Jamie Barrand | Oct 26, 2015

AMA applauds efforts to quell opioid abuse

American Medical Association (AMA) officials said Wednesday that are applauding the efforts of President Barack Obama to quell opioid abuse.

“We are extremely pleased that President Obama is undertaking initiatives to halt the nation's opioid crisis," AMA Chair-elect Patrice Harris said. “The AMA recognizes the severity of this public health epidemic and is fully committed to being an active partner in implementing solutions to combat it."

AMA officials hope the organization's partnership with Washington lawmakers will increase physician registration and use of prescription drug monitoring programs, enhance education and training for physicians in safe prescribing practices, increase access to naloxone to reduce deaths from overdose along with strong Good Samaritan protections and improve patient access to treatment for substance use disorder by increasing the number of physicians who are certified to provide medication assisted treatment with buprenorphine.

“We commend the administration for addressing the concerns that physicians have raised about how pain management is evaluated in patient satisfaction surveys and the impact of these surveys on the environment facing physicians as they evaluate options for treating their patients’ pain," Harris said. “We recognize that multiple strategies must be successfully implemented to turn the tide. Strong leadership and swift action from our nation’s physicians is imperative. This continues to be the driving force behind the work being done by our recently convened AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse to identify the best practices to combat this public health crisis and move quickly to implement these practices across the country."

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