January 2022
• NPAC met with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Atlanta on issues related to chronic pain.
• NPAC met with the Colorado Health Institute on its representation of statistics on opioids (prescribed vs. illicit).
NPAC met with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Atlanta on issues related to chronic pain.
NPAC met with the Colorado Health Institute on its representation of statistics on opioids (prescribed vs. illicit).
December 2021
• NPAC an amicus curiae brief in the US Supreme Court cases, Ruan v. US and Kahn v. US, on the proper standard for holding prescribers liable under the Controlled Substances Act. We focused on the “chilling effect” on pain care and risks to patient safety of incorrect and inconsistent standards.
• NPAC presented at the National Academy of Medicine’s Telehealth & Virtual Care Meeting.
• NPAC hosted meetings on Capitol Hill, including with the Senate HELP and House Energy and Commerce Committees, to address concerns regarding pain care.
NPAC an amicus curiae brief in the US Supreme Court cases, Ruan v. US and Kahn v. US, on the proper standard for holding prescribers liable under the Controlled Substances Act. We focused on the “chilling effect” on pain care and risks to patient safety of incorrect and inconsistent standards.
NPAC presented at the National Academy of Medicine’s Telehealth & Virtual Care Meeting.
NPAC hosted meetings on Capitol Hill, including with the Senate HELP and House Energy and Commerce Committees, to address concerns regarding pain care.
November 2021
• Presented about the organization and its mission at the International Association for the Study of Pain’s GAPPA Uplift Conference.
• Presented a webinar about pain advocacy for Pain BC (British Columbia).
• Responded to the American Psychological Associations call for comments on its proposed guideline for treating chronic pain.
NPAC presented on the organization’s founding and mission at the International Association for the Study of Pain’s GAPPA Uplift Conference.
NPAC’s Executive Director presented a webinar about pain advocacy for Pain BC (British Columbia).
NPAC responded to the American Psychological Association’s call for comments on its proposed guideline for treating chronic pain.
October 2021
• Members of NPAC presented as invited speakers at the Food and Drug Administration’s public meeting on provider education.
• NPAC Met with the U.S. Department of Justice on pain as a disability issue.
Members of NPAC presented as invited speakers at the Food and Drug Administration’s public meeting on provider education.
NPAC Met with the U.S. Department of Justice on pain as a disability issue.
September 2021
• NPAC provided extensive comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposal on coding and billing changes for chronic pain management.
• NPAC provided extensive comments to the Office of Women’s Health Research at the National Institutes of Health on suggested areas of research related to chronic debilitating conditions affecting women.
NPAC provided extensive comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposal on coding and billing changes for chronic pain management.
NPAC provided extensive comments to the Office of Women’s Health Research at the National Institutes of Health on suggested areas of research related to chronic debilitating conditions affecting women.
August 2021
• NPAC responded to Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) request for comments related to its summit on Morphine Milligram Equivalents.
• NPAC solicited commentary in Colorado on its PDMP audit, and provided solicited testimony during hearings in the Colorado legislature.
NPAC responded to Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) request for comments related to its summit on Morphine Milligram Equivalents.
NPAC solicited commentary in Colorado on its PDMP audit, and provided solicited testimony during hearings in the Colorado legislature.
July 2021
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Opioid Workgroup delivered its report on proposed revisions to its prescribing guidelines. NPAC’s President and Advisors appointed members of the Workgroup, and NPAC provided testimony at the CDC’s meeting related to the report.
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Opioid Workgroup delivered its report on proposed revisions to its prescribing guidelines. NPAC’s President and Advisors appointed members of the Workgroup, and NPAC provided testimony at the CDC’s meeting related to the report.
June / May 2021
• NPAC provided testimony at the Food and Drug Administration Summit on Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MMEs).
• NPAC presented Abstracts at the National Academy of Medicine Conference on Addiction.
• NPAC responded to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) call for comment on its draft report on Integrated Pain Management Programs.
• NPAC members met with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division on issues involving access to care and services.
• NPAC met with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
• NPAC provided testimony at the Food and Drug Administration Summit on Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MMEs).
• NPAC presented Abstracts at the National Academy of Medicine Conference on Addiction.
• NPAC responded to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) call for comment on its draft report on Integrated Pain Management Programs.
• NPAC members met with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division on issues involving access to care and services.
• NPAC met with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
March/April 2021
• NPAC launched officially as an organization with a public-facing website.
• NPAC provided additional requested feedback to NQF on its Opioids and Behavioral Health Environmental Scan
• NPAC successfully fought a federal bill that would have imposed arbitrary and harmful three-day limits on opioid prescribing nationwide. Read our press release here.
• NPAC launched officially as an organization with a public-facing website.
• NPAC provided additional requested feedback to NQF on its Opioids and Behavioral Health Environmental Scan
• NPAC successfully fought a federal bill that would have imposed arbitrary and harmful three-day limits on opioid prescribing nationwide. Read our press release here.
January 2021
NPAC commented on NQF’s draft Opioids and Behavioral Health Environmental Scan, urging NQF to include metrics to measure patient outcomes.
NPAC commented on NQF’s draft Opioids and Behavioral Health Environmental Scan, urging NQF to include metrics to measure patient outcomes.
