CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Personnel from the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Medical Center urology department will present an abstract entitled, “Post-Operative Opioid Prescribing In Urology: Are We Contributing to the National Crisis?” in conjunction with the American Urological Association’s (AUA) annual meeting, AUA 2018, in San Francisco.
The AUA annual meeting features four full days of programming that span from female urology to prostate cancer, pediatrics to reconstruction. The UNC abstract will be presented as part of an AUA press briefing on Friday, May 18 at 10:00 a.m. PDT in the AUA Press Suite which is located in Room 3018 Overlook (3rd floor) of the Moscone West Building in San Francisco.
The UNC abstract will be presented by three of the full paper’s nine authors, Kathryn E. Hacker MD PhD, Angela B. Smith MD MS, and Matthew E. Nielsen MD MS. Non-presenting authors include Jae Jung, J. Lee Graves, Hannah E. Cook, Peggy McNaull MD, Brooke Chidgey MD, Jami Mann PharmD.
Each abstract will be presented in a standard 10-12-minute panel discussion. The briefing moderator will open the session with short comments about the subject and an introduction of presenters. Media will have the opportunity to ask questions at the conclusion of each presentation. Moderators will inject probing or provocative questions when necessary to help the media understand key points or to encourage discussion.
Following the presentation at AUA 2018, media interested in speaking with UNC presenters can call the UNC Health Care media line at +1-984-974-1140 to request interviews. Once the AUA event concludes on May 18th, more details on the UNC paper will be shared with media outlets.
The Opioid Crisis in North Carolina
In North Carolina four people die each day from an overdose of opioid medications. In response to this crisis, the UNC Medical Center established the UNC Opioid Stewardship Steering Committee.
The primary goal of the Steering Committee is to reduce potentially avoidable harms from opioids in North Carolina. To do this, the committee has developed a set of aims which include increasing access to safe and convenient disposal of opioids, and patient and provider education on treatment of post-surgical pain.
To accomplish these aims, the Committee has created a data-driven Standard Opioid Prescribing Schedule (SOPS) with specific recommendations for opioid prescribing based upon the surgical procedure and actual patient usage. It will also provide education for the prescription of opioids, pain expectations, and the appropriate disposal and storage of opioids. For more information, please visit www.UNCopioidsafeuse.org.
