IS THERE A POINT? Sceptics say acupuncture is little more than quackery, but ACC continues to pay out millions of dollars of public money for the treatment, and doctors continue to refer patients.

ACC has spent a record $24 million on acupuncture, despite finding scant evidence that sticking people with needles can fix many ailments.

Figures released under the Official Information Act show the Accident Compensation Corporation is paying for acupuncture treatment for everything from deafness to burns.

In the past decade, the public money spent on acupuncture has more than quadrupled - from $4.4m to more than $24m last year.

This is despite multiple internal ACC studies finding that acupuncture was proven to help with a very limited range of conditions, mostly chronic shoulder or neck pain.

One ACC study in 2006 found there was no evidence to support using acupuncture for brain injuries. Since then, the corporation has paid out more than $380,000 on treating brain injuries with acupuncture.

But ACC has defended the spending, with a spokeswoman saying the corporation paid out only for acupuncture treatment for which there was evidence, and when patients were referred by a health professional.

"ACC relies on medical professionals to determine the best course of treatment to restore health."

Most doctors believed acupuncture could benefit patients, but some argued that many treatments approved for public funding were dubious.

Wellington GP Don Simmers said he had performed acupuncture for patients and been a patient himself, finding it useful for treating muscle pains and headaches.

"It certainly can help for some people, there no doubt about it."

But he said publicly funding acupuncture for burns, deafness, or nervous shock - among some of the treatments approved by ACC last year - was "just crazy".

"ACC needs to be hauled over the coals for this," he said.

On the extreme end, he had seen some acupuncturists promising absurd benefits, such as curing cancer. "That is pure charlatanry."

Another Wellington GP, Richard Medlicott, said he referred some patients with muscular-skeletal conditions for acupuncture, but the evidence was not there for other conditions.

"There can be a placebo response, though, that can still be useful if it makes the patient feel better."

Paddy McBride, president of the New Zealand Register of Acupuncturists, said the practice was growing because it worked, and many people were increasingly dissatisfied with Western medicine.

Acupuncture had been proven over thousands of years in China but it was only recently that Western medicine had tried to quantify its benefits, using a very narrow definition.

" 'Not sufficient evidence' doesn't mean it doesn't work, it just means they haven't done the study."

The number of registered acupuncturists in New Zealand has nearly doubled in the past decade, with growing local interest and an influx of practitioners from China and Korea.

With its soaring popularity, acupuncture has been a growing target for alternative medicine sceptics, with scathing accusations of quackery.

However, international studies, and some of the world's biggest health bodies, such as the World Health Organisation, have supported its use for some conditions.

The National Health Service in Britain funds some acupuncture treatment - while also warning against its inappropriate use.

And even when acupuncture does not work, it is considered an extremely safe treatment, with few of the side-effects that plague many common Western medical treatments.