Pain Management

Reading your article on health care insurance last month I was struck by how Maryland is attempting to make health care services available to all state residents at an affordable price ("Maryland picks model for essential health insurance benefits," Sept. 27). I was gratified to see that the state government recognizes what a critical issue pain management has become. As workers in a hospital emergency room in a small town in Maryland we see many individuals who experience chronic pain and come to the ER for treatment.

Reading your article on health care insurance last month I was struck by how Maryland is attempting to make health care services available to all state residents at an affordable price ("Maryland picks model for essential health insurance benefits," Sept. 27). I was gratified to see that the state government recognizes what a critical issue pain management has become. As workers in a hospital emergency room in a small town in Maryland we see many individuals who experience chronic pain and come to the ER for treatment.

Dr. Charles Morris Narrow, a noted pain management and rehabilitation physician, died of a heart attack Nov. 19 in his Owings Mills home. He was 48. The day he died, he had been expected to leave for Israel, where he was scheduled to speak at the annual conference of the Israel Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Narrow was born and raised in Levittown, Pa., and earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1978 from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind. He graduated from Ross University School of Medicine in Edison, N.J., in 1988 and completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation in 1992 at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he was chief resident.

The new Wegmans in Columbia has joined forces with Saint Agnes Hospital to present a free monthly health-related speaker series in the Wegmans Market Cafe. "Wellness at Wegmans," featuring physicians and other health care experts from the hospital, will run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month from October through June, the grocer said this week. "Wegmans is all about getting healthy food on the table fast and easy," Wendy Webster, manager of the Columbia store, said in the announcement.

America is seriously divided about controlling chronic pain, which afflicts more than 50 million people and costs the country $100 billion a year. On the one hand, we grossly under-treat it. Management of chronic pain and the pain of dying patients is arguably the most egregiously neglected field of medicine. On the other hand, as a society, we have become obsessed with the war on drugs - and the fear of addiction to opioids (narcotics). Pain patients who were functioning well on morphine-like drugs such as oxycodone (OxyContin)

As part of a federal project aimed at better treating pain, the University of Maryland, Baltimore will begin revamping the way it teaches future doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists. Pain affects approximately 100 million Americans and their treatment and lost productivity are estimated to cost up to $635 billion, according to the National Institutes of Health, which recruited academic centers to help with the problem. A pain consortium of two dozen NIH agencies received 56 proposals and picked 11 universities to be Centers of Excellence in Pain Education.

The Maryland Board of Physicians has released the list of doctors and other medical professionals who were sanctioned in September. Here is a summary of the actions; for more information, see The Baltimore Sun's Consuming Interests blog . The list: Romeo A. Ferrer, M.D., OB/GYN, Severna Park. Summary suspension. Improperly administered anesthesia. Thomas L. Fieldson, M.D., General practice, Waldorf. Summary suspension of June 10, 2010, is vacated, probation for 5 years subject to terms and conditions; and restriction from practicing pain management medicine and dispensing any opiates or benzodiazepine medications for any longer than 3 days and only in an emergency situation.

It is often the silent patients who suffer the most - those who don't wince, cry or writhe. For them, debilitating pain is not something to fear; it's a fact of life. "The quiet ones scare me the most," said Dr. Paul W. Davies, director of the pain management program at Anne Arundel Medical Center. "They've been in pain so long, they've become disassociated with it." Davies' 6-month-old program is an indicator that the treatment of chronic pain - once limited to a handful of institutions - has become a staple at community hospitals and larger centers as well.

PEOPLEHospice of Chesapeake names medical chiefHospice of the Chesapeake has announced the appointment of Dr. Russell DeLuca as hospice medical director.Dr. DeLuca will lead Hospice's clinical team and help make key decisions affecting the care Hospice of the Chesapeake provides to terminally ill patients and their families."Dr. DeLuca has been involved with our Hospice for quite some time as an active referral source," said President Erwin Abrams. "His knowledge of disease processes, pain management, and the special needs of patients is impressive and will certainly benefit out patients and families."

The new Wegmans in Columbia has joined forces with Saint Agnes Hospital to present a free monthly health-related speaker series in the Wegmans Market Cafe. "Wellness at Wegmans," featuring physicians and other health care experts from the hospital, will run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month from October through June, the grocer said this week. "Wegmans is all about getting healthy food on the table fast and easy," Wendy Webster, manager of the Columbia store, said in the announcement.

