, nature, and even flowers, they capture the attention and reveal that which is usually unseen. They are portals to the sacred dimensions – the domain of the soul. When one gets in touch with this realm, powerful transformation and healing can take place. As a doctor, this was always his goal. As an artist, he helped people create their own sacred connections.

His work was most recently on exhibit at the National Institute of Health, Gallery 1 Clinical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland. To view or purchase his art, please go to the website: <www.wushealingart.com> or call Lifepaths Health Center at: 301/897-8090

–Holly H. Shimizu

Executive Director

U.S. Botanic Garden

Read Full Post »

Dr. Wu: A beautiful, moving and meditative song — In memory of Dr. Jing Nuan Wu, a pioneer of acupuncture and a Chinese medicine doctor in the United States. By Arthur Fan

Dr. Wu: A beautiful, moving and meditative song — In memory of Dr. Jing Nuan Wu, a pioneer of acupuncture and a Chinese medicine doctor in the United States.

Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine: 2012; 10(8): 837-840

http://www.jcimjournal.com/en/showAbstrPage.aspx?articleID=jcim20120801

1.         Arthur Yin Fan (McLeanCenter for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, PLC. Vienna, VA22182, USA )

2.         Ziyi Fan (McLeanCenter for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, PLC. Vienna, VA22182, USA )

Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine: Volume 10   August, 2012   Number 8

Received June 10, 2012; accepted June 13, 2012; published online August 15, 2012.

Full-text LinkOut at PubMed. Journal title in PubMed: Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao.

Correspondence: Arthur Yin Fan, PhD, MD, LAc. Tel: +1-703-499-4428; Fax: +1-703-547-8197; E-mail: ArthurFan@ChineseMedicineDoctor.US

Few popular songs are titled a doctor’s name and even fewer are sung directly by the doctor’s patients. However, the song Dr. Wu might be the exception. After sung by Steely Dan[1], a well-known American jazz-rock band, Dr. Wu has been loved by many Americans for over 35 years. The beautiful, moving, and meditative song was written in 1975 after Steely Dan had abandoned touring and reconvened in Los Angles, the UnitedState[2]. As one of the best Steely Dan songs, Dr. Wu literally describes the love between Katy and a young Cuban man, and because of Dr. Wu, the girl leaves the young man. Actually, the song writer and singer Donald Fagen, wrote the song as a metaphor commemorating one of the band members’ recovery (probably himself) from drugs with the help of Dr. Wu[3]. Hence, the song is a cryptic lyrical tribute.

1  Who is Dr. Wu?

In the Steely Dan Dictionary[4], the titular doctor is identified as: “Doctor Jing Nuan Wu (1933-2002), an acupuncturist and artist based in Washington, D.C., emigrated from China to the UnitedState at a young age and graduated from Harvard to become a Wall Street venture capitalist, finally setting up a Taoist clinic in Washington, D.C. in 1973.”

I met Dr. Jing Nuan Wu (胡振南) in 2002, just one month before his death. At the time, I had only lived in the UnitedState for one year. I had just received my acupuncture license and planned to practice Chinese medicine in Washington, D.C., so I called Dr. Wu’s office to ask for some advice from him, and he agreed to see me. I did not know he was very ill. We met in one of his offices in Georgetown, located on the beautiful north bank of the Potomac River. He was very thin and wore a black traditional Chinese silk shirt. Because he could not speak Mandarin and I could not speak Cantonese, we used English to communicate. His voice was very soft due to his illness. Dr. Wu described the history of Chinese medicine in Washington, D.C. and he hoped that Chinese medicine could prosper from generation to generation. He said that he was aware that I was a young Chinese medicine doctor with several achievements and expressed that I could work with him should he recover from kidney cancer. It was a pity that the arrangement was never fulfilled. Dr. Wu passed away on December 3, 2002.

Dr. Wu was a legendary person. He was born in Guangdong, China, a province near Hong Kong, but was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, in the United States. According to the recall of a friend of his[5], Dr. Wu came to the United States with his parents when he was five years old. His parents were laundry workers and worked hard to raise him. Their work paid off as he later graduated from HarvardUniversity with a degree in language and history. He moved to Middleburg, Virginia in the 1960s and caused a stir in Virginia hunt country when he bought the Rattlesnake Ridge retreat from Jacqueline Kennedy[6]. He had an “extreme crisis” in early 1970s before becoming a Chinese medicine doctor[5-7].

Dr. Wu was a venture capitalist in the 1960s and had interest in a firm that was developing Apollo space capsules. He had trouble with the authorities in that period; the immigration officials accused him for faking papers and the Securities and Exchange Commission suspected him of investment improprieties (he denied both wrongdoings). He was involved in a series of tiring law suits and became bankrupt. His United States citizenship was maintained, but he could no longer be a venture capitalist. During this crisis period, he visited his family in Hong Kong. During this visit, an elder relative gave him some life-changing advice — “It’s time for you to do service.” he said. It was then that Dr. Wu learned Chinese medicine from his uncle and was commissioned to write a book on Chinese medicine in English. When he realized that Chinese medicine was effective, he made a decision — instead of writing about Chinese medicine, he began to practice it.

He returned to the Washington D. C. to establish the Taoist Health Institute in 1973, and developed a stable stream of high-profile clients. Under the supervision of a medical doctor, he became one of the earliest acupuncturists/Chinese medicine doctors in the United States. At that time, Washington, D.C. was the first local authority that allowed acupuncturists to legally practice. Dr. Wu was most successful during the late 1970s to early 2000s[5-7]. At the time, when people in Washington, D.C. thought of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, the first name that came to mind was Dr. Jing Nuan Wu[7]. As his friend wrote in a book, “a Chinese idiom says, ‘death is not terrible; two decades later, he will become a hero again.’ Dr. Wu actually became a hero in Chinese medicine only several years after his ‘death in Wall Street’”[5].

2  Dr. Wu’s achievements

Dr. Wu established an acupuncture detoxification center, which is the first notable work of him in 1980s. Due to his deep concern for young American addicted to drugs and being encouraged by the initial success of his acupuncture detoxification test, Dr. Wu established a drug recovery center in 1983 or 1984 called the GreenCrossCenter for Traditional Medicine, located at 1510 U Street NW, Washington, D.C. This center was well-known because it was probably the second most successful acupuncture detoxification center in the United States. The first was established by Dr. Michael Smith in the LincolnHospital in the Bronx, New York, which saw 200 to 300 patients every day, and is financially supported by the state. In contrast, Dr. Wu did all the work on his own with great difficulty. His clinic had no funding from the city, the state, or the federal government. In an interview[7] by Dr. Redwood in early 1990s, Dr. Wu said that he and his associates at Green Cross did the work because they had hoped that it would encourage other people to do the same. However, the clinic required a great deal of money and dedication. “I know of many groups throughout the country that have tried to do what we have done, and they have not been successful because of the lack of one or the other. I can not tell you how much dedication it really does take. The staff are burnt out. We are basically on our second group of staff in seven years. Luckily, our practitioners work for very little. So what has happened is that no one works full-time except two of the administrative staff. Everybody else works part-time. They make money outside of this work, so that they can keep body and soul together. I subsidize the clinic through my personal work, and one or two of my friends have put in substantial amounts of money.” At that time, his detoxification clinic might have been the only one using Chinese herbs, alongside the acupuncture, to treat drug addiction and acquired immune deficiency syndrome[8] in the United States.

His second notable work was the push for the first acupuncture regulation in Washington, D.C., which was released in 1989. He served as the chairman of the Acupuncture Advisory Committee for the District of Columbia, which has advised the Board of Medicine, Washington, D.C., on the regulation and licensing of acupuncturists in the District for over 10 years. He did “one of the more frustrating jobs” in his career — the Washington, D.C. Board of Medicine, and Dr. Wu had agreed early on with regard to the acupuncture guidelines. It then took Dr. Wu and his colleagues three years and five lawyers to put out only 12 pages of rules and regulations. “That is because Washington, D.C. mires in a system of bureaucracy that is impossible to understand. That impossibility stems from one critical lack — that they have no one in the city bureaucracy that can type! So we ended up in a situation where the lawyers get so frustrated that after five months they quit. In dealing with this, it was not until our fifth lawyer that we finally got the rules and regulations into a piece where we could publish them. It is that type of procedure which I think is analogous to the drug situation.”[7]

Dr. Wu also played an important role in acupuncture development in the United States. In 1994, as one of three licensed acupuncturists (the other two were Dr. Lixing Lao, and Dr. Xiaoming Tian) was invited, he gave a presentation on acupuncture as a medical device and the safety of acupuncture in a workshop cosponsored by the Office of Alternative Medicine, National Institute of Health (NIH), and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since this workshop, acupuncture needles were no longer listed as an investigational device in the FDA regulations (as it did for 20 years prior to the workshop). This was a milestone in acupuncture development and make acupuncture have broader applications in clinical practice. As a renowned acupuncturist, a Chinese medicine scholar and a practitioner, Dr. Wu was also invited to be one of the key board members listed for the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine — one of main journals in the research of acupuncture and Oriental medicine, in which he published an article introducing the history of acupuncture.

His third notable work was his introduction of Taoism and promotion of Chinese medicine in GeorgetownUniversity, GeorgeWashingtonUniversity, and many other institutions all over the country. He translated and published several important classic books related to Chinese medicine, completing the “homework” that his elder relative had given him many years before. Such works were the Spiritual Pivot (Lingshu, 《灵枢》, published by University of Hawaii Press, 1993), Yi Jing (I Ching, 《易经》，published by The Taoist Center, 1999 and earlier), and An Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica with the collaboration of Dr. Qian Xinzhong, the former Minister of Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China (published posthumously by the Oxford University Press, 2002). These books have been widely cited by Western scholars. Before his death, Dr. Wu also completed a translation of Tao Te Ching/Lao Tzu（《道德经/老子》）, which, sadly, was not published.

Dr. Wu’s fourth notable work was the use of multiple natural remedies to treat patients. In the 1980s, there was a natural healing center located at Wisconsin Avenue and 30 Street that included acupuncture, Chinese herbology, nutrition consultation, Chinese medicine lectures, as well as an Oriental medicine book store and a small Oriental dietary therapy restaurant. One of my patients recalled that this center was also established and administered by Dr. Wu. Dr. Wu invited several renowned practitioners to take part in the center’s work. The center was unique and attracted many people. However, because of financial difficulties, it closed after several years.

Dr. Wu was involved in promoting Chinese herbology. He said that among Chinese medicine therapies, Chinese herbology is the major one. He was one of the earliest well-known Chinese herbalists in the Washington, D.C. area. Besides his daily clinical work, he carried out a clinical study for women going through menopause using Jia Wei Xiao Yao San, also called Free and Easy Wanderer Plus Powder under a NIH funding. His work was recommended by FDA to the public as an alternative therapy for menopausal women.

3  Dr. Wu, the artist for healing

In the 1980s, Dr. Wu began creating abstract art that embodies the holistic ideas of the traditional Chinese healing system, and had an exhibition at the National Botanical Gardens (Washington, D.C., USA). “My vision for the artwork grew when a patient who was ill with cancer asked me to paint a picture for him. Suddenly I realized that I had found a way to heal many more people than the number I could see in my office every day,” he said. His paintings and sculptures eventually evolved into therapeutic devices, used to promote health, balance, and relaxation by evoking responses from the inner aspects of our being (see Figure 1). Once upon a time, Dr. Wu mentioned that “visual art can and should be celebrated not only for its aesthetic and decorative value and as a record of historical events but also for its potential to help us express, understand and heal ourselves”. He said: “The quest for the transcendental experience has been a popular trip for mystics, and religious persons through the ages. They have followed the paths of meditation and spiritual practice. In the empirical vision and methods of traditional Chinese medicine, entry to the transcendental is an every day experience. The most significant outward manifestation of the transcendental state is relaxation of the physical body. I attempt with my art to change and to reset the clockwork of our inner being to the most beneficial and health-inducing rhythm. When reset and unburdened from the tics of anxiety and social pressure, one is being entered a calm field where new patterns of behavior can develop and take hold within. These quiet inner fields are my new medical country and my artwork is the way of passage.” Ten years after his death, his paintings are still available for purchase online[9].

Figure 1  Dr. Jing Nuan Wu is painting the impressionist paintings about Chinese medicine

This photo was taken in 1990s and was afforded by Ann Miller, Dr. Wu’s former assistant.

Dr. Wu passed away at age of 69, after almost 30 years of acupuncture and Chinese medicine working in Washington, D.C. During his practice, many patients were amazed by him and his work. “He was a genius,” Elizabeth Drew (an author and journalist, and a patient of Dr. Wu) recalled: “He thought beyond the normal ranges.” In a 1985 profile of Dr. Wu published in the Washington Post, the author observed that “there is something about this man. You believe him. His smile defuses skepticism. His Chinese slippers make no noises. In a city founded on convention, Wu is a soothing reminder that there is another way”.[6]

Dr. Wu did many beautiful things; people will remember him. His life of promoting acupuncture and Chinese medicine was just like the beautiful, moving and meditative song that shares his name.

4  Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ms. April Enriquez for English editing; Ms. Ann Miller, a former assistant of Dr. Wu’s clinic, provided information about Dr. Wu, and permitted the use of the picture. The interviewer was Dr. Arthur Yin Fan.

5  Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

1.         Steely Dan. ［2012-05-12］. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steely_Dan.

2.         Steely Dan. Katy Lied. ［2012-05-12］. http://www.amazon.com/Katy-Lied-Steely-Dan/dp/B00000IPAB/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1336954673&sr=1-1.

3.         Craig Middletown CT, etc. Comments. ［2012-05-12］. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6519.

4.         Steely Dan. Doctor Wu. (2012-03-05) ［2012-05-12］. http://www.steelydandictionary.com/.

5.         Chen C. Acupuncture practice in the United States. Taibei: Blue Swan Co. 1987. Chinese.

6.         Zielinski G. Acupuncturist and artist Wu Jing-Nuan at 69. The Washington Post. 2002-12-6. ［2012-06-12］. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-403078.html.

7.         Redwood D. Chinese medicine in modern America: Interview with Jing Nuan Wu LAc. (1995)［2012-05-12］. http://www.healthy.net/scr/interview.asp?Id=224.

8.         AIDS and the traditional healer. AIDS Action. 1990; 12: 7.

9.         Wu’s Healing Art. The healing art of Jing Nuan Wu. ［2012-05-12］. http://www.wushealingart.com.

Read Full Post »

Oregon State Acupuncture history, By Gene Bruno

For Oregon Acupuncturists

http://oaaom.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/For-Oregon-Acupuncturists-Gene-Bruno-March-2009.pdf

I came to Oregon in 1975, and passed the acupuncture licensing exam given by the Board of Medical Examiner’s Acupuncture Committee. At that time, only Oregon and Nevada had licensing laws allowing acupuncturists to practice who were not medical doctors.

I then moved to Oregon in late 1976 and began practicing in Portland. Not knowing any better, I left an extremely lucrative human and veterinary practice in California, because I wanted raise my children in Oregon. It just seemed to me to be a much better place for children to grow up.

You might imagine that things were a bit different in those days. We could only treat patients that were referred to us by an M.D. Also, the Medical Board had a regulation at the time that restricted those referrals. The referrals could only come from  “in-house” MD who was also approved by the Board of Medicine, and assigned to a specific acupuncturist.

So patients could not come to us if referred by their own doctor.

In 1978 I presented an argument to the Board of Medicine for changing this restriction and asked that acupuncturists be able to accept patients referred from any Oregon licensed MD.

The BME changed their regulation.

At the time there were 6 other practitioners (all Chinese) and myself (the white guy) in Oregon. It was tough then. If you think it is “hard” for you now, you don’t really understand “difficult.” You think we are in an economic depression now, this was during the great Carter Administration when interest rates were 17% to 24%! No insurance coverage at all — only cash patients. Most people didn’t have extra money for alternative care of any kind. Plus, this was back in the beginning when almost no one knew about  acupuncture and its benefits.

Then one day in early 1979, while I was probably daydreaming about salmonfishing, Dr.WaiTak Cheung comes storming into my office and says, with his thick accent, “OK Gene, now we get busy…we need to get the law changed.” At this time the OAA existed, but in name only,and the dues were spent on several very nice Chinese dinners each year. They never undertook any legislative projects, nor did they communicate with the Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. Cheung explained to me that since 3 of the other 4 Chinese Doctors had either left town or died, and since he was in now in charge of the OAA, it was time to make the OAA a real functioning organization. I hadn’t seen Dr. Cheung in 8 or 9 months, but I knew that he and the others heard about my results in getting the Board of Medicine to get rid of the old supervision by “one MD rule.” And at my one and only attendance at the 1977 OAA Dinner For Elderly Chinese Practitioners and One White Guy, I spent a long time trying to convince the members to be active in legislative issues and Board of Medicine oversight issues. They seemed completely uninterested at the time, but it turns out that Dr. Cheung was the exception.

So together, he and I set out [alone] to rid ourselves of the MD referral requirement that was in the original legislation. It took a year and a half, but it got done. By 1980-81MalvinFinklestein and Eric Stephens and Jerry Senogles had arrived in Oregon. So I wasn’t the lone white guy anymore.

In just a few years, a small group of about 5 of us, with very, very, very limited funds, managed to get rid of the referral requirement, and to write and get passed the first insurance parity law in the U.S. And on top of this, the naturopaths were trying each year to pass legislation giving them the power to do acupuncture with little or no training. So we had to fight their lobbying efforts. Lucky for us, no one ever told us how naïve we were to try and do all this in four years with no manpower and almost no money. I don’t believe that any one of us thought we could do it alone. Somehow, even just two or three of us together gave us the courage to try. With 5 or 6 of us….well, we felt invincible.

