OTHERS PRESENT:
Some guy named David eating food and drinking tea.
Marilyn Allen, CO Acupuncture Today
Mike Schroeder, Esq., VP and General Counsel of Acupuncture Advisory Council
Daisey Barquist, NCCAOM Board Member

OFFICIAL WELCOME AND INTORDUCTIONS
President Paton called the meeting to order and welcomed members.

REVIEW OF LAST MEETING MINUTES:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Ms. Ortiz MOVED to table the minutes, which was SECONDED by Ms. Heisler.
Motion PASSED.

OLD BUSINESS:
REPORTS FROM:
Treasurer: Ms. Heisler presented the budget for review. Ms. Heisler reviewed expenditures and revenue and called for questions. Mr. Gonzalez asked about the status of Arizona's dues. Ms. Heisler indicated dues are collected from June to July of each year. Arizona has paid for 2005 but owes for 2006.

Secretary: Ms. Ortiz MOVED to table the minutes until May 5, 2006 so members can read the minutes. Penny Heisler SECONDED the motion, which PASSED unanimously.

President: FAOMRA's recognition is increasing nationally. The other national organizations are looking to FAOMRA to assist in moving towards a national standard, to develop expertise in state laws and as a source for disciplinary issues.

Mr. Paton suggested that the Board stagger elections. A. Hansen indicated that she supports President Paton and hopes he stays on as president and MOVED to put elections and amendment of bylaws on the agenda for May 5, 2006. The motion was SECONDED by Ms. Heisler. Motion PASSED.

NOMINATION & ELECTIONS FOR BOARD MEMBERS:
A.Hansen MOVED to open up nominations for elections. Mr. Gonzales SECONDED the motion, which PASSED unanimously.
President: Anna Hansen nominated David Paton as President. David Paton accepted the nomination.
Vice President: Penny Heisler nominated Pete Gonzalez as Vice President. Pete Gonzalez accepted
Treasurer: Anna Hansen nominated Penny Heisler as Treasurer. Penny Heisler accepted the nomination.
Secretary: Long Zang Yu nominated Ronda Bryan as Secretary. Ronda accepted the nomination Professional Board Member: Ronda Bryan nominated Long Zang Yu. Long Zang Yu declined the nomination. Rhonda nominated Frank Ervolino.
Public Member: Rosemarie Ortiz nominated Anna Hansen as Public Member. Ms. Hansen accepted the nomination.
Adm. Board Member: Anna Hansen nominated Rosemarie Ortiz as Administrator Director. Ms. Ortiz accepted the nomination.

Staggering of Officer Terms:
The President term will be 1 year.
The VP term will be 2 years.
The Treasurer's term will be 1 year.
The Secretary's will be 1 year.

Staggering of terms will occur for this election only to get the staggered terms in cycle.

STATE OF THE STATES
ARIZONA: The Board has a new chair, Della Estrada. AZ is currently receiving licensure applications from Florida and some from New Mexico that do not meet standards. There is no provision for licensure for senior practitioners. There are about 50+ auricular detoxification specialists in Arizona. The auricular detoxification specialists (ADS) are now seeking to expand their scope to include the treatment of stress (natural disasters: Katrina and 9/11 trauma). ADS are very active in Arizona and are used as a model for other states. There are 405 active licensees. Most disciplinary issues deal with advertising. There are only 4 active complaints. The board is preparing for Sunset in 2008.

FLORIDA: Ronda Bryan and Long Zang Yu reported on Florida licensing matters. Long Zang Yu reported that Auricular Detox is only allowed by licensed acupuncturists in Florida. There are many other areas of the body that can be affected when dealing with substance abuse and Ms. Yu believes full training is necessary to properly treat patients. There are 1550 active practitioners in Florida. Florida requires 2700 hours of supervised instruction in addition there is a 20 hour requirement of rules and law, 15 hours of universal precautions and 3 hours of HIV required for licensure. There is discussion about authorization of the use of Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM) or Acupuncture Physician (AP). The Florida Board is being challenged by a certain acupuncture group on the premise that there is no statute authority to use DOM or AP. There are a great number of licensees that believe that the American Medical Association has driven the title issue. The continuing education moratorium has expired and 30 hours of continuing education is required biannually. Disciplinary issues include boundary violations, unlicensed practice Ð laser acupuncture and ear stapling.