As part of a federal project aimed at better treating pain, the University of Maryland, Baltimore will begin revamping the way it teaches future doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists. Pain affects approximately 100 million Americans and their treatment and lost productivity are estimated to cost up to $635 billion, according to the National Institutes of Health, which recruited academic centers to help with the problem. A pain consortium of two dozen NIH agencies received 56 proposals and picked 11 universities to be Centers of Excellence in Pain Education.

An estimated 3.5 million cancer patients around the globe are in severe pain from their disease, but many get no relief. In poor countries the cost is considered too high for drugs like morphine when such opioids are often stolen, abused or not taken according to instruction. But some Johns Hopkins University scientists have been working on a solution for those patients, as well as some in the United States, that uses a flexible button-sized disk implanted under the skin that releases consistent doses of painkiller over a month.

Women spend longer in labor than they did 50 years ago, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health . The study of 140,000 deliveries said the main reason may be due to changes in delivery room practices. The study, published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, compared childbirth data in the early 1960s to data from the early 2000s. Researchers found that the first stage of labor -- when the cervix dilates but there's no pushing -- increased by 2.6 hours for first-time mothers.

The former Gladys Spellman Specialty Hospital and Nursing Center, located for 43 years adjacent to Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, has moved to Laurel Regional Hospital and has a new name. The Gladys Spellman Specialty Care Unit, or GSSCU, on the fourth-floor of Laurel Regional Hospital received patients transferred from the old facility June 30. The new unit has 46 licensed specialty care beds and offers comprehensive care for adults whose health care needs require more than what can be provided in a home environment or a nursing home.

The Maryland Board of Physicians has released the list of doctors and other medical professionals who were sanctioned in September. Here is a summary of the actions; for more information, see The Baltimore Sun's Consuming Interests blog . The list: Romeo A. Ferrer, M.D., OB/GYN, Severna Park. Summary suspension. Improperly administered anesthesia. Thomas L. Fieldson, M.D., General practice, Waldorf. Summary suspension of June 10, 2010, is vacated, probation for 5 years subject to terms and conditions; and restriction from practicing pain management medicine and dispensing any opiates or benzodiazepine medications for any longer than 3 days and only in an emergency situation.

The recent arrest of four "Final Exit Network" members - one in Baltimore - in connection with the death of a 58-year-old Georgia man again focuses attention on the painful issue of assisted suicide. Surely we all can agree that dying with a helium-filled plastic bag tied over your head is no way to honor the human dignity in each of us. Society should be able to come up with better choices than being in pain or killing yourself. People rightly fear being seriously ill and in pain or alone in a hospital room surrounded by strangers.

The former Gladys Spellman Specialty Hospital and Nursing Center, located for 43 years adjacent to Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, has moved to Laurel Regional Hospital and has a new name. The Gladys Spellman Specialty Care Unit, or GSSCU, on the fourth-floor of Laurel Regional Hospital received patients transferred from the old facility June 30. The new unit has 46 licensed specialty care beds and offers comprehensive care for adults whose health care needs require more than what can be provided in a home environment or a nursing home.

Pain specialist selectedM. Mike Massumi, M.D., has been named director of Carroll County General Hospital's Center for Pain Management and Rehabilitative Medicine.Massumi has experience in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of patients in chronic pain.Massumi is a diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Academy of Pain Management. He completed medical school at the University of Birmingham in England and conducted his residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Dr. Charles Morris Narrow, a noted pain management and rehabilitation physician, died of a heart attack Nov. 19 in his Owings Mills home. He was 48. The day he died, he had been expected to leave for Israel, where he was scheduled to speak at the annual conference of the Israel Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Narrow was born and raised in Levittown, Pa., and earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1978 from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind. He graduated from Ross University School of Medicine in Edison, N.J., in 1988 and completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation in 1992 at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he was chief resident.

It is often the silent patients who suffer the most - those who don't wince, cry or writhe. For them, debilitating pain is not something to fear; it's a fact of life. "The quiet ones scare me the most," said Dr. Paul W. Davies, director of the pain management program at Anne Arundel Medical Center. "They've been in pain so long, they've become disassociated with it." Davies' 6-month-old program is an indicator that the treatment of chronic pain - once limited to a handful of institutions - has become a staple at community hospitals and larger centers as well.