“A federal advisory panel known as the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force has released a draft report listing its recommendations for improving pain care in the United States. The content is both revealing and promising, because it recognizes the complex nature of chronic pain and the difficulty in treating it effectively.
The task force was formed as a result of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. Its mission is to identify gaps and inconsistencies in acute and chronic pain management and to propose possible solutions.
The 29 members who serve on the task force include representatives from the FDA, CDC, VA and Office of National Drug Control Policy; as well as academic and medical experts in pain management, addiction treatment, pharmacy, oncology, psychiatry and interventional medicine.
The key findings of the task force are that pain management should be balanced, individualized, multidisciplinary and multi-modal. Pharmacological pain management requires careful screening and monitoring of patients to minimize risks, while non-pharmacological modalities, in particular physical therapy, also have a significant role to play. The needs of special populations such as children, women, older adults, and military personnel and veterans must also be recognized, according to the draft report. “
Read more at: https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2018/12/31/task-force-releases-draft-report-on-pain-management
Source: PainNewsNetwork.org – January 1, 2019
