On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on an appeal of a 21-year prison sentence of Dr. Xiulu Ruan, after lower courts denied him a good-faith defense for his pain-management prescriptions. As the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (“AAPS”) argued in its amicus brief, such prison sentences should not be imposed against […]
Too often government regulations seeking to solve a problem end up creating new ones. That is what has happened with an Arizona law that currently imposes harmful one-size-fits-all limits on the options of physicians treating pain patients. The truth is that legitimate prescriptions to treat pain are not the major cause of the opioid epidemic. Nonetheless these treatments appear to be an easy target for […]
On Dec 27, 2021, AAPS, along with Jeffrey Singer, M.D., filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to reverse the unjust conviction of Dr. Xiulu Ruan. “The question presented, on which the circuits are deeply divided, is whether a physician alleged to have prescribed controlled substances outside the usual course […]
Uninsured and other self-pay patients are facing increasing difficulty filling legitimate prescriptions for medically-appropriate pain medications in part due to one-size-fits all rules being imposed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. As Marilyn Singleton, M.D., J.D., submitted as President of AAPS in comments to HHS in March 2019: “[T]oo often the unintended consequences created by […]
To: Vanila M. Singh, MD, MACM Chief Medical OfficerOffice of the Assistant Secretary for HealthU.S. Department of Health and Human Services. May 10, 2019 Thank you, Dr. Singh and Members of the Best Practices Pain Management Task Force, for your work, An opioid crisis is plaguing the U.S., and heroic measures are in place to […]
The U.S. is said to be suffering from a crisis in deaths from opioid overdoses, prompting legislative and other efforts to clamp down on physician prescribing of these drugs. However, this effort is likely misdirected, and targeting legal prescriptions is thus unlikely to reduce overdose deaths, according to a careful review of official government data by […]
Forcing doctors to electronically prescribe all controlled drugs, as in Oklahoma proposed bill Req. No. 8141, is a “flawed and misguided” idea that will not reduce opioid abuse, writes Albert L. Fisher, M.D., president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), in a letter to Representative Charles McCall, Speaker of the Oklahoma House […]
Representative Charles Mc Call Speaker of the House Room 401 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Dear Representative Mc Call, As president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, I am writing you about a draft bill that would require electronic prescribing (E-Prescribing) of scheduled drugs. Some Oklahoma lawmakers think that more […]
The latest fad, a “free” smartphone app called Pokémon GO, has reportedly exceeded even Twitter and pornography in popularity. One hospital has banned it for employees because they were glued to their screens instead of interacting with patients.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the federal government has jurisdiction over only three crimes: treason, counterfeiting, and piracy, writes Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) General Counsel Andrew Schlafly in the summer issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. “The Founders would be shocked at the degree to which the federal government is […]