Ed. Note:  The following is a press release from pain-topix.com.

June 9, 2006 -- Experts agree that pain in America is a healthcare crisis, and surveys have revealed that half of all persons may suffer chronic or recurring pain conditions. Many of them are either untreated or undertreated for their pain, and the economic impact is staggering, costing hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

Meanwhile, healthcare providers are bombarded with information coming from many directions: associations, foundations, journals, news media, government agencies, and product manufacturers. Busy practitioners do not have time to wade through, make sense of, and put into practice the information they need most.

Helping bring order to this chaos, "Pain Treatment Topix" –– http://www.Pain-Topix.com –– is a new noncommercial website for healthcare professionals. It provides evidence-based clinical news, information, research, and education on the causes and effective treatment of all pain conditions.

According to Pain Treatment Topix Publisher/Editor, Stewart B. Leavitt, MA, PhD, “In many ways, Pain-Topix.com acts as a clearinghouse gathering and logically organizing all the clinical essentials of pain management at one website; thereby, visitors can make the most of their time on the Internet. This is an open-access website –– all of the resources are available free of charge, without restriction or required registration –– and we are not promoting or selling any products or services.”

Pain-Topix.com is designed for easy navigation, and among the important pain-related offerings are:

-- The most complete listings anywhere of events, education courses, clinical guidelines, research reviews, and links to related websites in the field.

-- Original articles, reports, and answers to frequently asked questions provide evidence-based summaries and helpful practice perspectives.

-- Special sections address safety issues in medication prescribing, and the problems of pain and addiction.

-- Patient education materials are offered for the benefit of healthcare providers to make available for their pain patients, as appropriate.

-- There are bimonthly News/Research Updates, and the quarterly newsletter

-– "Topix e-Briefing" – provides review articles, interviews, research summaries, and other relevant advice for everyday clinical practice.

Leavitt emphasizes that Pain Treatment Topix is dedicated to complying with the highest ethical standards in the presentation of accurate and useful medical information. The site is HONcode (Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct) certified, and also abides by ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education) standards, US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidance on industry-supported scientific and educational activities, and requirements of similar organizations. “All resources that we create are reviewed by an expert medical advisory panel for consistency with sound and accepted clinical practice,” he says.

Pain Treatment Topix is modeled after another successful project –– "Addiction Treatment Forum" (http://www.ATForum.com) –– which Leavitt and colleagues started in 1992. This has become a leading noncommercial educational program in the addiction treatment field worldwide.

Both Pain Treatment Topix and Addiction Treatment Forum rely on sponsor support in the form of unrestricted educational grants to fund the considerable costs of developing and providing quality content free of charge to a worldwide audience. Mallinckrodt Inc., St. Louis, MO –– a leading manufacturer of opioid analgesic products –– is the current sponsor of both projects.
 

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