The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), is greatly concerned about three regulatory issues: single dose vials for infection control, ICD-10 implementation, and electronic medical records implementation. Each one is very expensive, have not been proven with evidence, and may result in the closing of multiple practices due to escalating costs beyond imagination that could exceed the costs associated with HIPAA and Y2K.

First, ASIPP would like to thank you for all the letters regarding SGR. We are optimistic that the SGR will once again be resolved temporarily before the end of the year and we are hoping for a permanent fix coming early next year. The political climate is certainly right for this to happen. We are in a good place now with SGR and can stop sending those letters to focus on other issues.

We ask for your assistance by voicing your concern to Congress. Please take a few minutes of your time to send the following Capwiz letter to Congress and HHS. We encourage you to personalize the letter but if you prefer you may send it as it is written. Either way your letter(s) will help in the fight to save health care, your practice, and patient access.

Please get your family, staff, and patients involved as well.

Physician Capwiz Letter

Patient Capwiz Letter

For more information see ASIPP's Press Release and our letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

ASIPP is offering three different courses in one warm, wonderful, and scenic location! Join us on Februrary 24 at the beautiful Hilton Pointe Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix, AZ.

The course choices are: Comprehensive Review Course and Cadaver Workshop with basic, intermediate, and ABIPP preparation (advanced) levels; Coding, Compliance and Practice Management Comprehensive Review Course (Feb 24-25) Competency Examination - (Feb 26); and Controlled Substance Management Comprehensive Review Course - (Feb 24-25) Competency Examination - (Feb 26)

Take this opportunity to not only break away from the cold but also earn CMEs. Consider comimg early or staying over. Bring your family and stay and play!

Brochure and Registration for Review Course and Cadaver Workshop

Coding, Complinace, and Practice Management brochure and registration

Controlled Substance Management brochure and registration

Washington -- President Obama on Nov. 21 signed into law a repeal of a tax withholding statute opposed by physicians for its potential to reduce Medicare doctor pay starting in 2013.

The tax withholding rule was approved by Congress in 2006 as a way to collect outstanding tax bills from delinquent government contractors. The government was authorized to withhold 3% of any federal payments to contractors of $10,000 or more as an advance on any tax liabilities for the year. Any amount withheld that exceeded the final tax bills would be sent back to the contractors in their next tax returns.

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Emergency department visits involving the misuse of the muscle relaxant carisoprodol have doubled from 15,830 visits in 2004 to 31,763 visits in 2009 (the latest year for which figures are available), according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Although carisoprodol is a useful medication for short-term treatment of acute muscle pain including pain from severe injuries, it can be dangerous when misused - especially in combination with other prescription drugs, illicit drugs, and/or with alcohol.

NOV 21 -- Manhattan -- Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Raymond W. Kelly, New York City Police Commissioner, Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H., New York State Commissioner of Health, Tom F. O'Donnell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, New York Region, Wilbert L. Plummer, Acting Special-Agent-in-Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Division (DEA), and Charles Pine, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS), announced today the indictment and arrest of Stan Xuhui Li, a physician who illegally sold prescriptions for controlled substances from a pain management clinic he operated in Flushing, Queens.

The indictment follows a year-long investigation and charges Li with 15 counts of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance and 5 counts of Reckless Endangerment in the 2nd degree in connection with illegal sales of prescriptions to Michael Cornetta. Cornetta, a Queens resident, received dozens of prescriptions for multiple controlled substances from Li between May 2009 and August 2010, and overdosed at least two times during this period. Cornetta ultimately died of an overdose in November 2010 at the age of 40.

WASHINGTON , DC-After a striking rise in the last decade, the proportion of American adults seeking information about a personal health concern from a source other than their doctor dropped to 50 percent in 2010, down from 56 percent in 2007, according to a national study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Although the proportion of consumers seeking health information fell between 2007 and 2010, there still has been a sizeable increase over the past decade, when 38 percent of adults in 2001 reported seeking health information, the study found.

• percent said the information affected the way they coped with a chronic condition or managed pain; 43 percent said the information affected a decision about whether to see a doctor; 51 percent said the information affected whether they asked their doctor a question; 20 percent said the information affected a decision about seeking a second opinion from another doctor; and
• 50 percent said the information affected their approach to diet, exercise or stress management

Merck has agreed to pay $950 million to settle criminal allegations and civil claims related to the promotion and marketing of its painkiller Vioxx, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Merck pleaded guilty to introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Merck will plead guilty to a misdemeanor for that illegal activity and will pay a criminal fine of $321.636 million.

Merck will also pay another $628.364 million to resolve civil allegations regarding Vioxx's off-label marketing and false statements about its cardiovascular safety. Approximately $200 million of that amount will be distributed to participating Medicaid states.

Coding expert Marvel Hammer, RN, CPC will present a webinar on Coding: Planting Seeds for Success in 2012 from 11 am to 12:30 pm Dec. 7.

Cost for the 90-minute webinar is $175. Hammer has more than 25 years in a variety of specialities including Pain Management, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Neurology and Occupational Medicine.

The webinar will bring you information on the RVU changes in the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

The AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee (RUC) continues to review codes that are commonly reported together, i.e. more than 75 percent of the time. For 2012, the AMA RUC Relativity Assessment Workgroup identified CPT codes 62367-62368 and 95900-95991 as part of this "Codes Reported Together 75 percent or More" screen. Consequently, practices that include implanted infusion pumps for chronic pain management will find not only code changes but also new CPT codes that they will need to incorporate into their billing.

ASIPP is pleased to announce a new member benefit coming soon. We are creating a "Doctor Finder" page on the ASIPP Web site to assist patients and physicians to locate an IPM physician. In order to receive this benefit and have your name listed, you must be a physician member in good standing and give consent to ASIPP to post your name and information.

If you are a member in good-standing and you haven't already done so, please submit your consent form today. This page will be posted within the next two weeks so act today to be included.

Click on the following link to submit your authorization form and also to define the information you would like shared.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Traditional police work wouldn't have nabbed Dr. Lisa Barden for visiting 43 pharmacies to illegally obtain tens of thousands of pain pills to fuel her own addiction.

Nor would it have busted Dr. Nazar Al Bussam as the top distributor of controlled substances in California over a three-year period in a prescriptions-for-cash scheme.

.In both cases, a computer database did the essential sleuth work. The program known as the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System has exposed so-called pill mills that also has led to dozens of convictions in prescription drug abuse cases.

FSIPP Annual Meeting Dates May 18-20, 2012

The Florida Society of Interventional Pain Physicians has set the date for their next annual meeting for May 18-20, 2012 at the Gaylord Palms, Orlando, FL.

Read more about the meeting and other activities going on in the state of Florida in their newsletter. Click HERE to read latest issue.

For a complete look at the May meeting schedule and CME information, click HERE

CASIPP Annual Meeting Dates Nov. 9-11, 2012

The California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Annual Meeting of the will be Nov. 9 -11, 2012 at the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach, CA.

Go to www.casipp.com for more information.

Visit the ASIPP Web site to find available positions for IPM physicians.