MARYLAND: Penny Heisler reported on Maryland licensing matters: A licensee drafted legislation to incorporate the ability to treat of stress and/or trauma with out the Board's consent. The Board did not support this legislation and the bill died. Disciplinary issues include boundary violations and fraudulent billing. DHMH is pushing for consolidation of like sections.

Anna Hansen MOVED to adjourn for lunch. Mr. Gonzalez SECONDED the motion, which PASSED. Members will return at 1:30.

NEW MEXICO: Anna Hansen and Rosemarie Ortiz reported on New Mexico licensing matters. There is discussion regarding Chiropractors practicing acupuncture and using the term Òacupuncture.Ó The Boards have been directed by the Governor's office to resolve this matter outside of court. Rx programs are evolving and competencies and skills have been developed to clarify expectations. Disciplinary issues mainly revolve around advertising violations.

Mike Schroder, Acupuncture Today, Lead Counsel, discussed Injection Therapy issues. Most deal with the issue of what training one needs in order to do injection as a practitioner but do not deal with training a student should have to perform injection in school. There is no regulation describing what training a student needs to have in a current AOM program. There is concern how injection therapy is going to be handled. Schools are offering injection programs with out scope of practice authority.

They continue to see cases of herb issues, especially the storage of herbs. There have been 3 death cases, 2 in Belgium and 1 in New York. There have been no new cases but the issue of storing herbs is something that may need to be addressed through regulation.

Other problems that have been reported are burns from heat lamps, cupping, and moxabustion. The largest claim involved a woman's clothing being set on fire from neck to back of knee. There are also problems with practitioners forgetting about their patients and closing shop with patients still on the table. At least 3 to 5 claims per month deal with practitioners actually forgetting their patients in the room.

There have been claims that acupuncture needles have broken off but these cases have not won since needles are sturdy and usually do not break. There have been laser acupuncture cases dealing with facelifts and the practitioner did not have proper training and hit a nerve and the practitioner lost their license in CA.

HIPPA has kicked in the 4th piece of regulation and has a deadline May 23, 2007. Every medical provider will have to apply for a 10-digit ID number from the office of the enumerator (National Unique ID Number).

CALIFORNIA: Janelle Wedge is acting director and is awaiting the full board appointments (3 professional members and 4 public members. Practitioners in 2006 are now required to use single use disposable needles.

NCCAOM: Betsy Smith reported on the current standings of NCCAOM. The new computerized exam will be administered starting in June 19 Ð July 1. Exams will be scored quickly and results will be distributed faster. An anonymous email was received indicating a breech of the exam questions and prompted the cancellation of the exam and the move to computerized exams.

Regulatory Committee has been revamped and ethics, patient confidentiality, fraud have been addressed in the new code. David Canzone is the newest member to this committee.

The Board is trying to work on an exchange of information with FAOMRA. Issue of negligence is a real problem.

Ms. Smith reviewed the Code of Ethics, Grounds for Professional Discipline and Procedures for upholding Professional Conduct. Various graphs depicting types of discipline and the number of discipline cases heard by the Regulatory Committee were provided. Maps of the US depicting licensure status was distributed as well.

Ms. Ortiz suggested the possibility of accessing exam scores via the internet. NCCAOM could send a user ID and password for state regulators to access exam scores. Anna Hansen suggested sending the Ethics policy to diplomates just to remind them of the code of ethics.

The NCCAOM has also provided a resource for disclaimer forms for new practitioners on its website.

Mr. Gonzalez MOVED to adjourn until May 5, 2006 at 8:30am. Ms. Hansen SECONDED the motion, which passed.