In November 2013, 17-year-old Torin Yater-Wallace suffered a penetrating right lung injury related to dry needling performed by a physical therapist. The penetrating right lung injury resulted in a traumatic pneumothorax (an accumulation of air in the pleural cavity resulting from blunt or penetrating chest injury and causing lung collapse). He was treated for the traumatic pneumothorax at the emergency department of the St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco, Colorado, and was admitted to that hospital on the same day. The traumatic pneumothorax required medical and surgical intervention. He was hospitalized for five days. (Photo: @TorinWallace)

About Us

The National Center for Acupuncture Safety and Integrity (NCASI) is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that works to protect patients from unqualified practitioners of acupuncture, such as physical therapists. We accomplish our mission through legislative and administrative advocacy.