[Development of legislation and standardization of acupuncture therapy in the United States of America].

In the present article, the authors summarized the state of acupuncture therapy in the United States of America from 1) history and current state, 2) legislation and its contents, management system and introduction of health insurance system, and 3) standardization. Acupuncture therapy, as a complementary or alternative therapy, has been widely supported and approved by majority of states in the USA. The authors hold that due to differences between the oriental and western cultures and difficulties of Chinese medicine in quantitative and qualitative studies, the legislation on acupuncture therapy for approval of the American Parliament needs paying more efforts.