Tag: opioid
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Alabama Medicaid Agency Updates
Short-Acting Opioid Naïve Limits — Effective Nov. 1 Effective Nov. 1, 2018, the Alabama Medicaid Agency will begin implementing limits on short-acting opiates for opioid naïve recipients. The Agency defines “opioid naïve” as a recipient with no opioid claim in the past 180 days. Edit Details: A 7-day supply limit for adults age 19 and older…
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ProAssurance and Sure Med Compliance Join to Fight Opioid Crisis
BIRMINGHAM ─ ProAssurance Corporation has announced an exclusive affiliation with Sure Med Compliance® (SMC) to promote the use of SMC’s Care Continuity Program® (CCP) in an effort to help combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. ProAssurance-insured physicians will be eligible for discounted access to Sure Med’s Care Continuity Program The CCP helps physicians…
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Study: Doctors Reduced Opioid Prescriptions after Learning a Patient Overdosed
Will clinicians become more careful in prescribing opioids if they are made of aware of the risks of these drugs first-hand? That was one of the core questions researchers set out to explore in a new study published in the August 2018 issue of Science. In doing so, they found that many clinicians do not learn…
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Reducing Opioid Prescriptions for One Operation Can Have a Spillover Effect to Other Procedures
Study results show revised recommendations resulted in about 17 fewer pills being dispensed per patient for four major operations. CHICAGO – To curb the use of opioids after major elective operations and prevent these pain relievers from falling into the wrong hands, surgeons at the University of Michigan developed prescribing recommendations based on published medical…
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U.S. House Passes SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act
In a 396-14 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, or H.R. 6 —bipartisan opioid legislation that aims to curb drug abuse. Sponsored by Greg Walden, R-Oregon, the package of legislation contains more than 50 individually approved bills to…
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What’s at Stake for Medical Professionals in “Pill Mill” Investigations
In an earlier article, I detailed how the DOJ has focused its attention on the aggressive investigation and prosecution of “pill mill” cases. In this article, I discuss the consequences physicians and other medical professionals potentially face as a result of a “pill mill” investigation. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION A litany of criminal charges can be heaped…
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Special Report: Physician Leadership is Boosting War on Opioids
MONTGOMERY – According to a new report by the American Medical Association, physicians have taken the lead in the nation’s battle on opioids by lowering the number of opioid prescriptions they write, making better use of state prescription drug monitoring programs, becoming better trained and certified in the use of opioid use disorders, and in…
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Successful Take Back Alabama Week Ends with Opioid Summit
REVISED APRIL 27, 2018 ─ The Medical Association’s Take Back Alabama Week kicked off this week with a press conference at Walgreens in Birmingham on Monday, April 23. Representatives from AmerisourceBergen, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Pfizer, Prime Therapeutics and Walgreens joined Attorney General Steve Marshall and Birmingham physician Gregory Ayers to announce…
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Alabama SB39: Another Shot in the Opioid Battle
On March 28, 2018, Alabama Senate Bill 39 was sent to Governor Ivey’s desk for signature. SB39 introduces stiffer penalties related to fentanyl possession and distribution. It amounts to a local effort forming part of a nationwide, multi-pronged response to the opioid epidemic that has plagued the country in recent years. While this bill is…