Choices Matter: ASER Partners with Pacira Pharmaceuticals to Launch National Campaign to Combat Opioid Epidemic Over the past year, America’s struggle with the growing opioid epidemic has swept national headlines. New reports estimate 78 people die every day in the U.S. from overuse of opioids.1 Adding to this problem is a surreptitious factor: surgery has become an unintentional gateway to this tragic epidemic. In fact, research shows that one-in-10 patients prescribed an opioid following surgery report becoming addicted to or dependent on the drug. It’s clear that we need to improve the dialogue between patients and surgeons related to postsurgical pain management – many patients are still unaware that they have choices, including nonopioid options. That’s why ASER partnered with Pacira Pharmaceuticals to launch Choices Matter, a national, unbranded campaign designed to educate, empower and activate patients, caregivers and physicians to proactively discuss postsurgical pain management, including non-opioid options before surgery. The campaign provides an opportunity to drive consideration for non-opioid alternatives, which can potentially minimize or virtually eliminate the need for prolonged use of opioids after surgery. The Choices Matter campaign launched August 1 in New York City, featuring a top orthopedic surgeon and professional athlete and television personality Gabby Reece. Gabby recently had her own knee replacement surgery without the help of prescription opioids, which made Choices Matter an especially relevant and timely campaign for her. The campaign website – PlanAgainstPain. com – features helpful tools for patients about to undergo their own surgeries, including a customized doctor discussion guide that allows patients to facilitate conversations about non-opioid options with their surgeons. To-date, Choices Matter has generated nearly 240 media placements and more than 476.5 million media impressions. Highlights include a New York Times Letter to the Editor from ASER President, Dr. T.J. Gan, which leveraged key statistics from a national survey of patients and surgeons conducted by Pacira. Additional coverage was featured in USA Today, Good Day New York, U.S. News & World Report, CNBC-TV, Self. com, CBS New York and Parade.com. PlanAgainstPain.com has generated more than 45,000 page views and 180 discussion guide downloads to date. While our efforts have sparked a national dialogue about alternatives to opioids, there is much more work to be done to combat this growing epidemic. For more information visit PlanAgainstPain.com. n References 1. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/ Gabby’s Story By Gabrielle Reece, Professional Volleyball Player, Sports Announcer, Fashion Model & Actress Professional Athlete and Television Personality Gabby Reece Talks About Recovery After Surgery T he intense pain in my knee was starting to affect my life, especially when I exercised or played volleyball. When it got to a place where I knew I couldn’t make it better through training, nutrition or therapy, I decided it was time to get my knee replaced. It has been a little over six months since I had my surgery, and recovery has been a long road for me. Prior to the procedure, I had made a personal decision not to take opioids. Although I was given a low-dose painkiller in the hospital, I knew I didn’t want to take a prescription home with me. I’m very respectful of the fact that opioids are addictive and, although I consider myself a strong person physically and mentally, I’m aware that addiction shows no discrimination when it comes to age, gender, ethnicity, lifestyle, etc. – it can happen to anyone. In fact, a recent survey found that one-in-10 patients prescribed an opioid following surgery report becoming addicted to or dependent on the drug. I’ve been proactive in trying to avoid that because it’s important to me to stay holistic as possible in my recovery through sleep, stress management, ASER ALERT • VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 • aserhq.org exercise and nutrition. What I didn’t know is that there are many options available for managing pain after surgery, including non-opioids. Choices Matter is important to me because I believe we should all be advocates for our own health. This program is about giving patients the resources they need to make the most educated choice for them. That’s why I’m encouraging people to have a conversation with their doctor about alternatives to managing pain after surgery, including nonopioid options. Visit PlanAgainstPain.com to learn more and download a discussion guide that can help you or a loved one have this important conversation. n 15
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