Harry J. Gould, III, MD, PhD
With the FDA’s blessing in mid-December on the administration of vaccines for COVID-19 and subsequent indications of downward trends in the rate of infections, hospitalizations and deaths associated with the virus came a feeling that the worst of the pandemic was past and we were on a return path to recover normalcy. Even with large numbers of individuals that chose not to be vaccinated, the falling numbers reflecting the impact of disease were encouraging and many businesses, organizations, and individuals began to abandon mitigation practices, i.e., social distancing and masking, and began returning to former practices and patterns of behavior. In-person visits in clinical practice began to replace the virtual platforms and we were again able to apply our mitigating strategies for reducing medication misuse, abuse and diversion, thereby lessening some of the provider’s anxiety associated with the impaired ability to identify potential problems related to opioid management.
Indeed, the Southern Pain Society’s (SPS) planning committee for the 2021 Annual Meeting, upon reviewing the trends in societal response to the vaccines, was cautiously optimistic and was looking forward to being able to hold our annual meeting in-person. Despite the committee’s best efforts to plan and deliver an informative and thought-provoking meeting that might also serve as an indicator that we were on the mend, the trend in disease statistics foreshadowed a lack of support for these efforts. Due to the establishment and spread of variants of COVID-19 in the population, the rate of infections, hospitalizations and deaths shifted and by mid-August had returned to, and in many places surpassed, levels that had been recorded at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic. By the late August, elective procedures and in-person appointments in clinics were again being replaced by virtual visits. As a professional organization, the SPS could no longer be reasonably certain about ensuring individual safety for our participants, chose not to put individuals at risk of becoming seriously ill and postponed the 2021 meeting; perhaps a fortuitous decision in light of the additional complications imposed by Hurricane Ida.
The distractions of the last 18 months have emphasized the importance of maintaining and expanding efforts to improve patient safety and reliably delivering appropriate and effective care even in the face of adversity. As the pandemic continues, the SPS is expanding efforts to maintain and offer new opportunities to share ideas and express concerns, challenges, and potential solutions for the challenges facing our patients and practices. In offering opportunities to support scholarly activity and communication, like the recent virtual forum for abstract presentations. We hope to encourage those with the wisdom and experience accrued through years of experience and those new to the field of pain medicine to come together and share ideas and experiences and hopefully create a forum for inquiry that will foster the pursuit of a better understanding of complex condition we strive to treat; its proper assessment; and optimal treatment options supported by evidence necessary for making the most appropriate management decisions. I encourage you to follow our newsletter and postings on social media for opportunities as we continue to monitor the pandemic and set our sights on the future when we will be able to meet again with the pandemic behind us, even stronger than before.