GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UPDATES
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.
REFERENCES
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 Declaration 10-26-2017
The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released their final report on Wednesday,
November 1, 2017. The document can be found here.
ASPMN Letter To Dr. Scott Gottlieb, MD, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
National Pain Strategy
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.
NIH Heal Initiative
The document can be found here.
HHS Pain Task Force Report
PAIN MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE REPORT
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.
Update November, 2022
CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain
CDC Draft Opioid Rx Guidelines Webinar Slides
Update February 17, 2016.
CDC Draft Opioid Rx Guidelines
Current CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
Role of a Pain Management Nurse
ASPMN Sends Letter to Health Canada Regarding Abuse Deterrent Drugs
Click here for the letter
ASPMN Legislative Toolkit now available!
If you have suggestions to include in the toolkit, please contact Wade Delk.
ASPMN Statement of Support
A Call to Revolutionize Pain Care in America
WHO Guidelines – ASPMN Comment May 12, 2021
The document can be found here.
ASPMN® Opioid Survey
ASPMN Letter to DEA, Production Quota Limits – November 30, 2023
Dear ASPMN Member/Friend,
As you may know, the DEA recently voted to further lower the quota for the manufacture of prescription opioids in the USA in 2024 (Federal Register 1/3/24). A number of ASPMN members submitted written concerns to the DEA during the comment period earlier this year. ASPMN affirms that while opioids are only one tool in the toolbox for managing pain, it is, nonetheless, an indispensable tool in many situations. ASPMN is further concerned that this new limitation on the manufacture of prescription opioids will negatively affect the care of patients with pain and place new time and energy burdens on providers seeking to "workaround" the shortages. In fact, we have heard from many clinicians who are now required to change their patient's pain regimen due to shortages of many opioids, sometimes prescribing a stronger opioid due to lack of the initially preferred opioid.
So, besides being concerned, what can YOU do???
The Communications Committee of ASPMN has created a brief survey to allow us to capture the "real" consequences of the changes the DEA has made. This data will be used as ASPMN and our government liaison, Wade Delk, meets with legislators, when we submit comments to the Federal Register and to keep ASPMN members informed and in leadership positions in guiding pain practices in the USA and beyond.
Completing the survey is simple and fast with an easy "submit" tab at the end. So, please download and save this form and complete one whenever you have an opioid shortage encounter. Let your voice be heard and amplified through ASPMN's efforts.
Thank you for your participation.
The communication committee will tally the results and provide that information to the ASPMN members for use in their practice settings, and local governments.
The ASPMN Communications Committee
Marsha Stanton, Chairperson
RESOURCE Library
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
7. Nursing Ranked as the Most Trusted Profession for 22nd Year in a Row