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More BS...I wonder what agency will collect the obligatory "course fee for this BS"
Administration Wants to Tighter Painkiller Rules
NYT
By BARRY MEIER and ABBY GOODNOUGH
The Obama administration said Tuesday that it would seek legislation requiring doctors to undergo mandatory training before being permitted to prescribe powerful painkillers like OxyContin, marking the most aggressive step taken by federal officials to control both the use and abuse of the drugs.
In the last decade, the abuse of pain medications like OxyContin has remained at epidemic levels, as medical experts have expressed concern that the legitimate use of the drugs may also pose patient risks. For years, the question of whether doctors should be trained as a condition of prescribing such medications has been fiercely debated.
Proponents of the training argue that it would not only help doctors better identify patients who would benefit from treatment with long-acting narcotics, but would help them discover patients feigning pain to get drugs they then abuse. Opponents say that such a training requirement will reduce the number of doctors prescribing pain drugs and harm patient care.
Such a measure would likely entail Congressional approval of an amendment to the Controlled Substances Act to require that doctors undergo training as a condition of the renewal of licenses issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration for the prescription of narcotics. The law now gives the D.E.A. the authority to approve prescription licenses if a doctor merely shows an active license to practice medicine. Federal officials announced the legislative initiative on Tuesday along with outlining other measures they hope will reduce prescription drug abuse.
The White House is absolutely committed to legislation that will make prescriber education mandatory, R. Gil Kerlikowske, President Obamas top drug policy adviser, said in an interview Tuesday. Of all the things were proposing, this is certainly the one thats got a real bright light behind it.
Mr. Kerlikowske said his office had already approached several lawmakers about the legislation and intended to help craft it. He acknowledged that it was unclear when a bill would be submitted but said he hoped supporters in Congress would do so by years end.
Any proposal is likely to be fought by drug makers, some doctors and patients groups who have argued that any doctor training should be voluntary, not mandatory. In addition, proposed legislation would likely encounter opposition among some lawmakers who have already mounted campaigns against what they consider the over-regulation of the health care industry.
Among the drugs that would most probably fall under a stricter licensing measure are as OxyContin, fentanyl and methadone. They are considered critical to pain treatment. But they also have been associated in recent years with a national epidemic of prescription drug abuse and addiction, as well as thousands of overdose-related deaths. OxyContin is the brand name for a long-acting form of the drug oxycodone.
The administrations move follows the overwhelming rejection last year by a panel of experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration to review its proposal that physician training be voluntary. Those experts argued that mandatory training was needed.
The F.D.A. has long argued that only Congress has the authority to mandate physician training as a condition of prescribing narcotics, because the legal distribution of the drugs is regulated by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and the licensing of doctors to prescribe them is overseen by the D.E.A., not the F.D.A.
In a related development, the F.D.A. released new regulations Tuesday that would require manufacturers of long-acting or extended release painkillers to provide training to doctors but not require doctors to take such courses, similar to the one rejected as too weak in last years debate. Dr. Janet Woodcock, who heads the F.D.A.s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, indicated that the new agency rules were effectively a placeholder until legislation is passed or to be used if a relevant bill failed.
In response to a reporters question, she said that officials of the F.D.A., the D.E.A. and other federal agencies agreed on the requirement for mandatory training. Mr. Kerlikowske, the White House drug czar, said he had sought input from doctors, medical schools and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, which he said would pay for the training. The training would focus on opioid painkillers like OxyContin because they were the most widely abused and dangerous class of drugs prescribed by doctors, he said.
Thats where, right now, the impetus and the public concern is, he said. You dont want to be accused of overreaching.
About 600,000 doctors, dentists and physician assistants are licensed by the D.E.A. to prescribe controlled substances, according to Mr. Kerlikowskes office.
