| Podcast
The prescription drug problem in America has led to many guidelines and, in some cases, regulations aimed at stemming the tide of prescription drug abuse. Some are evidence based, but most are driven by fear and an overwhelming need to do "something." Unfortunately, while these guidelines have...
| Podcast
The science of drug testing in chronic pain has advanced rapidly over the past few years. Yet there is still confusion around optimal test choices, frequencies, and what test results actually provide. Today's definitive drug testing technology can help to identify more than the simple "presence or...
| Podcast
Management of acute pain following surgery or trauma requiring opioid treatment can be particularly challenging in patients with substance use disorders. This session will explore ways to optimize analgesic care, keep patients safe, and promote behavioral consequences that are just and equitable in...
| Podcast
Opioid emergencies have risen with the increase in prescribing of opioids. It is imperative that prescribers of opioids know when to coprescribe naloxone therapy to their patients. It goes beyond the patient suspected of misuse and abuse. This presentation will focus on the patients you might not...
| Podcast
The United States is in the midst of a prescription drug crisis. Each year, over 100 million surgical procedures are performed in the US and routinely opioid use is prescribed for postoperative pain. While the recent CDC guidelines are geared towards outpatient chronic pain management, few concerns...
| Podcast
Although opioids remain an important tool in aiding the management of pain in the United States, the balance between the potential benefits and harms must be considered. Some specific harms are manifested in the abuse of opioids for nonmedical purposes. The primary access to prescribable opioids for...
| Article
Certainly the idea of making an opioid safer is very desirable, and the current approach has been to address certain components of the way that these drugs are abused. Most of the products we have currently are focused at abuse through nasal snorting or through injection. We have technologies that...
| Article
About 10 years ago I wrote a paper with Ken Kirsh and Howard Heit about how every stakeholder from the clinician to the patient, to the media, to law enforcement, regulators, could all work together to improve the state of affairs in pain management and the fate of people with pain. It was Ken Kirsh...
| Video
UDT is the preferred tool in patient centered care, and is increasingly important in risk management. Heit and Gourlay discuss how it can offer clinicians insight into patient identification, treatment, and monitoring, and provide objective data for risk evaluation.
| Article
Number 1, you’re doing a urine test for the patient, not to the patient. It’s to increase communication, not decrease communication. You have to know what question you’re trying to answer with a urine drug test.The test is an important tool but it’s just a tool and you have to know its strength and...