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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR SJC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/20/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Clarifying Oriental Medicine Practice

SB 353/SJCS

ANALYST Hanika Ortiz

REVENUE (dollars in thousands)

Estimated Revenue

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

FY09

($0.75)

Recurring

Board of

Acupuncture

and Oriental

Medicine

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee Substitute amends the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

Practice Act in three areas:

Amends 61-14A-3 NMSA 1978 and expands the definition of “techniques of oriental medicine"

to add combining and dispensing of a variety of substances and devices as described in the bill

and defined in the New Mexico Drug, Device and Cosmetics Act; and, nonprescription drugs as

they are defined in the Pharmacy Act.

Amends Section 61-14A-4.1 NMSA 1978 and deletes the annual renewal requirement and fee

for doctors of oriental medicine who register to supervise certified auricular detoxification

specialists.

Amends Section 61-14A-8.1 NMSA 1978 to allow the board to issue expanded practice and

prescriptive authority certifications for certain substances as defined in the New Mexico Drug,

Device and Cosmetic Act, the Controlled Substances Act or the Pharmacy Act; and, issue more

specialized certifications to distinguish among those licensees who specialize in basic injection

therapy, injection therapy, intravenous therapy and bioidentical hormone therapy subject to rules

Senate Bill 353/SJCS – Page

2

established by the board. The amendment further clarifies that compounding of drugs must

comply with the compounding requirements for licensed health care professionals in the United

States Pharmacopoeia and National Formulary.

The bill makes minor language and style changes throughout.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

RLD reports from the original bill that there are only ten (10) certified supervising Doctors of

Oriental Medicine. Renewal is a maximum of $75 so the fiscal impact verses the administrative

time to process the renewal is minimum.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The New Mexico Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine requires all approved applicants

for licensure show proof of having completed an educational program comprised of 2400 hours.

The 2400 total hours must have 1100 didactic hours with a minimum of 450 hours in herbology;

and, 900 clinical supervised hours with a minimum of 400 actual patient treatment hours

performed.

The Medical Board is concerned about possible consequences for the public health and safety of

New Mexicans that might derive from the use of IV therapy by practitioners whose primary

training is in the use of needles and injections subcutaneously; with, comparatively little

education in intravenous injections and their possibly quite serious complications.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Relating to the bill’s expanded prescriptive authority provisions; as new methods of

administrating medicines are developed, such as intravenous injections of herbal extracts, the

consumer (patient) may be better protected if the Board is required to adopt rules determined by

the Department Of Health for any additional training required for the practice of basic injection

therapy, injection therapy, intravenous therapy or any other procedure requiring penetration of

the skin or vascular system.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The amendment allows for a doctor of oriental medicine to renew one license instead of the two

required if he were also supervising a certified auricular detoxification specialist. RLD reports

the administrative implications as minimal due to the low volume of certified supervising

Doctors of Oriental Medicine.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to SB 359, Scope of Practice Act, to create a unified, objective process for review of all

proposed changes in the scope of practice of licensed health care professionals.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Pg 3,G,(2) “combining and providing" are used instead of “compounding and dispensing" as

Senate Bill 353/SJCS – Page

3

used on pg 13,C within paragraphs (1) and (2). Also, the list of substances within pg 3,G,(2) are

different than the list on pg 13,C,(1).

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Compounded pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements and hormones are the result of the practice

of custom preparing ingredients to create medicines that meet the needs of an individual patient.

Options cover alternate dosage forms, discontinued combinations, preservative free formulations,

injectables and over-the-counter formulations. One benefit of compounding is the wide range of

delivery alternatives available including creams, ointments, lotions, lozenges, suppositories,

sublingual troches, sprays, inserts and implants.

Injection therapy utilizes the injection of medicinal herbs into acupuncture points to prevent or

treat diseases. Intravenous injections of herbal or botanical extracts are a relatively new method

of medicine administration for doctors of Chinese medicine.

AHO/nt