Acupuncture in the News
A three-year study in Britain
demonstrates
the remarkable safety of acupuncture procedures
the remarkable safety of acupuncture procedures
During the three-year
period of 2009 to 2011, researchers from a London agency and a British medical
school reviewed the 325 safety incidents involving acupuncture treatments that
had been administered during that time, and indicated that “most of the
incidents they recorded were of no or low harm.” 1
Compare that three-year
finding to the one-year period of June 2008-July 2009: At the end of that
one-year period, the same London agency reported 945,497 safety incidents
involving other types of health care, 96,102 of which were attributed to
treatment and procedure, 11,508 directly resulting in death or severe harm. 2
While the study does not indicate how many treatments were
administered by either system, it is quite significant that the researchers found
only 325 adverse or potentially adverse events involving acupuncture.
The British Acupuncture Council says, “There are very few side
effects from acupuncture when practiced by a fully qualified practitioner of
traditional acupuncture. Two surveys conducted independently of each other and
published in the British Medical Journal in 2001 concluded that the risk of a
serious adverse reaction to acupuncture is less than 1 in 10,000. This is far
less than many orthodox medical treatments.” 3
The
primary maxim of medicine is “First, do no harm.” It seems that acupuncture is following
that principle admirably—and it may well be the safest modality offered in the
British health care system.
