Responsible Opioid Prescribing eBook from FSMB Foundation

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) Foundation announced today its publication of an eBook edition of "Responsible Opioid Prescribing™: A Clinician's Guide" for Kindles, Nooks, iPads and other popular platforms.

The Foundation has created an easy-order web page for purchase and download of the eBook, which can be accessed at www.fsmb.org/book. The eBook, produced by publisher Waterford Life Sciences, is available in ePub, Kindle/mobi and Apple iBooks formats and can be read on any computer, tablet, smart-phone, or e-reader.

The eBook is priced at $16.95 and is certified for up to 7.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ by the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The FSMB's eBook web page accepts PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other standard forms of payment.

The revised and expanded 2nd edition of the book, written by pain medicine specialist Scott M. Fishman, MD, offers clinicians effective strategies for reducing the risk of addiction, abuse and diversion of opioids that they prescribe for their patients in pain. It is part of the FSMB's ongoing initiative to address the rise of opioid abuse and related deaths in the United States by better educating physicians and other clinicians about their risks and proper use. Dr. Fishman is a leading pain medicine clinician, researcher, teacher, lecturer and writer, serving as Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and professor of Anesthesiology at the University of California, Davis.

The new edition of the book offers important new material -- including research on opioid prescribing and risk management that was not available when the first edition was published in 2007 -- along with updated recommendations for prescribers. The update is especially important given the rise of opioid abuse and related deaths in the United States.

The new edition of "Responsible Opioid Prescribing" translates best-practice guidelines from leading pain medicine societies and the FSMB into pragmatic steps for risk reduction and improved patient care, including:

•Patient evaluation, including risk assessment
•Treatment plans that incorporate functional goals
•Informed consent and prescribing agreements
•Periodic review and monitoring of patients
•Referral and patient management
•Documentation
•Compliance with state and federal law
•Patient education on safe use, storage and disposal of opioid medication
•Termination strategies for chronic opioid therapy

"This vital resource in the effort to address opioid prescription abuse and misuse is now available for download to any eReading device," said FSMB Foundation President Stephen Heretick, JD. "Any physician, or other clinician, who prescribes opioids now has instant access to the best and most up-to-date information available on safe and responsible prescribing."

Source: Federation of State Medical Boards Foundation