American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians | October 24, 2018
Abstract Submission Open!

Abstract submissions are now being accepted for the 2019 ASIPP Annual Meeting Abstract and Poster Contest. The top 10 abstracts selected by our panel will be presented at the annual meeting. The top 25 abstracts will be presented as electronic posters in view for all our attendees.

Click HERE to submit. Deadline is Feb. 18


SAVE THE DATES!
February 22-24, 2019
Orlando, FL
Cannabis and cannabinoids for the treatment of people with chronic noncancer pain conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled and observational studies

This review examines evidence for the effectiveness of cannabinoids in chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) and addresses gaps in the literature by: considering differences in outcomes based on cannabinoid type and specific CNCP condition; including all study designs; and following IMMPACT guidelines. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched in July 2017. Analyses were conducted using Revman 5.3 and Stata 15.0. A total of 91 publications containing 104 studies were eligible (n = 9958 participants), including 47 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and 57 observational studies. Forty-eight studies examined neuropathic pain, 7 studies examined fibromyalgia, 1 rheumatoid arthritis, and 48 other CNCP (13 multiple sclerosis–related pain, 6 visceral pain, and 29 samples with mixed or undefined CNCP). Across RCTs, pooled event rates (PERs) for 30% reduction in pain were 29.0% (cannabinoids) vs 25.9% (placebo); significant effect for cannabinoids was found; number needed to treat to benefit was 24 (95% confidence interval [CI] 15-61); for 50% reduction in pain, PERs were 18.2% vs 14.4%; no significant difference was observed. Pooled change in pain intensity (standardised mean difference: −0.14, 95% CI −0.20 to −0.08) was equivalent to a 3 mm reduction on a 100 mm visual analogue scale greater than placebo groups. In RCTs, PERs for all-cause adverse events were 81.2% vs 66.2%; number needed to treat to harm: 6 (95% CI 5-8). There were no significant impacts on physical or emotional functioning, and low-quality evidence of improved sleep and patient global impression of change. Evidence for effectiveness of cannabinoids in CNCP is limited. Effects suggest that number needed to treat to benefit is high, and number needed to treat to harm is low, with limited impact on other domains. It seems unlikely that cannabinoids are highly effective medicines for CNCP.


ASIPP HIPAA WEBINAR – SAVE THE DATE!
Date: November 14, 2018
Time: 11am-12:30pm CDT
Length: 60 minute presentation and 30 minute Q&A
CEUs: 1.5 hrs
Presenter: Vicki Myckowiak, esq

The federal government is focusing more attention on the privacy and security of patient health information. Failure to meet the requirements for HIPAA can lead to thousands of dollars in fines and unwanted media attention. Are you HIPAA compliant? What about your business associates? Have you done the required HIPAA Risk Assessment? How will you respond if there is a government investigation?
Vicki Myckowiak, an expert in HIPAA in interventional pain practices, will provide a practical and understandable presentation to help move you through the sometimes overwhelming HIPAA requirements so that you can feel comfortable that you are meeting the government requirements.
This webinar will include information on: HIPAA Security for your practice, doing the required risk analysis and how to avoid patient electronic records from being stolen including:
•   What is HIPAA and Who Oversees it
•   Who must comply
•   What information needs to be protected
•   What are business associate agreements and who needs them.
•   How to do a required HIPAA Risk Analysis
•   What happens if you don't comply and how much can you pay
•   Where to get started

Email Ray Lane ( rlane@asipp.org ) to be notified by email when the registration is open.

Harvard Calls for Retraction of Dozens of Studies by Noted Cardiac Researcher
Some 31 studies by Dr. Piero Anversa contain fabricated or falsified data, officials concluded. Dr. Anversa popularized the idea of stem cell treatment for damaged hearts.

A prominent heart researcher formerly at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston fabricated or falsified data in 31 published studies that should be retracted, officials at the institutions have concluded.
The scientist, Dr. Piero Anversa produced research suggesting that damaged heart muscle could be regenerated with stem cells, a type of cell that can transform itself into a variety of other cells.
Although other laboratories could not reproduce his findings, the work led to the formation of start-up companies to develop new treatments for heart attacks and stroke, and inspired a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health.



