Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association Launch National Campaign to Reduce Dental Related Opioid Misuse and Abuse

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association (MSDA), a national non-profit membership organization dedicated to advocating for the delivery of quality based oral health care services for the Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP beneficiaries, today launched a national campaign aimed at reducing opioid use for post-surgical dental pain management. The campaign will target state Medicaid agencies, health plans, professional educational institutions and providers informing them of the risks associated with opioid overprescribing, as well as the availability of effective opioid alternatives.

MSDA will seek partnerships with stakeholders across various sectors to identify solutions to the overuse and abuse of opioids by the dental community. Pacira BioSciences, Inc. is the first partner to join this national initiative. Together, they will build and implement a national strategy to increase awareness, educate, and change the trajectory of post-surgical dental pain management away from the use of opioids to a multi-modal opioid free approach.  

"We are excited about the potential to meaningfully affect change for Medicaid beneficiaries through this educational initiative aimed at decreasing the number of patients receiving and filling opioid prescriptions after oral surgery," said Mary Foley, MPH, executive director of MSDA.

More than half of the opioids prescribed in common oral surgery procedures remain unused, resulting in more than 100 million leftover opioid pills every year.¹

"Recent research has elucidated a strong connection between filling an opioid prescription immediately before or after wisdom teeth extraction and long-term opioid use, with young people ages 13 to 30 nearly three times as likely as their peers to still be filling prescriptions weeks or months later,²" said Dave Stack, chairman and chief executive officer of Pacira. "We can do better. This collaborative with the Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association is a real opportunity to change the trajectory of postsurgical opioid use for oral surgery patients; we look forward to getting started."

About Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association (MSDA)
The Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association is the national membership non-profit corporation that represents all State Medicaid and CHIP dental programs, directors and staff, as well as individuals and groups from across the nation that seek membership to support Federal and State Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP dental programing. Since 2004, MSDA has worked collaboratively with federal, state and national partners to advance dental policy, administration and clinical services aimed at improving the oral health of Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP beneficiaries.

About Pacira BioSciences
Pacira BioSciences, Inc. is a leading provider of non-opioid pain management and regenerative health solutions dedicated to advancing and improving outcomes for health care practitioners and their patients. The company's long-acting local analgesic, EXPAREL^® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) was commercially launched in the United States in April 2012. EXPAREL utilizes DepoFoam^®, a unique and proprietary product delivery technology that encapsulates drugs without altering their molecular structure, and releases them over a desired period of time.  In April 2019, the company acquired the iovera⁰ system, a handheld cryoanalgesia device used to deliver precise, controlled doses of cold temperature only to targeted nerves. To learn more about Pacira, including the corporate mission to reduce overreliance on opioids, visit www.pacira.com.

1. Maughan BC, et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016;168:328-334.
2. Harbaugh CM, et al. JAMA. 2018;320(5):504-506. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.9023

Media Contact:
Ms. Mary E Foley
Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association
508-322-0557
[email protected]

SOURCE Medicaid|Medicare|CHIP Services Dental Association

Related Links

http://www.medicaiddental.org