High-quality palliative care must include timely, effective management of the distressing symptoms of serious illness. Medications, including opioid analgesics, are a critical tool in this effort. For many patients, even short delays in accessing needed medications can be devastating.
AAHPM considers the broad availability of high-quality palliative care to be of paramount importance, yet its members also recognize the need to address the issue of prescription drug abuse. AAHPM believes it is essential to strike the proper balance between reducing abuse and maintaining legitimate patient access to needed medications. This balance serves as the Academy’s guiding principle when it weighs in on prescribing issues.
Partnerships for Balanced Opioid Policies
AAHPM pursues opportunities to partner with other organizations to shape the broader discourse about the proper role of opioid analgesics in the treatment of pain.
Collaborative for REMS Education (CO*RE)
AAHPM is a founding member of the Collaborative for REMS Education, which has developed education addressing safe and effective opioid prescribing, appropriate use of opioid antagonists, safe storage and disposal, abuse-deterrent formulations, addiction and use disorder screening, and prescribing in special populations.
Read AAHPM’s comments to the FDA on its blueprint for REMS Education.
AMA Substance Use and Pain Task Force
AAHPM serves as a member of the AMA Substance Use and Pain Task Force. The Task Force works to develop policy recommendations, clinical best practices, and educational resources to reduce the nation’s burden from opioid-related misuse, overdose and death.
National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative
To improve coordination and accelerate the pace of change, the National Academy of Medicine has partnered with more than 80 organizations to form the Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises.