Abstract Background: Patients with multiple chronic medical conditions are often treated with multiple medications in conventional medicine. Many of these patients still do not feel well and have poor quality of life (QoL), because of the ineffectiveness and/or the side-effects of the medications. This article describes acupuncture as a complementary therapy in a patient with a wide range of conditions involving inflammation and an underlying immune-system dysregulation syndrome. Case: The patient was a 41-year-old, chronically ill male with a wide range of conditions, including Crohn's disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpurea, hypertension, and frequent upper-respiratory tract infections (URIs). Despite this optimal pharmacologic treatment, he still had chronic abdominal pain, knee pain, and fatigue. He also had hypertension and frequent URIs. He chose to receive medical acupuncture treatment. His goals were to reduce his steroid dependence; counteract steroid-associated side-effects, such as hypert...