Iowa Board of Medicine: Acupuncture patient was abandoned, called sheriff’s office for help

An Iowa man had to call the sheriff’s office for assistance after his acupuncturist inserted needles into his body, then went home and fell asleep, according to the state Board of Medicine.

Board records and a report from the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office in northwest Iowa indicate that on June 12, 2023, a male patient went to the Rock Rapids office of XiaoDong “Dave” Wang, a state-licensed acupuncturist.

According to the board, Wang inserted acupuncture needles into the man’s body, left the Wang Acupuncture Clinic, went home and fell asleep.

“The patient took the needles out on his own and called the sheriff’s office for assistance,” the board states. Deputies reported that before calling the sheriff’s office, the patient had waited an hour and a half for Wang to return and had tried unsuccessfully to reach him by phone.

The Board of Medicine charged Wang with professional incompetence, alleging Wang failed to exercise the degree of care ordinarily observed by the average acupuncturist. At the same time board filed its charges against Wang, it agreed to settle the case with a warning and a $500 penalty.

The agreement was signed in January but was only recently made public. Wang declined to comment on the case.

The Board of Medicine first issued Wang a license in 2018. It is set to expire in October.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.