December 2020
We presented on advocacy for policy change to improve chronic pain treatment at the 2020 meeting of the US Association for the Study of Pain (USASP).
We presented on advocacy for policy change to improve chronic pain treatment at the 2020 meeting of the US Association for the Study of Pain (USASP).
September & November 2020
We provided extensive feedback on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Chronic Pain Assessment and Management Guideline proposed in the United Kingdom, responded to calls for public comment from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Oregon Health Authority, and offered solicited testimony during state opioid hearings in Minnesota.
We provided extensive feedback on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Chronic Pain Assessment and Management Guideline proposed in the United Kingdom, responded to calls for public comment from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Oregon Health Authority, and offered solicited testimony during state opioid hearings in Minnesota.
July 2020
Members of our team were appointed by the Board of Scientific Advisors of the CDC to the Workgroup to provide expert input on the update/expansion of the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
Members of our team were appointed by the Board of Scientific Advisors of the CDC to the Workgroup to provide expert input on the update/expansion of the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
April & May 2020
We presented to policymakers and at conferences and think tanks on pain patient vulnerability to COVID-19.
We presented to policymakers and at conferences and think tanks on pain patient vulnerability to COVID-19.
January 2020
We presented on the ethical mandate to do no harm and opioid prescribing at a law conference on emerging issues in bioethics.
We presented on the ethical mandate to do no harm and opioid prescribing at a law conference on emerging issues in bioethics.
October 2019
• We presented at the CATO Institute regarding privacy implications of Physician Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs).
• Members of our team were invited reviewers who contributed to the HHS Tapering Guidance.
• We presented at the CATO Institute regarding privacy implications of Physician Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs).
• Members of our team were invited reviewers who contributed to the HHS Tapering Guidance.
August & September 2019
We advocated at the state level, providing solicited testimony in opioid-related hearings in state legislatures in Colorado, presenting to the Bree Collective in Washington, and meeting with state Attorneys General about opioid litigation.
We advocated at the state level, providing solicited testimony in opioid-related hearings in state legislatures in Colorado, presenting to the Bree Collective in Washington, and meeting with state Attorneys General about opioid litigation.
June 2019
• Members of our team drafted a letter to Congress, signed by the 100 leading federal and state disability rights organizations regarding the CDC and FDA corrections and continued harm to pain patients.
• We presented on the dangers of involuntary opioid tapering or discontinuation to the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.
• Members of our team drafted a letter to Congress, signed by the 100 leading federal and state disability rights organizations regarding the CDC and FDA corrections and continued harm to pain patients.
• We presented on the dangers of involuntary opioid tapering or discontinuation to the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.
May 2019
• We worked with reporters, researchers, academics and advocates concerned about the way media represents drug use and addiction to create Changing the Narrative, a portal of evidence-based resources and expert sources.
• We helped stop a July 2018 proposal in Oregon requiring about 100,000 Medicaid patients with chronic pain to stop taking opioids. We assembled a network of experts, who issued letters asking the Oregon authorities to reconsider, and in May 2019, Oregon announced it would not move ahead with the policy.
• We worked with reporters, researchers, academics and advocates to ensure representation of the perspective of pain patients in Changing the Narrative, a portal of resources and expert contacts that attempts to shift the narrative on drug policies and media coverage.
• We helped stop a July 2018 proposal in Oregon requiring about 100,000 Medicaid patients with chronic pain to stop taking opioids. We assembled a network of experts, who issued letters asking the Oregon authorities to reconsider, and in May 2019, Oregon announced it would not move ahead with the policy.
April 2019
• We conducted briefings for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Disability Policy Group that includes representatives from each federal agency and the military branches.
• After meetings with our team, the CDC issued public-facing statements acknowledging that its 2016 Prescribing Guideline had been misapplied by policymakers in ways that endanger patient health and safety. In a press release and article in The New England Journal of Medicine, the CDC came out against:
* Strict limits on opioid prescribing for acute pain.
* Strict application of the CDC’s dosage guidance, i.e. treating the recommended dose of 90 MME/day as mandatory.
* Mandatory or abrupt opioid dose reduction (tapering) and patient abandonment.
• The CDC also noted that the Guideline was wrongly applied to cancer and sickle cell patients, and that it was not intended to deny access to opioids for anyone with chronic pain. [ read more ]
• The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against abrupt opioid tapering and announced a label change to protect patients. [ read more ]
• We conducted briefings for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Disability Policy Group that includes representatives from each federal agency and the military branches.
• After meetings with our team, the CDC issued public-facing statements acknowledging that its 2016 Prescribing Guideline had been misapplied by policymakers in ways that endanger patient health and safety. In a press release and article in The New England Journal of Medicine, the CDC came out against:
Strict limits on opioid prescribing for acute pain.
Strict application of the CDC’s dosage guidance, i.e. treating the recommended dose of 90 MME/day as mandatory.
Mandatory or abrupt opioid dose reduction (tapering) and patient abandonment.
• The CDC also noted that the Guideline was wrongly applied to cancer and sickle cell patients, and that it was not intended to deny access to opioids for anyone with chronic pain.
• The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against abrupt opioid tapering and announced a label change to protect patients.