So…this a very brief summary of a part of my experience in the early, beginning years of our profession here in Oregon. Some of you may be aware that in most states, insurance companies do NOT pay for acupuncture at all. You are probably also aware that most states do not have herbal medicine as a part of their scope of practice.

And I am sure you are all aware that in over 20 other states Chiropractors can legally do acupuncture ….as long as they have the 50 to 200 of required ‘training.’

Thank you for taking a few minutes to let me reminisce and ramble –on about the good old days. And I want to wish you the best for your future, as individual practitioners and as a state organization.

An old friend of mine used to always say, “It’s good to have a plan for the future.”

The first time I heard him say that, I said to him, “You’re such an idiot. How can you plan for the unknown?”

He just smiled and replied, “That’s the easy part. You simply visualize the future you want.

It’s simple.”

I said, “Simple? You’re nuts. How can it be simple?”

He said, “Remember that photo you showed me of that small sailboat you built?”

I answered, “Yes.”

He continued, “So you simply begin to form a picture of your next project, or your next goal, or your entire next year, and you hold it before your minds eye as you would the picture of the sailboat.”

I was quiet for a minute or two, and then asked, ”So if that’s the easy part, wise guy, what’s the hard part?”

He sat up, his eyes looked directly into mine and then he said, “Actually doing it.” I looked at him for a long time. I actually had the makings of a plan that I hadn’t told him about, and I wasn’t sure how to make it work. I finally said, “I have a plan, but it’s too big for me to do alone right now!

He started laughing and laughing, and then finally became calmer, and he smiled and said,

“Who said anything about doing it all alone?”

So, what’s your plan for the future? Are you headed there alone?

by Gene Bruno, OMD, LAc

Read Full Post »

Gene Bruno, Who is him?

Gene Bruno

http://wikibin.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=19501

Gene Bruno, OMD, LAc, FNAAOM, was a staff acupuncturist of the National Acupuncture Association’s research
team. Acupuncture arrived on the scene in the United States in the early 1970&rsquo;s, shortly after information about
this medicine became available to the general public. James Reston’s surgery in China with the use of
acupuncture was the notable event that brought acupuncture to the public&rsquo;s attention. Te National Acupuncture
Associaion, located in Westwood, California, was instrumental in training acupuncturists and research in acupuncture.
While acupuncture had been a part of the Chinese communities in the US, most of the public were uninformed of its
existence and its use in treating diseases. The National Acupuncture Association (NAA) was the first national
association to introduce acupuncture into the United States in the late 1960&rsquo;s. One of the first major projects of
the NAA was to establish an Acupuncture Pain Clinic at UCLA medical school in 1972. The NAA also began several
research projects and sponsored the first medical seminars on acupuncture.
In 2007, the American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM) recognized this seminal work by NAA acupuncturists by
awarding its first Founders of the Profession Lifetime Achievement Awards, and creating the Pioneers Honor Roll. Dr.
Gene Bruno and Dr. William Prensky were awarded the first “Pioneers of the Field Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Dr. Steven Rosenblatt, Dr. James Tin Yau So and Dr. Ju Gim Shek were added to the Founders Honor Roll.
From 1971 until 1974, Dr. Bruno was part of the NAA’s two-man team that introduced veterinary acupuncture into the
United States for the first time. As a part of the first national organization to introduce acupuncture to western medicine
and the public in the US, Dr. Gene Bruno was one of the pioneers in this field in the US. From 1972 to 1974 he worked
at the UCLA Acupuncture Pain Clinic. From 1971 until 1974, Dr. Bruno was part of the NAA’s two-man team that
introduced veterinary acupuncture into the United States for the first time.

As one of the directors of the research team that introduced veterinary acupuncture into the United States, Dr. Bruno and
Dr. John Ottaviano were the only two practitioners who were allowed to treat animals in California in the 1970s who were
not licensed in veterinary medicine. The result of this work of the NAA’s veterinary research team led to the trainging of
veterinarians and to the establishment of the International Veterinary Acupuncture Association (IVAS) in 1974. The IVAS
is international and now has members in many countries including Italy. The IVAS is a non-profit educational organization.
As a practitioner of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for nearly 40 years, Dr. Bruno has received many awards. In
2006, the American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM) recognized his achievements in the field of Acupuncture
and Oriental Medicine in the US by presenting him with the first Founders of the Profession Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2007, Dr. Bruno was elected to the Executive Board of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS).
This is the largest group of professional acupuncture and Oriental medicine societies in the world. As a member of
the Executive Board of the WFCMS, Dr. Bruno represents the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine (AAAOM), which is the largest and oldest national acupuncture organization in the United States.
Awards
Pioneers and Leaders Award October 2007
:Presented by American Association of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine
Founders of the Profession Lifetime Achievement Award October 2006
:Presented by American Association of Oriental Medicine
Special Award for Advancing Oriental Medicine in the State of Oregon October 1993
:Presented by the Oregon Acupuncture Association
Special Merit Award for Contributions that led to the Founding of
Veterinary Acupuncture in the US July 1975
:Presented by the National Acupuncture Association
Personal life
Gene Bruno (born April 13, 1948) grew up in the West Los Angles area, spent a year in Boston, and has lived with his

wife. He still has a medical office in Salem, Oregon.

Read Full Post »

History of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine In the State of Oregon Since 1973. By Dr. Wai Tak Cheung

By: Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine Society of Oregon, Inc.

Dr. Wai Tak Cheung

http://www.oaaom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/History-of-Acupuncture-By-Dr.-Cheung.pdf
____________________________________________________________

President of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Society of Oregon

July 23, 1994

____________________________________________________________

June 11, 1994.

I have heard from some of my colleagues that today many of the younger generation of

practitioners of Oriental medicine may not be aware of the history of their profession in Oregon.

I hope that after reading what follows, all will know. If even one person who did not know this history begins to understand the importance of our professional roots and of our professional future together in Oregon,  then writing this will have been worthwhile.

Hard work, luck and coincidence have made the legal practice of acupuncture in the United States possible.  When President Nixon visited China in 1972, he opened many cultural as well as political doors.  Acupuncture and Oriental medicine were introduced to Americans in late 1972 as reports of acupuncture began to appear in the news media and in books.

Many Americans were having health problems for which they could not find successful

treatment in the United States.  Dorothy Barrett of Oregon had multiple sclerosis.  She heard of Dr. Michael Yau Ferng and went to Taiwan in 1972 to seek treatment from him.  Ms Barrett experienced such tremendous success that she wanted to make Dr. Ferng’s skill available to others in the United States.  Dr. Ferng came to the United States with a traveling visa in 1973 and began treating patients many of whom were Oregon residents.

Also, in 1972, two other doctors, Dr. Duke K. Won and his son Wing S. Won, both DCs and NDs, already living in Oregon before having obtained American citizenship, began treating growing numbers of Americans seeking Oriental medical care (before it was legal in Oregon). These doctors became well known as they successfully continued treating many patients in the state.

The Board of Medical Examiners (BME) soon heard news of their activities. The BME secretary had these three doctors arrested.  Attorney had the doctors freed from jail within twelve hours, since there were no laws in existence pertaining to the practice of acupuncture in Oregon. The judge dismissed the case after issuing a warning to the doctors and made it clear that the practice of acupuncture was illegal in Oregon, except when done by MDs or DOs.

By this time many Oregonians had received acupuncture and benefited from the treatments.  In 1973, many supporters, as well as patients (in particular Dorothy Barrett,  Mary Wilson, Irma Silvon and Mary Lotina), took action by circulating a petition for the legalization of acupuncture in Oregon.  They took the petition to Salem and talked to their state representatives to introduce such a bill to the Legislature.  In order to have the bill pass, it had to be written with specific conditions. An acupuncturist had to work under supervision of a single MD. This meant that anyone seeking acupuncture treatment

in Oregon had to first see an MD who would officially refer them to an acupuncturist.  Every acupuncturist had to work with one supervising MD or DO. The use of moxa was originally excluded from the scope of practice, as the legislature felt its inclusion could prevent the bill from passing.  I think moxa was too new or too exotic for them.  Acupuncture was put under the control of the BME.  There was no lobbying for this bill. The Oregon medical Association did not object to the practice of acupuncture by acupuncturists because it was under the MDs control.  The bill became law on November 15, 1973.

The first legal private acupuncture clinic in the United States was opened in Lincoln City, Oregon.

It was a very busy practice and patients had to book far in advance.  Professor Kok Yeun Leung was the first acupuncturist at the clinic.  He was later joined by Professor Shui Wan Wu and later by Dr. Wai Tak Cheung.  Three of the first seven acupuncturists in Oregon were from Vancouver, B.C. and practiced acupuncture between 1973 and 1975. These early Chinese acupuncturists established the foundation in the Northwest for the growth and development of acupuncture in Oregon.

Dr. James Tin Yau So practiced acupuncture successfully for over 35 years in Hong Kong. Dr. So was brought to the United States by the National Acupuncture Association to work in the clinic at the UCLAMedical  School. This clinic started in 1972 and was the first clinic in the United States.  Dr. So arrived in 1973. In October 1974, Dr William Prensky, Sr. Steven Rosenblatt and Dr. Gene Bruno took Dr.  So to Boston, Mass., where they opened a clinic for him.  Dr. Rosenblatt ad Dr. Bruno then established the New England School of Acupuncture for Dr. So and worked with him closely as instructors and also translated his two books into English.  Dr. Rosenblatt and Dr. Bruno returned to Los Angeles in 1975 where they established the CaliforniaAcupunctureCollege.

Dr, Cheung visited Dr. So in Boston in 1989, by which time Dr. So was retired.  During the visit Dr. So asked if Dr. Cheung had any students.  Dr. So believed passing on Oriental medical knowledge and continuing the education of new generations was vital to long term success of the professions. Dr. Cheung replied that he had no school, although he had 15 inters. Many hundreds of people, many DOs, MDs, and other professionals studied with Dr. So. This was the first acupuncture school in the United States.  Later, many of his students opened acupuncture and Oriental medicine colleges and helped

legalize the practice in many states.

One Chinese doctor was upset with Dr. So, feeling that he was selling out the Chinese people by teaching Oriental medicine to Americans. But Dr. So was proud of himself and he believed that the Chinese had very god knowledge to pass on to Americans. His teachers passed the knowledge to him, and now he wanted to pass it on to others.  Dr. So could have made a good living in private practice, but he chose to open a school and to educate people about Oriental medicine.  He told Dr. Cheung he hoped the proverbial stone tossed into the pond would send out endless ripples so his students, which would influence education and legislation throughout North America.

________________________________________________________________________

CHRONICLE OF ACUPUNCTURE AND ORIENTAL MEDICINE

In the State of Oregon Since 1973

1973:

Acupuncture became legalized in Oregon. An acupuncturist could only practice under a single MD’s supervision. This law passed without opposition. BME regulated the licensing of the acupuncturists in the state. It was the acupuncturist’s responsibility to find the supervisor.  If no MDs were willing to accept them, then the acupuncturist could not practice. Moxibustion was not allowed. The BME licensing examination was established and offered twice a year.

1975:

The OAA was formed.  Professor Mi Po Shu was the OAA president and the first member on the BME acupuncture committee.

Moxibustion was allowed by the BME as a heat therapy by acupuncturists.  NDs and DCs tried through their board to get permission to practice acupuncture.  Their reasoning was that they, too, are physicians and should be able to practice acupuncture.  Their request was denied.  There have been repeated lobbies since then to accomplish this goal.  So far all the attempts have failed.  There were only about seven acupuncturists, all Chinese, practicing in Oregon.  We did not have any lobbyist to promote our profession.

1976:

Dr. Gene Bruno moved from California to Oregon.  He was the first Caucasian to practice acupuncture in Oregon.  Later Dr.  So’s students moved from Boston.  The practice of acupuncture became more widespread and our profession as a whole became stronger.  The need for a more determined and united OAA became even more critical to the future of our profession.

1977:

The OAA consisted of Professor Kok Nung, President; Professor Yet Sun Chan, Vice-President; Tize Kwok Tai, Treasurer/Secretary.

1978:

Dr. Gene Bruno requested privately from the BME that any MD or DO be able to make referrals. This was granted by the BME so that the single supervisor/physician was no longer needed.

Professor Kok Nung had a heart attack. Shortly later he moved back to Vancouver, B.C.

The OAA now consisted of Professor Yet Sun Chan, President; Professor Kok Yeun Leong, Vice-President;

Dr. Wai Tak Cheung, Board member.

1979:

Professor yet Sun Chan had a stroke. Professor Kok Yuen Leung refused the position of president.  He asked Dr. Wai Tak Cheung to take over the position, which he accepted. It took six months to obtain the OAA records and documents (because of the health condition of Prof. Yet Sun Chan).

1980:

OAA members joined with other American practitioners. The OAA members increased in numbers and strength.

1981:

OAA introduced two  bills to the Legislature to:

1. Allow acupuncturists to see patients if they first obtained a diagnosis from an MD, DO, PC, ND or NP.

2. Have equal rights for insurance payment; to pay acupuncturists the same way that the MDs are paid for acupuncture treatment of the same conditions.

The first bill passed.  At this point, we hired a part time lobbyist to help us pass our legislation.  Dr. Gene Bruno, Eric Stephen and our lobbyist did most of the lobbying and other needed procedures.  We were short of money, so Dr. Cheung asked all the members and others to donate money for the OAA objectives.  About $800.00 was collected. Dr. Cheung added $2000.00 of his money for the OAA expenses.

Dr. Cheung proposed to open an acupuncture school under the OAA. Dr. Cheung wanted the school to be under OAA so more financial support from the public could be obtained to run the school more efficiently, and so more research could be done for the advancement of acupuncture in Oregon.

Eric Stephen helped a great deal in finding a part time lobbyist.  Jim Hauser,  Gerald Senogles , Stuart Greenleaf,  Malvin Finkelstein, Betty Chen, and Dirk Friedt were also involved in the process.

I thank all of them for their efforts. Our greatest appreciation is given to Dr. Robert Schwartz.

Without his efforts we might not have been free to do what we do today. Special thanks to Dr. Gene Bruno for his hard work toward achieving our goals. I hope that Dr. Gene Bruno will also write a brief history of events that occurred from 1976 to present. The Equal Right bill for insurance payment was proposed again and failed.  OAA members did not work on this bill, as they thought it would not pass. I tried to convince everybody that it is like the root of a cancer that has to be eradicated, otherwise it would always be an impediment to our practice,  Dr. Gene Bruno was no able to lobby since he was on the BME Acupuncture Committee. In the 1989 Dr. Gene Bruno, Dr. Robert Schwartz and our new lobbyist Steven Kafoury joined forces and successfully passed our insurance bill and convinced the Governor to sign it into law.

Last, but not least, I want to thank John Ulwlling, former BME Executive Director and Dr. Joel Sere, MD,  BME Acupuncture Committee Chairman, for all their help and support during our struggle along the way.  I also thank all the members of the Acupuncture Committee for the work they have done over the years.

After the introduction of our scope of practice bill signed by the Governor of Oregon, Barbara Roberts, No additional opposition from OMA was attempted. The insurance companies fought us in our attempts to pass our insurance bill. Also naturopaths and chiropractors argued against our scope of practice Bill. We came to a friendly agreement with the lobbyist for the chiropractors.

However, the lobbyist for naturopaths and their legislative spokesmen did not want our bill to pass.

Read Full Post »

內州議會決議褒揚陸易公博士

內州議會決議褒揚陸易公博士 http://www.lvcnn.com/news.php?id=4081 新聞日期: 2011/07/12

紀念本州首位針灸師陸易公博士   內華達州一位領先的醫療領袖，陸易公博士於2004年1月17日在拉斯維加斯逝世，內華達州頓失一位卓越的醫療前輩與領導者。 內華達州第76屆會議立法機關大會通過表揚及紀念這位醫療界領袖，議員決議這是本州一巨大損失，並予以哀悼，行政書記大會並將會議決議之副本轉交陸易公博士夫人。 追溯內華達州直至1972年12月，中醫的針灸還被認為是“在藥品的使用實踐中沒有充分得到理解”。遲至1973年4月20日，內華達州議會才簽署了參議院第448號法案，成為全美國首個州授權實踐中醫藥和針灸，這法案方成為法律，自此以後，多個其他州才紛紛效尤。 這法案使中醫的針灸之聲譽起了巨大變化，這個功勞，應該很大的程度上歸功於陸易公博士，Dr. Yee-Kung Lok。 陸博士1913年6月17日出生於中國上海，並於上海研習針灸，陸博士來美後，到了內華達州，努力傳揚實踐中醫針灸的服務，並與他的病人及學生Steingerg一齊向中醫針灸合法化之目標努力，他與妻子內華達州的立法者，約有半數的國會議員和公眾人士施行中醫的針灸治療及示範，每天幾乎向100名患者進行針灸治療，而多數的患者病情成功得到改善，其中一位國會議員經陸博士針灸治療後，20年病患的鼻竇炎完全治癒了。這位內華達州的中醫針灸開創者及先行者，的確為中國的中醫針灸在美國開闢了一片天地。 今天，內州議會為陸博士的功績作出正式的決議通過，雖是遲來的榮譽，但畢竟是公正的、是光榮的，對陸博士的夫人、後人，繼續對中醫針灸的發揚光大，總是有所認可及鼓勵。

陸易公博士

Read Full Post »

Acupuncture in Veterinary Medicine,by John A. Amaro D.C., FIAMA, Dipl.Ac., L.Ac.

