New Global and Regional opioid consumption statistics

PPSG website users can now find global and regional consumption data for fentanyl, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, and pethidine from each Country Profile page on the PPSG international website. These can be accessed at www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/internat/countryprofiles.htm or from the PPSG homepage under International Resources.

This information can be useful in addressing patient access to essential opioid pain medications throughout the world. 

Policy Evaluation Resources for the Practitioner

An article, titled "Improving state pain policies: Recent progress and continuing opportunities," was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. This article presents recent results from the PPSG's national policy evaluation project, and describes how practitioners can use each state's findings to inform and guide state-level efforts to improve policies affecting appropriate pain management and patient care. 

Although the policy evaluation resources are specific to the U.S., the criteria used to evaluate policy also have international relevance because similar requirements or restrictions can be found in drug control and professional practice laws in other countries. The article is available at http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/reprint/57/6/341.