Tom Swiss
Dipl. ABT, AOBTA CP, LMT
Office in Catonsville, Serving the Greater Baltimore Area
Hours By Appointment

SAVE SHIATSU IN MARYLAND! Please take action against SB 370 / HB 374!

New: "Vital Power Exercise", an eclectic Qi Gong, Shiatsu, and Meditation class on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, 5:30pm at the Catonsville Dojo.


Shiatsu - Acupressure - Massage - Reiki
Tom Swiss, Dipl. ABT, AOBTA CP, LMT
Office in Catonsville, Serving the Greater Baltimore area.
Hours by appointment

SAVE SHIATSU IN MARYLAND! Please take action against SB 370 / HB 374!

New: "Vital Power Exercise", an eclectic Qi Gong, Shiatsu, and Meditation class on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, 5:30pm at the Catonsville Dojo.

Save Shiatsu in Maryland

"No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session."

Dear shiatsu and massage colleagues, clients, and friends,

I am urgently asking you for help on behalf of myself and other Asian Bodywork therapists and massage therapists in Maryland.

A bill now in committee in the Maryland legislature (House Bill 374, Senate Bill 370) would define Asian Bodywork Therapy and acupressure -- the healing arts I have taught to massage therapy students at PMTI and CCBC, hold national certification in, and have been practicing at Baltimore's Mercy Hospital for years as a member of the medical staff -- to be the exclusive province of acupuncturists.

This would destroy the practice of Asian Bodywork Therapy in Maryland. It would not protect the people of Maryland, it will do them harm by reducing healthcare access.

If this bill passes I will no longer be able to offer you the services I have for over 20 years. I will no longer be able to teach these treatments to massage therapy students so that their clients can benefit.

The bill seems to be rooted in nothing more than a power grab by the Acupuncture Board and a desire to eliminate competition.

For more detail on why this is a bad bill, see below.

We're asking people to contact key legislators to oppose the bill.

If you want to get more deeply involved in the fight against this bill please contact me to join a discussion email list.

Or you can join a one-way mailing list for occasional updates about the bills.

February 26 update

People only started learning about HB 374 / SB 370 from a February 4th Facebook post from the Maryland chapter of the AMTA. It feels like it's been months already but it hasn't even been three weeks! Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people would be negatively affected if this bill becomes law but most have not even heard of it, so please keep spreading the word.

Hearing News

SB 370 had hearings in the Senate Finance committee on February 10 and HB 374 in the House Health committee on February 11 -- videos are below -- and this is when we first heard proponent's arguments.

We had hoped it was a well-intended bill meant only to clarify that Asian Bodywork is in scope of practice for acupuncturists, which is not a controversial stance; but unfortunately this is not the case. This is an ill-intended bill deliberately meant to reserve acuPRESSURE for licensed acuPUNCTURISTS; it's purely anti-competitive. Its advocates are invoking the horrors of sex trafficking to cause a moral panic as cover for what is a scope of practice fight.

Unfortunately, because people are only now learning about the bill, the only people to testify against it at the Senate hearing were my ABT colleague Liselle Vigna and myself; and in the House hearing, Victoria Goldsten of the Washington Institute Of Natural Medicine and myself. (Others may have given written testimony, but we were it as far as speaking to the committees live or over Zoom.)

There was a House subcommittee discussion scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, but no discussion of the bill took place. We've been told that "HB 374 is not on the agenda for the next meeting of the Health Occupations subcommittee. If/when it is placed on the agenda again, [a legislative aide] will email the link to the witnesses for the bill."

Our contact in the Senate tells us that as of February 26 the Senate finance committee has not voted on the bill. Apparently such votes are set for Thursdays.

So as of February 26, there are no hearings or official meetings scheduled for it at this time.

Rumors

Not official word, but we hear from sources close to the Maryland Senate that two Senators might be sympathetic to us on SB 370:

  • Senator Lam was willing to introduce an amendment that would mostly duplicate the "laying on of hands" exception language from massage law, but only if that were okay will the bill's senate sponsor. This would be great if it got in, but I don't think Senator Augustine would go for it, he seems thoroughly converted by the acupuncture board into believing that acuPRESSURE is identical to acuPUNCTURE.
  • Senator Kramer has also asked about amendments

So from what we've heard so far these two Senators seem the most open to opposing the bill or at least trying to fix the worst parts of it.

However rumor has it that the bill is likely to receive a favorable report from the committee. The Senate bill's sponsor, Senator Augustine, is the president pro tem of the Senate; so other Senators, especially Democrats, may be hesitant to oppose him. It may be a worthwhile tactic to reach out to Republicans on the committee (see below), stressing angles like how the bill harms small business, reduces health freedom, and is an instance of regulatory state overreach. It may be that the best we can do in the Senate committee is get amendments to take some of the teeth of out the bill.

In the House Health committee, we have less information. The bill's sponsor there, Delegate Jennifer White Holland, is more junior. We may have a better chance of stopping the bill dead there.

