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Mass Medical Society Expands Advocacy on Opioid Crisis

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Tuesday, May 02, 2017

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Mass Medical Society has expanded their advocacy in response to the opioid crisis by adding additional policies. Mass Medical made the announcement at their annual meeting in Boston on April 29.

The new policies include advocate for a pilot supervised injection facility program in the state, to be under the direction and oversight of the state; promote standing orders for the narcotic-overdose drug naloxone by physicians and encourage private and public insurers to include the drug on its preferred drug list with minimal or no cost sharing; advocate for access to medication-assisted treatments for state and county prisoners with opioid use disorder; urge the establishment and expansion of needle exchange programs; and reaffirm and amend existing policy to state that the Society recognizes addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disease and that the Society will work to increase access to services for individuals with substance use disorder.

The adoption of these policies are latest in a list of actions taken by Mass Medical to address the opioid epidemic.

Mass Medical’s Efforts Against Opioids

Two years ago, Mass Medical created guidelines that outlined best practices for prescribers that were adopted by the state Board of Registration in Medicine.

At the same time, Mass Medical started offering free educational course in opioids and pain management for all prescribers. To date, nearly 10,000 prescribers have taken over 28,000 courses.

Related Slideshow: #50 to #1: Doctors in Worcester Who Filled the Most Medicare Prescription Claims

#50

Prescriber: TATYANA SAYKO MD

Claims Filled: 6,230

Total Cost: $318K

# of Medicare D Patients: 231

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 23%

#49

Prescriber: DEMOSTHENES AGIOMAVRITIS M.D.

Claims Filled: 6,285

Total Cost: $326K

# of Medicare D Patients: 255

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 19%

#48

Prescriber: MARIE HOBART M.D.

Claims Filled: 6,440

Total Cost: $427K

# of Medicare D Patients: 269

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 11%

#47

Prescriber: DANIEL MASSARELLI M.D.

Claims Filled: 6,502

Total Cost: $368K

# of Medicare D Patients: 487

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 20%

#46

Prescriber: WILLIAM CROOKS MD

Claims Filled: 6,547

Total Cost: $343K

# of Medicare D Patients: 355

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 17%

#45

Prescriber: PETER ZACHARIA MD

Claims Filled: 6,737

Total Cost: $455K

# of Medicare D Patients: 801

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 39%

#44

Prescriber: MARY HAWTHORNE M.D.

Claims Filled: 6,800

Total Cost: $395K

# of Medicare D Patients: 418

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#43

Prescriber: WALTER GOULA MD

Claims Filled: 6,848

Total Cost: $390K

# of Medicare D Patients: 283

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#42

Prescriber: SARAH MCGEE M.D.

Claims Filled: 6,990

Total Cost: $318K

# of Medicare D Patients: 297

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 23%

#41

Prescriber: DEBORAH FORD M.D.

Claims Filled: 7,022

Total Cost: $440K

# of Medicare D Patients: 276

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 19%

#40

Prescriber: NANCY SWAYZE M.D.

Claims Filled: 7,089

Total Cost: $304K

# of Medicare D Patients: 211

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 25%

#39

Prescriber: SMITA PARULKAR MD

Claims Filled: 7,155

Total Cost: $254K

# of Medicare D Patients: 383

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 17%

#38

Prescriber: CHRISTINE MACGINNIS D.O.

Claims Filled: 7,219

Total Cost: $401K

# of Medicare D Patients: 394

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 20%

#37

Prescriber: LAURA BESSETTE MD

Claims Filled: 7,262

Total Cost: $356K

# of Medicare D Patients: 327

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 19%

#36

Prescriber: RICHARD PALKEN M.D.

Claims Filled: 7,269

Total Cost: $452K

# of Medicare D Patients: 382

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#35

Prescriber: SAMEH SAID M.D.

Claims Filled: 7,304

Total Cost: $440K

# of Medicare D Patients: 415

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 20%

#34

Prescriber: ROBERT HONIG MD

Claims Filled: 7,366

Total Cost: $317K

# of Medicare D Patients: 511

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 15%

#33

Prescriber: RONALD PANTANO MD

Claims Filled: 7,412

Total Cost: $385K

# of Medicare D Patients: 347

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#32

Prescriber: RAJITHA CSUDAE MD

Claims Filled: 7,500

Total Cost: $311K

# of Medicare D Patients: 440

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 16%

#31

Prescriber: KATHLEEN OGRADY MD

Claims Filled: 7,516

Total Cost: $367K

# of Medicare D Patients: 348

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#30

Prescriber: ELIZABETH HOWARD MD

Claims Filled: 8,278

Total Cost: $396K

# of Medicare D Patients: 222

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 25%

#29

Prescriber: MICHAEL GALICA M.D.

