For the last 30 years, at the Lincoln Recovery Center in the Bronx, Dr. Michael O. Smith has managed a successful drug detoxification program that relies on ear acupuncture as its primary medical modality. In the 1970’s the program was geared entirely towards heroin addicts that had made their way into the Methadone maintenance clinic. Through trial and error Dr. Smith, who is both an MD and a certified acupuncturist, and his colleagues, discovered that the daily insertion of five acupuncture needles in each ear for about 45 minutes achieved results similar to what the addicts experienced in the Methadone maintenance clinic. In the past twenty years, Dr. Smith has brought the solution, known as the NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) Protocol around the world. The protocol is used on all prison inmates in Great Britain. In fact, more than 1500 clinical sites in the US, Europe, Australia and the Caribbean currently use these acupuncture protocols as an adjunctive treatment for addictions and mental disorders.

As part of my own study of integrative medicine in America, I spent the month of July learning the NADA protocol from Dr. Smith and his staff. Over 7,000 mental health and acupuncture professionals have been trained at Lincoln Recovery Center over the years. The training, which takes approximately two weeks, is streamlined, focused, and involves a peer teaching component with feedback and quality control mechanisms. During my training period, I met individuals from Denmark and England who traveled to the U.S. just to be trained in the protocol. After we completed our initial training, we treated patients who showed up, religiously each day, to receive their ear acupuncture. The clinic consists of about 80 comfortable, high backed chairs lined up, one next to the other. Patients check in, grab an alcohol pack, take an empty seat, and swab their ears clean. Once they have cleaned their ears, they raise a hand and the next available acupuncturist makes his way over to quickly insert the five needles in each ear. This process takes about 3 minutes. Then, in the quiet of the room, the patients rest their heads on the back of the chair, most close their eyes and meditate or sleep, though some read. After about 45 minutes have passed, the patient raises his hand. An acupuncturist hands the patient some gauze, removes the needles, and the patient is free to leave – until tomorrow, when the process is repeated again – all in the name of remaining drug-free.

What I experienced during my training at the Lincoln Recovery Center was not only an effective treatment for addictions, but also a process that empowered the individual to become responsible for himself and his actions – perhaps going to the true root of an addiction. Everyone of these patients showed up willingly, participated in their own care (when was the last time a nurse asked you to swab your arm before drawing blood for a test?), and took ownership of the process and of their own actions.

Here’s the kicker…..given the streamlined training, medical supervision component (at least as it is administered in New York state), and number of people that can be treated concurrently, it is estimated that the cost for this service is about one dollar per person per treatment, or about 300 dollars a year. The effectiveness of this treatment has been proven in over 30 years in over 1500 clinical sites in over 25 countries. Yet, here in the US, the country of the NADA protocol’s origin, health insurance does not pay for this service. In fact, in some states, the protocol is not permitted to be administered at all. If decreasing illegal drug use, decreasing the cost of care, increasing patients’ responsibility for their own care, and increasing the effectiveness of care all while using safe (low risk) modalities are goals of health (or health insurance) reform, shouldn’t modalities like NADA be acknowledged, used and for God’s sake paid for? For more on NADA, the non-profit association, see www.acudetox.com .

Related posts:

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2. Drug Adherence Throwdown: Analyzing America’s Other Drug Problem
3. Drug Adherence Throwdown: Disruptive Women Take on America’s Other Drug Problem
4. Drug Adherence Throwdown: Disruptive Women Take on America’s Other Drug Problem
5. Transcending research boundaries: ACUFLASH

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