Release Date: November 2011
Expiration Date: October 31, 2013

Sponsored by Dannemiller


Supported by an educational grant from Purdue Pharma, L.P.

Faculty

Dr. Paul J. Christo, MD, MBA
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Dr. Steven D. Passik, PhD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Statement of Need

Primary care physicians are skilled at managing comorbidities in their patients, yet they face a dilemma when it comes to managing chronic pain because the pharmacologic treatment of choice, opioid analgesics, are controlled drugs. Given the privileged nature of their relationship with patients, primary care physicians should feel secure in providing appropriate analgesia for patients with chronic pain. Concerns regarding potential abuse should not impede appropriate medical use of opioids. Many physicians reduce the risks of opioid prescribing, including the risk to licensure, by simply not treating patients in pain, or by denying them controlled substances. This is understandable yet lamentable conduct considering the widespread under-treatment of pain. A well-informed primary care provider who is familiar with the causes of and contributing factors that influence pain can provide helpful medicines and prescribe other appropriate treatments. Pain care by the primary provider can improve the lives of a majority of chronic pain sufferers and reduce the economic burden to society.

Intended Audience

Primary Care Providers to include Family Physicians, Registered Nurses, Physicians Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists and other health care providers that practice pain management.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, the participant should be able to:

• Distinguish the statistics regarding legitimate opioid prescription abuse from what physicians report as their belief.
• Discuss how to properly educate patients to avoid unintended diversion of their prescription medication (opioids) including physicians as patients to practice these standards within their own homes.
• Discuss implementing plans to manage the patient throughout their course of treatment.
• Recognize opioid aberrant behaviors, attempted diversion, and impact of patient history on patient selection.
• Differentiate between addiction, abuse, misuse, and increased tolerance.

Accreditation Statement

Dannemiller is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physicians

Dannemiller designates this enduring educational activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Registered Nurses

Dannemiller is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 4229 for 2.4 contact hours.

RNs outside California must verify with their licensing agency for approval of this course.

Nurse Practitioners

Dannemiller is approved as a provider of nurse practitioner continuing education by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. AANP Provider Number 090419. This program was planned in accordance with AANP CE Standards and Policies and AANP commercial Support Standards. It provides 2.0 contact hour of continuing education, which includes 0.0 hours of pharmacology.

Physician Assistant

AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for category 1 credit from AOACCME, Prescribed credit from AAFP, and AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the the ACCME. Physician Assistants may receive a maximum of 2 Category 1 credits for completing this program.

Method of participation

This activity should take approximately two hours to complete. Participants should first read the objectives and other introductory CME information, then proceed to the educational offering. If CME is desired, participants can then access the registration form and post-test. To receive credit for this activity, follow the instructions provided on the post-test. This credit is valid through October 31, 2013. No credit will be given after this date. There is no certificate fee associated with this CME activity.

In the event you are unable to print the certificate, please e-mail armandoc@dannemiller.com and a certificate will be emailed within 2 weeks.

System requirements

• Computer or smart phone with internet access
• Adobe Flash Player
• Web Browser (IE 7.0+ or Webkit/Mozilla Compatible) with JavaScript enabled

Disclosures

In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Dannemiller requires that any person who is in a position to control the content of a CME activity must disclose all relevant financial relationships they have with a commercial interest.

The Dannemiller staff and all others involved in the development of this activity have no relationships with commercial interests.

Dr. Christo has stated he has received grant/research support from Medtronic and serves as a consultant for Archimedes Pharma, Springer Science & Ameritox.

Dr. Passik has stated that he is a speaker/consultant for Cephalon, Pricara, Ameritox & Millenium.  He is also a consultant for Purdue, Pharmacofore & Covidien.

To resolve identified conflicts of interest, the educational content was fully reviewed by a physician member of the Dannemiller Clinical Content Review Committee who has nothing to disclose. The resulting certified activity was found to provide educational content that is current, evidence based and commercially balanced.

Off-label statement

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by FDA. The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings. Further, participants should appraise the information presented critically and are encouraged to consult appropriate resources for any product or device mentioned in this program.

Disclaimer

The contents and views presented in this educational activity are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Dannemiller. This material is prepared based upon a review of multiple sources of information, but it is not exhaustive of the subject matter. Therefore, healthcare professionals and other individuals should review and consider other publications and materials on the subject matter before relying solely upon the information contained within this educational activity.

For questions regarding the content of this activity and technical assistance, contact Dannemiller, accredited provider for this CME activity, at editor@dannemiller.com.