Register today to attend the Nov. 11-13 Comprehensive Review Course and Cadaver Workshop for Basic, Intermediate, and Comprehensive Interventional Pain Management Examination Preparation course review.

This 2½-day review course and workshop is designed for interventional pain physicians, for a review, skills improvement or to assist in preparation for Comprehensive Interventional Pain Management Examination qualifications.

ASIPP offers the most in-depth, comprehensive, and individualized programs available in interventional pain management, featuring maximum hands-on training with cadavers in a state-of-the-art facility and maximum ability to interact with other participants.

Early Bird - On or before October 18, 2011. The meeting will be held at the Hilton Memphis and the MERI Center in Memphis, TN,

click HERE to view brochure

The Carrier Advisory Committee was established in order to foster better relations and trust between carriers and providers and to get involved in policy development at the state level. CAC is responsible for policy setting, payment processing, and utilization review, all of which affect patient care.

Since March 2005 when IPM became the 34th specialty to have representation on the CAC we have had the opportunity to shape the practice environment through our CAC representatives.

Congratulations to Dr. Dean Willis and Dr. Xiulu Ruan who have been named to the Alabama Carrier Advisory Committee (CAC) for Interventional Pain Management and representing the interests of American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Dr. Willis will be the representative and Dr. Ruan is the alternate.

Each and every state should have a voice through CAC representation. According to the records of ASIPP, the following states do not have representation.

• Idaho Maine Montana Nebraska
• New Mexico

If you are interested in representing one of the states listed above, please contact the ASIPP office.

Political leaders, across the board, keep pressuring the deficit-cutting supercommittee to "go big" and aim for trillions in deficit reduction, but they keep saying "no" to anything that would actually accomplish that goal.

Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other Republican leaders have vowed to reject a penny of tax increases. President Barack Obama says Medicare benefits are untouchable if Republicans won't raise taxes on the rich. Defense hawks - including Democrats like Defense Secretary Leon Panetta - are concerned about Pentagon spending levels.

As the general counsel for Medical Justice, I see a number of bizarre and unfair medical malpractice claims. However, recently I have read several claims that were so odd as to attract my attention. The first involves a surgical patient at Baylor Health Hospital in Dallas. A Nebraska man had traveled to Baylor for a routine tonsil and sinus surgery. Following his surgery the patient, Michael Woolman, noticed that his armpit was "bloody." He later filed suit in Federal Court against Baylor Health Hospital alleging, in part, that a GPS tracking system had been installed in his armpit. He goes on to complain that this surgery violated his civil rights and has caused him mental anguish. He has filed this complaint on his own and is not represented by counsel. Beyond this, I will not comment further.

In late July 2011, another interesting medical malpractice claim was filed. This involves a man who was allegedly poisoned to death by his wife. The man was admitted to the University Medical Center of Princeton in January of this year for abdominal pain and numbness in his hands and feet. During his hospital stay, which ended in his death, the man's wife visited him daily. It is alleged that his wife had access to Thallium from her employer Bristol Myers Squibb. It is further alleged that she poisoned her husband to death with the Thallium while the man was in the hospital. In fact, the woman was criminally charged with murder in February of 2011 and is currently awaiting trial. The family brought action against the Medical Center for not protecting the man from being poisoned by his wife. The family also brought an action against Bristol Myers Squibb.

It was the kind of study that made doctors around the world sit up and take notice: Two popular high-blood-pressure drugs were found to be much better in combination than either alone.

"There was a 'wow' reaction," recalls Franz Messerli, a New York doctor who, like many others, changed his prescription habits after the 2003 report.

Unfortunately, it wasn't true. Six and a half years later, the prestigious medical journal the Lancet retracted the paper, citing "serious concerns" about the findings.

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Provider groups Sept. 21 asked Congress to renew expiring Medicare reimbursement policies that carry a price tag of at least $2 billion per year, saying extending the provisions gives them the best chance to continue serving beneficiaries while awaiting broader payment reforms.

Testifying before the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, hospital representatives, physicians, and physical therapists urged Congress to extend a host of expiring Medicare reimbursement provisions that address particular needs of patients and providers.

