Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Board Member and Medical Director for the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers Ted Wymyslo, MD, and Executive Vice President Ann Spicer met with officials from the Ohio Attorney General (AG) Mike DeWine’s office on February 17 to discuss the opioid prescribing problem from the physician perspective. Officials from the AGl’s office included Jonathan Blanton, chief of the Consumer Protection Section, and Amy O’Grady, the AG’s director of criminal justice initiatives.
The AG’s office reached out to the OAFP asking that we set up meetings with family physicians who could speak to the origins of the “Pain as a Fifth Vital Sign” movement and provide historical context to prescribing opioids for chronic pain. An earlier meeting with OAFP President-Elect Ryan Kaufman, MD, was held February 10.
Dr. Wymyslo, as former director of the Ohio Department of Health, brought an important public and community health perspective to this meeting.
Dr. Wymyslo, thank you for representing the OAFP at this meeting!