Acupuncture in Veterinary Medicine January, 2005 .http://www.iama.edu/Articles/Acu_VeterinaryMedicine.htm John A. Amaro D.C., FIAMA, Dipl.Ac., L.Ac. Dr. Amaro treats Siberian Tiger with Laser for Spasmodic Torticollis In the fall of 1979 I was fortunate to be included on one of the first State Department approved list of observers to visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC). One of my very first acupuncture experiences was to assist in the performance of acupuncture on a hog in rural Liaoning Province in the Dongbei region of northeast China. Two thousand years ago the ancient city of Mukden now known as Shenyang had become a major trading post to peoples living north of the Great Wall. Shenyang would ultimately become the court of the Manchu (the “Masters”) and the capital of Manchuria. It sits in a pivotal position as it is on the land route to both Korea and upper Mongolia. During the procedure it was explained the acupuncture points of large animals are primarily based on human anatomical transposition of human points onto animals. In other words, just place the human in the all four position much like an animal. The acupuncture points are virtually in the same location. Since the cow, pig, horse, camel and donkey were of vital importance to the ancient Chinese, veterinary acupuncture was developed and texts were written dealing with these animals. Even though through history there have been more than 70 texts on animal acupuncture, only 16 exist today. Most of the information on veterinary medicine comes from the T’ANG Dynasty which is usually recognized to be from approximately 600 A.D. to 900 A.D. During this period due to the military requirements on the northern front many horses were raised specifically for the ever increasing military presence and purpose. Recognizing the tremendous importance attached to the health and welfare of the horse, the T’ANG Dynasty established an actual Department and School of Veterinary Medicine. This was the first formal education of this type in the history of China and the world. Even though the T’ANG Dynasty is credited with the formalization of veterinary acupuncture, the Spring and Autumn Warring States which was approximately 400 B.C. to 200 B.C., produced the historic practitioner who to this day is considered the Father of Chinese Veterinary Medicine Shun Yang. However, the earliest recorded practitioner of veterinary medicine was during the Chou Dynasty around 950 B.C. Chinese medicine was first introduced into Korea in the Chou Dynasty and then into Japan by way of Korea. Numerous contributions to both human and animal acupuncture have been made by both countries especially during the years 1100 to 1600. The Jesuits of France were a presence in Macao and as far as Peking (Beijing) as early as 1582. It was the French Jesuit Harvieu who published the first work in a European language on human acupuncture in 1671. However it was not until 1836 that the first mention of veterinary acupuncture appeared in print in France. The case reported was of a paralyzed ox that was treated by implanted needles 3 inches long in two rows bilateral to the lumbar spine. The needles were described as being driven in with a mallet and left in place for two days. In England a passage from the British Veterinary Journal of 1828 stated “two things however are sufficiently evident, that the sudden and magical relief which the human being has sometimes experienced has not been seen in the horse; and that, probably from the thickness of the integument, the animals suffered extreme torture during the insertion of the needles”. During the last Dynasty to be recorded in China’s long history, the “CH’ING Dynasty (1644 to 1912) there was a countrywide epidemic which had been catastrophic to pigs. As a result of veterinary acupuncture, the disease process had been cured and eliminated. In 1900 the book “A Complete Collection of Pig Diseases” was published. It was the information from this book which was being shared with me on that rural farm in Northeastern China in 1979. It was not until 1917 the first “School for Chinese Medicine” for humans patterned after western medical schools was established in Shanghai. The school was privately financed and was the first school of its kind to offer a formal program and diploma in Chinese Medicine. There were no schools at this time of Chinese veterinary medicine only western style schools awarding degrees in Veterinary Medicine. In 1944 Chairman Mao Tse Tung issued a directive of historical proportions when he wrote “…if the modern practitioners of human and veterinary medicine do not unite with the more than one thousand traditional practitioners in this region and help them progress in knowledge and ability, they are in fact helping evil and letting many humans and animals die of diseases”. In 1947 the formation of the beginning of modern Chinese Veterinary Medicine developed with the establishment of the School of Agriculture of the Northern University. This entire school was devoted solely to Chinese Veterinary Medicine which only focused on large animal applications. There has never been a development of small animal practice in the history of China as there is literally no demand for its use due to the cultural differences between the East and West regarding the owning of pets. Acupuncture anesthesia was first developed in humans in 1958 and first applied to horses and donkeys in 1969. Analgesia was first used outside of China on humans in 1972 in Austria where the first surgery for a tonsillectomy in the Western world was performed. The history of American veterinary acupuncture had its root beginnings following the national public interest shown in China and acupuncture in 1971-72. Whereas, unknown to most in the profession, acupuncture’s history in the US is quite startling when one considers just a few of its inclusions in the American medical scene. Acupuncture for human applications have appeared in American medical texts since 1822 when the “Treatise on Acupuncturation” appeared in print which was a review of a British booklet. In 1825 the French book “Memoir on Acupuncture” appeared in the US. By 1829 a three page section on acupuncture appeared in the surgical text “Elements of Operative Surgery”. In the July 28, 1888 issue of Scientific American a two page article on Electric Acupuncture appeared. Perhaps the most famous 20th Century reference to acupuncture outside of the 1971 New York Times article by James Reston on “Now about my Operation” came from the 1907 book “Principles and Practice of Medicine” and the 1917 book by the same name whereby famed surgeon and medical practitioner Sir William Osler stated “….for lumbago acupuncture is, in acute cases, the most efficient treatment. Needles of from 3-4 inches in length (ordinary bonnet needles. Sterilized, will do) are thrust into the lumbar muscles at the seat of the pain, and withdrawn after 5-10 minutes. I many instances, the relief is immediate, and I can corroborate fully the statements of Ringer, who taught me this practice, as to its extraordinary and prompt efficacy in many instances….”. Ringer would be recognized to this day as one of the greatest physicians in history having discovered the isotonic electrolytic infusion solution still used today and known as “Ringers Solution”. A side note is that Dr. Sydney Ringer was British however his two brothers amassed great fortunes in Asia one in Shanghai and the other in Nagasaki Japan. One brother was so successful he was given the name “King of Nagasaki”. Dr. Ringer obviously learned acupuncture through one or both of his brothers and taught it to Osler. The 1910 book “The Principles and Practice of Chiropractic” by D.D. Palmer the founder of Chiropractic, also made specific reference to acupuncture. Throughout the political history of all professions who have pioneered acupuncture in North America, it has been a very rocky and tumulus road for the veterinary profession. Following interest in acupuncture by a few DVM’s in 1972, Dr. David Bressler of UCLA was contacted and acupuncture procedures were initiated in Southern California on a variety of cases that had been deemed hopeless as they had all failed to respond with conventional Western medicine. The response with the variety of these test cases were overwhelmingly successful. This project was under the guidance of the National Acupuncture Association which Dr. Bressler had founded and presided at UCLA. The National Association for Veterinary Acupuncture was formed in 1973 and the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society was founded in 1974. By 1975 symposiums were being conducted by the Chinese Academy of Medicine and held at the University of Cincinnati, University of Georgia, Purdue University, The University of California School of Veterinary Medicine and others. The American Veterinary Medical Association took a very cautious position in the early formative years of acupuncture and in 1974 issued a formal statement that stated “the AVMA has serious concern about acupuncture regarding it as entirely experimental until strong evidence is available that the procedure has therapeutic value in animals and additional cases have been evaluated”. Since those early days in the United States, veterinary acupuncture has become increasingly popular with more than 500 certified Doctors of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) practitioners in North America alone. Its clinical use ranges from equine to feline to canine and avian. The success rate borders on the astonishing in a variety of conditions known and unknown to the human patient. Most licensed Acupuncturists State licenses deal only with the treatment of the human it does not include animal applications. However as an acupuncture practitioner it behooves us to know of a qualified veterinary doctor utilizing acupuncture and refer to them as necessary. You will find the DVM using acupuncture will reciprocate the referral. Veterinary Acupuncture has come a long way in America from the vision of the original three DVM’s who started it, Dr. R.S. Glassberg, Dr. Marvin Cain and Dr. H. Grady Young. I am proud to say I knew these individuals and was honored to have studied with them at the first official symposium on “Acupuncture for the Veterinarian” in Kansas City in 1974. They are to be commended for following their vision. As a result the Siberian Tiger which is shown with me being treated with laser beam did not have to be euthanised as originally planned. Incidentally, there are no known acupuncture charts in the history of the world for a Siberian tiger. Just treat the points of the animal as if it were a human with the same protocols. Best Wishes for a phenomenal 2005 in the Year of the Rooster! I wonder how you find the points on a rooster? John A. Amaro D.C., FIAMA, Dipl.Ac., L.Ac. Carefree, Arizaona DrAmaro@IAMA.edu

Read Full Post »

History of Acupuncture, from online article

History of Acupuncture.

http://www.eastwestacupuncture.net/General_history.htm

ICE AGE TATTOOS

A 5000-year-old mummified man found in the Alps had tattoos on his body which corresponded to traditional acupuncture points.

In 1991, a 5,000-year-old mummified man was found in the mountains along the border between Austria and Italy. Named Otzi after the Otz valley in which it was discovered, the mummy’s body was remarkably well preserved, as were most of his clothing, tools and weapons. Scientists discovered a complicated system of bluish-black tattoos running along Otzi’s back, right knee and left ankle. These tattoos were located directly on or within six millimeters of, traditional acupuncture points and meridians.

X-rays of the ice man’s body revealed evidence of arthritis in the hip joints, knees, ankles and lumbar spine. Nine of the mummy’s 15 tattoos are located on an acupuncture meridian commonly associated with treating back pain. In fact, one of the mummy’s two cross-shaped tattoos is located near the left ankle on an acupuncture point (UB60) which is considered by several texts a “master point for back pain.”

Autopsy also revealed that his intestines were filled with whipworm eggs, which can cause severe abdominal pain. Five other tattoos located on the body corresponded with points located on the gall bladder, spleen and liver meridians — points that are traditionally used to treat stomach disorders.

“Taken together,” the scientists added, “the tattoos could be viewed as a medical report from the stone age, or possibly as a guide to self-treatment marking where to puncture when pains occur.”

“The locations of the tattoos are similar to points used for specific disease states in the traditional Chinese and modern acupuncture treatment,” the scientists concluded. “This raises the possibility of acupuncture having originated in the Eurasian continent at least 2000 years earlier than previously recognized.”

“At the time when Otzi was around, I’m sure that many shamanistic cultures worldwide might have practiced it,” added Dr. Moser. “But only the Chinese formalized it and saved it into modern times.”

ANCIENT SHAMEN

South African rock art depicting a Bantu shaman.

Early forms of acupuncture which probably arose during the Stone Age have survived in many parts of the world right down to present day. There is evidence that acupuncture has been practiced in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Sri Lanka, many parts of Europe and South America, and even by the North American Indians. The Eskimos, for instance are still using sharpened stones for treating illness. The Bantus of South Africa scratch certain areas of their skin to allay the symptoms of many illnesses, while in Brazil there is a tribe whose method of treating illness is to shoot tiny arrows from a blowpipe on to specific areas of the skin. The practice of cauterizing a part of the ear with a hot metal probe has also been reported among certain tribes in Arabia. This is probably a vestige of the acupuncture practiced in ancient Egypt and Saudi Arab. The Ebers papyrus of 1550 B.C. (now in the British Musemum) describes a system of channels and vessels in the body which approximates more closely to the Chinese system of channels than to any known system of blood vessels, lymph vessels or nerves.

In India, an ayurvedic form of early acupuncture also existed. Ayurvedic acupuncture was practised by many in India and was taught as an Ayurvedic subject in the major ancient universities like Nalanda and Takshashila. Excavations have unearthed metal acupuncture needles in the sites of these ancient universities. The famous physician of India, Giba [Jivaka] is said in one of the texts such as the Chikitsa Vidya to have been born with an acupuncture needle in the right hand and a drug container in the left hand in about the 5th century B.C.

The Indians had a homeopathic theory as to how acupuncture works:

“What disorder a nail (or other sharp instrument) may cause by traumatically injuring a marma [acupoint], an acupuncture needle can cure by stimulating the body into healing rather than disease when that marma is gently needled. It is the amount of trauma (dosage) that dictates whether the instrument:

1. kills
2. inhibits functions (pain killing, anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic) or
3. stimulates the organism into repair.

This is known as the Arndt-Schutz Law. Consequently, a warrior (kshatriya) and an acupuncturist (suchika) use similar tools, albeit for opposite reasons!”

— Frank Ros, Ayurvedic Acupuncture

CHINA

The “Nine Needles” described in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classsic,
as illustrated in the Zhen Jiu Da Cheng (1602)

The earliest written records about acupuncture is found in the Chinese medical treatise called the Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine). This is said to be the oldest medical book in the world. Its authorship is attributed by Chinese tradition to the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) who is said to have reigned 2696-2598 B.C. It is more probable however that it is a collective work which has been added upon through many centuries. It may therefore be regarded as a compendium of all the medical knowledge accumulated during a period of over four thousand years. The book owes its present form largely to the commentator Wang Bing of the ninth century A.D. who claimed to have discovered and used its original edition. The Huang Di Nei Jing is the basis of traditional Chinese medicine. Upon it is built the whole edifice of Chinese medical though and practice. It consists of two parts – the Su Wen (Simple Questions) which is a treatise on general medicine, and the Ling Shu (Magic Gate or Spiritual Pivot) which is a special section devoted to acupuncture and moxibustion.

Stone relief from the Han Dynasty depicting the legendary Chinese physician Bian Que as a human-headed bird. Here he is depicted treating a patient with acupuncture.

The earliest recorded case of a cure by acupuncture is found in the “Biographies of Bian Que and Zang Kung” found in the Shi Ji (Historical Records) written about 2000 years ago. According to this book, the physician Bian Que (see illustration above) applied acupuncture to the ailing Prince of Kuo and brought him out a deep coma. Bian Que lived in the 5th century B.C. during the Zhou Dynasty (1122-255 B.C.).

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D) the Imperial Medical college with a special department for acupuncture/moxibustion was established. This was the first organized medical school in China. It came into being 200 years before the first medical school in Europe. The school was staffed by well qualified specialists and there were over 300 medical students. Buddhist influence on Chinese medicine also began to be felt at this time, and the works of the great Indian teachers Charaka and Susruta were translated into Chinese with the help of Buddhist Scholars. Observance of the highest ethical principles in medical practice was also encouraged by the contact with Buddhism. The invention of plate printing about this time was another factor which contributed greatly to the re-edition and re-publication of older medical books and the publication of new ones.

During the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) the physician Weng Wei-yi had two hollow life-size bronzes figures cast with the acupuncture points and channels marked clearly on the surface. Tong Ren or ‘the Man of Bronze’ as they were called, later became models for teaching and examination purposes. The hollow life-size manequins were provided in the examination room. Holes had been punched out at acupuncture points, the statues were covered with wax so as to make the holes invisibles, and then filled with water, Given the clinical picture of a hypothetical patient, the student was then required to perform acupuncture on the waxed model. If he was accurate in locating the selected points on the model, water would gush out from the sites of puncture. If the student got sufficiently wet he passed the examination!

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D) all previous knowledge about acupuncture was once again summarized by Yang Chi-Chou in his Zhen Jiu Da Cheng (Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion). This book which succeeded to some extent in unifying previously divergent views about points and channels, became a very popular text. It was encyclopaedic in size and written in short lines of rhythmic prose. Unwritten traditions as well as classical concepts were fully discussed, and exhaustive section on clinical and therapeutic procedures were included.

The Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) was a period when China was thrown open to Western influence. This was the time when the Manchus seized power through all China. Huge encclopaedias which were four times the size of the Encyclopaedia Britannica were published at this time. One of them called the Golden Mirror of Medicine dealt exclusively with medical science and was fully illustrated. Visiting German, Dutch and French scholars including physicians, sinologists and Jesuit missionaries were impressed by the therapeutic value of acupuncture and commenced introducing it to their respective countries during this period. The Western physicians who had not been to the East found these writings very amusing and altogether unacceptable.

After the first Opium War (1839-1842 A.D.) the Western colonial powers established themselves in China, thereby hastening the dissolution of a social order which had prevailed unbroken for several millennia. The rule of the Manchus ended in1911, and Sun Yat Sen became President. After a period of civil wars the Guomindang regime came into power in 1927 with Chiang Kai-Shek as president. The Guomindang paid little attention to the heritage of traditional medicine and branded it as quackery. In 1929 the Government proposed to declare a complete ban on traditional medicine, but this suggestion met with such bitter opposition by the people that they had to withdraw. Nevertheless everything possible was done to discourage traditional forms of medicine, and a rift was created between traditional doctors. (Zhong Yi) and doctors who were trained in Western medicine (Xi Yi).

In 1949 when the Guomindang regime was ended by the victory of the Red Army under Mao Zedong. The developments which followe opened on entirely new chapter in the history of acupuncture. It is amazing that the foundations for this new era of progress were laid by Mao Zedong even before his accession to power. In 1928, he suggested the integration of Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine in an article written by him entitled. “The struggle in the Ching Kang Mountains”. The appeal was made a time when the liberated area was blocked by the Guomindang, and medical equipment and drugs were in short supply. Malaria was rampant among the troops and the situation seemed hopeless as no anti-malaria drugs were available. Necessity is the mother of invention and someone suggested that the malaria be treated by acupuncture. Incredible as it may sound, it has been estimated that no less than 182,000 cases of malaria were treated successfully by acupuncture and herbal medicines during this compaign, thus “making the past serve the present”. Through this first hand experience, the founders of the new Republic came to appreciate the legacy of their traditional medicine, and no efforts were spared to “explore them, and raise them to a higher level”.

In October, 1944, at a conference held in Yenan in the Shensi-Kansu Ningsia border region, Mao Zedong called upon Western doctors and traditional practitioners to forget their professional jealousies and work together in a common program of disease prevention and health upliftment. This was followed soon after, in April 1945, by the opening of an acupuncture clinic at Yenan Peace Hospital. Classes in acupuncture were started all over the country and every encouragement was given to its practitioners.

