Charles von Gunten, MD, PhD, on Protecting Opioid Access for Patients in Need
2018 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium
Charles von Gunten, MD, PhD, of OhioHealth, discusses the critical need for opioids to manage cancer pain as well as the myth of addiction, which may impede best care.
Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, MPH, PhD, of St. Louis University, discusses study findings on married cancer survivors with advanced stage disease who were less likely to die by suicide, highlighting the value of supportive care in cancer survivorship (Abstract 181).
Eric Roeland, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the wide variation among physicians in preventing vomiting from highly emetogenic chemotherapy (Abstract 74).
Leslie J. Blackhall, MD, of the University of Virginia, discusses abuse of opioids, prescribing responsibly, and reducing cancer pain while also decreasing the risk of misusing these agents.
Katherine C. Lee, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses her study findings that showed older patients with metastatic cancer who survived emergency general surgery experienced higher intensity end-of-life care than similar patients who did not undergo surgery (Abstract 56).
Mihir M. Kamdar, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses study findings on a smartphone app called ePAL, which significantly reduces pain and pain-related hospital admissions by combining patient-reported outcome data and artificial intelligence via a telemedicine platform (Abstract 76).