Health Columnist Judy Foreman to Discuss Chronic Pain April 5 at Medical Center

Health columnist Judy Foreman, who wrote “A Nation in Pain,” will discuss the need for greater education and research into managing chronic pain, at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at the University of Rochester Medical Center  Class of 62 Auditorium. The free lecture is open to the public with advanced registration.

Chronic pain has a devastating impact on the lives of more than 100 million U.S. adults and is the second most common reason for primary care appointments. And, physicians are concerned about the lack of assessment tools, education about treatment and fear that patients may abuse medications. 

Foreman, a nationally syndicated medical journalist who worked at The Boston Globe for 23 years, will explore the complementary role of medication and behavioral approaches to pain management. From personal experience, she argues that more research, funding and physician education is needed to narrow the gap between what people in pain need and what physicians understand and the steps they take to care for them.

Her perspective highlights the day-long program on Advances in Pain Management, led by John Markman, M.D., associate professor and director of UR Medicine’sNeuromedicine Pain Management Center and Translational Pain Research Program. The full-day seminar will address a variety of topics including pain and behavior, opoid therapy, neuropathic orofacial pain, headaches and migraine, coordinating care for patients with cancer pain, fibromyalgia and neuralgia. Speakers include Tor Wager, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado at Boulder Institute for Cognitive Science, and URMC’s Shirley Rast, F.N.P., of the Neuromedicine Pain Management Center, Eli Eliav, D.M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., director of the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and Catherine M. LaVigne, M.D., chief of the Neurology’s Headache Center.  

Registration for Foreman’s lecture is required by Friday, April 4. Call (585) 275-4392. Parking is available in the ramp garage.