In 1949 the People’s Republic of China founded, and acupuncture had once more become an officially accepted form of therapy. The next decisive step was taken in 1955 when the Acdemy of Traditional Chinese Medicine was set up in Beijing with the Research Center for Acupuncture and Moxibustion as a key faculty. Through this organization, and others in big cities like Shanghai, and in communes which dotted the entire countryside, acupuncture was studied from every possible angle and its use was successfully extended into hitherto neglected fields like the treatment of deaf-mutism. Not only fully qualified doctors but para-medical personnel like the so-called “barefoot doctors” pursued this research. In China Today, new methods are constantly being devised and their efficiency tested by practical experiment on the principle that “all genuine knowledge originates in direct experience”. Apart from acupuncture analgesia which has internationally become the most widely discussed medical topic in recent times, doctors in the People’s Republic of China have made other notable advances in acupuncture techniques for purposes of therapy. Electro- acupuncture, auriculotherapy, scalp needling, surgical suture embedding therapies, hot needling and point injection therapies, penetration puncture, swift insertion, strong stimulation, and non-retention of the needle are some of these developments.

EUROPE

The European countries have researched and used acupuncture for hundreds of years.

The first knowledge of acupuncture came to the West at the end of the seventeenth century, via the writings of a Dutchman called Wilhelm Ten Rhyne (or Rhijin), a physician employed by the Dutch East India Company and stationed in Japan. He wrote in Latin; his account had the title “De Acupunctura,” presumably the origin of the Western name for the treatment. In Chinese, acupuncture is known as “zhen jiu” which literally translates as “needles (and) moxibustion (a technique of heating or cauterizing points on the body).” Ten Rhyne was probably also responsible for the misleading expression “meridian” to describe the channels or vessels of acupuncture. Although Western doctors were interested in acupuncture at this time, they made little attempt to understand the theoretical basis in Chinese thought, of which indeed they generally had a poor opinion. The term “acupuncture” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1683.

Ten Rhyne wrote that the purpose of inserting the needles was to allow “evil wind” to escape from the body. According to the Chinese medical classic “Yellow Emperor’s Classic” (see above) this “wind” was at the root of all disease.

Acupuncture became well-practiced in France due to physicians like ReneLaennec, who popularized it. Dr. Laennec was the inventor of the stethoscope. The popularity of acupuncture in France continues to this day.

USA

Acupuncture came to the United States from France in 1825. Dr. Franklin Bache, great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was its leading advocate and researcher. Bache M.D. wrote an article, “Case illustrative of remial effects of acupuncture” showing how acupuncture was beneficial in the patient use in treating the penal system of Philadelphia. In 1916, Sir William Osler B.T., M.D., FBS wrote in the Principles and Practice of Medicine recommended treatment for lumbago was acupuncture.

Nixon in China, 1971

In 1971, James Reston, a reporter for the New York Times with Nixon’s Chinese trip, developed appendicitis while in China. The Chinese proposed surgery for his appendectomy using acupuncture anesthesia. His post operative pain after appendectomy treatment was relieved by acupuncture at the Anti-Imperialist Hospital in Beijing. Click here to read James Reston’s 1971 article in the New York Times describing his experiences. Nixon’s personal physician, Dr. Walter Tkach, was so impressed with the treatments he saw there that National Institutes of Health set up the Ad Hoc Committee on Acupuncture. An acupuncture research conference was held the following year.

In 1996, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reclassified acupuncture needles from the “investigative” category to “accepted medical instruments”. Being “investigative” allowed insurance companies to deny payment for acupuncture treatment. In 1997, the National Institute of Health issued a Consensus Statement on Acupuncture that recognized that “Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States” and “may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program.” NIH also formed a department of Alternative Health care to provide needed research funding in alternative avenues of medical care.

Read Full Post »

Acupuncture Case Study In the U.S. Congress.By Y.C.Chan

Acupuncture Case Study In the U.S. Congress.By Y.C.Chan(Your Health Magazine, July, 2010)

• July 2, 2012 2:27 am
• http://www.yourhealthmagazine.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=4735&Itemid=110

 Y.C. Chan, OMD, Dipl Ac 

Acupuncture practice reached and gained immense popularity in the United States after President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972.As a medical profession in this country, acupuncture should have scientific explanation to the general public, and a based theory satisfactory to AMA. Furthermore, the acupuncture needle must have FDA approval, because it is considered a medical device.In the early 1970’s most acupuncturists practiced under ground, because there was no licensure procedure available for practitioners. Due to the AMA opposition, many acupuncturists were arrested because they were considered to be practicing without a license. Under the influence of AMA, the government authorities were not favorable to acupuncture.Despite the legislative opposition to acupuncture, there was great patient demand and a growing interest among the general public. In addition, the positive acclaim from two U.S. Governor’s also gathered acupuncture’s popularity. In the U.S. Congress, the chairman Allen Ertel of subcommittee on science and technology and Chairman George Brown of the subcommittee both agreed to hold a hearing for acupuncture on June 22, 1979. The hearing was created to examine and explore the current views of the U.S. medical profession on acupuncture. Two acupuncture centers, and two acupuncturists were invited for testimony, as well as others (AMA, representatives, physicians, politicians, and a few patients) and totaled more than 200 people who attended the hearing. The acupuncture profession provided testimony and a copy of acupuncture study plus the author’s six page documentation, for a total of 32 pages for the records. The results of the study showed that for the acupuncture treatment of low back pain, the effective rate was 83% (after six weeks treatment plus 40 weeks intensive observation). This study was recorded at the U.S. Congress in 1979, during the 96th Congressional Hearing for Acupuncture. The original study was planned in 1976 and completed in 1978 in Montgomery County. Almost 35 years ago, due to the uncertainty of the legal situation, there were only a small group of practitioners in the state. Since the study was not supported by any organizations, all participants were volunteers. It was almost impossible to convince physician’s to perform services without a salary, but fortunately we found the right professional group to join the study. Acupuncture has become a healthcare profession in recent years and is available in the entire nation, but comprehensive acupuncture studies remain few. This is because most of the practitioners use herbs combined with different products, which can confuse the results. It is very difficult to perform professional studies. These acupuncture pioneers contributed their valuable time, knowledge, dignity, passion and all efforts to sacrifice themselves to their profession. All records in the U.S. Congress, FDA and AMA proved their comprehensive study. They should be proud and deserve partial credit of acupuncture’s history in the United States of America.

Read Full Post »

The first acupuncture center in the United States: an interview with Dr. Yao Wu Lee, Washington Acupuncture Center. By Dr.Arthur Yin Fan

http://www.jcimjournal.com/en/FullText2.aspx?articleID=jcim20120502
Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine: Volume 10 May, 2012 Number 5
Arthur Yin Fan (McLean Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, PLC. Vienna, VA 22182, USA )

Received March 23, 2012; accepted March 26, 2012; published online May 15, 2012. Full-text LinkOut at PubMed. Journal title in PubMed: Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao. Correspondence: Arthur Yin Fan, PhD, MD, LAc; Tel: +1-703-499-4428; Fax: +1-703-547-8197; E-mail: ArthurFan@ChineseMedicineDoctor.US

Forty years ago, President Nixon’s visit to China was a sign of the start of the normalization of Sino-American relations. Before and after President Nixon’s journey, the Chinese government’s “acupuncture diplomacy” was very effective. American reporters, politicians and well-known medical doctors or scholars visited many Chinese hospitals and witnessed numerous and various operations performed on patients under acupuncture anesthesia. When they returned, they reported these miraculous stories occurring in China and expressed their impressions. They were also interviewed on television shows. These reports activated American’s curiosity about China and the magic of acupuncture. One story especially, “Now, Let Me Tell You About My Appendectomy in Peking” written by James Reston, the vice-president and the most famous columnist of The New York Times, about his own experience in Beijing, directly triggered American’s interest in acupuncture. What’s interesting is that Reston’s story appeared on the front page of The New York Times along with the Apollo 15 liftoff, on July 26, 1971, which seems to hint that acupuncture would land in the United States of America like Apollo landed on the moon. We consider Reston’s acupuncture article as the most effective “ignition” of the long lasting fire of American’s acupuncture fever. The first real big wave of “acupuncture fever” was actually started by the Washington Acupuncture Center, also known as the Acupuncture Center of Washington, which was established by Dr. Yao Wu Lee (Sam, 李耀武), Dr. Arnold Benson and Mr. Charles Newmark. It is the first widely reported acupuncture center in modern history of the United States and was influential in furthering the development of acupuncture fever. The center was established in May, 1972, and initially named as Acupuncture Center of New York. It opened to patients on July 12, 1972, but closed shortly after due to the order of the New York Board of Medicine. Then it got approval to operate and moved to Washington, D.C. and re-opened on December 28, 1972.
There were several firsts achieved by this center. (1) There were more than 280 domestic and international newspapers that reported the opening of the center. (2) During its “golden time”, there were about approximately one thousand patients treated per day. (3) At the federal level, as per this center’s request, in the category of professions, the United States Citizenship and the Immigration Services created a totally new profession — acupuncturist, and defined acupuncture as a medical practice. Since 1973, there were opportunities for acupuncturists to immigrate to the United States. (4) In 1973, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States announced that patients could claim their acupuncture spending as medical expense in their tax returns. (5) Due to a win of a lawsuit in the Federal Court in 1974, a patient’s right to choose acupuncture treatment by his own judgment and an acupuncturist’s right to practice acupuncture were protected. At the federal level, acupuncture started to become an independent profession in the United States and started to diversify control held by the Western medicine-trained physicians. It also laid a basis for acupuncture or oriental medicine legislation in each state. We should remember that Washington, D.C. was the first local authority to approve non-physician (acupuncturists) to practice acupuncture in the history of the United States.
Washington Acupuncture Center is the first acupuncture center, with the longest history in the United States. To record the history of acupuncture, in December of 2011, the author, Dr. Arthur Fan interviewed Dr. Yao Wu Lee, one of founders of this center, who is 80 years old and still in practice.

Dr. Arthur Yin Fan (Fan): Dr. Lee, I heard that in 1972, you started the first legal acupuncture center in the United States. Could you tell me why and how you set up this center, and what challenge you met?
Dr. Yao Wu Lee (Lee): This center has three stages: initially it was in New York, then in Washington, D.C., at last, moved to the south of Florida. I came to the United States to resume my academic career from Israel at the end of 1971. I was appointed by an educational training center in Manhattan, called the Education Solution, Inc. The head of the company was Dr. Katana, a very tall and strong Jew, with nine PhD degrees. The company got contracts from the American government and focused on training of the teachers from New York’s elementary and middle schools, and unifying the teaching contents. My task was to develop software for the teaching and making the management more efficient, which I completed quickly. At the same time, Dr. Katana had strong interest in Chinese medicine and let me develop a Chinese medicine diagnosis system. He had known that I had developed an acupuncture point-detector in Taiwan between 1954 and 1960 (at that time, there was no policies supporting Chinese medicine in Taiwan, so this acupuncture point-detector actually was not in use at that time). His idea was to apply a machine to collect the data of patient’s pulse and then automatically reach a diagnosis. This plan required a lot of time and needed a large investment, i.e. at least more than a million dollars. Another issue was that there have been so many different judgments among different Chinese medicine doctors regarding diagnosing from the pulse information for the same patient, due to both objective and subjective reasons. So, I felt that this task was not easy to achieve during a limited time. I planed to go to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and resume my original career in electronics and automation.
During the beginning of 1972, around President Nixon’s China visit, there were many reports about acupuncture in China in newspapers and on television. In such a social environment, I started to have a desire to practice acupuncture in the United States. I was busy remodeling my acupuncture point-detector and developing an electric stimulator. At the same time, I visited several Chinese medicine doctors in Chinatown of the New York city, such as Dr. Shuyu Li (李树酉), Dr. Ching Y. Ting (丁景源), Dr. Huoren Fang (方活人), and Dr. Chingpang Lee (李静平). I stayed with them for three months. My feeling was that they mainly practiced in their own homes, in buildings that were very old, and the space was very small, dark and to some extent poor in hygiene. On average, the fee for acupuncture was $3 to $5. Acupuncture needles could be ordered in stores without any limitation. At that time, acupuncture was not a formal, accredited medical field, and there was no acupuncturist as a profession in legal documents in the United States.
Fan notes: At that time in the “Chinatowns” of major cities in the United States such as those in California and New York, there were a few Chinese medicine doctors practicing acupuncture or Chinese herbology without license. The majority of their patients were mostly Chinese. Because there were no descriptions, definitions or explanations for Chinese medicine or acupuncture, the practice of Chinese medicine or acupuncture was in a “gray area”, between the legal and the illegal. There were no obvious conflicts between a Chinese medicine doctor and a Western doctor. In most states, the Boards of Medicine did not administer Chinese medicine or acupuncture at all.
In my spare time, I performed acupuncture treatments for my neighbors and the teachers who were trainees in the company I worked with. I have learned Chinese medicine before when I was in the mainland China. I knew two Jewish friends through Dr. He, an old Chinese medicine doctor, and Dr. Chingpang Lee. One was Dr. Arnold Benson, who was a graduate of the New York Medical College, and had served as an army physician of the United States in Korea between 1962 and 1964, and knew of acupuncture. Another was Mr. Charles Newmark, a real estate developer, with experience in administration. Both of them, like me, were interested in opening an acupuncture clinic and visited Chinese medicine doctors. At that time, I was 39 years old and they were in their fifties. There was no big difference in age; they treated me as a “half Jew” because I spent several years in Israel. In April 1972, after several discussions, we, as a partnership, made a decision to start an acupuncture center. A formal application to the New York Board of Medicine was made in May 1972, but we did not get a response.
I felt that we had no time to wait, so we mailed a report to the New York Board of Medicine, explaining that the clinic would be operated by Dr. Arnold Benson, a Western-trained doctor, while other hired Chinese medicine doctors and I would perform acupuncture (similar to the nurses or assistants performing injections or drawing blood in clinic) under the doctor’s supervision. I felt this explanation should be accepted by the New York Board of Medicine and ordinary people. However, we did not get a response. We decided to just do it. The clinic was located at the East 73rd Street and called the Acupuncture Center of New York or also known as the New York Acupuncture Center.
Fan notes: “Chinese medicine doctors performing acupuncture under the supervision of (Western-trained) medical doctors” or “(Western-trained) medical doctors performing the diagnosis and Chinese medicine doctors performing acupuncture treatment” was a strategy under a special political climate at that time. This was first applied by Dr. Yao Wu Lee, and later, many legislation agencies in many states applied such terms in their acupuncture regulations. After 40 years of development, most of the states in the United States removed the requirement of medical doctors’ supervision. However, in most states, acupuncturists still have no rights for clinical diagnosis.
On July 5, 1972, Wednesday, we held a press conference for a news release in New York to announce the opening of the acupuncture center. Because Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinic was totally new in the United States, it caused many concerns. More than 90 journalists and reporters came from famous newspapers, journals and television companies, such as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Times, Newsday, The East West Journal, The New York Times and News Week, and may have also included some other professionals and medical doctors. We arranged 12 patients to introduce their health issues, acupuncture experience and the results. I remembered one of the patients was a famous priest and violinist in Manhattan, Rev. Norman Catir, who had headaches and mild memory loss. Another was Mr. Don Lamond who had “osteoarthritis of the left hip” or “sciatica”. At about 11 o’clock, I as the Chinese medicine representative, Benson as the medical doctor representative and Newmark as the administration representative introduced acupuncture and the operation method of the clinic to the media, and replied to their questions. Benson talked first. He knew some acupuncture in Korea, but lacked knowledge of Chinese medicine theory and clinical experience in acupuncture. His personality was simple, modest but not very good at debate. He could not continue to reply when some reporters questioned him again and again, only replying ‘we are not a quack operation, we are a medical practice’. The questions were related to legality of the practice of acupuncture without the approval from the Board of Medicine, the lack of scientific evidence, and the use of acupuncture to only making money. One very extreme reporter of The New York Times said, ‘China is an under-developed country; there is no medicine at all’ — he wanted to deny acupuncture as a medical practice.
I came from Shandong Province, China and was very angry with the insults to China and acupuncture. I found that there was chaos and I had to control the situation. I stood up and questioned the reporters loudly with broken English, ‘What is medicine? What is science? I ask you everyone, who could explain clearly?’ At that moment, Newmark pulled my clothes to let me calm down and speak slowly. ‘I believe Chinese medicine is a science, also a philosophy. Ask you — why Aspirin is effective? I believe that there is not any scientist or medical doctor who could explain it very clearly. Medicine actually is an interdisciplinary science and clinical experience. No one could explain very clearly. Many conditions actually are unsure. The Western medicine is also developed from clinical experience. Chinese medicine has more than 3 000 years of history and has treated billions of patients. It is still useful today; it should have a scientific basis. Sure, acupuncture mixes some clinical experience. However, you could not say it is not a science before you try to understand it. If I use Hebrew to explain the scientific knowledge, you will say I don’t understand, but you could not use ‘I don’t understand’ as a criterion to judge if what I say is belonging to the scientific or the nonscientific. It is the same thing — you do not understand Chinese medicine theory, so you treat acupuncture as witchcraft. It is wrong in your attitude. I am a scientist, also a clinical doctor, here I give you an explanation — acupuncture is using external stimulation to heal internal disorder or illness.’ I invited Mr. Lamond and wanted to show acupuncture on his body. At this moment, a reporter of The New York Times interrupted me and wanted me to explain it in medical terms. ‘You sit down. I will give you an explanation later,’ I replied loudly. I showed an acupuncture point to everyone on the patient’s body, the Huantiao point, with an acupuncture point-detector. It has six instruments, one indicating lamp and a buzz. When it finds the acupuncture point, the machine will flash the lamp and comfortable music will be heard. Dr. Chingpang Lee inserted a 4-inch needle to the patient’s Huantiao point. The patient’s hip pain was decreased immediately. At the same time, Catir’s headache was also treated by acupuncture. He felt much better. The patients and we replied to reporters’ questions. The atmosphere was very active. I felt that the press conference reached its purpose, and it was completed on time. That night, the New York television evening news showed our press conference, especially our magic machine, which caused a big shock. Over three hundred patients called us for appointments or consultations and our eight assistants were busy for a whole night. The next day on July 6, there were more than 280 domestic and international newspapers reporting our acupuncture center’s opening. The United States is a country trusting of science and evidence. People got a strong interest in acupuncture by understanding the theory preliminarily and seeing the results. I predicted our center would be a big success. (Notes: Figure 1 is a photo taken at that time).

