osteoarthritis
A focus on the risks and benefits associated with cox-2 selective agents

Saturday, September 8, 2007, 12:30–2:00 pm 
Red Rock Resort, Casino, and Spa
Charleston Room
Las Vegas, NV

Supported by an educational grant from
Pfizer Inc.

Purpose Statement

The aging of the American population will result in more people experiencing pain and living with loss of function due to osteoarthritis. Traditional approaches to the management of osteoarthritis involve the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications and selective COX-2 inhibitors, but concerns about their cardiovascular risk, as well as expected gastrointestinal, renal, and hepatic side effects, make the long-term care of people with osteoarthritis more challenging. This symposium offers primary care providers and pain practitioners alike meaningful information about risk assessment and enhanced understanding regarding anti-inflammatory agents as a class, and provides all attendees with realistic, evidence-based treatment suggestions for the management of osteoarthritis. 

Audience

This activity has been designed for clinicians treating patients in pain. 

Learning Objectives

Following completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Identify the relative cardiovascular (CV) and gastrointestinal (GI) risks and benefits of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including COX-2 selective inhibitors
• Categorize which patients are at risk for CV-or GI-adverse events
• Compare the benefits of treating arthritis pain with the risks that treatment may pose to patients who have varying degrees of CV or GI risk
  

Agenda

12:30 pm	Introduction
12:35 pm	Class Review of the NSAIDs Review of the NSAIDs as a class including the COX-2s and differentiating between the various agents, specifically in terms of safety profiles and efficacy.
12:50 pm	Patient Selection and Risk Stratification When NSAIDs Are Being Considered as Treatment Review of the various patient populations often encountered in clinical practices that see chronic pain and osteoarthritis patients, discussing various strategies to stratify risk within these populations to help make more informed treatment decisions.
1:20 pm	Putting the Risks and Benefits on NSAIDs and COX-2s into Perspective Discuss the challenges faced by practitioners with respect to treatment options for patients with osteoarthritis, specifically comparing the benefits of treating patients with NSAIDs relative to the risks such treatment poses.
1:50 pm	Question and Answer Session
2:00 pm	Adjourn

Moderator

B. Eliot Cole, MD, MPA
Executive Director
American Society of Pain Educators
Montclair, NJ 

Faculty

Bill H. McCarberg, MD Founder Chronic Pain Management Program Kaiser Permanente San Diego, CA

Arthur Weaver, MD Past President American College of Rheumatology Clinical Professor of Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center

Accreditation and Credit Designation

ACCME
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation

Council for continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of Medical Education Collaborative, Inc. (MEC) and Aventine HealthSciences. MEC is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Medical Education Collaborative designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.  

ACPE
1.5 contact hours (0.150 CEUs) of credit for pharmacists. Approval of this course for pharmacists is under a cosponsorship agreement between Medical Education Collaborative, Inc. (MEC) and Aventine HealthSciences. MEC is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. ACPE #815-999-07-055-L01. The program is designed for all pharmacists. 

ANCC
Medical Education Collaborative (MEC) is the accredited provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. RNs, LPNs, LVNs and NPs can receive up to 1.5 contact hours for participation in this program. This program is cosponsored with Medical Education Collaborative, Inc. (MEC) and Aventine HealthSciences. Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 12990, for 1.8 contact hour(s). 

Instructions for Credit

In order to receive credit, participants must attend the full CME activity and submit a credit application and evaluation form before leaving. Statements of credit will be mailed within 6–8 weeks following the program. 

Detailed faculty disclosures will be made available in the educational

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