Briefly Noted

The American Medical Association (AMA) has pushed back against the movement to arbitrarily restrict opioids for pain management. The AMA's House of Delegates last week approved a resolution that praised the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for “its efforts to prevent incidence of new cases of opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose deaths,” but also urged the AMA to argue against putting blanket limits on the amount and dosage of opioids that physicians can prescribe. “This is a recognition that there are many patients we deal with d aily who are outside the norms proffered by the CDC guidelines,” said Bob Wailes, M.D., of Rancho Santa Fe, California, an AMA delegate for the American Academy of Pain Medicine. “The gist of this proposal is that the CDC guidelines have gone way too far and have been used as strict legislative and pharmacy benefit limitations…. We need to recognize by policy that there are patients who fall outside the guidelines.” Frank Dowling, M.D., a delegate for the Medical Society of the State of New York, said “the AMA Opioid Task Force has discussed these issues extensively,” adding “We' re getting feedback from physicians around the state … with physicians being punished, prescriptions not being filled, and patients left without medications.” Delegates also passed a provision affirming that some patients benefit from taking higher doses than suggested by the CDC guidelines. “ As family physicians, we stro...
Source: Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly - Category: Addiction Tags: Briefly Noted Source Type: research