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AMA adopts new opioid policies

The AMA announced new policies aimed at reducing the opioid epidemic in the United States at its annual meeting, according to a press release from the organization.

"The AMA and our nation's physicians have demonstrated our commitment to ending this epidemic," Patrice A. Harris, MD, chair-elect of the AMA and chair of the AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse, said in the release. "These new policies build on the work of our task force, which has made clear that physicians must take a leading role in reversing the tide of this epidemic."

The new policies "encourage physicians to co-prescribe naloxone to patients at risk of an overdose; promote timely and appropriate access to non-opioid and non-pharmacologic treatments for pain; and support efforts to delink payments to health care facilities with patient satisfaction scores relating to the evaluation and management of pain,” according to the release.

They will allow for increased access to naloxone, support liability protections for health care providers who prescribe and administer naloxone, encourage public and private payers to include naloxone on preferred drug lists, and advocate for law enforcement, correctional settings, community organizations and schools to have access to naloxone, the release stated.

"These policies will save lives," Harris said. "That's the bottom line. Time and time again, we have seen naloxone save lives once it is in the hands of first responders. We just have to make sure that we are co-prescribing it when clinically indicated, and that it is affordable for the community and available at local pharmacies."

Delegates also adopted policies opposing the restriction of "effective, patient-specific, evidence-based pain care" for patients that need it and ending the relationship of facility payments and pain treatment patient satisfaction surveys.

"Treating pain is a priority for physicians, and we know that there are many ways to do it. We must ensure that patients have access to comprehensive pain care as well as reduce the stigma of pain," Harris said. "Judging health care facilities on an overly subjective measure — that is, how well it is perceived that they treat pain — is an overly simplistic approach to measuring clinical effectiveness." – by Chelsea Frajerman Pardes