ASPMN^®’s Director of Government Affairs keeps us informed of bills and policies that matter most. A Washington presence ensures that pain management issues are heard and represented when bills and regulations are proposed or amendments to them are suggested. We use our governmental affairs program to educate Congress, ​and the Administration on all of our issues. Additionally, we further use it to ensure that we are also represented in issues of importance to our field that arise in the states.

Contact Wade Delk,
ASPMN^® Government Affairs Director
202-253-7862

Organizational Advocacy Statements

This year ASPMN^®’s Communications Committee began work on a series of organizational advocacy statements around current issues of importance to pain management. Internally we all know that ASPMN®’s members have a wealth of knowledge in the field of pain management,​ but we need to make sure everyone knows it. These papers are intended to give elected officials, media, and other interested parties a snapshot of our expertise on topics of national interest, and to invite them to engage us in more in-depth conversations. 

1. Statement on the Use of Medical Marijuana
2. Multimodal Therapies to Manage Pain – More than Just Opioids
3. Statement on Abuse Deterrent Formulations
4. Statement on Nurses’ Use of Integrative Therapies for Pain​
5. Statement Regarding the Use of Opioids for Chronic Pain While Preventing Abuse and Diversion​
6. In Defense of Education

NIH HEAL Initiative

The document can be found here.

WHO Guidelines - ASPMN^® Comment May 12, 2021

The document can be found here.

The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force Report Final Report was released in the spring of 2019.

The final report can be found here​​.

ASPMN^® on Capitol Hill, September 2018

The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released their final report on Wednesday, November 1, 2017.​

Report can be found here​​

Advance Copy of Opioid Declaration Fact Sheet Available

The link below is an advanced copy of the fact sheet for the President's announcement regarding the opioid crisis.

Fact Sheet Opioid Declaratio​n 10-26-2017

ASPMN^®​ Letter To Dr. Scott Gottlieb, MD, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration

Click here to view letter

Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis Interim Report​

The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis has released a draft interim report that they will be delivering to President Trump. This Commission was established by President Trump in March, and is chaired by Governor Chris Christie. The charge of the Commission is to study ways to combat and treat drug abuse, addiction, and the opioid crisis.

Click here to view​

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today released a National Pain Strategy, outlining the federal government's first coordinated plan for reducing the burden of chronic pain that affects millions of Americans. The National Pain Strategy is a roadmap toward achieving a system of care in which all people receive appropriate, high quality and evidence-based care for pain.

Please share within your networks as appropriate.

National Pain Strategy

National Pain Strategy Press Release

ASPMN^® responds to statements by Senator Angus King (D-MA) and Hillary Clinton on pain medications for children.

Click on links below to view:

Response to Senator King

Response to Hillary Clinton

CDC Draft Opioid Prescribing Guidelines

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) held a webinar on Wednesday, September 16, on Opioid Prescribing Guidelines. During this webinar they released draft recommendations. The following are the slides that include those recommendations.

CDC Draft Opioid Rx Guidelines Webinar Slides

The CDC announced they were accepting comments during this presentation and we provided them. They also announced that the deadline for additional comments was Friday, September 18. ASPMN^® submitted additional comments as well which are here​.​

Update February 17, 2016

The CDC opened an additional public comment period that closed in early January. ASPMN^®’s comments are here.

CDC Draft Opioid Rx Guidelines​

Current CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain​

Recap of PAINS Collaborators Meeting

by Myra Christopher, PAINS Director

In anticipation of publication of the National Pain Strategy (NPS) Report, in June, 2015 the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy (PAINS), a coalition of national leaders and organizations committed to advancing the sixteen recommendations made in the Institutes of Medicine’s report, Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research, convened a Collaborators Conference in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to discern opportunities and challenges to implementation of the report, to build enthusiasm for it and promote collaboration among attendees in order to move the NPS Report from a vision to a reality. More than 100 prominent leaders from professional societies, academic institutions, federal agencies, patient advocacy groups, and policy organizations met to review the NPS Report and discuss each of its six sections.

Read the Full Executive Summary​

The Nursing Community, a coalition of over 60 nursing organization which ASPMN® is a part of, held a series of events and meetings in Washington, DC on September 8th & 9th to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs. ASPMN^® President Pat Bruckenthal is pictured with Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) a nurse, and Congressman David Joyce (R-OH) married to a nurse, at a Capitol Hill Reception. The two Members of Congress are on the Congressional Nursing Caucus, and addressed the attendees during the reception.

Role of the Pain Management Nurse

ASPMN^® as a Member of The Alliance for Balanced Pain Management recently released the following advertisement in PainPathways magazine.

Click here to view the ad.

ASPMN^® Sends Letter to Health Canada Regarding Abuse Deterrent Drugs

Click here for the letter

ASPMN^®'s Statement Regarding the Misuse and Abuse of Opioids

Click here for the statement

ASPMN^®Legislative Toolkit now available! If you have suggestions to include in the toolkit, please contact Wade Delk.

RELIEVING PAIN IN AMERICA" -Institute of Medicine Report Highlights For the full report, contact Wade Delk, ASPMN^® Government Affairs Director.

ASPMN^® Statement of Support

A Call to Revolutionize Pain

Care in America