Figure 1 Dr. Yao Wu Lee using an acupuncture point-detector to locate Yingxiang point on a young lady’s face on July 5, 1972 in New York. Provided by Yao Wu Lee.

July 12, Wednesday, was the actual opening day. Many reporters of the media came with patients for further observation and follow-up reporting. One week later, the number of patients reached 150 per day; after three weeks, more than 200 per day. We had to rent more office space and expanded to 4 000 square feet (Fan notes: about 400 m2). The “acupuncture fever” caused concern of the New York Board of Medicine. It sent an order to our center telling us to close, stating that ‘Acupuncture is a medical practice. Only licensed medical doctor can practice it.’ At that time, our center had more than ten thousand dollars income per day. Closing the clinic would cause a big loss. In addition, there were many patients from various places awaiting the acupuncture treatments, which also caused us a big stress. On the third day, our administration director Newmark got a new idea of making medical doctors perform the acupuncture under the Chinese medicine doctor’s supervision, which meant our clinic could resume. However, the medical doctors were not familiar with acupuncture. In most cases, both the Chinese medicine doctors and the medical doctors performed acupuncture together. After two weeks, the second order from the New York Board of Medicine came stating that ‘Acupuncture is a medical practice. Only licensed medical doctors can practice it in a medical school or a teaching hospital.’ We tried to contact a teaching hospital. However, the hospital wanted to totally control our finances and operations. At this moment, we got the third order stating that “Acupuncture is a medical practice. Only licensed medical doctors can practice it. It must be performed in an approved research project in a medical school.” This actually aimed to ban any Chinese medicine doctor or Western doctor treating patients with acupuncture. Our lawyer started an appeal, and we believed such orders lacked a legal basis. We practiced medicine legally, and we believed we should continue the practice until the court says we can’t. As the Board forced us to close, we insisted on continuing the practice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) got involved and a court order caused us to close. They froze our bank account. The reason for the court to order closure was that ‘the FBI does not want people to cause political storm and affect the election’. At noon of November 19, the second day after President Nixon was re-elected, more than 20 FBI agents and police with black suits came to close our center.
Fan notes: I heard from a New York Chinese medicine doctor that, at that time when the doctor heard the FBI coming, he rushed down the stairs, lost his shoes on the way, and ran out of the rear door with the help of a nurse. The situation was really scary!
At that time, our doctors and nurses, other assistants and administrators responded calmly except for one Chinese medicine doctor you mentioned who was overwhelmed with panic. He thought the FBI would arrest all the doctors, so he ran out. On that day, Benson and Newmark were not at the clinic, so I handled the situation. I requested to the FBI agents to allow all patients who had already paid to complete the treatments, which would be fair with the patients. They discussed and then agreed. So, on that day, the center actually closed at 5:30 PM. The whole procedure was under control.
A lot of our patients went to the court to protest. The New York State Attorney General worried that the events would expand and mediated between the Board and us, and let both parties reach a settlement out of the court. The last settlement was “the Board withdrew the lawsuit, and our center agreed to close the office temporarily”. The next day, our bank account was freed and the attorney received payment. The New York State Attorney General sent a special notice and put pressure on the New York Board of Medicine to prepare the acupuncture legislation as soon as possible so that acupuncturists are able to be in a legal practice.
Fan notes: Dr. Arnold Benson was a medical doctor. His opening of a clinic using acupuncture as a therapy was totally legal. However, because of the wrong attitude of the New York Board of Medicine, which wanted to ban acupuncture and was forced by the special political climate, this acupuncture center intermittently opened for five months, and then had to shut down. The ban of the authorities brought disaster not only to the Acupuncture Center of New York but also to the original practice in the Chinatown. All the New York Chinese medicine practitioners or acupuncturists had been banned. In 1976, the New York State started to allow acupuncturists to practice acupuncture under the supervision of a medical doctor. But it was not until 1991 that the acupuncture regulation was able to go through.
That night, we partners ate dinner quietly, and then held a meeting. For the future, there were different views among us. The other two said: “Lee, just close down.” Especially Newmark, who wanted to change direction, was engaged in real estate. However, I insisted to continue to do acupuncture. There was a friend who was the boss of a large cruise ship company in New York. He suggested bringing the patients to the cruise, and as long as they were three nautical miles out of New York, the Board would have no control. I said, on the contrary, that even if it ends in court, we should open acupuncture clinic in the United States itself. We debated until three in the morning. Everyone was tired. Then Newmark said, ‘Benson and I are two Jews, Lee worked as half a Jew. The Jews have always been indomitable, and we admit Lee’s views. The bank account still has $300 000 left (equivalent to about 3 million now, since breakfast at that time cost only $1.20), which could be used for the clinic development in the future.’ They finally agreed with me.
Considering the difficulty of recruiting the staff, I arranged all the doctors and nurses to work part-time. We could not see patients, so we had training and taught ourselves. Our lawyer wrote letters to the Governor of each state talking about the misfortune of acupuncture in New York and hoping to find a place to continue the opening. We proposed to have a medical doctor supervising, while a Chinese medicine doctor performed the acupuncture. The governor of Puerto Rico agreed that we could go there, but it is far away and is not a domestic state of the United States. We were hesitant to go. During this period, there were sympathizers to our ideas. They thought, for example, an aircraft company, using a Boeing 747 to transform it into a clinic in the international airport. Then local governments would have no control for doing acupuncture there. This company wanted to use acupuncture to make money. I think this is heresy, so we declined. They said as long as I want, they could help us at any time. Some newspapers reported sympathy for our situation. There were some patients who called their State Governor and Attorney General to request help for us.
At the occasion of being unable to do anything, in the afternoon of Friday, December 22, I received a call from the Washington, D.C. Board of Medicine. The director said: “We invite you to Washington, D.C. The political climate here is much better than New York. You can come at once.” I was in disbelief and asked: “Can you give me a formal letter of invitation?” He said his secretary would issue that, so I could come and pick it up next Monday at noon time. At that time, Washington, D.C. was directly managed by the Congress and was not an independent city. Its Board of Medicine consisted of non-medical staff and was very open-minded. On Saturday morning, we left New York and went to Washington, D.C. Doctors and management staff took the car, while other supporting staff went by train. Many journalists and reporters also followed us to the station.
Our clinic in Washington, D.C. was at the intersection of I Street and 18th Street. It was next to the Pennsylvania Avenue, and not far from the George Washington University. The White House could be seen very easily. The clinic was located in the fourth floor, with 4 500 square feet space (about 450 m2) and called the Acupuncture Center of Washington (also known as Washington Acupuncture Center). Newmark rented 30 dormitories in Arlington, Virginia for our staff. In the first week, we quickly renovated the clinic. In the second week, on December 28, 1972, our clinic reopened. Many newspapers reported this exciting news. After two and half months, the number of patients sharply increased to more than 250 per day. The clinic space was insufficient, so I decided to open a second clinic at 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, which was a few blocks away from the first clinic, with the space of 12 000 square feet (about 1 200 m2), and located on the 7th floor of an embassy. At peak time, there were 650 patients per day at this clinic. In the two clinics, there were nearly a thousand patients (plus family members, more than 2 000 people) per day. Due to the existing of these acupuncture clinics, the hotel business in the surrounding area (including Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland) and the business of transportation of patients to Washington, D.C. were extremely flourishing. At that time, Washington, D.C. became the capital of “acupuncture”. (Notes: Figure 2 is a photo taken at the end of 1972. Dr Lee was using electroacupuncture to treat a patient)

Figure 2 Using electroacupuncture technique to treat a patient by Dr. Yao Wu Lee on December 28, 1972 in Washington, D.C. I Street clinic. Provided by Arthur Fan.

Fan notes: “Acupuncture Center of Washington,” or “Washington Acupuncture Center” was the first “totally legal” acupuncture center in the United States. It was the only one that opened to the public, not for research. The approved date was on December 22, 1972. After that, there were 11 other acupuncture clinics getting approved in Washington, D.C. in 1973 and 1974.
Fan: I heard that you organized buses to bring patients to Washington, D.C. for acupuncture treatment. Is that true?
Lee: A seriously sick patient in a desperate situation came to our acupuncture center. After about one month of acupuncture treatments, he recovered. His Chinese medicine doctor was Ms. Susan He. The patient felt that acupuncture has unexpected effects on many diseases or disorders. In order to help patients from everywhere, he launched chartered coaches to send patients to our center, mainly from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and other places several times a week. Basically, the buses shuttled patients back and forth in the same day, with two or three buses a day (120 to 180 patients). Many patients were grateful to him for his help. At that time, there was very few acupuncture clinics and our patients came from throughout the United States. We also had many foreign patients.
Due to the booming of acupuncture business and the differences in thinking, acupuncture had once again aroused the anxiety and unease of Western medicine-dominated medical institutions and drug manufacturers throughout the United States. They united and sued the government of Washington, D.C., but they lost. However, the condition was changing in their favour. In early 1974, Washington, D.C. adopted the “home rule” and became an independent city, which means that it was no longer managed by the Congress. It established a new Board of Medicine, which consisted of local conservative medical doctors. Acupuncture once again became the object of attack. They invited some reporters to engage in a so-called investigation. A reporter named Mike, from The Washington Times, spent one week in our clinics, talked with our patients, and listened to our lectures. One morning, his article was published in the newspaper with a half inch high headline “Acupuncture is an art of deception or a liar?” He allegedly interviewed more than 80 patients who said they were not feeling better after acupuncture. Most people felt disappointed in acupuncture. Even more damaging, he said he didn’t know where the acupuncture doctors came from. He called for the immigration service to investigate the background of theses doctors.
In fact, our Chinese medicine doctors or acupuncturists, in addition to those hired from New York, were recruited from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao through the legal procedures into the United States. In 1973, our immigration lawyer applied for a filing to the Manpower Committee of the Congress to employ acupuncturists in the health care services (Medical Practice). This was the first time that the name of “acupuncturist” was used in the federal legal documents and the definition of acupuncturists was engaged in the medical service.
In 1974, the new Board of Medicine of Washington, D.C. gave us orders and let us close our acupuncture offices six times. The American Medical Association combined with the Board of Medicine, Washington, D.C., sued our acupuncture center in Washington, D.C. federal court. The reason they did not use a local court was to deny acupuncture at the federal level. In order to save the acupuncture profession, as well as our acupuncture center, we had to respond seriously.
When we were involved in the lawsuit, there were warm responses throughout the country. Many of our former patients, acupuncturists, and the medical doctors who knew and liked acupuncture came to help out, which gave us great support. The court convened a serious acupuncture hearing. The judge continuously listened to the testimonies from the public for three months. Our patients from all over the country came to testify. The testimonies of many patients moved the judge. For example, a female patient from New York called Barbara, 45 years old, was seriously ill. Her husband left her and forced her to divorce. She was emaciated and even unable to speak. She ate very little and her complexion was bloodless. The conventional doctors of New York estimated that she could only live for 20 days. When sent by a friend to our center, our medical doctors checked her and also felt there was no hope for survival and suggested that she should not receive acupuncture. It was me who saved this patient with acupuncture. She totally recovered after six months of acupuncture treatments. I noticed that when Barbara told her story, the judge, more than 80 years old, removed his glasses with a handkerchief. People present were deeply touched. Another three months passed and the court announced the decision — patients have the right to choose acupuncture and acupuncturists lawfully have rights to practice. In addition, the court emphasized that it was the final decision and it will not accept the appeal.
We eventually won the lawsuit at the federal level. The legal status of acupuncture and the operating rights of our clinic were protected. At the same time, many acupuncturists and enthusiastic people started to actively fight for acupuncturists’ rights in each state. Acupuncture legislations were started in some states. No doubt, we won our lawsuit and helped acupuncture throughout the United States, and we were very glad. However, we were also exhausted — we put in a boundless energy and time and spent a lot of money.
The subsequent experience was even more severe.

Fan: How about the situation of the center afterwards?
Lee: False and negative reports about acupuncture in some newspapers resulted in a large negative impact on our practice. It had significant impact on the numbers of our patients. Initially, it was reduced to 600 patients per day, then 500, 400 and so on. The rapid decline of patients caused us to be unable to afford the rent for large space of the clinics. Both clinics on the I Street and the Massachusetts Avenue closed in 1974. The partnership was broken. The shares were distributed to the partners. Many doctors and nurses also went away. Acupuncture legislation in Massachusetts was earlier than many other states so there was a better political climate there. We sent Dr. Yufan Jiang (江玉凡) and Dr. Yulin Jin (金玉林) to Boston and Princeton, to set up new acupuncture centers. Doctors originally from New York basically went back to New York. Dr. Benson, Mr. Newmark, Dr. Chingpang Lee, Dr. David P.J. Hung (洪伯荣) and others re-started acupuncture centers in two different locations of the New York City. However, a few months later, all of these centers were closed due to the crisis of internal management.
My colleagues and I moved the Washington Acupuncture Center to the Connecticut Inn which located in the middle of the Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C., with a total of eight rooms. We worked there for about two years. In 1976, I let our staff Dr. Greg Chen (陈一强) handle the management (in 1980, he moved the clinic to Chinatown, Washington, D.C.). It could be said that between 1974 and 1976, our center experienced a great turn of events, and we were all very depressed. However, I thought if we could continue, there will be hope.
In 1976, I moved the major part of Washington Acupuncture Center to Florida. Until now, it still has three clinics.

Fan: You are an acupuncture pioneer in Florida. Is the experience of your acupuncture practice very smooth there? Do you think there are some relationships between certain obstacles, setbacks in Chinese medicine or acupuncture met in the United States, and Chinese medicine or acupuncture itself, as well as clinic organizers themselves?
Lee: In 1976, per invitation of a patient, also my friend, I moved the major staff of our acupuncture center to Florida and set up several clinics over the time. It was still called the Washington Acupuncture Center. At the beginning, I flew to St. Petersburg and took a taxi for two hours, found and rented an office of 4 000 square feet at the Central Avenue. Our clinic had six Chinese medicine doctors and six Western medicine doctors, from Washington, D.C. There were 60 to 70 patients per day. In 1977, we opened a center in Palm Beach with more than 80 patients per day, but the parking lot was too small to accommodate more patients. Later, we opened another center in West Palm Beach. Now we focus on Florida’s southeast. In order to facilitate patient treatment, we have three clinics in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Sunrise. I also work part-time in a local hospital to provide acupuncture services for rehabilitation patients.
Our patients have trusted us throughout, but there were unfriendly people. In 1978, a reporter of the Florida Sunset News, a local newspaper of the Washington Star News, took the pamphlet from my clinic. She noticed that this pamphlet listed many disease names that acupuncture can treat. Then, the responsible person called us saying: “The Medical Association will sue your acupuncture clinic; the clinic should be closed because only (Western) medical doctors can make medical claims.” I asked her: “What is the background of the person who proposed that I should close the clinic? Is it a doctor or an acupuncturist? Has the person ever experienced acupuncture before?” She said: “I do not think so.” I counterattacked her: “Since you are not a doctor, and not experienced in acupuncture, what qualifications do you have to force me to close the clinic? If you want to continue to harass me, I’ll sue you.” She was at a loss with words so I used some minutes to introduce the principles of acupuncture. This newspaper did not come back asking for trouble.
I feel that the Chinese medicine doctors and acupuncturists should spend more time on public education, because the principle and theory of Chinese medicine is too foreign to the Western people. We must safeguard the basic rights and interests of our profession. We, Chinese medicine doctors and acupuncturists should fight the rights for ourselves. The professionals of Chinese medicine and acupuncture have been generally too humble and timid for fear of backfire. I would like to engage in the second revolution, if I were younger. We are in a legal medical practice. Why won’t many health insurance programs pay the cost of acupuncture treatments? At the federal level, why does the Medicare not cover acupuncture? We are the same as a healthcare provider. The Medicare pays for the work of other healthcare practitioners, but does not pay for acupuncture. If we do not struggle and do not fight, it will be in the same condition even after a hundred years. No one will help us for that right except ourselves. If we win, acupuncture will be accessible by all the healthcare programs. Our generation invests more, but the benefit is not necessarily greater. However, the next generation of Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists can reap the benefits. A non-profit organization established by my patients (I am a consultant), specifically called on governments at all levels to attach importance to acupuncture and has sent many letters to President Obama, who could vigorously support acupuncture legislation at the federal level, and help acupuncture become covered by the Medicare. Until now, however, it seems to be with little success. It seems that we have to put more investment and more financial resources into gaining the rights to fight in a federal court. This method’s efficiency is much higher than other options. I hope acupuncturists and Chinese medicine professionals could recognize this.

