At its May 26 meeting, the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia endorsed the new 2017 Canadian Guideline for Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain as best practices for physicians in Nova Scotia. “The guidelines reflect the most current scientific evidence available in treating chronic non-cancer pain. The evidence concludes that high doses of opioids over long periods of time pose serious risks to patients including opioid dependency, addiction and overdose,” said Dr. Gus Grant, Registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia. Dr. Grant is one of the authors of the new
At its May 27thmeeting, the College Council endorsed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain as best practices for physicians in Nova Scotia. “We recognize these guidelines represent a significant departure from present practice for many physicians,” said Dr. Gus Grant, Registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia. “The existing threshold dose is 200 milligrams per day of morphine. The CDC guidelines urge caution at doses of 50 milligrams and to avoid doses in excess of 90 milligrams. In essence, this represents a dramatic change, a dramatic [...]
The College will not be offering the Clinician Assessment for Practice Program (CAPP) examination going forward and has cancelled the exam scheduled for June, 2015. Launched in 2005, CAPP was designed to select and support International Medical Graduates (IMGs) who are practice-ready, without any additional formal residency training in Canada. It created a pathway for IMGs to receive provisional licensure to practise with supervision in underserviced communities, while working towards full medical licensure. This decision will not affect those physicians currently licensed through CAPP. These physicians will continue to receive support and supervision from the College while in practice. The College annually conducts a review of CAPP as part of its approach to quality assurance. [...]
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia (CPSNS) is launching an awareness campaign aimed at encouraging patients and physicians to explore pain management alternatives. The goal of the campaign is to support a broader conversation between patients and physicians when dealing with pain management. “We believe that if we expand the dialogue between doctor and patient, we might improve the management of pain,” said Dr. Gus Grant, Registrar & CEO at the CPSNS. “We also believe this may improve physician prescribing practices.” The College acknowledges that misuse of prescription drugs is a complex problem that causes significant social harm. The College has identified the need to take action within its public safety mandate, without compromising the care given [...]
Canada is the second largest prescribing nation of opioids in the world. Nova Scotia is among the provinces with the highest rates of opioid prescribing. The harm associated with the growing abuse and misuse of monitored drugs such as opioids is a significant public health and safety issue. At its March meeting, the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia approved a new policy regarding the prescribing of monitored drugs by physicians in the province. The policy states: When caring for patients in episodic, urgent or emergent care settings, physicians must review the patient’[...]
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