On April 15, the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) sent an e-mail to all of the state respiratory care society presidents, state respiratory care society board members, and members of their House of Delegates stating their "profession is under attack." The communication then focuses on "legislative and regulatory efforts underway to reduce the existing legal scope of practice of the respiratory therapist as it pertains to the practice of polysomnography."

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) are aware of this incendiary message, and will prepare and disseminate a responsible, fact-based response. This response will clearly state that the AASM and the AAST do not have an agenda that in any way will restrict the practice of respiratory care. These messages from the AARC are not new, and they generally have not been received positively by legislators or many respiratory therapists who understand and appreciate the care provided by polysomnographic technologists in their communities and throughout the country.