Drugs like gabapentin and pregabalin—things we use in pain management all the time—are starting to be abused as well, and so the need for patient monitoring when we’re prescribing even nonopioid medications is real.
MONTCLAIR, N.J. (PRWEB) March 06, 2018
Attend PAINWeekEnd Milwaukee! View the complete agenda and register here.
PAINWeekEnd on March 24 at the Westin Milwaukee, 550 N. Van Buren St. in Wisconsin will be an educational and exciting full day program providing busy clinicians and allied healthcare practitioners with 6.0 hours of relevant, practical instruction in the management of chronic pain.
In July 2017, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed 11 bills designed to combat what he termed a public health crisis of opioid abuse in the state. The enactment culminated 5 months of legislative work after Walker called the state assembly into special session to address the issue. The initiative takes action on several fronts, including guidance to clinicians on addiction treatment, more flexibility in the administration of naloxone, funding increases for treatment centers, and enhancing the ranks of qualified addiction specialists. Although passed with bipartisan support, the senate minority leader noted that cuts to drug abuse prevention programs were impeding efforts to stem substance use disorder at an early stage. Courtney Kominek, PharmD, BCPS, CPE, who will be among the presenters at PAINWeekEnd Milwaukee, observed that even as responses such as those in Wisconsin are being implemented, the course and scope of the substance abuse problem continues to evolve. “Drugs like gabapentin and pregabalin—things we use in pain management all the time—are starting to be abused as well, and so the need for patient monitoring when we’re prescribing even nonopioid medications is real.” Dr. Kominek is Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Pain Management, at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Columbia, Missouri. At PAINWeekEnd Milwaukee, Dr. Kominek will be providing guidance and insight from her own clinical experience and not representing official positions of the Veterans Administration. Her course topics will include Not For Human Consumption: New Drugs of Abuse and Their Detection, and What’s All the “GABA” About? Pregabalin and Gabapentin Abuse. “Pharmacists,” Kominek continued, “have an early view of new drug scheduling activity, and I’m looking forward to sharing information on the changing substance abuse landscape with PAINWeekEnd attendees.”
Commercially supported activities—addressing a range of product, disease state, and medical information topics—will also be presented.
Online registration fee for this PAINWeekEnd Conference: $129. PAINWeekEnd registrants may register for the 2018 PAINWeek National Conference, September 4-8, in Las Vegas, for $200 off the current online published price.
PAINWeekEnd is provided by Global Education Group. About Global Education Group:
Global Education Group focuses on producing partnership-based CME for healthcare practitioners. The Global team works with a select group of medical education companies, associations, academic institutions and healthcare facilities to develop and accredit live healthcare conferences and workshops as well as online activities. With each partnership or joint providership, Global brings accreditation expertise, project management excellence and grant funding intelligence. Based in Littleton, Colo., Global has accreditation with commendation from the ACCME. Global also holds accreditations to offer continuing education for nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dietitians, dentists and psychologists. Global is a division of Ultimate Medical Academy.