Interventional Pain Management Reports is an Open Access online journal, a peer-reviews journal dedicated to the publication of case reports, brief commentaries and reviews and letters to the editor. It is a peer-reviewed journal written by and directed to an audience of interventional pain physicians, clinicians and basic scientists with an interest in interventional pain management and pain medicine. 

Interventional Pain Management Reports is an official publication of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) and is a sister publication of Pain Physician . Interventional Pain Management Reports Interventional Pain Management Reports is an open access journal, available online with free full manuscripts.  

The benefits of publishing in an open access journal that has a corresponding
print edition journal are:  
  • Your article will have the potential to obtain more citations.
  • Your article will be peer-reviewed and published faster than other journals.
  • Your article can be read by a potentially much larger audience compared with traditional subscription-only journals.  
  • Open Access journals are FREE to view, download and to print.

So submit today your:
  • Case Reports
  • Technical Reports
  • Editorials
  • Short Perspectives

Drugmakers Funnel Millions to Lawmakers

Before the midterm elections heated up, dozens of drugmakers had already poured about $12 million into the war chests of hundreds of members of Congress.
Since the beginning of last year, 34 lawmakers have each received more than $100,000 from pharmaceutical companies. Two of those -- Reps. Greg Walden of Oregon, a key Republican committee chairman, and Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican majority leader -- each received more than $200,000, a new  Kaiser Health New s database shows.

October PodCast Now Available

ASIPP President Hans Hansen, MD, is back with another of his excellent podcasts.

At the October meeting Dr. Hansen interviewed Ricardo Vallejo, MD, of Bloomington, IL. Vallejo served on the faculty of ASIPP's Interventional Techniques Comprehensive Review Course and Cadaver Workshop held earlier this month in Memphis.

Dr. Vallejo, Co-Founder, Director of Research at Millennium Pain Center in Bloomington, Illinois, has been partners with Ramsin Benyamin for over 15 years. He received his medical degree in Colombia and then pursued his PhD in Immunology at the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain. During his residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Miami he became Chief Residence of the program and served as resident representative for the Florida Society of Anesthesiology and The American Society of Anesthesiology. Dr. Vallejo then pursued his fellowship in Pain Medicine at Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is considered a world leader in Stimulation and shares his ideas during this podcast.

Dr. Hansen explains that ASIPP will be recording ASIPP courses and making them available to the world. So in the near future you'll be able to listen to podcasts on Interventional Techniques from your car, home, boat, etc. Look for that in near future.

Click HERE to listen!

Understanding the Cause is Necessary to Treating Physician Burnout

Physician burnout  has been called a national epidemic, purportedly affecting as many as one-half to two-thirds of practicing physicians. In an editorial for  JAMA  calling attention to the need for further research, investigators claim that "there is clearly something important and worrisome happening to  physician well-being ." However, what is not clear is the underlying cause or specific conditions that give rise to burnout among physicians, or even what burnout really means. 1
According to the authors, there is no widespread understanding of the pathophysiology of burnout, or conclusions about how it should be measured. Thus, ideas such as "half of all physicians experience burnout" are not only complicated to prove but further the notion that burnout is easy to diagnose. The investigators cite 2 studies, also published in  JAMA , that attempted to study physician burnout. 2,3


AGA: New Opioid-Induced Constipation Management Guidelines Available

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has issued new guidelines on the medical management of  opioid-induced constipation  (OIC). The recommendations have been published in the AGA's official journal,  Gastroenterology .
“These guidelines presume that patients have been appropriately diagnosed and that they have either a prolonged requirement or dependence on opioids,” write the authors. “Therefore, one of the first steps to managing patients with OIC is to ensure that the indication for opioid therapy is appropriate, that patients are participating in a pain management program (ideally in conjunction with a pain specialist), and that they are taking the minimum necessary opioid dose.”


