Drug overdose deaths decline–interview with Bobby Mukkamala, MD
Categories:
Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
AMA President-elect speaks on the nation’s overdose epidemic. A video of this interview can be found here. Unger: Hello and welcome to the AMA Update video and podcast. On the heels of National[…]
Texas Medical Board Rewrites Rule to Improve Chronic Pain Care for Texas Patients
(reprinted with permission from Texas Medicine Today) The Texas Medical Board (TMB) recently revised one of its rules in a way that makes it easier for physician practices to provide more[…]
Helping children and families, patients with pain
“When children have pain, it needs to be treated,” said Rita Agarwal, MD, in a recent AMA Advocacy Insights webinar on the stigma facing patients with pain, including young children. The panel[…]
Putting the ‘Multi’ in Multimodal Care for Patients with Pain
While many people talk about the mind-body connection as part of optimal care for patients with pain, Arizona physician Whitney James, MD, has gone a step further, developing her own program to make[…]
Addiction medicine advocacy starts with addiction medicine physicians
One of the best ways to help patients with a substance use disorder is to become active in state politics, said multiple physicians at the recent American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) State[…]
Breaking through the applications barrier for addiction medicine
Nearly 500 physicians across 46 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have used a Michigan-based program to help become board certified in addiction medicine, and its architects hope to[…]
Ending the stigma of opioid use disorder in the Emergency Department
Don Stader, MD was working a shift in the emergency department (ED) in Denver, Colorado, in 2015 when he came face to face with his own stigma about opioid use disorder (OUD). A limp woman pulled from[…]
Embracing harm reduction in the emergency department
“We keep a stock of naloxone for anyone who wants it,” said Aneesh Narang, MD, explaining the importance of making sure those who overdose on opioids have immediate access to the life-saving antidote[…]
How raising her hand is strengthening our country’s addiction medicine workforce
‘You can’t train medical students in addiction if you don’t have trained faculty’ Board-certified Addiction Medicine Physician Cara Poland, MD, MEd, FACP, DFASAM wanted the State of Michigan to train[…]
Broad harm reduction efforts needed to save lives from overdose
Broad harm reduction efforts needed to save lives from overdose Nearly 88,000 Americans died from a drug-related overdose from September 2019 through September 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for[…]
When arbitrary policies and patient care collide
The news came through when Dr. Aaron Newcomb was on vacation. A few patients called the office to say that the local pharmacy denied prescriptions for pain, anxiety and opioid use disorder (OUD). One[…]
How one Nebraska addiction psychiatrist tirelessly advocates for her patients
When Alena Balasanova, MD, started the addiction psychiatry consultation-liaison service at the University of Nebraska Medical Center with a colleague two years ago, even she didn’t realize how much[…]
Action needed to help justice-involved individuals who have a substance use disorder
There is no legal, medical or policy reason to deny access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) for justice-involved persons, according to leading medical, legal and health policy experts[…]
Removing stigma: How advocacy, education and research enhances access to evidence-based care
To make an impact in patients’ lives, you have to lend your voice to advocacy efforts, said Linda Wang, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who says[…]
Emphasizing medical student and physician mental health in the curricula
If there’s one takeaway pearl that Ruchi Fitzgerald, MD, hopes her students and residents will receive during their rotations, it is that treatment saves lives for those with a substance use disorder[…]
Texas FQHC develops integrative model to help patients with pain
It started with stabbing back pain, and then Fred Blackman’s legs gave way as he was showering before work. He was rushed to the hospital, and after nine months and multiple surgeries, Blackman left[…]