American Academy of Pain Medicine 2017 Meeting: Focusing on Pain as a Public Health Issue

The meeting theme this year, Pain as a Public Health Issue, emphasizes the extent to which pain affects the US population, with more than 100 million Americans suffering from pain.

Over the next several days, Pharmacy Times will bring you live coverage from the 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), taking place from March 15-19, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.

The meeting theme this year, Pain as a Public Health Issue, emphasizes the extent to which pain affects the US population, with more than 100 million Americans suffering from pain, and the pressing need for physicians and pharmacists to address this major public health burden through evidence-based treatments and practices.

“From a pharmacologic standpoint, medication management needs to move away from an emphasis on opioid analgesics and in the direction of helping clinicians better understand their critical role in helping patients with chronic pain manage pain-related depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders,” preconference co-chair, W. Michael Hooten, MD said in a press release about the meeting.

Scheduled presentations include an overview of opioid pharmacology; the management of commonly occurring opioid-related adverse effects, including opioid-induced constipation and hyperalgesia; and the epidemiology of prescription opioid misuse and addiction. A discussion will also take place on SAFE opioid prescribing practices, specifically, risk evaluation and mitigation strategies for long-acting opioid analgesics.

On Friday morning, March 17, 8:15-9:15 am, the General Session will feature opening remarks by AAPM President, Daniel B. Carr, MD, and the AAPM 33rd Annual Meeting Keynote Address by Rachel L. Levine, MD. Dr. Levine is Pennsylvania’s Physician General and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. Dr. Levine’s Keynote Address, titled “The Prescription Opioid and Heroin Crisis: A Public Health Response,” will explain the perfect storm of factors that led to the current opioiod crisis and describe Pennsylvania’s public health response, to which Dr. Levine has been integral.

Check back here for live coverage.