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GSIPP News
A message from the GSIPP President 
Chris Bovient, DO GSIPP President I am truly honored and humbled to have been elected to serve as your president of the Georgia Society of Interventional Pain Physician for 2025 – 2027. I’m looking forward to the next two years and what we can accomplish together. We truly have one of the greatest state societies and it shows by putting on exceptional annual meetings each and every year. I’m looking forward to the next Annual Pain Summit at the Ritz at Lake Oconee April 24-26th, 2026 and hope you will join me and the rest of the board there. I am also looking forward to bringing the meeting back to Sea Island, GA July 9-11th, 2027. Mark your Calendars! This society has grown so much because of each of its members along with its founder, Dr. Carlos Giron and all the past presidents and our executive director, Dr. David Gale. I thank each of them for the foundation they have laid. As I think back on a very busy GSIPP annual meeting at Sea Island this past June where I had meetings, lectures, dinner talks, and the chance to spend time chatting with each of you, I lost my voice. This gave me a chance to reflect and listen. I realized I want to hear more from all of you. I want to hear your ideas for lecture topics. Let me or another board member know if you have an interesting topic that would serve the GSIPP members well at a future meeting; whether you present it or have another speaker in mind. If you have procedures that are mutually beneficial for our patients, let me know. If you need the backing of GSIPP or the board for legislation, we may be able to help. We have worked with our connections both on our board with Dr. Amit Patel, Dr. Travis Bailey (who is very involved with MAG), other physicians that have testified before state legislature, and our lobbyists, Chandler Haydon and David Raynor, to bring meaningful change that impacts your practices directly. So please, reach out to me with any great ideas you have. Let me hear your voice. I can be reached at cbovinet@gmail.com. Finally, what I would like to focus on during my two year term is collaboration. Collaboration with not only each other (like minded interventional pain physicians), but also with spine surgeons, and all physicians in our communities to improve patient care. Many physicians and patients are not aware of the breadth of services we offer. We need to collaborate with each other to learn new, effective, and safe procedures that can improve patient outcomes. We need to educate referring providers and surgeons in our areas about minimally-invasive treatment options that may be equally or more efficacious, but at the same time safer than the traditional surgical options. We need to continue to hone our skills and know when to refer to others. Along those lines, I would like to work towards setting up a cadaver lab for those interested whether fellows or experienced or novice physicians to come learn new advanced interventional procedures and minimally-invasive surgeries. I enjoy our meetings each year where we bring in some of the best and experienced physicians in our state and nationwide to teach us about advancements in our field so we don’t become stagnant. So I ask that you continue to grow your skills, your knowledge, or share your knowledge and experience so that we can all continue to do the best for our patients each and every day. DEA to Publish Final Rule Rescheduling Hydrocodone Combination Products AUG 21 (WASHINGTON)–On Friday the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will publish in the Federal Register the Final Rule moving hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) from Schedule III to the more-restrictive Schedule II, as recommended by the Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and as supported by the DEA’s own evaluation of relevant data. The Federal Register has made the Final Rule available for preview on its website today at go.usa.gov/mc8d. This Final Rule imposes the regulatory controls and sanctions applicable to Schedule II substances on those who handle or propose to handle HCPs. It goes into effect in 45 days. Read more... Georgia gets an A grade for Pain Policies We have recently received great news from The Pain and Policy Studies Group at The University of Wisconsin as they have given Georgia a grade of A with respect to our Great State's Pain Policies. This has been a steady decade of improvement as in 2006 and 2007, Georgia graded in at a D+. GSIPP has led the path to making those improvements by advocating and fighting for our Prescription Drug Monitoring Program; promoting legislation and increased requirements of our specialty in order to weed out pill mills in our state and by being a resource to influence policymakers while making the practice of Interventional Pain Management safer. This is not a time for patting ourselves on the back but a sign that GSIPP has and IS making a difference in Georgia. Please take this opportunity to share this news with your colleagues and friends. The GSIPP-PAC needs your contributions to keep fighting on behalf of our specialty and all of our patients. Please give generously as our future depends on it. CLICK HERE to donate to the PAC. You can find the article here: http://www.acscan.org/content/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/PRC-2013.pdf Carlos Giron, M.D. GSIPP Founder and Executive Director Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) begins allowing access to Rx data On July 26th, the switch was finally flipped to turn on access to allow practitioners to register and have access to the Georgia Prescription Drug Marketing Program (PDMP). This means that all practitioners licensed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board and the Georgia Board of Dentistry who have authority to prescribe or order controlled substances can now register for access the GA PDMP. For more information for practitioners licensed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board click here For more information for practitioners licensed by the Georgia Board of Dentistry click here |