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This is my last President’s
address for the Southern Pain Society. When I became President two
years ago, I had big shoes to fill taking over from Bert Ray. I
am extremely fortunate that Bert has remained a great friend and
colleague and has continued to provide the Society with his guidance
and help. When I agreed to accept the President’s position,
I had several goals for our Society. I wanted us to expand our member
base, provide education on all levels--from practitioners to consumers
and lobbyists, and either improve our administrative structure or
make the decision to hire an independent Executive Director, all
while maintaining our financial viability.
I am pleased to report that this year we have achieved
most, if not all, of our goals. We have expanded our financial base,
and during the past two years we have managed to keep our expenses
down. Our annualmeetings have been tremendously successful. We are
now in the best financial position ever enjoyed by the Southern
Pain Society. We have educated hundreds of primary care physicians,
pain specialists, and allied health providers at our past two meetings,
while generating a profit for the society.
During the past several years, we have seen a growth
in the awareness of pain medicine as a specialty, and our advice
has been sought by Congress and by health leaders from around the
world. This growth has not been without challenges, however. While
we have been busy trying to educate consumers about the appropriate
use of opiates, for example, the media has been full of stories
of criminals posing as patients to illegally obtain drugs. This
media attention could have backfired on the specialty of pain medicine;
however, we faced these problems proactively. When the problem of
OxyContin diversion arose, we raised a collective voice urging that
our elected officials adopt a balanced and well-considered response.
We have also worked Drug Enforcement Agency to help solve the problem
of under-treatment of pain and addiction.
This year, we started a new program
offering seven small educational conferences around the country
on a variety of topics relevant for pain. Working collaboratively
with Mike Ainsworth of Synergy and under the direction of Shashidhar
Kori, we began this new program in various locations in the Southeast.
These conferences were supported by an unrestricted educational
grant from Elan Pharmaceuticals. They succeeded in providing in-depth
information about pain topics ranging from fibromyalgia to high-end
interventional options to hundreds of primary care specialists.
This year’s Southern Pain Society Annual Meeting on the cruise
ship Sovereign of the Seas, also chaired by Dr. Shashidhar Kori,
promises to be one of our most successful meetings ever.
We have expanded our member base and even added
a new Puerto Rican chapter of the Southern Pain Society. Under the
direction of Drs. Albert Ray and Victor Mojica the 2003 meeting
will be held in Puerto Rico. We have also made an important change
by moving our administrative structure to the direction of Lori
Postal, our diligent and hard-working, new Executive Director. Finally,
I am extremely pleased that Jeannie Koestler will be assuming the
Presidency of the Southern Pain Society. Jeannie has long been a
tremendous advocate of the Society, and she has a most able leader
of the Mississippi Chapter (our largest). The next two years will
undoubtedly bring her challenges that none of us can foresee, and
she will need our help to continue the educational mission of our
Society. The Southern Pain Society will undoubtedly benefit from
Jeannie’s experience, knowledge, and leadership ability, and
I am confident that we are in the best hands possible.
Thank you all for your confidence in me and your
support. It has been a great two years.
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