National Pain Care Policy Act Introduced in the US House of Representatives!

After four years and several revisions, the National Pain Care Policy Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in July and is expected to go the the Senate soon. Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Mike Rogers (R-MI) introduced the National Pain Care Policy Act of 2007, which would improve pain care research, education, training, and access. The pain community has been instrumental in joining forces to support and advance this important legislation.

Key components of the bill include:
• The authorization of an Institute of Medicine Conference on Pain Care
• Permanent authorization of the transinstitute Pain Consortium at the National Institutes of Health
• The creation of a grant program to improve health professionals understanding and ability to assess and appropriately treat pain
• The creation of a national public awareness campaign about pain management, conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, with particular attention to improving access to appropriate pain treatment among underserved populations.

RSDSA is one of the 80 organizations who has endorsed the bill. For more information, please visit www.rsds.org.

RSDSA Review, Spring 2007.