As COVID-19 continues to influence individual and corporate function worldwide, The Southern Pain Society leadership is working diligently to ensure the best plan for our upcoming Annual Meeting in September. We would like all to know that while information on the current unprecedented pandemic is evolving quickly, your health and safety remains our primary concern.

The efficacy of new drugs is usually reasonably accurate. We have multiple scales for efficacy, and the studies are powered for clinical effect. However, the studies often produce inaccurate adverse event or adverse effect profiles. To determine the likely adverse effects, post-approval we have to piece together multiple lines of evidence. The physician online chat boards have been very helpful.

Quarantined people have to go out to get their prescriptions and can’t get a backup supply.

As you may know or have read in our President’s Column, Dr. John Satterthwaite has stepped down from his long-standing role as SPS Treasurer and will remain on the board as a non-voting member. We are grateful for his 34 years at the financial helm of the organization and appreciate his wisdom, historical perspective and recommendations that have kept SPS healthy, financially sound and robust.

The 2019 Southern Pain Society (SPS) conference was held September 13-15 in New Orleans.  We enjoyed reconnecting with previous conference attendees and meeting many first-time attendees. It was great to have a new attendee share that “this is great–so much better than I ever expected.” It would be difficult to find someone who didn’t learn at least a few new things.