ROME, Ga., April 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New study data, to be presented at this month's annual meeting of the American Pain Society in Tampa, report a sharp drop in the level of chronic pain reported by patients after using pharmacy compounded non-opioid prescription pain creams. The patients also reported a major decrease in their reliance on traditional, opioid-based oral medications like hydrocodone and oxycodone.
The patient outcome surveys are among those selected for the author-attended poster sessions at the annual meeting, representing "the best innovations and research in the study and treatment of pain," according to the American Pain Society's website.
With one of every three Americans, an estimated 100 million people, suffering from chronic pain, the total national economic cost associated with chronic pain is estimated by the Institutes of Medicine to be as high as $635 billion every year. This is ten times more the costs usually reported that involve opioid-related abuse, addiction, and accidental death, and is the result of inadequately managing chronic pain, resulting in what the IOM calls the "conundrum of opioids."
Attendees of the American Pain Society's 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting will have an opportunity to view and discuss the survey results with Tino Unlap, Ph.D., principal investigator for Patient Outcomes Analytics (POA). POA conducted the scientific studies under contract to DeTOURE, a research and development organization supporting outcomes associated with the compounding of topical non-opioid pain creams.
This will be the second major presentation for DeTOURE-sponsored research in the last 30 days. In early April, it presented the findings from a study of senior citizens suffering from chronic pain at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's annual meeting. That survey also reported a significant reduction in reported pain levels among patients who used a pharmacy compounded non-opioid cream.
The three topics to be presented at the APS conference are:
"These studies confirm that using topical, non-opioid anti-pain creams to reduce pain as well as lead to a reduction in the use of oral pain medications is a viable solution to the growing epidemic of chronic pain in America," said Rob Gussenhoven, PharmD, Chief Scientist at DeTOURE. "Treating chronic pain is vital — not only to our patients' wellbeing, but also to the wellbeing of our society. By bringing the results of these surveys to the members of the American Pain Society, I believe they will recognize both the direct and secondary values inherent in lessening Americans' dependency on opioids, and adopt other approaches, such as the prescribing of creams which address pain at the source, rather than through a systemic approach with its negative, long-term impact."