"Clinical researchers and caregivers are evaluating new and effective treatments, improving existing therapies and developing new paradigms for managing pain," Ballantyne says. "The integration of research and education is crucial in translating our rapidly expanding knowledge into improvements in clinical care."

In 1982 the MGH established a multidisciplinary pain center, recognizing the benefits of fully assessing and analyzing pain and tailoring its management to individual patients' needs. Staff members in the Pain Center - anesthesiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and physical therapists - collaborate with primary care practitioners as well as physicians from virtually every specialty, providing diagnosis, consultation and around-the-clock inpatient and outpatient treatment.

The MGH Pain Center, which has expanded greatly during the past two decades, has remained committed to evaluating new pain therapies, techniques and practices. The center has helped shape the field of pain management, identifying many of today's best practices, conducting innovative clinical and basic research, and disseminating information and results to the health care community.

"The MGH has long been a leader in the field of pain," says Paul Goldenheim, MD, executive vice president, Worldwide Research and Development at Purdue Pharma. "We are pleased that Purdue Pharma can support and work closely with the hospital to continue advancing the understanding of pain treatment and management. Our mutual efforts to expand the training of physicians, nurses and other health care providers and to support clinical research efforts will ultimately help the more than 50 million people who each day deal with the consequences of pain."

Purdue Pharma's gift to the MGH is the largest and one of the first contribution
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Contact: Michelle Marcella
617-724-2755
Massachusetts General Hospital
7-Feb-2002