Physicians demonstrate leadership everyday to help their patients with a substance use disorder–or chronic pain. Learn more.
‘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 a future generation of physicians to treat substance use disorders, but first, she
Read more >March 3, 2023
(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 comprehensive pain management. The rule change came about in part because of widespread concerns that patients who cannot access effective treatment for chronic pain […]
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May 3, 2022
“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, moderated by Bobby Mukkamala, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees and Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force, also addressed the consequences […]
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March 28, 2022
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 that the guiding principle in how she treats patients. In her own words, Dr. James discusses her practice philosophy and how she […]
Read more >January 14, 2022
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 Advocacy Summit. The summit brought together a wide spectrum of clinical experiences and practices to provide practical tips and examples of how […]
Read more >December 16, 2021
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 expand to all 50 states. The program, MI CARES, was launched in 2018 and helps physicians meet eligibility requirements for certification in addiction […]
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October 22, 2021
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 a car with a suspected heroin overdose. She was close to death before being administered naloxone. When she […]
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October 9, 2021
“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, naloxone. “While prescribing naloxone is important, getting it directly into the hands of people at risk of overdose makes it more likely […]
Read more >June 1, 2021
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 Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were involved in more than 52,000 of those deaths. That represents a more than […]
Read more >May 26, 2021
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 was a long-term female patient covered by Medicare who Dr. Newcomb had been treating for a few years for chronic pain […]
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May 19, 2021
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 it would become part of the culture of her hospital. From developing protocols and processes for patients with substance use disorders getting surgery to routine consults […]
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May 4, 2021
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 speaking on recent webinar from the AMA and Manatt Health. The webinar is part of a year-long series to showcase specific policy recommendations in action […]
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March 3, 2021
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 that her work in social justice plays a critical role as a medical educator and physician who treats patients with […]
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February 1, 2021
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 (SUD), depression, anxiety or other stigma-laden condition – including within the medical profession. “Paradoxically, the general public probably has an easier time accepting […]
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January 29, 2021
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 the hospital depressed, and needing help learning how to walk again and to quit slurring his words. To make things more […]
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December 11, 2020
If people can’t access treatment for a substance use disorder close to where they live, they might not get any treatment, said Justine Welsh, MD, a child and adolescent and addiction psychiatrist and Director of the Emory Healthcare Addiction Services. Having evidence-based care for substance use disorders throughout Georgia is just one goal of a […]
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December 2, 2020
Patients are more comfortable talking to primary care physicians about their mental health in general and especially when we have resources available to support their mental health needs, said Matthew Press, MD, and Cecilia Livesey, MD – two of the architects of Penn Integrated Care at Penn Medicine, a program based on a validated model […]
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August 13, 2020
District of Columbia physician Edwin Chapman, MD, understands that “innovation” is not a buzz word only conjuring up advancements such as stem cell research or cancer-curing treatments, but they also include using telephones and video to help vulnerable patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent months the use and coverage of telehealth, once thought of […]
Read more >August 3, 2020
The newly released AMA Opioid Task Force report shows a dramatic increase in fatalities involving illicit opioids, stimulants (e.g., methamphetamine), heroin and cocaine and a similarly dramatic drop in the use of prescription opioids. Illicit drugs are now the dominant reason why drug overdoses kill more than 70,000 people each year, according to the U.S. […]
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June 26, 2020
West Virginia has suffered greatly as a result of the nation’s opioid-related overdose and death epidemic, but one West Virginia pain management clinic is embracing a “whole person” approach to help ensure patients receive optimal, individualized care. While pain care is often fragmented for the patient due to numerous barriers and inconsistent care protocols, we […]
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May 4, 2020
Homelessness, incarceration and opioid use disorder present unique challenges for the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic, write three public health physicians in the April 21, 2020 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. As policymakers continue to work, “[p]lanning should incorporate dedicated efforts, funding, and policies/guidelines specific to individuals who experience homelessness, are incarcerated, or are coping […]
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April 28, 2020
For patients who are bed-ridden or in the final days of their life, it may be next to impossible for a hospice and palliative care physician to conduct an in-person evaluation to satisfy state and federal rules for prescribing controlled substances. While the authors of a new commentary in Health Affairs acknowledge that the U.S. […]
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October 30, 2019
The way patients in the Transgender Surgery Center are cared for at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City has led to some innovative revelations to help end the nation’s opioid epidemic. “Gender affirmation surgery is a significant and invasive surgery and the last thing we want is to treat the gender dysphoria but […]
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October 22, 2019
Aakash Shah, MD’s journey to become an emergency medicine physician started with a report card in a brown paper envelope. “My parents arrived in the United States with only $20 in their pockets and the name of a family friend they had never met,” said Dr. Shah. “They wanted me to have a better future, […]
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October 2, 2019
When Alena Balasanova, MD, began her psychiatry residency at Boston University, she encountered patients with SUD the way all too many people do—with judgment: “I wanted to treat patients with depression and anxiety—I didn’t sign up to treat people with a drug addiction, I held some very stigmatizing beliefs.” Over the course of her residency, […]
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October 2, 2019
“There was no reason for the delay,” said Dr. Gallagher. “She simply wanted to get into a methadone clinic as quickly as possible for herself and her baby.” Once he and his staff finally got through to someone who could approve a prior-authorization request, it took only a few minutes, and Dr. Gallagher could then […]
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September 16, 2019
Even though maternal and fetal medicine fellow Tani Malhotra, MD, knows that the stigma of substance use disorder runs deep, she knows that it’s her professional responsibility to not only have difficult conversations with her patients—but also to speak up for her patients to policymakers. “Many of my patients feel like their medical disease is […]
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August 26, 2019
Access to treatment for opioid use disorder remains a challenge for most Americans, but there are programs in Chicago and Denver where pilot programs are showing success. Steven Aks, DO, in Chicago, and Jason Hoppe, DO, in Colorado are reaching past their traditional roles of emergency care to establish warm-handoff programs for patients with an […]
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June 5, 2019
When James Baker, MD’s, son Max died, the local headlines read: “Son of a doctor who couldn’t find help.” Max Baker had struggled with heroin addiction since he was 17—going in and out of treatment with periods of recovery. He and his family had struggled over the years to find the right treatment program for […]
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June 4, 2019
A patient on long-term opioid therapy for the treatment of back pain was successfully tapered off all opioids after Illinois anesthesiologist David Walega, MD, implanted a temporary spinal cord stimulator (SCS) during a 10-day trial period. Objectively she was able to increase her quality time with her young children and husband, she was able to […]
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June 3, 2019
After seven years in private practice, Rachel Franklin, MD, returned to where she finished her residency in family medicine and saw a need to improve the way the family medicine center treated its pain patients. She started from the ground up. Taking on the role of medical director at the University of Oklahoma College of […]
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June 1, 2019
As a resident at Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York City, Kurt Bravata, MD frequently treated drug and alcohol-addicted patients and thought he understood the harsh realities these patients faced. Then he moved to a small town in rural Missouri. “The area code for Bolivar, MO, where I practice is 417, which is also the […]
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June 1, 2019
The AMA Opioid Task Force strongly supports removing barriers that stand between patients and MAT for opioid-use disorder (OUD). Prior authorization for MAT has potentially dangerous consequences for patients who are forced to delay care or are denied treatment because of administrative barriers. Yngvild Olsen, MD, MPH, who is a member of the Maryland State Medical Society […]
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