WASHINGTON – Today the Alliance for Balanced Pain Management made the following statement about FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s announcement establishing an Opioid Policy Steering Committee.
STATEMENT FROM BRIAN KENNEDY, ALLIANCE FOR BALANCED PAIN MANAGEMENT STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER:
“A one-size-fits-all pain care model has helped lead to the opioid addiction crisis our country faces. Often, patients dealing with pain are prescribed opioids because other modalities of pain care like physical therapy or cognitive therapy are not covered by insurance.
Access to integrated pain care that provides non-opioid options for treating chronic and acute pain gives patients more options to treat their pain while reducing the amount of opioids prescribed and the risk for addiction to occur. Additionally, access to abuse deterrent opioid formulations can offer relief to patients while reducing the risk of misuse, abuse and diversion.
“We support the steering committee’s plan to collect public comment and ask them to listen to all stakeholders – from physicians, patients, drug makers, law enforcement, and others.
We hope the Opioid Policy Steering Committee will not only focus on prevention and curbing abuse, which is very important, but also on access to a more balanced pain management approach and subsequent public health policies that can lead to more relief for pain patients while helping to curb the abuse of opioids.”
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The Alliance for Balanced Pain Management is a group of organizations and individuals who share a common goal to reduce pain, reduce medicine abuse and improve care. This can be accomplished through multi-pronged approaches that address the physical, emotional, and social components of pain. By addressing all of these components, most pain can be safely managed. When medications are required, management of pain must ensure that medications are prescribed, dispensed, taken, stored and disposed of responsibly.
