Safe and Effective Management of Pain and Addiction

“Safe and Effective Management of Pain and Addiction” will be presented on Tuesday October 29, 2019; 7:30pm-9:00pm; by Dr. Carl Christensen, MD, Ph.D., D-FASAM; and Dr. Mark A. Weiner, MD, D-FASAM. The Institute of Medicine estimates around a 100 million Americans suffer with chronic pain, and it’s estimated that about 10% of our population has or has had a substance use disorder. Both chronic pain and substance use disorders are major public health challenges, and treating concurrent pain and substance addiction is especially challenging. Common prescribing practices intended to provide relief of acute and chronic pain can trigger relapse in people with substance use disorders and have also fueled an epidemic of opioid misuse, addiction and overdose death. People with pain deserve relief, and the good news is there are strategies for acute and chronic pain management that are safe and effective for people at risk of or in recovery from substance use disorders. This presentation will discuss various methods of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic pain management and their relative risks and benefits, and describe creative approaches to effective pain relief for people in recovery from substance use disorders. This program is part of the Dawn Farm Education Series, a FREE, annual education series developed to provide accurate, helpful, hopeful, practical, current information about substance use disorders, recovery, family and related issues; and to dispel the myths, misinformation, secrecy, shame and stigma that prevent people with addiction and their families from getting help and getting well.  All programs are free and open to anyone interested.  Registration is not required. 1.5 hours of free C.E. approved by MCBAP (Michigan Certification Board for Addiction Professionals) is provided. A certificate to document attendance is provided on request. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of services for people with substance use disorders. For information, please contact Dawn Farm at 734-485-8725 or [email protected], or see http://www.dawnfarmeducation.org.
Location: St. Joseph Mercy Michigan Heart and Vascular Institute auditorium, 5325 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti Michigan 48197.