Fan: I heard that you were involved in many works during and after 1980’s acupuncture legislation in Florida.
Lee: In 1981, a Florida congressman who was a medical doctor wanted to rectify the acupuncture market, and let the state issue acupuncture licenses. The state authority proposed six categories of healthcare professionals, including medical doctor (MD), orthopedic surgeon (DO), chiropractic physician (DC), naturopathic physician, etc., who can directly get the right to perform acupuncture. Acupuncturists, however, should participate in an examination in order to get the license. I hired a lawyer to appeal because the above requirements were illogical. I proposed as long as Chinese medicine professionals or acupuncturists practice acupuncture for more than two years under the supervision of Western medical doctor (there should be evidence such as a contract, or payroll records, medical records and so on), it is not necessary for them to pass the exam and get the license. Later, I was hired by a committee which drafted the Florida Acupuncture Regulation (Ad hoc Committee). I insisted that regardless whether one was a Chinese medicine professional, Western medicine doctor or other professionals, as long as one wants to practice acupuncture, he/she must be treated equally and must pass an acupuncture examination. At the beginning, there were 59 people who applied for an acupuncture license including 29 ethnic Chinese and 30 of other ethnic groups. After a three-day examination, including acupuncture theory, acupuncture points and the actual operation, with acupuncture examiners hired from California, there were 19 people (including all Chinese medicine practitioners from our clinic. There were several Western medical doctors as well.) qualified to get an acupuncture license. However, there were quite a number of Chinese medicine professionals, acupuncturists, and some Western medicine doctors who had practiced acupuncture for more than two years who boycotted the examination. With coordination with the state authority, a Grandfather Law was applied to them. There were more than 100 people who got the license without taking the acupuncture examination.
When drafting acupuncture regulation, some Western medicine doctors added harsh requirements, such as acupuncture clinics must have two restrooms. I argued that many acupuncturists do not need a large clinic space. Patients for acupuncture would not come at the same time. Many clinics of other professions actually only have one restroom. So the finalized regulation stated that acupuncture clinics are just required to have one restroom. At the same time, I insisted to change the regulation name of the licensed acupuncturist as Acupuncture Physician (AP), who no longer practices under the supervision of Western medical doctor. Unlicensed acupuncturists still could continue to practice acupuncture under the supervision of medical doctors. A majority of Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists were very satisfied with the work I did, and understood my situation. However, there were very few Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists who were unhappy with that regulation. There was a lady from Thailand who was angry with me, who did not meet the exemption requirement, and also did not want to practice acupuncture under the supervision of medical doctors.
Later, I served three terms as a Florida Acupuncture License Examiner, two terms as president of the Florida State Acupuncture Association and two years as Chairman of continuing education (1989-1990) for the Florida State Acupuncture Association. After 1985, I also taught acupuncture for pre-med students in the Florida Atlantic University and the professionals in the rehabilitation department of the Boca Raton Community Hospital.
In appreciation for my contributions to acupuncture in the United States, I received the first national “Acupuncturist of the Year” Award for 1983-1984 from the Center of Chinese Medicine in California.

Fan: Dr. Lee, could we discuss the fee schedule of your clinics? Is there any difference in your patients between the present and the past? In addition, it is said that the Jewish people played an important role in acupuncture legalization in the United States and were driven by their interest that in it, what is your opinion?
Lee: When we were in New York and Washington, D.C., the fee for initial visit was $50 and that for the subsequent visit was $20 to 25 (later, increased to $35). Forty years ago, one dollar is roughly equivalent to current $10. For example, if we talk about the price of a car, in the early 1970s, the price of a Lincoln was $6 000 and a luxury Ford car was $4 000. Now their prices are $60 000 and $80 000, respectively. So, if we still apply the fee schedule of that time, the fee for the initial visit and the second visit should be $500 and $350, respectively. However, under the real conditions, our fee schedule is $80 for self-pay patient, as 1/6 to 1/4 of the original fee schedule. Some patients have insurance for acupuncture, which may pay us at about $200 per time with limited times. The fee schedule is much lower than before, so the model of both Western and Chinese medicine doctor seeing the same patient is no longer affordable. Hiring a good Chinese medicine doctor is sometimes also difficult.
Before, there were very few acupuncture clinics in the United States. Patients from all over the country, even from all over of the world came to us, so our center could have 1 000 patients per day (two clinics combined). There were many patients with intractable diseases or very serious conditions. Later, the business of our center was no longer as successful as that time due to the malicious newspaper reports which caused patient’s misunderstanding of acupuncture and bad influence from the lawsuit (although we won). The number of patients was not as many as before. Furthermore, due to acupuncture legislation in many States, more acupuncturists could open acupuncture clinics. The number of acupuncturists, both migrating from all over the world and graduating from accredited schools in the United States, have increased. The increasing of clinics has caused the number of patients to decrease in each clinic. Currently, I have about 30 patients per day from the surrounding area and not many with serious conditions.
To improve the income of Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists and to match the income of other practitioners, such as medical doctors and physical therapists, we should make efforts to promote insurance companies to pay for the acupuncture treatment. Currently, however, many Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists are “comfortable” with their individual business and not many are aware of the need to engage in this important area.
For those who feel that the Jewish people played an important role in the development of acupuncture in the United States due to their interest in money (or say, “greed”), it is unfair statement about our Jewish friends. From my personal experience, there were two Jewish friends of mine involved in our center’s establishment and operation. They did get certain compensation. However, it was not as much as many people thought. Like me, they were driven by the passion to promote acupuncture. In our clinics, eighty percent of the income was used to pay the employees’ wages, operational expenses (including renting, employee training), and the expenses of litigation. Litigation expenses were considerable. For example, there was over $500 000 spent for the lawsuit in 1974 in Washington, D.C. In order to change the resentment of Western medical doctors, to improve the external environment of the acupuncture profession, and to reduce the external pressure on the Board of Medicine (handled by the Congress), in 1973 we invested tens of thousands of dollars to open acupuncture training programs for Western medicine doctors (MDs and DOs) in the George Washington University School of Medicine. Each class had 30 doctors, lasting three months (40 h per week), which was one of the earliest acupuncture training programs for Western medical doctors in the United States. We had a total of five classes. From 1973 to 1975, we invested over $70 000 at the Department of Medical Biology, George Washington University School of Medicine, to conduct the studies of acupuncture on rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, from the perspective of return, investing in another field, such as real estate, would benefit more. However, my Jewish friends and I chose to promote acupuncture.
Personally, if I made another choice, such as returning to Taiwan to continue my previous career, obtaining a “General” title should be predictable. If I chose to work in the United States Space Center, I would be a good scientist. The reason I chose Chinese medicine and acupuncture was that the acupuncture profession brings me a sense of accomplishment. I am 80 years old, and until now, I still work in the clinic (see Figure 3).

Figure 3 Dr. Yao Wu Lee treating a patient with acupuncture in Florida (2012). Provided by Arthur Fan.

Read Full Post »

The first acupuncture center in the United States: an interview with Dr. Yao Wu Lee, Washington Acupuncture Center. By Dr.Arthur Yin Fan

The first acupuncture center in the United States: an interview with Dr. Yao Wu Lee, Washington Acupuncture Center

http://www.jcimjournal.com/en/index.aspx

Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine: Volume 10   May, 2012   Number 5 Arthur Yin Fan (McLean Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, PLC. Vienna, VA 22182, USA )

  Full text  Download PDF file  Send to a friend  Cited in JCIM  Reader’s comments  Send a comment