They dont get a lot of information in their training about pain management, about addiction, about tolerance and dependence, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/health/20painkiller.html?_r=1
Administration Wants to Tighter Painkiller Rules
NYT
By BARRY MEIER and ABBY GOODNOUGH
The Obama administration said Tuesday that it would seek legislation requiring doctors to undergo mandatory training before being permitted to prescribe powerful painkillers like OxyContin, marking the most aggressive step taken by federal officials to control both the use and abuse of the drugs.
In the last decade, the abuse of pain medications like OxyContin has remained at epidemic levels, as medical experts have expressed concern that the legitimate use of the drugs may also pose patient risks. For years, the question of whether doctors should be trained as a condition of prescribing such medications has been fiercely debated.
Proponents of the training argue that it would not only help doctors better identify patients who would benefit from treatment with long-acting narcotics, but would help them discover patients feigning pain to get drugs they then abuse. Opponents say that such a training requirement will reduce the number of doctors prescribing pain drugs and harm patient care.
Such a measure would likely entail Congressional approval of an amendment to the Controlled Substances Act to require that doctors undergo training as a condition of the renewal of licenses issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration for the prescription of narcotics. The law now gives the D.E.A. the authority to approve prescription licenses if a doctor merely shows an active license to practice medicine. Federal officials announced the legislative initiative on Tuesday along with outlining other measures they hope will reduce prescription drug abuse.
The White House is absolutely committed to legislation that will make prescriber education mandatory, R. Gil Kerlikowske, President Obamas top drug policy adviser, said in an interview Tuesday. Of all the things were proposing, this is certainly the one thats got a real bright light behind it.
Mr. Kerlikowske said his office had already approached several lawmakers about the legislation and intended to help craft it. He acknowledged that it was unclear when a bill would be submitted but said he hoped supporters in Congress would do so by years end.
Any proposal is likely to be fought by drug makers, some doctors and patients groups who have argued that any doctor training should be voluntary, not mandatory. In addition, proposed legislation would likely encounter opposition among some lawmakers who have already mounted campaigns against what they consider the over-regulation of the health care industry.
Among the drugs that would most probably fall under a stricter licensing measure are as OxyContin, fentanyl and methadone. They are considered critical to pain treatment. But they also have been associated in recent years with a national epidemic of prescription drug abuse and addiction, as well as thousands of overdose-related deaths. OxyContin is the brand name for a long-acting form of the drug oxycodone.
The administrations move follows the overwhelming rejection last year by a panel of experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration to review its proposal that physician training be voluntary. Those experts argued that mandatory training was needed.
The F.D.A. has long argued that only Congress has the authority to mandate physician training as a condition of prescribing narcotics, because the legal distribution of the drugs is regulated by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and the licensing of doctors to prescribe them is overseen by the D.E.A., not the F.D.A.
In a related development, the F.D.A. released new regulations Tuesday that would require manufacturers of long-acting or extended release painkillers to provide training to doctors but not require doctors to take such courses, similar to the one rejected as too weak in last years debate. Dr. Janet Woodcock, who heads the F.D.A.s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, indicated that the new agency rules were effectively a placeholder until legislation is passed or to be used if a relevant bill failed.
In response to a reporters question, she said that officials of the F.D.A., the D.E.A. and other federal agencies agreed on the requirement for mandatory training. Mr. Kerlikowske, the White House drug czar, said he had sought input from doctors, medical schools and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, which he said would pay for the training. The training would focus on opioid painkillers like OxyContin because they were the most widely abused and dangerous class of drugs prescribed by doctors, he said.
Thats where, right now, the impetus and the public concern is, he said. You dont want to be accused of overreaching.
About 600,000 doctors, dentists and physician assistants are licensed by the D.E.A. to prescribe controlled substances, according to Mr. Kerlikowskes office.
They dont get a lot of information in their training about pain management, about addiction, about tolerance and dependence, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/health/20painkiller.html?_r=1
Will the training help us treat that same patient's allergies to Toradol, Aspirin, Tylenol, Darvon, Codeine, Naprosyn, Ibuprofen, Codeine, Morphine, Meperidine, and Hydrocodone?
