Expert alert: Anesthesiologists can discuss implications of new CDC opioid guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday released its long-awaited updated Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and its members – who are experts in pain medicine and have led the way in addressing the nation’s opioid epidemic – are pleased the new updated guidelines address the unintended consequences of the previous guidelines, enabling pain specialists more latitude to safely treat their patients.

David Dickerson, M.D., pain medicine specialist and chair of ASA’s Committee on Pain Medicine, is available for interviews on the updated guidelines and can discuss:

• How the updated guidelines modified the 2016 recommendations to include acute and subacute pain more explicitly and includes new recommendations for patients who already are receiving opioid therapy for pain.
• What the guidelines mean for both physicians and patients by allowing for a more individualized approach, which is necessary for optimal pain management.
• How the guidelines provide more detailed recommendations on the differences required for chronic pain and cautions against misapplication by deriving policy from clinical guidelines.
• The items left unaddressed and short comings of the guidelines, as well as the potential impact or unintended consequences the guidelines may have on pain care.