The subcommittee is targeting nine Medicare reimbursement policies that expire between Oct. 1 and July 1, 2012, covering a host of providers, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, ambulance services, clinical laboratories, and physicians.

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WASHINGTON -- President Obama defended his plan to cut $3 trillion from the deficit though tax hikes on the rich, and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid; a congressional panel heard about the increasing number of shortages in injectable drugs; while another congressional panel discussed soon-to-expire Medicare payment policies.

The supply chain for abuse of highly addictive drugs often can be traced back to a doctor's prescription pad.

So doctors are capitalizing on their unique position to combat the illegal use of prescription drugs by leading a statewide campaign to keep such medicines out of the wrong hands.

The Medical Association of Georgia, a statewide organization that represents about 6,000 physicians, has developed the initiative called Think About It, which kicks off at 
1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Gov. Nathan Deal will be the guest speaker.

Washington -- Physician and hospital organizations praised several changes federal health officials made to an earlier proposed version of a new Medicaid claims audit program authorized by the health system reform law.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Sept. 14 released a final rule detailing implementation of the Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor program, based on a similar Medicare program in operation nationwide. The Medicare RACs have come under fire from physicians for what doctors have termed aggressive auditing tactics, prompting some critics to label them "bounty hunters."

Washington -- The panel that gives advice to lawmakers on Medicare pay rates has proposed significant reductions in some physician payments as one way to avoid deep across-the-board cuts required by law.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has drafted recommendations to Congress that would block a 29.5% pay cut scheduled for 2012 and future across-the-board Medicare rate reductions, but the plan would pay for the changes by lowering rates for nonprimary care services. Supporters of the proposal said it could provide more stability to future payments under the Medicare program. But detractors warned that the concept would split the physician community and pit primary care physicians against specialists.

The number of physicians using sites such as Facebook and Twitter has grown so quickly that Gabriel Bosslet, MD, realized the moment his study on physician social media use appeared in June that it already was out of date.

The data, collected by Dr. Bosslet between February and May 2010 and posted more than a year later on the Journal of General Internal Medicine site, found that 41.6% of doctors use social media sites.

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL - A new report from human resources consulting firm Aon Hewitt and healthcare consulting firm Polakoff Boland says employer interest in accountable care organizations is ramping up as they seek new ways to continue offering healthcare benefits to employees.

"Seventy-seven percent of employers are unlikely to exit healthcare management when health insurance exchanges become available starting in 2014," the study authors noted. "This finding indicates that employers intend to remain 'in the game' of offering healthcare benefits for the foreseeable future. Sixty-five percent of respondents have expressed interest in exploring the use of ACOs as an option for providing healthcare benefits to their workforce."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Thank you, boss?: While the annual cost for employee family health insurance jumped 9% this year, employers shouldered the bulk of that increase, according to a new industry survey Tuesday.

For insured workers, it cost $15,073 this year to buy health insurance for a family of four. That was up sharply from $13,770 last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation report.

KSIPP Plans Annual Meeting, Oct. 22

KSIPP is hosting its annual meeting from 10 am to 5 pm Oct. 22 at the Sloan Convention Center, Bowling Green,KY. Click HERE to view brochure.

The meeting is open to Kentucky and Indiana members. Cost is $75 for active members, $100 for non members, $50 for associate members or non-physician, non-members; and no cost for fellows. Click HERE to register.

Participants can earn up to 5 CME credit hours. Discussions will include an introduction to KASPER and a presentation by the Drug Enforcement Agency. A meeting of the Kentucky Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Board of Directors will follow the review course sessions. Lunch will be provided, but participants must reserve their seat and let organizers know which entrée they prefer: sautéed chicken or grilled vegetables. For more information, call Connie Smith at 270-781-2212.

NYSIPP to Host Symposium, Nov. 11-12

The New York Society of Interventional Pain Physicians is hosting a symposium titled: Pain Medicine Symposium 2011: Evolving Advanced Pain Therapies, November 11-12, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency, Jersey City.

Staten Island University Hospital designates this activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits

Early bird registration discounts available through Oct. 15. To register, go to www.etouches.com/NYSIPP

FSIPP Annual Meeting Dates May 18-20

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

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