Experts call for balance in addressing under treated pain and ...( ich the DEA subsequently disavowed caus...),Health

"It is now apparent to me that the spirit of cooperation that existed between the DEA and the pain community to achieve the goal of balance has broken down. The DEA seems to have ignored the input and needs of the healthcare professionals and pain patients who actually prescribe, dispense and use controlled substances," Dr. Heit states in his commentary.

"It is essential that we resume dialogue between the DEA and healthcare professions for the benefit of our patients and society," continues Dr. Heit. "The DEA and the healthcare professionals treating pain both have an important job to do in ensuring those who need [controlled substances] for pain receive them while preventing misuse and diversion. Only through dialogue based on and mutual trust and respect can this balance be restored."

Other government initiatives have challenged the line between health policy and law enforcement. This includes Congress's empowerment of the DEA allowing the agency authority in reviewing new drugs, a role previously held only by the Food and Drug Administration, according to Dr. Fishman. On Nov. 4, 2005, Congress reversed itself and rescinded the DEA's new authority.

As healthcare's regulatory authority shifts from health agencies to law enforcement agencies, the DEA and Federal prosecutors have used the courts to bypass state medical boards when scrutinizing physician practices. Dr. Fishman says that the recently passed national law, National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act (NASPER), which institutes a national prescription monitoring program, may offer some steps forward, but it also carries the potential to impede optimal prescribing and could even perpetuate aberrant prescribing that may facilitate abuse. While this new law is presented to the public as a clinical tool to improve patient care and safety, "profound
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Contact: Amy Jenkins
amy@jenkinspublicrelations.com
312-836-0613
American Academy of Pain Medicine
17-Mar-2006