FDA Panel Chair Warns of 'Abuse, Death' if Opioid Is Approved
Idea that REMS would protect general public is "without foundation"

In a rare move, the long-standing chair of the FDA advisory panel that  last week recommended approval  of an ultrapotent fentanyl analogue for severe acute pain is blasting the drug's risk of "diversion, abuse, and death," and urging the agency not to approve it.
The statement from Raeford Brown, Jr., MD, chair of the Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee (AADPAC), was part of a co-signed  Oct. 18 letter to the FDA with watchdog group Public Citizen that also argued that the agency excluded the full Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee (DSRMAC) to tilt the outcome in favor of approval.


Initial Consultation for Neck Pain May Reduce Opioid Consumption, Healthcare Utilization

Patients with neck pain who initially consult a nonpharmacologic provider may have reduced exposure to opioids in the following year and fewer injections and advanced imaging, according to a study published in  Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes .
Opioid exposure outcomes were retrospectively analyzed in patients who consulted with a healthcare provider (ie, primary care provider, physical therapist, chiropractor, or specialist) for neck pain between January 2012 and June 2013 (n=1702). Comorbidities that might have had an impact on neck pain prognosis or  health care  were considered in the analysis, and healthcare utilization in the year following the initial consultation for neck pain was assessed.



DOJ News
Eight New Orleans-Area Defendants Plead Guilty to Scheme to Possess Oxycodone by Fraud; Six of the Eight Also Plead Guilty to Scheme to Possess with Intent to Distribute Oxycodone on the Black Market
Prescription Drug Diversion Conspiracy Resulted in Approximately 10,000 Oxycodone Pills on the Black Market
Eight New Orleans, Louisiana-area defendants have pleaded guilty for their participation in a conspiracy to obtain oxycodone through fraud by using fictitious prescriptions. Six of the eight defendants have also pleaded guilty for the roles in a scheme to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone on the black market. 
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser of the Eastern District of Louisiana, Special Agent in Charge Eric J. Rommal of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s New Orleans Field Division made the announcement. 
Jesse J. Wildenfels, 39, of Metairie, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to a dual-object conspiracy to acquire and obtain possession of oxycodone by fraud and to possess oxycodone with the intent to distribute. On Oct. 17, Luis R. Cabrera Jr., 38, of Norco, Louisiana; Vicki J. Skeldon, 44, of Metairie; Stephanie N. Free, 28, of Gretna, Louisiana; Jarrod A. Doubleday, 47, of Livingston, Louisiana; John A. Doubleday, 52, of Place, Louisiana; Whitney J. Swan III, 48, of Saint Rose, Louisiana; and Cynthia B. Foret, 41, also of Norco, pleaded guilty to their roles in violating the Controlled Substances Act. Cabrera, Skeldon, Free, John Doubleday and Swan pleaded guilty to a dual-object conspiracy to acquire and obtain possession of oxycodone by fraud and to possess oxycodone with the intent to distribute. Jarrod Doubleday and Foret pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain possession of oxycodone by fraud.                                    

DOJ

State Society News 
November 8-11, 2018
NY/NJSIPP Pain Medicine Symposium 2018 
Hyatt Regency Jersey City.
CLICK HERE for more details

November 12 and 14, 2018
FSIPP Regional Meetings: 
November 12, 2 018 @6:30pm
Carrabba's Italian Grill
2370 SW College Road, Ocala, FL 34471
November 14, 2018 @6:30pm
Carrabba's Italian Grill
5820 Red Bug Lake Road, Winter Springs, FL 32708
CLICK HERE to register for either meeting

July 12-14, 2019
GSIPP 2019 - 15th Annual Meeting & Pain Summit
The Cloister Hotel at Sea Island
Sea Island, GA
For more information, contact Karrie Kirwan at karrie@theassociationcompany.com or Tara Morrison at tara@theassociationcompany.com or 770-613-0932.

July 26-28, 2019
PAIN 2019
West Virginia Society of Pain Physicians
Loews Miami Beach, FL


Send in your state society meeting news to Holly Long, hlong@asipp.org
ASIPP | Pain Physician Journal | Phone | Fax | Email