Claims Filled: 8,605

Total Cost: $451K

# of Medicare D Patients: 557

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 16%

#28

Prescriber: ROBERT MALONEY M.D.

Claims Filled: 8,661

Total Cost: $689K

# of Medicare D Patients: 355

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 23%

#27

Prescriber: FRANCISCO GIL MD

Claims Filled: 8,712

Total Cost: $448K

# of Medicare D Patients: 275

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 21%

#26

Prescriber: DAVID FIELDS M.D.

Claims Filled: 8,960

Total Cost: $407K

# of Medicare D Patients: 353

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 25%

#25

Prescriber: SHUBHADA JAVLEKAR MD

Claims Filled: 8,986

Total Cost: $324K

# of Medicare D Patients: 529

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 15%

#24

Prescriber: NEAL FALLIS MD

Claims Filled: 9,214

Total Cost: $408K

# of Medicare D Patients: 317

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#23

Prescriber: ERIKA OLESON DO

Claims Filled: 9,310

Total Cost: $415K

# of Medicare D Patients: 292

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 16%

#22

Prescriber: WENDY BERGMAN MD

Claims Filled: 9,542

Total Cost: $392K

# of Medicare D Patients: 565

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 14

#21

Prescriber: EUGENIO CANDAL MD

Claims Filled: 9,713

Total Cost: $702K

# of Medicare D Patients: 1,572

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 42%

#20

Prescriber: GERALD GLEICH M.D.

Claims Filled: 9,760

Total Cost: $471K

# of Medicare D Patients: 313

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#19

Prescriber: ZAHRA SHEIKH MD

Claims Filled: 9,915

Total Cost: $548K

# of Medicare D Patients: 271

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 17%

#18

Prescriber: BERNARD SZYMANSKI RNCS

Claims Filled: 9,954

Total Cost: $729K

# of Medicare D Patients: 544

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 11%

#17

Prescriber: JAYANTHI KUMAR M.D.

Claims Filled: 9,980

Total Cost: $505K

# of Medicare D Patients: 358

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 17%

#16

Prescriber: KENNETH KRONLUND MD

Claims Filled: 10,195

Total Cost: $509K

# of Medicare D Patients: 677

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 18%

#15

Prescriber: ADNAN HAIDER MD

Claims Filled: 10,814

Total Cost: $487K

# of Medicare D Patients: 369

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 22%

#14

Prescriber: JON TRISTER M.D.

Claims Filled: 11,249

Total Cost: $585K

# of Medicare D Patients: 470

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 21%

#13

Prescriber: FREDERICK GEORGIAN MD

Claims Filled: 11,541

Total Cost: $588K

# of Medicare D Patients: 640

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 17%

#12

Prescriber: JEFFREY BURL MD

Claims Filled: 11,724

Total Cost: $562K

# of Medicare D Patients: 266

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 28%

#11

Prescriber: MOHAMAD OCH M.D.

Claims Filled: 11,852

Total Cost: $1.33M

# of Medicare D Patients: 553

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 17%

#10

Prescriber: MICHAEL BURDAY MD

Claims Filled: 11,965

Total Cost: $402K

# of Medicare D Patients: 524

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 13%

#9

Prescriber: MARK SCHRANK MD

Claims Filled: 12,139

Total Cost: $653K

# of Medicare D Patients: 793

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 19%

#8

Prescriber: ALAN JACKSON MD

Claims Filled: 12,730

Total Cost: $653K

# of Medicare D Patients: 495

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 21%

#7

Prescriber: EDWARD DRISCOLL M.D.

Claims Filled: $12,969

Total Cost: $594K

# of Medicare D Patients: 663

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 15%

#6

Prescriber: MANJUL SHUKLA MD

Claims Filled: 13,288

Total Cost: $816K

# of Medicare D Patients: 578

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 20%

#5

Prescriber: TAM CHANG PA-C

Claims Filled: 14,964

Total Cost: $978K

# of Medicare D Patients: 330

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 29%

#4

Prescriber: THOMAS PATNAUDE M.D.

Claims Filled: 17,707

Total Cost: $1.27M

# of Medicare D Patients: 313

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 27%

#3

Prescriber: BESSIE HAZARD MD

Claims Filled: 18,758

Total Cost: $759K

# of Medicare D Patients: 372

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 23%

#2

Prescriber: NANCY SAID M.D.

Claims Filled: 40,458

Total Cost: $2.11M

# of Medicare D Patients: 652

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 21%

#1

Prescriber: BOGDAN NEDELESCU M.D.

Claims Filled: 54,470

Total Cost: $3.36M

# of Medicare D Patients: 885

Claims for Brand Name Drugs: 26%

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