American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians | January 9, 2019
Pain Management Task Force Draft Report

As required by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA), the public has an opportunity to provide comments on the  Draft Report on Pain Management Best Practices: Updates, Gaps, Inconsistencies, and Recommendations  (Draft Report) during this 90 day public comment period. The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force developed the Draft Report which identified gaps or inconsistencies, and proposed updates to best practices and recommendations for pain management, including chronic and acute pain as required by CARA.
To View Draft Report

Instructions on Making Comments
Written comments should not exceed three pages in length. To assist with the review of public comments, please indicate a specific section, gap and/or recommendation in the report for which the comments are related, for example, Acute Pain, Gap 2 or Recommendation 2a.
Comments that contain references to studies, research, and other empirical data that are not widely available should include copies of the referenced materials with the submitted comments. Comments submitted by email should be machine-readable and should not be copy-protected. Responders are encouraged to include the name of the person or organization filing the comment, in case follow-up is needed, as well as a page number on each page of their submission(s).

How to Submit Comments
  1. Submit through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket Number: HHS-OS-2018-0027
  2.  Email to: paintaskforce@hhs.gov
  3. Mail written comments to:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health
200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 736E,
Attn: Alicia Richmond Scott, Task Force Designated Federal Officer
Washington, DC 20201


One Day Ultrasound Course February 21, 2019
Orlando, FL
3 Choices in February!
Review Courses and Cadaver Labs
Feb 22-24 2019, Orlando, FL
REGISTRATION  |   HOTEL  |   EXHIBITOR |
REGISTRATION  |   HOTEL  |   EXHIBITOR  | BROCHURE
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


JULY ABIPP EXAMS
AND COMPETENCY EXAMS
July 13 - July 14 | Memphis, TN
 
The American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians ( ABIPP ) has developed certification programs that recognize accepted levels of knowledge and expertise in the interventional pain management
profession, with the goal of improved patient care. Hundreds of qualified physicians have made the commitment to become ABIPP certified.
 
ABIPP now offers the only competency certification program for regenerative medicine.
 
For complete information about the examination requirements and to obtain an application packet, visit www.abipp.org or call 270-554-9412 x217 or by email at summer@asipp.org.

July 13
ABIPP Part I
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July 13-14
ABIPP Part II
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July 14
ABIPP Competency Exam
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July 13
Combined CSM/CCPM Exam for ABIPP Path
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July 13
Competency Exam in Controlled Substance Management
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July 13
Competency Exam in Coding, Compliance, and
Practice Management
_______________________________________________________
 
July 13-14
Regenerative Medicine Competency Exam
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July 13-14
Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression Competency Exam

939 Ridge Lake Blvd. | Memphis, TN 38120
 
Relax and rejuvenate in a modern guest room at the Hilton Memphis hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Keep up with a fitness routine in our Watch an on-demand movie and your choice of premium channels on a flat-screen LCD HDTV. Utilize the large work desk to catch up on tasks, and keep in touch with family or business with WiFi access. Upgrade to a spacious suite with a parlor and entertain guests in the living and dining area. All suites feature a wet bar and full bathroom.
 
The cut-off date for our room block with discounted rates is on June 10, 2019 or until sold out, whichever occurs first.

FDA sends warning to company for marketing dangerous unapproved stem cell products that put patients at risk and puts other stem cell firms, providers on notice

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has  warned  Genetech, Inc. of San Diego, California and its president, Edwin N. Pinos for marketing stem cell products without FDA approval and for significant deviations from current good tissue practice (CGTP) and current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) requirements, including some violations that may have led to microbial contamination, potentially causing serious blood infections in patients. Genetech processed umbilical cord blood into unapproved human cellular products, which was distributed by Liveyon, LLC.
Additionally, as part of the FDA’s overall goal to support the responsible development of safe and effective products for patients, the agency is sending  letters  to reiterate the FDA’s compliance and enforcement policy to other manufacturers and health care providers who may be offering stem cell treatments.


