ASA Members Join Initiative to Address Opioid Epidemic in Colorado

The Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists (CSA) has announced that they will be collaborating as part of a physician partnership with the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) and other Colorado-based organizations on a two-year project to address the opioid epidemic. The initiative, known as The Colorado Opioid Resolution: Clinicians United to Resolve the Epidemic (CURE), will gather physician and other clinicians in Colorado to discuss specialty-specific guidelines to address the opioid crisis.   ASA applauds this latest example of physician anesthesiologists joining public and private efforts as experts in pain medicine critical to finding solutions to end opioid misuse and abuse.

This initiative will also include the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine, Colorado Academy of Family Physicians, Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Colorado Psychiatric Society, Rocky Mountain Urologic Society, Colorado chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Colorado Pain Society, Colorado Chapter of American College of Physicians, Colorado Chapter of American College of Gastroenterologists and University of Colorado Housestaff Association.

ASA members continue to be leaders in state and federal efforts to address the opioid abuse epidemic.  Two ASA members currently serve on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Pain Management Best Practices Interagency Task Force, which is also led by ASA member and physician anesthesiologist Vanila Singh, M.D., the medical director for the assistant secretary for health in HHS.