	Global Views DOI: 10.3736/jcim20120502
JCIM
Open Access
THIS ARTICLE
Received March 23, 2012; accepted March 26, 2012; published online May 15, 2012. Full-text LinkOut at PubMed. Journal title in PubMed: Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao. Correspondence: Arthur Yin Fan, PhD, MD, LAc; Tel: +1-703-499-4428; Fax: +1-703-547-8197; E-mail: ArthurFan@ChineseMedicineDoctor.US      Forty years ago, President Nixon’s visit to China was a sign of the start of the normalization of Sino-American relations. Before and after President Nixon’s journey, the Chinese government’s “acupuncture diplomacy” was very effective. American reporters, politicians and well-known medical doctors or scholars visited many Chinese hospitals and witnessed numerous and various operations performed on patients under acupuncture anesthesia. When they returned, they reported these miraculous stories occurring in China and expressed their impressions. They were also interviewed on television shows. These reports activated American’s curiosity about China and the magic of acupuncture. One story especially, “Now, Let Me Tell You About My Appendectomy in Peking” written by James Reston, the vice-president and the most famous columnist of The New York Times, about his own experience in Beijing, directly triggered American’s interest in acupuncture. What’s interesting is that Reston’s story appeared on the front page of The New York Times along with the Apollo 15 liftoff, on July 26, 1971, which seems to hint that acupuncture would land in the United States of America like Apollo landed on the moon. We consider Reston’s acupuncture article as the most effective “ignition” of the long lasting fire of American’s acupuncture fever. The first real big wave of “acupuncture fever” was actually started by the Washington Acupuncture Center, also known as the Acupuncture Center of Washington, which was established by Dr. Yao Wu Lee (Sam, 李耀武), Dr. Arnold Benson and Mr. Charles Newmark. It is the first widely reported acupuncture center in modern history of the United States and was influential in furthering the development of acupuncture fever. The center was established in May, 1972, and initially named as Acupuncture Center of New York. It opened to patients on July 12, 1972, but closed shortly after due to the order of the New York Board of Medicine. Then it got approval to operate and moved to Washington, D.C. and re-opened on December 28, 1972. There were several firsts achieved by this center. (1) There were more than 280 domestic and international newspapers that reported the opening of the center. (2) During its “golden time”, there were about approximately one thousand patients treated per day. (3) At the federal level, as per this center’s request, in the category of professions, the United States Citizenship and the Immigration Services created a totally new profession — acupuncturist, and defined acupuncture as a medical practice. Since 1973, there were opportunities for acupuncturists to immigrate to the United States. (4) In 1973, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States announced that patients could claim their acupuncture spending as medical expense in their tax returns. (5) Due to a win of a lawsuit in the Federal Court in 1974, a patient’s right to choose acupuncture treatment by his own judgment and an acupuncturist’s right to practice acupuncture were protected. At the federal level, acupuncture started to become an independent profession in the United States and started to diversify control held by the Western medicine-trained physicians. It also laid a basis for acupuncture or oriental medicine legislation in each state. We should remember that Washington, D.C. was the first local authority to approve non-physician (acupuncturists) to practice acupuncture in the history of the United States. Washington Acupuncture Center is the first acupuncture center, with the longest history in the United States. To record the history of acupuncture, in December of 2011, the author, Dr. Arthur Fan interviewed Dr. Yao Wu Lee, one of founders of this center, who is 80 years old and still in practice.      Dr. Arthur Yin Fan (Fan): Dr. Lee, I heard that in 1972, you started the first legal acupuncture center in the United States. Could you tell me why and how you set up this center, and what challenge you met? Dr. Yao Wu Lee (Lee): This center has three stages: initially it was in New York, then in Washington, D.C., at last, moved to the south of Florida. I came to the United States to resume my academic career from Israel at the end of 1971. I was appointed by an educational training center in Manhattan, called the Education Solution, Inc. The head of the company was Dr. Katana, a very tall and strong Jew, with nine PhD degrees. The company got contracts from the American government and focused on training of the teachers from New York’s elementary and middle schools, and unifying the teaching contents. My task was to develop software for the teaching and making the management more efficient, which I completed quickly. At the same time, Dr. Katana had strong interest in Chinese medicine and let me develop a Chinese medicine diagnosis system. He had known that I had developed an acupuncture point-detector in Taiwan between 1954 and 1960 (at that time, there was no policies supporting Chinese medicine in Taiwan, so this acupuncture point-detector actually was not in use at that time). His idea was to apply a machine to collect the data of patient’s pulse and then automatically reach a diagnosis. This plan required a lot of time and needed a large investment, i.e. at least more than a million dollars. Another issue was that there have been so many different judgments among different Chinese medicine doctors regarding diagnosing from the pulse information for the same patient, due to both objective and subjective reasons. So, I felt that this task was not easy to achieve during a limited time. I planed to go to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and resume my original career in electronics and automation. During the beginning of 1972, around President Nixon’s China visit, there were many reports about acupuncture in China in newspapers and on television. In such a social environment, I started to have a desire to practice acupuncture in the United States. I was busy remodeling my acupuncture point-detector and developing an electric stimulator. At the same time, I visited several Chinese medicine doctors in Chinatown of the New York city, such as Dr. Shuyu Li (李树酉), Dr. Ching Y. Ting (丁景源), Dr. Huoren Fang (方活人), and Dr. Chingpang Lee (李静平). I stayed with them for three months. My feeling was that they mainly practiced in their own homes, in buildings that were very old, and the space was very small, dark and to some extent poor in hygiene. On average, the fee for acupuncture was $3 to $5. Acupuncture needles could be ordered in stores without any limitation. At that time, acupuncture was not a formal, accredited medical field, and there was no acupuncturist as a profession in legal documents in the United States. Fan notes: At that time in the “Chinatowns” of major cities in the United States such as those in California and New York, there were a few Chinese medicine doctors practicing acupuncture or Chinese herbology without license. The majority of their patients were mostly Chinese. Because there were no descriptions, definitions or explanations for Chinese medicine or acupuncture, the practice of Chinese medicine or acupuncture was in a “gray area”, between the legal and the illegal. There were no obvious conflicts between a Chinese medicine doctor and a Western doctor. In most states, the Boards of Medicine did not administer Chinese medicine or acupuncture at all. In my spare time, I performed acupuncture treatments for my neighbors and the teachers who were trainees in the company I worked with. I have learned Chinese medicine before when I was in the mainland China. I knew two Jewish friends through Dr. He, an old Chinese medicine doctor, and Dr. Chingpang Lee. One was Dr. Arnold Benson, who was a graduate of the New York Medical College, and had served as an army physician of the United States in Korea between 1962 and 1964, and knew of acupuncture. Another was Mr. Charles Newmark, a real estate developer, with experience in administration. Both of them, like me, were interested in opening an acupuncture clinic and visited Chinese medicine doctors. At that time, I was 39 years old and they were in their fifties. There was no big difference in age; they treated me as a “half Jew” because I spent several years in Israel. In April 1972, after several discussions, we, as a partnership, made a decision to start an acupuncture center. A formal application to the New York Board of Medicine was made in May 1972, but we did not get a response. I felt that we had no time to wait, so we mailed a report to the New York Board of Medicine, explaining that the clinic would be operated by Dr. Arnold Benson, a Western-trained doctor, while other hired Chinese medicine doctors and I would perform acupuncture (similar to the nurses or assistants performing injections or drawing blood in clinic) under the doctor’s supervision. I felt this explanation should be accepted by the New York Board of Medicine and ordinary people. However, we did not get a response. We decided to just do it. The clinic was located at the East 73rd Street and called the Acupuncture Center of New York or also known as the New York Acupuncture Center. Fan notes: “Chinese medicine doctors performing acupuncture under the supervision of (Western-trained) medical doctors” or “(Western-trained) medical doctors performing the diagnosis and Chinese medicine doctors performing acupuncture treatment” was a strategy under a special political climate at that time. This was first applied by Dr. Yao Wu Lee, and later, many legislation agencies in many states applied such terms in their acupuncture regulations. After 40 years of development, most of the states in the United States removed the requirement of medical doctors’ supervision. However, in most states, acupuncturists still have no rights for clinical diagnosis. On July 5, 1972, Wednesday, we held a press conference for a news release in New York to announce the opening of the acupuncture center. Because Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinic was totally new in the United States, it caused many concerns. More than 90 journalists and reporters came from famous newspapers, journals and television companies, such as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Times, Newsday, The East West Journal, The New York Times and News Week, and may have also included some other professionals and medical doctors. We arranged 12 patients to introduce their health issues, acupuncture experience and the results. I remembered one of the patients was a famous priest and violinist in Manhattan, Rev. Norman Catir, who had headaches and mild memory loss. Another was Mr. Don Lamond who had “osteoarthritis of the left hip” or “sciatica”. At about 11 o’clock, I as the Chinese medicine representative, Benson as the medical doctor representative and Newmark as the administration representative introduced acupuncture and the operation method of the clinic to the media, and replied to their questions. Benson talked first. He knew some acupuncture in Korea, but lacked knowledge of Chinese medicine theory and clinical experience in acupuncture. His personality was simple, modest but not very good at debate. He could not continue to reply when some reporters questioned him again and again, only replying ‘we are not a quack operation, we are a medical practice’. The questions were related to legality of the practice of acupuncture without the approval from the Board of Medicine, the lack of scientific evidence, and the use of acupuncture to only making money. One very extreme reporter of The New York Times said, ‘China is an under-developed country; there is no medicine at all’ — he wanted to deny acupuncture as a medical practice. I came from Shandong Province, China and was very angry with the insults to China and acupuncture. I found that there was chaos and I had to control the situation. I stood up and questioned the reporters loudly with broken English, ‘What is medicine? What is science? I ask you everyone, who could explain clearly?’ At that moment, Newmark pulled my clothes to let me calm down and speak slowly. ‘I believe Chinese medicine is a science, also a philosophy. Ask you — why Aspirin is effective? I believe that there is not any scientist or medical doctor who could explain it very clearly. Medicine actually is an interdisciplinary science and clinical experience. No one could explain very clearly. Many conditions actually are unsure. The Western medicine is also developed from clinical experience. Chinese medicine has more than 3 000 years of history and has treated billions of patients. It is still useful today; it should have a scientific basis. Sure, acupuncture mixes some clinical experience. However, you could not say it is not a science before you try to understand it. If I use Hebrew to explain the scientific knowledge, you will say I don’t understand, but you could not use ‘I don’t understand’ as a criterion to judge if what I say is belonging to the scientific or the nonscientific. It is the same thing — you do not understand Chinese medicine theory, so you treat acupuncture as witchcraft. It is wrong in your attitude. I am a scientist, also a clinical doctor, here I give you an explanation — acupuncture is using external stimulation to heal internal disorder or illness.’ I invited Mr. Lamond and wanted to show acupuncture on his body. At this moment, a reporter of The New York Times interrupted me and wanted me to explain it in medical terms. ‘You sit down. I will give you an explanation later,’ I replied loudly. I showed an acupuncture point to everyone on the patient’s body, the Huantiao point, with an acupuncture point-detector. It has six instruments, one indicating lamp and a buzz. When it finds the acupuncture point, the machine will flash the lamp and comfortable music will be heard. Dr. Chingpang Lee inserted a 4-inch needle to the patient’s Huantiao point. The patient’s hip pain was decreased immediately. At the same time, Catir’s headache was also treated by acupuncture. He felt much better. The patients and we replied to reporters’ questions. The atmosphere was very active. I felt that the press conference reached its purpose, and it was completed on time. That night, the New York television evening news showed our press conference, especially our magic machine, which caused a big shock. Over three hundred patients called us for appointments or consultations and our eight assistants were busy for a whole night. The next day on July 6, there were more than 280 domestic and international newspapers reporting our acupuncture center’s opening. The United States is a country trusting of science and evidence. People got a strong interest in acupuncture by understanding the theory preliminarily and seeing the results. I predicted our center would be a big success. (Notes: Figure 1 is a photo taken at that time). Figure 1  Dr. Yao Wu Lee using an acupuncture point-detector to locate Yingxiang point on a young lady’s face on July 5, 1972 in New York. Provided by Yao Wu Lee. July 12, Wednesday, was the actual opening day. Many reporters of the media came with patients for further observation and follow-up reporting. One week later, the number of patients reached 150 per day; after three weeks, more than 200 per day. We had to rent more office space and expanded to 4 000 square feet (Fan notes: about 400 m2). The “acupuncture fever” caused concern of the New York Board of Medicine. It sent an order to our center telling us to close, stating that ‘Acupuncture is a medical practice. Only licensed medical doctor can practice it.’ At that time, our center had more than ten thousand dollars income per day. Closing the clinic would cause a big loss. In addition, there were many patients from various places awaiting the acupuncture treatments, which also caused us a big stress. On the third day, our administration director Newmark got a new idea of making medical doctors perform the acupuncture under the Chinese medicine doctor’s supervision, which meant our clinic could resume. However, the medical doctors were not familiar with acupuncture. In most cases, both the Chinese medicine doctors and the medical doctors performed acupuncture together. After two weeks, the second order from the New York Board of Medicine came stating that ‘Acupuncture is a medical practice. Only licensed medical doctors can practice it in a medical school or a teaching hospital.’ We tried to contact a teaching hospital. However, the hospital wanted to totally control our finances and operations. At this moment, we got the third order stating that “Acupuncture is a medical practice. Only licensed medical doctors can practice it. It must be performed in an approved research project in a medical school.” This actually aimed to ban any Chinese medicine doctor or Western doctor treating patients with acupuncture. Our lawyer started an appeal, and we believed such orders lacked a legal basis. We practiced medicine legally, and we believed we should continue the practice until the court says we can’t. As the Board forced us to close, we insisted on continuing the practice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) got involved and a court order caused us to close. They froze our bank account. The reason for the court to order closure was that ‘the FBI does not want people to cause political storm and affect the election’. At noon of November 19, the second day after President Nixon was re-elected, more than 20 FBI agents and police with black suits came to close our center.      Fan notes: I heard from a New York Chinese medicine doctor that, at that time when the doctor heard the FBI coming, he rushed down the stairs, lost his shoes on the way, and ran out of the rear door with the help of a nurse. The situation was really scary! At that time, our doctors and nurses, other assistants and administrators responded calmly except for one Chinese medicine doctor you mentioned who was overwhelmed with panic. He thought the FBI would arrest all the doctors, so he ran out. On that day, Benson and Newmark were not at the clinic, so I handled the situation. I requested to the FBI agents to allow all patients who had already paid to complete the treatments, which would be fair with the patients. They discussed and then agreed. So, on that day, the center actually closed at 5:30 PM. The whole procedure was under control. A lot of our patients went to the court to protest. The New York State Attorney General worried that the events would expand and mediated between the Board and us, and let both parties reach a settlement out of the court. The last settlement was “the Board withdrew the lawsuit, and our center agreed to close the office temporarily”. The next day, our bank account was freed and the attorney received payment. The New York State Attorney General sent a special notice and put pressure on the New York Board of Medicine to prepare the acupuncture legislation as soon as possible so that acupuncturists are able to be in a legal practice. Fan notes: Dr. Arnold Benson was a medical doctor. His opening of a clinic using acupuncture as a therapy was totally legal. However, because of the wrong attitude of the New York Board of Medicine, which wanted to ban acupuncture and was forced by the special political climate, this acupuncture center intermittently opened for five months, and then had to shut down. The ban of the authorities brought disaster not only to the Acupuncture Center of New York but also to the original practice in the Chinatown. All the New York Chinese medicine practitioners or acupuncturists had been banned. In 1976, the New York State started to allow acupuncturists to practice acupuncture under the supervision of a medical doctor. But it was not until 1991 that the acupuncture regulation was able to go through. That night, we partners ate dinner quietly, and then held a meeting. For the future, there were different views among us. The other two said: “Lee, just close down.” Especially Newmark, who wanted to change direction, was engaged in real estate. However, I insisted to continue to do acupuncture. There was a friend who was the boss of a large cruise ship company in New York. He suggested bringing the patients to the cruise, and as long as they were three nautical miles out of New York, the Board would have no control. I said, on the contrary, that even if it ends in court, we should open acupuncture clinic in the United States itself. We debated until three in the morning. Everyone was tired. Then Newmark said, ‘Benson and I are two Jews, Lee worked as half a Jew. The Jews have always been indomitable, and we admit Lee’s views. The bank account still has $300 000 left (equivalent to about 3 million now, since breakfast at that time cost only $1.20), which could be used for the clinic development in the future.’ They finally agreed with me. Considering the difficulty of recruiting the staff, I arranged all the doctors and nurses to work part-time. We could not see patients, so we had training and taught ourselves. Our lawyer wrote letters to the Governor of each state talking about the misfortune of acupuncture in New York and hoping to find a place to continue the opening. We proposed to have a medical doctor supervising, while a Chinese medicine doctor performed the acupuncture. The governor of Puerto Rico agreed that we could go there, but it is far away and is not a domestic state of the United States. We were hesitant to go. During this period, there were sympathizers to our ideas. They thought, for example, an aircraft company, using a Boeing 747 to transform it into a clinic in the international airport. Then local governments would have no control for doing acupuncture there. This company wanted to use acupuncture to make money. I think this is heresy, so we declined. They said as long as I want, they could help us at any time. Some newspapers reported sympathy for our situation. There were some patients who called their State Governor and Attorney General to request help for us. At the occasion of being unable to do anything, in the afternoon of Friday, December 22, I received a call from the Washington, D.C. Board of Medicine. The director said: “We invite you to Washington, D.C. The political climate here is much better than New York. You can come at once.” I was in disbelief and asked: “Can you give me a formal letter of invitation?” He said his secretary would issue that, so I could come and pick it up next Monday at noon time. At that time, Washington, D.C. was directly managed by the Congress and was not an independent city. Its Board of Medicine consisted of non-medical staff and was very open-minded. On Saturday morning, we left New York and went to Washington, D.C. Doctors and management staff took the car, while other supporting staff went by train. Many journalists and reporters also followed us to the station. Our clinic in Washington, D.C. was at the intersection of I Street and 18th Street. It was next to the Pennsylvania Avenue, and not far from the George Washington University. The White House could be seen very easily. The clinic was located in the fourth floor, with 4 500 square feet space (about 450 m2) and called the Acupuncture Center of Washington (also known as Washington Acupuncture Center). Newmark rented 30 dormitories in Arlington, Virginia for our staff. In the first week, we quickly renovated the clinic. In the second week, on December 28, 1972, our clinic reopened. Many newspapers reported this exciting news. After two and half months, the number of patients sharply increased to more than 250 per day. The clinic space was insufficient, so I decided to open a second clinic at 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, which was a few blocks away from the first clinic, with the space of 12 000 square feet (about 1 200 m2), and located on the 7th floor of an embassy. At peak time, there were 650 patients per day at this clinic. In the two clinics, there were nearly a thousand patients (plus family members, more than 2 000 people) per day. Due to the existing of these acupuncture clinics, the hotel business in the surrounding area (including Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland) and the business of transportation of patients to Washington, D.C. were extremely flourishing. At that time, Washington, D.C. became the capital of “acupuncture”. (Notes: Figure 2 is a photo taken at the end of 1972. Dr Lee was using electroacupuncture to treat a patient) Figure 2  Using electroacupuncture technique to treat a patient by Dr. Yao Wu Lee on December 28, 1972 in Washington, D.C. I Street clinic. Provided by Arthur Fan. Fan notes: “Acupuncture Center of Washington,” or “Washington Acupuncture Center” was the first “totally legal” acupuncture center in the United States. It was the only one that opened to the public, not for research. The approved date was on December 22, 1972. After that, there were 11 other acupuncture clinics getting approved in Washington, D.C. in 1973 and 1974. Fan: I heard that you organized buses to bring patients to Washington, D.C. for acupuncture treatment. Is that true? Lee: A seriously sick patient in a desperate situation came to our acupuncture center. After about one month of acupuncture treatments, he recovered. His Chinese medicine doctor was Ms. Susan He. The patient felt that acupuncture has unexpected effects on many diseases or disorders. In order to help patients from everywhere, he launched chartered coaches to send patients to our center, mainly from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and other places several times a week. Basically, the buses shuttled patients back and forth in the same day, with two or three buses a day (120 to 180 patients). Many patients were grateful to him for his help. At that time, there was very few acupuncture clinics and our patients came from throughout the United States. We also had many foreign patients. Due to the booming of acupuncture business and the differences in thinking, acupuncture had once again aroused the anxiety and unease of Western medicine-dominated medical institutions and drug manufacturers throughout the United States. They united and sued the government of Washington, D.C., but they lost. However, the condition was changing in their favour. In early 1974, Washington, D.C. adopted the “home rule” and became an independent city, which means that it was no longer managed by the Congress. It established a new Board of Medicine, which consisted of local conservative medical doctors. Acupuncture once again became the object of attack. They invited some reporters to engage in a so-called investigation. A reporter named Mike, from The Washington Times, spent one week in our clinics, talked with our patients, and listened to our lectures. One morning, his article was published in the newspaper with a half inch high headline “Acupuncture is an art of deception or a liar?” He allegedly interviewed more than 80 patients who said they were not feeling better after acupuncture. Most people felt disappointed in acupuncture. Even more damaging, he said he didn’t know where the acupuncture doctors came from. He called for the immigration service to investigate the background of theses doctors. In fact, our Chinese medicine doctors or acupuncturists, in addition to those hired from New York, were recruited from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao through the legal procedures into the United States. In 1973, our immigration lawyer applied for a filing to the Manpower Committee of the Congress to employ acupuncturists in the health care services (Medical Practice). This was the first time that the name of “acupuncturist” was used in the federal legal documents and the definition of acupuncturists was engaged in the medical service. In 1974, the new Board of Medicine of Washington, D.C. gave us orders and let us close our acupuncture offices six times. The American Medical Association combined with the Board of Medicine, Washington, D.C., sued our acupuncture center in Washington, D.C. federal court. The reason they did not use a local court was to deny acupuncture at the federal level. In order to save the acupuncture profession, as well as our acupuncture center, we had to respond seriously. When we were involved in the lawsuit, there were warm responses throughout the country. Many of our former patients, acupuncturists, and the medical doctors who knew and liked acupuncture came to help out, which gave us great support. The court convened a serious acupuncture hearing. The judge continuously listened to the testimonies from the public for three months. Our patients from all over the country came to testify. The testimonies of many patients moved the judge. For example, a female patient from New York called Barbara, 45 years old, was seriously ill. Her husband left her and forced her to divorce. She was emaciated and even unable to speak. She ate very little and her complexion was bloodless. The conventional doctors of New York estimated that she could only live for 20 days. When sent by a friend to our center, our medical doctors checked her and also felt there was no hope for survival and suggested that she should not receive acupuncture. It was me who saved this patient with acupuncture. She totally recovered after six months of acupuncture treatments. I noticed that when Barbara told her story, the judge, more than 80 years old, removed his glasses with a handkerchief. People present were deeply touched. Another three months passed and the court announced the decision — patients have the right to choose acupuncture and acupuncturists lawfully have rights to practice. In addition, the court emphasized that it was the final decision and it will not accept the appeal. We eventually won the lawsuit at the federal level. The legal status of acupuncture and the operating rights of our clinic were protected. At the same time, many acupuncturists and enthusiastic people started to actively fight for acupuncturists’ rights in each state. Acupuncture legislations were started in some states. No doubt, we won our lawsuit and helped acupuncture throughout the United States, and we were very glad. However, we were also exhausted — we put in a boundless energy and time and spent a lot of money. The subsequent experience was even more severe.      Fan: How about the situation of the center afterwards? Lee: False and negative reports about acupuncture in some newspapers resulted in a large negative impact on our practice. It had significant impact on the numbers of our patients. Initially, it was reduced to 600 patients per day, then 500, 400 and so on. The rapid decline of patients caused us to be unable to afford the rent for large space of the clinics. Both clinics on the I Street and the Massachusetts Avenue closed in 1974. The partnership was broken. The shares were distributed to the partners. Many doctors and nurses also went away. Acupuncture legislation in Massachusetts was earlier than many other states so there was a better political climate there. We sent Dr. Yufan Jiang (江玉凡) and Dr. Yulin Jin (金玉林) to Boston and Princeton, to set up new acupuncture centers. Doctors originally from New York basically went back to New York. Dr. Benson, Mr. Newmark, Dr. Chingpang Lee, Dr. David P.J. Hung (洪伯荣) and others re-started acupuncture centers in two different locations of the New York City. However, a few months later, all of these centers were closed due to the crisis of internal management. My colleagues and I moved the Washington Acupuncture Center to the Connecticut Inn which located in the middle of the Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C., with a total of eight rooms. We worked there for about two years. In 1976, I let our staff Dr. Greg Chen (陈一强) handle the management (in 1980, he moved the clinic to Chinatown, Washington, D.C.). It could be said that between 1974 and 1976, our center experienced a great turn of events, and we were all very depressed. However, I thought if we could continue, there will be hope. In 1976, I moved the major part of Washington Acupuncture Center to Florida. Until now, it still has three clinics.      Fan: You are an acupuncture pioneer in Florida. Is the experience of your acupuncture practice very smooth there? Do you think there are some relationships between certain obstacles, setbacks in Chinese medicine or acupuncture met in the United States, and Chinese medicine or acupuncture itself, as well as clinic organizers themselves? Lee: In 1976, per invitation of a patient, also my friend, I moved the major staff of our acupuncture center to Florida and set up several clinics over the time. It was still called the Washington Acupuncture Center. At the beginning, I flew to St. Petersburg and took a taxi for two hours, found and rented an office of 4 000 square feet at the Central Avenue. Our clinic had six Chinese medicine doctors and six Western medicine doctors, from Washington, D.C. There were 60 to 70 patients per day. In 1977, we opened a center in Palm Beach with more than 80 patients per day, but the parking lot was too small to accommodate more patients. Later, we opened another center in West Palm Beach. Now we focus on Florida’s southeast. In order to facilitate patient treatment, we have three clinics in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Sunrise. I also work part-time in a local hospital to provide acupuncture services for rehabilitation patients. Our patients have trusted us throughout, but there were unfriendly people. In 1978, a reporter of the Florida Sunset News, a local newspaper of the Washington Star News, took the pamphlet from my clinic. She noticed that this pamphlet listed many disease names that acupuncture can treat. Then, the responsible person called us saying: “The Medical Association will sue your acupuncture clinic; the clinic should be closed because only (Western) medical doctors can make medical claims.” I asked her: “What is the background of the person who proposed that I should close the clinic? Is it a doctor or an acupuncturist? Has the person ever experienced acupuncture before?” She said: “I do not think so.” I counterattacked her: “Since you are not a doctor, and not experienced in acupuncture, what qualifications do you have to force me to close the clinic? If you want to continue to harass me, I’ll sue you.” She was at a loss with words so I used some minutes to introduce the principles of acupuncture. This newspaper did not come back asking for trouble. I feel that the Chinese medicine doctors and acupuncturists should spend more time on public education, because the principle and theory of Chinese medicine is too foreign to the Western people. We must safeguard the basic rights and interests of our profession. We, Chinese medicine doctors and acupuncturists should fight the rights for ourselves. The professionals of Chinese medicine and acupuncture have been generally too humble and timid for fear of backfire. I would like to engage in the second revolution, if I were younger. We are in a legal medical practice. Why won’t many health insurance programs pay the cost of acupuncture treatments? At the federal level, why does the Medicare not cover acupuncture? We are the same as a healthcare provider. The Medicare pays for the work of other healthcare practitioners, but does not pay for acupuncture. If we do not struggle and do not fight, it will be in the same condition even after a hundred years. No one will help us for that right except ourselves. If we win, acupuncture will be accessible by all the healthcare programs. Our generation invests more, but the benefit is not necessarily greater. However, the next generation of Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists can reap the benefits. A non-profit organization established by my patients (I am a consultant), specifically called on governments at all levels to attach importance to acupuncture and has sent many letters to President Obama, who could vigorously support acupuncture legislation at the federal level, and help acupuncture become covered by the Medicare. Until now, however, it seems to be with little success. It seems that we have to put more investment and more financial resources into gaining the rights to fight in a federal court. This method’s efficiency is much higher than other options. I hope acupuncturists and Chinese medicine professionals could recognize this.      Fan: I heard that you were involved in many works during and after 1980’s acupuncture legislation in Florida. Lee: In 1981, a Florida congressman who was a medical doctor wanted to rectify the acupuncture market, and let the state issue acupuncture licenses. The state authority proposed six categories of healthcare professionals, including medical doctor (MD), orthopedic surgeon (DO), chiropractic physician (DC), naturopathic physician, etc., who can directly get the right to perform acupuncture. Acupuncturists, however, should participate in an examination in order to get the license. I hired a lawyer to appeal because the above requirements were illogical. I proposed as long as Chinese medicine professionals or acupuncturists practice acupuncture for more than two years under the supervision of Western medical doctor (there should be evidence such as a contract, or payroll records, medical records and so on), it is not necessary for them to pass the exam and get the license. Later, I was hired by a committee which drafted the Florida Acupuncture Regulation(Ad hoc Committee). I insisted that regardless whether one was a Chinese medicine professional, Western medicine doctor or other professionals, as long as one wants to practice acupuncture, he/she must be treated equally and must pass an acupuncture examination. At the beginning, there were 59 people who applied for an acupuncture license including 29 ethnic Chinese and 30 of other ethnic groups. After a three-day examination, including acupuncture theory, acupuncture points and the actual operation, with acupuncture examiners hired from California, there were 19 people (including all Chinese medicine practitioners from our clinic. There were several Western medical doctors as well.) qualified to get an acupuncture license. However, there were quite a number of Chinese medicine professionals, acupuncturists, and some Western medicine doctors who had practiced acupuncture for more than two years who boycotted the examination. With coordination with the state authority, a Grandfather Law was applied to them. There were more than 100 people who got the license without taking the acupuncture examination. When drafting acupuncture regulation, some Western medicine doctors added harsh requirements, such as acupuncture clinics must have two restrooms. I argued that many acupuncturists do not need a large clinic space. Patients for acupuncture would not come at the same time. Many clinics of other professions actually only have one restroom. So the finalized regulation stated that acupuncture clinics are just required to have one restroom. At the same time, I insisted to change the regulation name of the licensed acupuncturist as Acupuncture Physician (AP), who no longer practices under the supervision of Western medical doctor. Unlicensed acupuncturists still could continue to practice acupuncture under the supervision of medical doctors. A majority of Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists were very satisfied with the work I did, and understood my situation. However, there were very few Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists who were unhappy with that regulation. There was a lady from Thailand who was angry with me, who did not meet the exemption requirement, and also did not want to practice acupuncture under the supervision of medical doctors. Later, I served three terms as a Florida Acupuncture License Examiner, two terms as president of the Florida State Acupuncture Association and two years as Chairman of continuing education (1989-1990) for the Florida State Acupuncture Association. After 1985, I also taught acupuncture for pre-med students in the Florida Atlantic University and the professionals in the rehabilitation department of the Boca Raton Community Hospital. In appreciation for my contributions to acupuncture in the United States, I received the first national “Acupuncturist of the Year” Award for 1983-1984 from the Center of Chinese Medicine in California. Fan: Dr. Lee, could we discuss the fee schedule of your clinics? Is there any difference in your patients between the present and the past? In addition, it is said that the Jewish people played an important role in acupuncture legalization in the United States and were driven by their interest that in it, what is your opinion? Lee: When we were in New York and Washington, D.C., the fee for initial visit was $50 and that for the subsequent visit was $20 to 25 (later, increased to $35). Forty years ago, one dollar is roughly equivalent to current $10. For example, if we talk about the price of a car, in the early 1970s, the price of a Lincoln was $6 000 and a luxury Ford car was $4 000. Now their prices are $60 000 and $80 000, respectively. So, if we still apply the fee schedule of that time, the fee for the initial visit and the second visit should be $500 and $350, respectively. However, under the real conditions, our fee schedule is $80 for self-pay patient, as 1/6 to 1/4 of the original fee schedule. Some patients have insurance for acupuncture, which may pay us at about $200 per time with limited times. The fee schedule is much lower than before, so the model of both Western and Chinese medicine doctor seeing the same patient is no longer affordable. Hiring a good Chinese medicine doctor is sometimes also difficult. Before, there were very few acupuncture clinics in the United States. Patients from all over the country, even from all over of the world came to us, so our center could have 1 000 patients per day (two clinics combined). There were many patients with intractable diseases or very serious conditions. Later, the business of our center was no longer as successful as that time due to the malicious newspaper reports which caused patient’s misunderstanding of acupuncture and bad influence from the lawsuit (although we won). The number of patients was not as many as before. Furthermore, due to acupuncture legislation in many States, more acupuncturists could open acupuncture clinics. The number of acupuncturists, both migrating from all over the world and graduating from accredited schools in the United States, have increased. The increasing of clinics has caused the number of patients to decrease in each clinic. Currently, I have about 30 patients per day from the surrounding area and not many with serious conditions. To improve the income of Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists and to match the income of other practitioners, such as medical doctors and physical therapists, we should make efforts to promote insurance companies to pay for the acupuncture treatment. Currently, however, many Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists are “comfortable” with their individual business and not many are aware of the need to engage in this important area. For those who feel that the Jewish people played an important role in the development of acupuncture in the United States due to their interest in money (or say, “greed”), it is unfair statement about our Jewish friends. From my personal experience, there were two Jewish friends of mine involved in our center’s establishment and operation. They did get certain compensation. However, it was not as much as many people thought. Like me, they were driven by the passion to promote acupuncture. In our clinics, eighty percent of the income was used to pay the employees’ wages, operational expenses (including renting, employee training), and the expenses of litigation. Litigation expenses were considerable. For example, there was over $500 000 spent for the lawsuit in 1974 in Washington, D.C. In order to change the resentment of Western medical doctors, to improve the external environment of the acupuncture profession, and to reduce the external pressure on the Board of Medicine (handled by the Congress), in 1973 we invested tens of thousands of dollars to open acupuncture training programs for Western medicine doctors (MDs and DOs) in the George Washington University School of Medicine. Each class had 30 doctors, lasting three months (40 h per week), which was one of the earliest acupuncture training programs for Western medical doctors in the United States. We had a total of five classes. From 1973 to 1975, we invested over $70 000 at the Department of Medical Biology, George Washington University School of Medicine, to conduct the studies of acupuncture on rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, from the perspective of return, investing in another field, such as real estate, would benefit more. However, my Jewish friends and I chose to promote acupuncture. Personally, if I made another choice, such as returning to Taiwan to continue my previous career, obtaining a “General” title should be predictable. If I chose to work in the United States Space Center, I would be a good scientist. The reason I chose Chinese medicine and acupuncture was that the acupuncture profession brings me a sense of accomplishment. I am 80 years old, and until now, I still work in the clinic (see Figure 3). Figure 3  Dr. Yao Wu Lee treating a patient with acupuncture in Florida (2012). Providod by Arthur Fan.

