·  ASIPP Releases 2009 Guidelines

·  Senators close to health accord

·  Florida drugstores' actions might lessen Kentucky's pipeline problem

·  Federal appeals court halts some California Medicaid pay cuts

·  Panel to decide how Florida pain clinics can operate

·  Secretary Sebelius makes Recovery Arct runding available to expand health professions training

·  Overweight and Obese Health Providers Aren't Taken Seriously

·  FDA Warning

ASIPP Releases 2009 Guidelines

The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) issued a press release yesterday announcing the release of the 2009 updated Interventional Pain Management (IPM) guidelines.

"The guidelines are expected to increase patient compliance, dispel miscommunications among providers and patients, manage patient expectations reasonably, and form the basis of a therapeutic partnership between the patient, the provider and payers, " said Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, ASIPP, CEO and Chairman of the Board.

The Pain Physician journal has expanded its publications through a new online electronic (e) version. The e version will provide easy access to addtional content and is available on our Web site.

Press Release

Senators Close to Health Accord

An emerging consensus among a bipartisan group of senators is poised to shift the dynamic in the congressional debate over health-care reform and could lead to a final product that sheds many of the priorities that President Obama has emphasized and that have drawn GOP attacks (Murray and Kane, The Washington Post, July 29, 2009).

The Washington Post

Florida drugstores' actions might lessen Kentucky's pipeline problem

In a move to shut down the pill pipeline, some independent pharmacies in Florida are refusing to fill prescriptions that out-of-state residents obtain from Florida pain clinics (Spears, Lexington Herald- Leader, July 29, 2009).

The trend, reported Sunday in the South Florida Sun- Sentinel, is part of an effort to stop what's become known in Kentucky as the pill pipeline. Kentuckians and other out-of-state visitors go to Florida and obtain drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone legally from naive or unethical physicians, then use them in the illegal drug trade in their home states.

The Lexington Herald-Leader

Federal appeals court halts some California Medicaid pay cuts

A recent federal appeals court ruling could dissuade budget-strapped states from looking to cut Medicaid payment rates as an answer to their fiscal woes. (Sorrel, American Medical News, July 27, 2009).

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found that California state officials in 2008 illegally instituted a 10% across-the-board cut in Medicaid rates for physicians, pharmacists and other health care entities. The ruling is a setback for the state's efforts to impose further Medicaid payment reductions to help plug a $26 billion deficit

amednews.com

Panel to decide how Florida pain clinics can operate

Seven doctors recently appointed to a state panel aimed at controlling pill mills have only a few weeks to decide how pain medicine can legally be practiced in Florida (The Associated Press, July 29, 2009).

The new law that allows for an electronic database for prescription narcotics also requires pain practitioners to register with state health authorities by early January, so rules about qualifications and the forms needed to apply must be ready well before then.

Tampa Bay Online

Secretary Sebelius Makes Recovery Act Funding Available to Expand Health Professions Training

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the availability of $200 million to support grants, loans, loan repayment, and scholarships to expand the training of health care professionals. The funds are expected to train approximately 8,000 students and credentialed health professionals by the end of fiscal year 2010 (July 28, 2009).

HHS News Release

Overweight and Obese Health Providers Aren't Taken Seriously

In the health reform debate, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has been talking a lot lately about personal responsibility. During a recent appearance on the Daily Show, she jokingly admonished host Jon Stewart to "have a lettuce sandwich" instead of a Snickers bar (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, July 28, 2009).

"There's personal responsibility in all of this," she said. So why are so many health providers not in sync with her message? Far too many practitioners who are supposed to model good health habits and counsel their patients about getting to a healthy weight don't think their messages need apply to themselves.

HealthLeaders Media

FDA Warning

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Public Health Advisory (PHA) warning consumers to stop using body building products that are represented as containing steroids or steroid-like substances. Many of these products are marketed as dietary supplements (July 28, 2009).

The agency also issued a Warning Letter to American Cellular Laboratories Inc. for marketing and distributing body building products containing synthetic steroid substances. Although these products are marketed as dietary supplements, they are not dietary supplements, but instead are unapproved and misbranded drugs.

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FDA Press Release