Media Advisory: Opioid addictions expert to speak at UB on silent epidemic affecting millions of Americans

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nearly 400 nurses, physicians and other health care workers will attend the University at Buffalo School of Nursing’s 20th Annual Bullough Lecture to learn about the silent epidemic affecting the nation from pain and opioid addictions expert Peggy Compton.

Compton, PhD, the van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is the speaker for this year’s Bullough Lecture. It is the keynote event of the School of Nursing’s annual Research Day, which unites nursing scholars across Western New York to discuss and share advancements in the study of pressing health care issues.

In her presentation, “Addiction, Opioids and Pain: Exemplar Nursing Science,” Compton will explore the overlap between pain and addiction disorders, how opioids can alter pain perception, strategies for responsibly prescribing pain medication and how to recognize substance use disorders in patients with chronic pain.

When: Friday, March 31, from 3-4 p.m.

Where: 403 Hayes Hall on the UB South Campus. For a map, visit http://bit.ly/2nhJ2Nr.

Gale Burstein, MD, Erie County Commissioner of Health, will also present during Research Day between 9:50-11:30 a.m.

Media are invited to attend. On-site contact is Marcene Robinson, marcener@buffalo.edu or 716-645-4595.

Why: Prescription opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions, with more than half of patients being treated for chronic pain reportedly misusing their medication at some point.

Opioids are one of the most commonly prescribed medications used to treat individuals with chronic pain, an issue that affects nearly half of Americans at some point in their lives. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, in 2012 some 259 million opioid pain medication prescriptions were written, enough for every adult in the U.S. to have a bottle of pills.

“Substance abuse is a chronic disease and major source of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. It is also an exemplar for independent nursing intervention,” says Compton. “Understanding how it affects the human experience of pain is critical to treating the suffering associated with each.”

Compton studies the pain responses of opioid-addicted individuals, and is an expert in detecting abuse and addiction among patients with chronic pain. Her research explores opioid addiction from a neurophysiological and clinical perspective with a focus on how the presence of pain affects its expression. More recently, she has studied pain-opioid interactions on immune cells.