Read Full Post »

美国针灸热，李永明

针灸热的故事 文：李永明

针刺麻醉和针灸外交催生了美国针灸热

四十年前，赖斯顿发表在《纽约时报》的“开刀记”。

尼克松访华时，总统夫人参观了针灸治疗

四十年前，美国突然出现“针灸热”，而且连续数年热潮不止，直到中美建交前才逐渐平息。究其发生的原因，答案是“一个美国记者，两位科学家、四位医生以及一个总统访华团”直接导致了美国针灸热的爆发。

一个记者，是指《纽约时报》知名专栏作家和记者赖斯顿。他是第一个应中国政府邀请访华的美国记者，于1971年7月在北京同秘密访华的基辛格擦肩而过，错过了世纪新闻。他因突然发生腹痛，住进了“反帝医院”（北京协和医院），被诊断为急性阑尾炎，当晚接受了常规药物麻醉下的阑尾切除术。术后第二天，7月18日，因腹胀不适，接受了针刺和艾灸治疗，症状得到改善。同一天，新华社发布：“在毛主席无产阶级革命路线指引下，我国医务工作者和科学工作者创造成功针刺麻醉”。在赖斯顿住院期间，《纽约时报》于7月26日发表了他的著名的纪实报道：“现在让我告诉你我在北京的阑尾切除手术”。其中详细描述了接受针灸治疗的过程，此文被公认为美国针灸热的导火索。

两位科学家，是指最先到新中国访问的两位美国科学家。他们是耶鲁大学的高尔斯顿和麻省理工学院的西格纳教授，两人的专业分别是植物生理学和微生物遗传学。1971年6月7日《新闻周刊》报道的题目是“中国外科医生”，讲的是两位美国科学家在中国亲眼见到医生使用针刺替代药物麻醉。

二人访华时，正好赶上中国科学界处在“文化大革命”中的尴尬时期，很多受过西方教育的知识分子都被“打倒”，除了少数国家重点扶持项目外，科学研究几乎全面停止，能向外宾展示的成果少得可怜。参观以后，只有中国的针刺麻醉手术，给他们留下了深刻的印象，而且令他们百思不解。

在北京，他们观看了一例卵巢囊肿切除术，医生用针刺激患者的腕部代替麻药，从病人腹中取出有棒球大小的囊肿。病人手术中完全清醒，还要求看了一下取出的囊肿。在中国武汉，他们同加拿大外交官一起参观了更令人震惊的开胸心脏手术。一位女患者躺在手术台上，医生用针刺入手腕和上臂代替药物麻醉，手术自始至终病人都保持清醒。医生切开病人的胸腔，锯断肋骨，甚至手握病人的心脏，病人连眼睛都没眨。术中，病人还要求喝了橘汁，最后，脸带笑容地被推回病房。

两人回到美国后，接受了许多记者的采访，目睹针刺麻醉的经历使他们立即成为“明星”，受到了大众的关注。他们提到中国非常注重发展传统医学，研究中草药，使用针灸治疗疟疾、胃病、风湿病、关节炎等各种疾病。他们介绍中国的文章曾发表在《科学》杂志上，西格纳教授对记者说：“直到我亲眼看到针刺麻醉之前，我同很多西方人一样，一直持怀疑态度。据我所知，手术没有使用其他麻醉方法，病人始终清醒，而且很高兴。”虽然他们所述的是“亲眼所见”，但来自美国医学界的一些批评认为，科学家并不是医生，他们不懂临床医学，针刺麻醉不可信。

四位医生，是指第一个访华的美国医学代表团。正当针刺麻醉在美国遭到医学界的质疑时，中国中华医学会及时地邀请了四位知名美国医生于1971年9月访问了中国。其团员为美国前总统艾森豪威尔的私人医生，哈佛大学的心脏病教授怀特医学博士；密苏里大学健康科学院院长达蒙德医学博士；纽约爱因斯坦医学院社区健康教授赛尔德医学博士；以及纽约西奈山医学院耳鼻喉科退休名誉教授罗森医学博士。他们代表了不同的医学领域，都具有丰富的实践经验，可以称为美国医学界的“四君子”访华团。

他们先是在广州的广东人民医院参观了三例针刺麻醉手术，分别是男性甲状腺肿瘤切除术，男性胃溃疡胃大部切除术，女性甲亢甲状腺切除术。中国医生坦诚地告诉他们，病人在手术前一天晚上用过400毫克的镇静安眠剂安宁或者是60毫克的镇痛止静剂杜冷丁，但在手术前和过程中没有使用任何麻药。美国医生们都认同，病人所用药物的作用和剂量都达不到为手术麻醉的效果。他们详细观察了手术的全过程，拍摄了很多照片，还在手术中同医生和患者对话，三位病人在手术中都一直保持清醒，没有人抱怨疼痛。在北京，他们在北医三院再次参观了七例针刺麻醉手术。分别是女性开颅肿瘤切除术，男性白内障切除术，男性的肺结核肺叶切除术，女性卵巢囊肿切除术，复发性阑尾炎阑尾切除术，以及两例针刺拔牙术。

“四君子”的中国之行，给他们留下了美好的记忆。他们在多次记者访谈及撰写的文章中都评论到，中国人给他们的印象是，健康快乐、待人礼貌、工作努力、虚心好学、诚恳坦率。通过访问，他们比较全面地了解了中国的医疗系统，尽管语言不通，但他们可以用听诊器倾听心脏跳动的“国际语言”，读懂心电图和X光片等“通用文字”，清楚地了解中国医生的诊断和治疗方法。只有一个现象令他们费解，就是在几乎所有的会议中，都有一位身穿绿色军装的革命委员会主任坐在那里，他们弄不懂这样会对医疗有何帮助。

“四君子”一回到美国，立即引起轰动。美国媒体十分在意他们自己的医生如何看待针刺麻醉，争相采访，文章多发表在最有影响的大众媒体和专业杂志上。达蒙德医生还在中国拍摄了大量照片，回到美国后到处讲演，他的讲演稿和幻灯片还被美国心脏病学会作为继续教育的教材发给学会会员。

“我曾亲眼所见，针灸确实有效”，是纽约西奈山医学院罗森医生发表在1971年11月1日《纽约时报》上介绍针刺麻醉文章的题目。达蒙德医生于1971年12月在《美国医学会会刊》发表的“针刺麻醉”在医学界引起轰动，文中写道：“我们于1971年9月在中华人民共和国的亲自观察表明，针刺麻醉在中国临床医疗已经处于被接受的位置。受过现代医学训练，技术很好的医生已经接受了这一方法，并且认为这是确定的进步。中国人的忍耐性和当前理想的灌输有一定作用，但看起来不足以解释针刺麻醉的效果。”民众从专家的评论中可以得出两个清晰的结论：针刺麻醉是在病人完全清醒的情况下完成的，即便是医学专家也看不出有什么隐藏的骗术。

一个总统访华团，是指美国总统尼克松的破冰之旅。1972年春，总统尼克松访华团抵京，在诸多社会主义建设伟大成果中，客人指名要看针刺麻醉。美国代表团在北京第三医院参观了著名胸外科专家辛育龄医生主刀的针刺麻醉手术，美国人亲眼目睹中国医生在无影灯下为病人开胸切肺却根本不用麻药，其全过程都被记者们通过卫星向全世界转播。与此同时，尼克松夫人在北京儿童医院参观针灸治疗的照片也出现在美国各大报纸的显要位置。

四十年后再看，美国记者、科学家、医生及总统访华团当年对中国的针灸疗法和针刺麻醉的介绍基本上是事实求是的，发表的评论也经得起时间的考验。要说明的是，尽管针刺麻醉手术后来在美国也有成功的病例，但实践证明针麻并不适合美国国情，也从未在美国广泛使用。针麻手术在中国经历了大起大落，到80年代后已经很少使用，其原因比较复杂（笔者在《美国针灸热传奇》一书中有专门讨论）。但是，中国医学科学家和医生们对针刺麻醉原理的研究，为后来针灸在西方的普及应用奠定了坚定的基石。“针灸热”在美国也没有转逝即过，中国针灸术在西方入乡随俗，最终找到了自己的位置。

（作者李永明为美国中医药针灸学会前会长）

Read Full Post »

History of Acupuncture Law in New York

岐黄传西洋 风雨卅五年
美国中医学会及纽约州执照医师公会欢聚

---

【5月4日讯】(记者朱江报导)岐黄传西洋，风雨卅五年，从1972年尼克松总统访华时媒体对针刺麻醉的报导在美国带来热潮，历经不为保守传统西医学会所认可接受，到纽约州针灸立法通过，历经三十五年风风雨雨。美国中医学会以及纽约州执照医师公会于4月29日相聚庆生，近二百位医师同仁参加了晚会。前来的嘉宾还有前纽约州的副州长 Mary Anne Krupsak，国会议员莫里斯．辛其办公室主任苏珊娜．赫尔女士，州众议院议长谢尔顿．高登办公室代表，华策会执行主任王碚，三州针灸大学创校主任马克．西姆主任及顾雅明，孟昭文等社区代表。多位相关中医及针灸学会代表及医生们应邀参加，凸现该会庆典主题：回顾总结，珍视彼此，团结互动，开创未来。

该会向二十四位针灸界和中医前辈颁发荣誉证书。美国中医学会AATCM会长金鸣在致辞中表示，“中医针灸之所以能在美国的土地上生根、开花、结果，除了中医针灸界的先驱者的辛苦开创和努力奋斗，还要归功于美国这个民族的宽厚、制度的包容以及许许多多在历史上帮助、推动过中医针灸这个行业发展的政府官员、律师、病人、媒体、教育家，甚至是以此为业的商人。许多因素促成了她的发展和壮大，但最根本的原因是她至今还未能被代替的行之有效的临床价值。”

该会发刊的《纽约中医人》以翔实的资料记载了“岐黄传西洋，风雨卅五年”在纽约的历史。其中有曹维鸣中医师撰文“浮光掠影”，描写1971至1972年间的纽约中医界，“纽约风起云涌的针灸新潮，几乎所有的中医诊所，但能实施针灸治疗，其门庭真是车水马龙，席不暇暖…孰知好景不长，针灸这个在美国被视为非正统医疗的方法，自不为保守传统的西医学会所认可接受。引来西医界祭出法律，规定无医师执照者不得向病人提供医疗服务。”“继 1972年纽约州关闭了所有诊所之后，不少中医师或因生计，或因避祸，都已铺被就道，远赴他乡，留在纽约的仅剩有几十位。”风雪交加中的中医师们，只能奔向华策会CPC寻求支援，得到了王碚先生的鼎力相助。

《纽约中医人》记录了1973年初，纽约州的副州长 Mary Anne Krupsak扭伤了腰，屡治不效，经丁景源中医师以针灸术治疗，腰痛痊愈，纽约州参议员、纽约州教育委员会主席James Donovan得了坐骨神经痛，也请丁景源医师针治，数次即愈。他们在之后对中医针灸给予了大力支持。1990年5月、6月，立名为572D字编号针灸新法案在参议院、众议院顺利通过，当年7月，在纽约州长科莫的签字下正式生效，此案使纽约州得以成立起独立于西医之外的针灸委员会，规定了颁发针灸执照必须经过考试，是纽约针灸业在合法基础上，继续得到认同的里程碑。

当晚，众多中医师与同仁，相互勉励，歌舞抒怀助兴，寄望共兴中医。(http://www.dajiyuan.com)

5/4/2007 11:02:59 PM

本文网址: http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/7/5/4/n1699998.htm

Read Full Post »