FDA


12 People Hospitalized With Infections From Stem Cell Shots
Twelve patients became seriously ill after receiving injections that supposedly contained stem cells from umbilical cord blood, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which issued a warning to the California company, Genetech, that made the blood product they were given.
(The company has no connection with Genentech, the biotechnology corporation.)
The F.D.A. said on Thursday that it had also written to 20 clinics that offer unapproved stem cell treatments, warning them that such products are generally regulated by the agency and encouraging the clinics to contact federal regulators before November 2020, when enforcement will tighten. The names of the clinics have not been released.



FDA Approves Two New Strengths of Apadaz for Pain Management

KemPharm announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for 2 new strengths of Apadaz (benzhydrocodone, acetaminophen): 4.08mg/325mg and 8.16mg/325mg. 
Apadaz was initially approved in February 2018 as 6.12mg/325mg immediate-release tablets for the short-term (no more than 14 days) management of acute pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate. The product combines benzhydrocodone, an opioid agonist, and acetaminophen. Benzhydrocodone is chemically inert, however, once ingested, enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract cleave the ligand from the prodrug and release hydrocodone, producing a therapeutic effect. Approval was based on pharmacokinetic studies which showed that the therapeutic effects of Apadaz were expected to be similar to that of other immediate-release hydrocodone/acetaminophen combination products
 
 
MPR


Opinion: The Drug Price-Control Threat
Trump, Sanders and Warren sound the same themes. Watch out.

For all the nasty partisan divisiveness in Washington, it’s often worth worrying more when both parties agree. A case in point is a potential left-right condominium on drug prices that should alarm Americans hoping a cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s arrives in their lifetime.
Members of Congress are calling prescription drug prices a top target for 2019. A GOP Senate in most cases will check the ambitions of Democrats in the House, but pharmaceuticals may be the exception. GOP Senator Chuck Grassley appears eager to investigate drug companies from his new post running the Senate Finance Committee. President Trump is demanding better deals on drugs, and the risk is that this crowd comes to a consensus.



Access to this article may be limited.

Hospitals now required to reveal secret prices lists online for every medical procedure, service

Hospitals across the country rang in the New Year  with a federal mandate to reveal their once-secret master price lists , although it's unclear whether the new requirement will assist many patients or contain ever-rising health care costs.
Starting Jan. 1, hospitals must publish online the starting price tags for every service or procedure. These detailed lists, known as chargemasters, include thousands of entries.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act required hospitals to make these lists available to the public, but until this week, hospitals were not required to publish them. The new mandate marks an effort by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve price transparency in health care.




Additional Naloxone Formulation Submitted to FDA for Review
Adamis announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for its naloxone prefilled single-dose syringe has been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, is used for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. It antagonizes opioid effects by competing for the same receptor sites. Naloxone reverses the effects of opioids, including respiratory depression, sedation, and hypotension.


MPR


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

CDC: Top 10 Drugs Involved in Drug Overdose Deaths
 
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified the 10 drugs most frequently mentioned in overdose deaths.
Using data from the 2011 to 2016 National Vital Statistics System-Mortality files, the authors conducted a literal text analysis of death certificates to identify drugs mentioned as contributing to the cause of overdose death. They used this information to calculate which drugs were most frequently involved. “Deaths involving more than 1 drug (eg, a death involving both heroin and cocaine) were counted in all relevant drug categories (eg, the same death was included in counts of heroin deaths and in counts of cocaine deaths),” the authors explained.
 
 

Laughter Became My Best Medicine
An MD's untraditional approach to medicine

Brad Nieder's career as a practicing physician probably ended before it began. Long before, in fact: watching Johnny Carson monologues as a child at the foot of his parents' bed, and then George Carlin's less family-friendly HBO appearances.
His father was a physician and that appeared to be a natural career path, one that Nieder, now 47, would follow, obtaining his MD degree. But comedy kept calling.

In high school, Nieder began writing funny things for the school newspaper. The summer before heading off to Stanford University for his first year, he discovered improv at a club in Denver and spent many nights there taking it all in. Once at Stanford, Nieder took an improv class and joined an improv troupe called The Stimps (the Stanford Improvisors), which still exists today.


State Society News 

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