[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 48298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24274]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture

    Notice is hereby given of the NIH Consensus Development Conference 
on ``Acupuncture,'' which will be held November 3-5, 1997, in the 
Natcher Conference Center of the National Institutes of Health, 9000 
Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. The conference begins at 8:30 
a.m. on November 3, at 8 a.m. on November 4, and at 9 a.m. on November 
5.
    Acupuncture and moxibustion are the two best known aspects of 
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the U.S. and are used by many 
Americans. Acupuncture is a family of procedures involving penetration 
of specific superficial anatomic locations on the skin called 
acupuncture points with thin, solid, generally metallic, needles. 
Closely related to and often practices with acupuncture is moxibustion, 
the local and focused application of heat to acupuncture points using a 
compressed, powdered combustible substance (moxa), which is burned at 
or near the points to be stimulated.
    There are a variety of approaches to functional diagnosis and 
treatment in American acupuncture that incorporate medical traditions 
from China, Japan, Korea, France, and other countries. Because an 
acupuncture treatment involves a procedure rather than a drug, it has 
been very difficult to study using the gold standard of randomized 
double-blind trials. Nevertheless, acupuncture is used by millions of 
American patients and performed by thousands of physicians, dentists, 
masters-degree level acupuncturists, and other practitioners for relief 
or prevention of pain and a variety of health problems. The FDA, after 
years of deliberation, recently removed acupuncture needles from the 
category of ``experimental medical devices'' and now regulates them 
just as it does other devices such as surgical scalpels and hypodermic 
syringes, under good manufacturing practices and single-use standards 
of sterility.
    Over the years, NIH has funded a variety of research studies on 
acupuncture, including studies on the mechanisms by which acupuncture 
may have its effects as well as clinical trials and other studies. 
There is also a considerable body of international literature on the 
risks and benefits of acupuncture, and the World Health Organization 
(WHO) has listed a variety of medical conditions that may benefit from 
the use of acupuncture and/or moxibustion. Such applications may 
include prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting; treatment of 
pain and addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; prevention of 
pulmonary problems such as asthma and bronchitis and rehabilitation 
from neurological damage such as stroke.
    To address the most important issues regarding the American use of 
acupuncture, the NIH has organized this 2\1/2\ day conference to 
evaluate the scientific and medical data on the uses, risks, and 
benefits of acupuncture procedures for a variety of conditions. The 
conference will bring together national and international experts in 
the fields of acupuncture, pain, psychology, psychiatry, physical 
medicine and rehabilitation, drug abuse, pulmonology, health policy, 
epidemiology, statistics, physiology, and biophysics as well as 
representatives from the public.
    After 1\1/2\ days of presentations and audience discussion, an 
independent, non-Federal consensus panel chaired by Dr. David Ramsay, 
president of the University of Maryland Medical Center, will weigh the 
scientific evidence and write a draft statement that it will present to 
the audience on the third day. The consensus statement will address the 
following key questions:
    * What is the efficacy of acupuncture, compared with placebo or 
sham acupuncture, in the conditions for which sufficient data are 
available to evaluate?
    * What is the place of acupuncture in the treatment of various 
conditions (for which sufficient data are available), in comparison 
with or in combination with other interventions (including no 
intervention)?
    * What is known about the biological effects of acupuncture that 
helps us understand how it works?
    * What issues need to be addressed so that acupuncture may be 
appropriately incorporated into today's health care system?
    * What are the directions for future research?
    The primary sponsors of this meeting are the NIH Office of 
Alternative Medicine and the NIH Office of Medical Applications of 
Research. The conference is cosponsored by the National Cancer 
Institute, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and 
Skin Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse, and the NIH Office of Research on Women's 
Health.
    Advance information on the conference program and conference 
registration materials may be obtained from Prospect Associates, 1801 
Rockville Pike, Suite 500, Rockville, Maryland 20852, (301) 468-MEET, 
by e-mail at [email protected], or by visiting http://
consensus.nih.gov on the World Wide Web.
    The consensus statement will be submitted for publication in 
professional journals and other publications. In addition, the 
statement will be available beginning November 5, 1997, from the NIH 
Consensus Program Information Center, P.O. Box 2577, Kensington, 
Maryland 20891, phone 1-888-NIH-CONSENSUS (1-888-644-2667) and from the 
NIH Consensus Development Program site on the World Wide Web at http://
consensus.nih.gov.

    Dated: September 3, 1997.
Ruth L. Kirschstein,
Deputy Director, NIH.
[FR Doc. 97-24274 Filed 9-12-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M