By Rich Lord
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Originally posted June 8, 2016
Pennsylvania’s top physician said today that legislation compelling most doctors to take refresher courses in proper narcotic prescribing won’t overburden her colleagues in medicine -- and could help to counter the opioid and heroin epidemic.
“The bill that’s being discussed would be requirements for two hours of opioid education,” said Physician General Rachel Levine. “But it would also count toward [every doctor’s] quality and safety [education] requirement.”
Some doctors have said they don’t want to be told which continuing education courses to take. “But I think that there are sometimes topics that are so necessary to get updated on that all physicians should get updated,” Dr. Levine said. Opioid prescribing is one such topic, she said, “because of the very serious nature of the epidemic.”
The article is here.
Showing posts with label Painkillers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Painkillers. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2016
When regulators close a 'pill mill,' patients sometimes turn to heroin
By Rich Lord
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Originally published May 25, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
In late 2013, Maryland launched its prescription drug monitoring program, allowing — but not requiring — doctors to access a database to see the drug histories of their patients. Nearly every state has such a system, designed to thwart people who seek drugs from multiple doctors. Some state medical boards use the data to flag physicians whose prescribing goes out of bounds.
Maryland’s board, though, can’t tap into the data “without going through major legal hoops,” Dr. Singh said. Physician groups, he said, have opposed efforts to ease access, because they fear “over-policing.”
Maryland has not adopted official opioid prescribing guidelines, as some states have.
The article is here.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Originally published May 25, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
In late 2013, Maryland launched its prescription drug monitoring program, allowing — but not requiring — doctors to access a database to see the drug histories of their patients. Nearly every state has such a system, designed to thwart people who seek drugs from multiple doctors. Some state medical boards use the data to flag physicians whose prescribing goes out of bounds.
Maryland’s board, though, can’t tap into the data “without going through major legal hoops,” Dr. Singh said. Physician groups, he said, have opposed efforts to ease access, because they fear “over-policing.”
Maryland has not adopted official opioid prescribing guidelines, as some states have.
The article is here.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
FDA Reconsiders Training Requirement for Painkillers
BY Matthew Perrone
AP HEALTH WRITER
Originally published April 29, 2016
The Food and Drug Administration is reconsidering whether doctors who prescribe painkillers like OxyContin should be required to take safety training courses, according to federal documents.
The review comes as regulators disclosed that the number of doctors who completed voluntary training programs is less than half that targeted by the agency.
A panel of FDA advisers meets next week to review risk-management plans put in place nearly four years ago to reduce misuse and abuse of long-acting painkillers, powerful opioid drugs at the center of a national wave of abuse and death.
The article is here.
AP HEALTH WRITER
Originally published April 29, 2016
The Food and Drug Administration is reconsidering whether doctors who prescribe painkillers like OxyContin should be required to take safety training courses, according to federal documents.
The review comes as regulators disclosed that the number of doctors who completed voluntary training programs is less than half that targeted by the agency.
A panel of FDA advisers meets next week to review risk-management plans put in place nearly four years ago to reduce misuse and abuse of long-acting painkillers, powerful opioid drugs at the center of a national wave of abuse and death.
The article is here.
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