Assessing Benefits and Risks of Chronic Opioid Therapy – How Can Pharmacists Balance Pain Management with the Risk of Misuse?- The purpose of this presentation is to provide pharmacists with practical and timely information to support the assessment and management of patients with chronic pain who are treated with opioid therapy. Dr. Scott Strassels, a pharmacist who specializes in the treatment of patients with chronic pain, answers questions and discusses the complexities involved with achieving balance between effective treatment of pain and reduction in prescription drug abuse. He offers professional health care clinicians an excellent overview of the clinical tools which are available to improve assessment and monitoring of pain and drug-related aberrant behaviors. Dr. Strassels also discusses details of key regulatory and legal directives from the DEA and FDA, including the newly launched REMS for long-acting opioids for the purposes of integrating them into daily pharmacy practice. He describes important ways in which pharmacists can better comply with the regulatory obligations regarding pain management and appropriate disp ensing of controlled substances.
Apply the legal and regulatory requirements for dispensing controlled substances. Describe potential ways for pharmacists to measure pain outcomes. Cite key REMS requirements for pharmacists.
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