Email Key Legislators

When writing to legislators, be sure to include:

  • the bill you're opposing: SB 370 when writing Senators, HB 374 when writing delegates, and mention the "acupuncture reform bill" for context
  • your name, home address including zip code, and phone number
  • if you're an LMT, other licensed healthcare professional, or a continuing education provider be sure to mention that! If you're a client of an ABT or LMT who uses Asian Bodywork or acupressure, mention how you've benefited

IMHO the people it's most useful to contact at the moment are:

You can also contact your own state representatives as well, you can find them here: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/members/district

Don't know what to say? Some sample text:

Sample Text for Clients

Dear Senators and Delegates:

I am writing to you in opposition to SB0370 / HB0374, the acupuncture reform bill. I have benefited from acupressure and other manual therapies in the East Asian tradition, and know they are safe and effective treatment when performed by massage therapists. I am disappointed and upset to learn that the Maryland General Assembly is considering a bill which would end my treatment and destroy my therapist's livelihood. Please oppose this bad and disruptive bill. Thank you.

Sample Text for Practitioners

Dear Senators and Delegates:

I am writing to you in opposition to SB0370 / HB0374, the acupuncture reform bill. As a licensed massage therapist trained in manual therapies in the East Asian tradition, I know they are safe, effective, and within the legitimate scope of practice of massage therapists. My clients have greatly benefited from my ability to provide these therapies. I am disappointed and upset to learn that the Maryland General Assembly is considering a bill which would end my ability to provide these treatments to clients, as well as interfering with my livelihood. Please oppose this bad and disruptive bill. Thank you.

Why SB0370 and HB0374 is a bad bill

In the Senate hearing, the bill’s sponsor Senator Augustine – almost certainly relying on bad information provided to him by others – wrongly claimed that
“Acupressure is identical to acupuncture in that it relies on the system of East Asian medical principles and theories indicating the application of pressure to mapped areas on meridians and acupoints...Acupressure is just one form of East Asian bodywork and therefore requires license [from the Acupuncture Board] to advertise and practice legally.”

But the fact the acupressure and acupuncture share the points and meridians model doesn’t make them identical. This interpretation of statute flies in the face of decades of interpretation and application, where it has been accepted practice – including at massage schools, in hospitals, and under continuing education requirements – for LMTs to practice and teach acupressure, shiatsu, tui na, and other forms of East Asian bodywork.

I would summarize the case against this bill as follows:

I. The bill's regulatory scheme is ill-founded
    A) Acupressure is not acupuncture
    B) Legitimate scope of practice laws govern the objective actions a therapist can use. Law cannot reasonably dictate subjective ideas in a practitioner's head or the theoretical basis for them. Scopes of practice can overlap. Advocates suggest an interpretation of law that violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments
    C) Acupressure does not pose a threat to the public

II. The bill will not effectively address the scourge of human trafficking
    A) Anti-trafficking efforts must be directed at traffickers, not wellness practitioners
    B) Acupressure is not unique in being exploited by bad actors
    C) This bill works against the interests of members of vulnerable populations who find low-barrier CAM therapies a valuable employment skill

III. The bill is fundamentally flawed and should receive an unfavorable report from the committee. But if the committee is determined to issue a favorable report, I have some suggested amendments to mitigate the disaster.
    A) Scope of practice
    B) Registering Acupressure
    C) Removing references to electromagnetic energy
    D) Punishing traffickers who use wellness for cover
    E) Protecting families

IV. For context, it is important to be aware of the crisis in the acupuncture profession. This bill seems a panicked response to the “acu-pocalypse”: schools are closing and acupuncturists are talking about the end of the acupuncture profession. Let’s not let a way of thinking that has already almost destroyed one profession, destroy others.

More detail on each of these points: Deconstructing HB 374 / SB 370

Hearing Videos

The bill had hearings in the Senate Finance committee on February 10:

and the House Health committee on February 11:

For legislation nerds, the text of the bill is available: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0370F.pdf

and the Senate and House bill progress pages:
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/SB0370?ys=2026RS
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0374?ys=2026RS

The relevant text:

(F) (1) “MANUAL THERAPIES” MEANS TREATMENT MODALITIES THAT
APPLY PRESSURE OR MANIPULATION USING HANDS OR ANOTHER PART OF THE
BODY ALONG POINTS OR MERIDIANS THAT NORMALIZE ELECTROMAGNETIC OR
ENERGETIC FUNCTION.

(2) “MANUAL THERAPIES” INCLUDE ACUPRESSURE OR OTHER
PRESSURE TREATMENT TECHNIQUES BASED ON EAST ASIAN MEDICAL THERAPIES.

[(f)] (G) (1) “Practice acupuncture” means the use of East Asian
medical therapies for the purpose of normalizing energetic
physiological functions including pain control, and for the
promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health.

(2) “Practice acupuncture” includes:
(i) Stimulation of the body by the insertion of needles;
(ii) The application of moxibustion; and
(iii) Manual THERAPIES, mechanical THERAPIES, thermal
THERAPIES, electrical THERAPIES, or other East Asian medical
therapies only when performed in accordance with the principles of
East Asian medical theories and practices

Thank you so much for taking the time to help SAVE SHIATSU in Maryland!

Tom Swiss
EarthTouch Shiatsu
2119 Arlonne Drive
Catonsville MD 21228
www.EarthTouchShiatsu.com
tms@EarthTouchShiatsu.com
443-803-9621