In November, ASA Ad Hoc Committee on Prescription Opioid Abuse Co-chair Anita Gupta, D.O., Pharm.D., advised consumers to speak with their doctors and pharmacists about local and federal initiatives to help keep the price of prescription medication reasonable in The Huffington Post. Additionally, several ASA members, including Robert Stoelting, M.D., were quoted in an investigative segment on ABC-TV in Cleveland titled “Dead in bed: A deadly hospital secret.” The segment examined the incidence of respiratory depression caused by opioids used to manage pain following surgery. Daniel Carr, M.D., appeared on CBS-TV in Portland, Maine discussing a new state law that limits the amount of opioids doctors can prescribe and requires participation in a prescription drug monitoring program.
In December, ASA Committee on Pain Medicine Chair Asokumar Buvanendran, M.D., discussed how a multimodal approach can improve pain management while reducing risk of opioid dependence in Becker’s ASC Review. Oscar de...