HHS Moves to Set Up Pain Management Task Force

A federal task force to study pain management and prescription painkillers should get under way soon, HHS said in a Federal Register filing Monday.

The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force will review the practices of federal agencies in managing pain and prescribing pain medication and will propose changes.

Authorized by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, the task force is limited to 30 members, including representatives of HHS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. It will also include patients, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, first responders, experts in the field and representatives of professional, advocacy and veteran organizations, the mental health community, the addiction treatment community and hospitals. The meetings will be open to the public.

The department is accepting nominations through Sept. 27.