ASPI E-Newsletter

The ASPI E-Newsletter is an e-mail update on pain related issues and events and the activities of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives. To receive the ASPI E-Newsletter, please email Sarah Mroz at scmroz@wisc.edu
Click here for past E-Newsletters.

July 2009 E-Newsletter

Recommendations to FDA on Acetaminophen

ASPI Staff Changes- Welcome Sarah Mroz!

Training Course for PRN Program Coordinators

Registration Open for ASPI 20th Annual Meeting

CME Accredited Version of Responsible Opioid Prescribing Now Available

Recommendations to FDA on Acetaminophen

A panel of three FDA advisory committees met on June 29th and 30th to consider ways to reduce the adverse effects, including death, that can result from improper use of acetaminophen. The panel issued several recommendations, including eliminating prescription acetaminophen combination products and making the current maximum dosage of acetaminophen available only by prescription. While the FDA is not required to accept the panel’s recommendations, it usually takes them very seriously. These recommendations have major implications for persons with pain and those who provide their care, so it is critical that the FDA receive comments from the pain community. The agency will accept public comments on the issue until Wednesday, September 30, 2009. The ASPI urges you to weigh in on this important matter!

Click here to find out more detailed information about the meeting and the recommendations made by the panel. Click here to read the voting results of the questions the panel considered.

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ASPI Staff Changes - Welcome Sarah Mroz!

The ASPI National Office is extremely excited to introduce you to our new Outreach & Conference Coordinator, Sarah Mroz. Sarah comes to us with a background in management and event coordination, having worked for several years as Staffing Director with an event design and production company and most recently as Project Manager with a consulting firm specializing in public health projects. She also has experience working as a caregiver for a family member with leukemia, which provides her with understanding and enthusiasm for the important pain management work of the ASPI. Sarah is replacing Ronna Popkin, who is moving to New York City to pursue a PhD in Public Health at Columbia University. Ronna’s last day in the office is Friday, July 31st.

Sarah will be your new point of contact for any questions relating to the ASPI Annual Meeting, E-Newsletter, website, webinars, conference calls, and State Pain Initiative organizing and development. All of us in the National Office are absolutely thrilled to have Sarah on board, and we hope you will extend her a warm welcome into the State Pain Initiative Network! You can contact Sarah by email at scmroz@wisc.edu or by phone (beginning August 3rd) at 608-265-2760.

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Training Course for PRN Program Coordinators

The Resource Center of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives and the Wisconsin Pain Initiative are pleased to announce a unique opportunity to apply to attend the Training Course for Pain Resource Nurse (PRN) Program Coordinators. PRN programs are designed to prepare staff nurses to act as role models and resources for the day-to-day care of patients in pain. We invite you or a nursing leader from your organization to consider applying to attend the trainers’ course November 13-14, 2009 in Chicago, IL. Please apply early as the program will be limited to 50 participants (one per institution unless space permits). Click here for full details and application information.

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Registration Open for ASPI 20th Annual Meeting

Registration is now open for the 20th Annual Meeting of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives, “Bridging the Gaps in Pain Care.” This conference is a jointly sponsored continuing medical education activity being held October 23-25, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in San Francisco, California. We hope many of you will join us in California! For more information about the ASPI 20th Annual Meeting and to register, please visit the ASPI website or email Sarah Mroz.

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CME Accredited Version of Responsible Opiod Prescribing Now Available

A CME accredited version of Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physician’s Guide is now available. The activity, which is jointly sponsored by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives (ASPI), and the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), offers participants up to 7.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for reading the book and successfully completing an online post-test on the material. Responsible Opioid Prescribing offers physicians effective strategies for reducing the risks of opioid addiction, abuse, and diversion. Written by pain medicine specialist Scott M. Fishman, M.D., chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at the University of California, Davis, the book translates FSMB’s consensus model policy on pain management into practical, office-based pain management guidelines.

Click here for more information on Responsible Opioid Prescribing, including accreditation information, where to purchase the book, and how to register for the online CME post-test.

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The Alliance of State Pain Initiatives and the University of Wisconsin-Madison do not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process described in the E-Newsletter, and the reference to any of these resources does not imply endorsement.

Contact Us: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Rm 4720 1300 University Ave Madison, WI 53706 Phone: (608) 265-4013 Fax: (608) 265-4014 aspi@mailplus.wisc.edu