Webinar Description

Learning Objectives
- Discuss the most common mistakes in evaluating and treating chronic pain.
- List the similarities and important differences between addiction and chronic pain.
- Describe common psychiatric illnesses associated with chronic pain.
- Assess the most appropriate treatment for patients with chronic pain.
- Review medications for chronic pain that have proven efficacy.
 
Clinicians often find chronic, non-cancer related pain to be one of the most frustrating problems they encounter. Symptoms may exceed rational explanation, as medical evaluations often focus on a narrow biological perspective, and patients may have difficulty explaining what they’re experiencing. If their pain has become the only thing they pay attention to, patients can become their own worst enemies and react poorly to treatment.
 
This webinar will explore the surprising similarities between addiction and chronic pain, and how understanding these similarities can assist in making chronic pain treatment much more clear and straightforward. The speaker will explain the importance of a comprehensive evaluation, and the principles of effective treatment: stopping ineffective medications, starting proper medications, focusing on function, and teaching coping skills.
 

The Speaker

James Gagne, MD
The Canyon
 
Dr. Gagne received his BA degree from Columbia University in New York City, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received other academic awards. He attended medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. He completed two years of postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx and completed his final year of residency at Kaiser in Santa Clara, California. He is certified by the boards of three specialties: the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Addiction Medicine, and the American Board of Pain Medicine.
 
Past experience includes the private practice of internal medicine in Glendale, California, and several addiction treatment and pain management facilities, including 1) the UCLA Pain Control Unit (Clinic Medical Director), 2) Glendale Adventist Alcohol and Drug Services (Medical Director, 1988-1996), 3) Kaiser-Permanente (Physician in Charge in the San Fernando Valley, 1998), Northridge Hospital Medical Center (practicing pain medicine at Department of Rehabilitation), and others. Currently he practices at Verdugo Internal Medicine in Glendale and is a consultant at the Canyon at Peace Park, an addiction treatment facility in Malibu.