Medical Professionals Learn More About Safe Prescribing at Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey’s Do No Harm Symposium

10/31/2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 30, 2017

Contact: Matt Birchenough, Media Coordinator, 201-916-1032, media@drugfreenj.org

Medical Professionals Learn More About Safe Prescribing at Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey’s Do No Harm Symposium

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Jakim, of the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Jersey Division, provided prescribers a law enforcement perspective of the opioid epidemic at Monday’s Do No Harm Symposium at Overlook Medical Center.

SUMMIT — Several dozen doctors and other prescribers gathered at Atlantic Health’s Overlook Medical Center on Monday to become better informed on safer opioid prescribing practices at the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey’s Do No Harm Symposium. 

The seminar co-sponsored by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Jersey Division, Atlantic Health System and Prevention Links.

“Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the prescribing of opioids by clinicians has increased threefold in the last 20 years,” said Angelo Valente, Executive Director of PDFNJ. “With opioid abuse at catastrophic levels in our state, the Do No Harm symposium allows leaders and stakeholders from the medical community and law enforcement to come together to discuss solutions for opioid abuse in our state. There are no easy answers.”

Speakers at the event provided prescribers with information on the opioid epidemic and prescribing data from law enforcement, medical and legal perspectives. Speakers included Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Jakim of the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Jersey Division; John E. Morrone, Partner, Frier & Levitt; Dr. Sindy Paul, MD, MPH, FACPM, Medical Education Director of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners; Dr. Bruce Bonanno, MD, FACEP; and Peter Bolo, MD, Charman, Department of Psychiatry at Overlook Medical Center.

Since it launched in 2013, the Do No Harm Symposium series has provided valuable information to doctors and health systems to help them better understand the link between opioid prescription drug abuse and rising heroin abuse. A vast majority of prescribers who have attended these symposiums said the information they learned positively impacted their prescribing practices.

“Atlantic Health System is proud to host this important dialogue between health care providers, lawmakers and law enforcement officials,” said Alan Lieber, president of Overlook Medical Center. “As we work to build healthier communities, our prescribers on the front lines can make significant impact in curtailing opioid abuse while ensuring these medications are dispensed responsibly to patients who need them.”

Atlantic Health System scheduled Do No Harm symposiums at each of the organization’s hospitals, Morristown, Overlook, Newton, Chilton and Hackettstown medical centers, bringing together experts in medicine, law enforcement and law, including Governor Chris Christie at the Morristown event.

From 1999 to 2015, more than 183,000 people died in the United States from overdoses related to prescription opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2015, 12.5 million people in the United States misused prescription opioids, according to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

“It has been vitally important to include the medical community in our battle against heroin and prescription opioid abuse,” said Carl J. Kotowski, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division. “We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with the PDFNJ on this and other important drug prevention issues.”

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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $70 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered 166 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.