Research: Safer Opiate Prescribing
Donation protected
My name is Ben Colburn. I'm a fourth-year medical student at UCSF and a future primary care doctor. I'm conducting research that will help doctors prescribe opiates less frequently and more safely. And I need your help to make my research possible.
Imagine being in so much pain that you take three different prescription opiates (e.g. Vicodin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone) daily just to function. The longer you take them, the more pills you need to manage your pain and sometimes, the drowsiness from your pain pills makes it just as challenging to get through your day as the pain. You're not an addict, but you have real, chronic pain and those pills are the only thing that help.
Then imagine being the doctor who prescribed those pills. You know they are dangerous. You know they are addictive. You want to stop prescribing them, but nothing else has worked and without them, your patient has no way to treat the crippling pain that prevents them from leading normal lives.
* * * * * * * * * *
Opiate-related deaths in America are occurring at record high rates and the dilemma I just described is largely to blame. The UCSF Clinician Consultation Center is launching a federally funded physician hotline staffed with experts who can help primary care doctors manage patients with chronic pain and addiction more safely. For my senior research project, I'm sending an 8-question survey to primary care doctors in California asking what kind of support they want and how they would like to receive it so this hotline can be as effective as possible.
I'm going to need help to contact every doctor in the state without overlooking anybody. It is important not to miss anybody because that will help ensure that my research findings are applicable to as big an audience as possible - specifically, the entire country! The only real way to accomplish this is to pay an established organization that already has every California doctor's email to contact them on my behalf. This company has made every attempt to reduce this cost to me since I'm a student, but the total price is $3000.
Since I just learned this, I have already missed all of the deadlines for UCSF's student research funding opportunities. And my research mentor doesn't have any funding that could ethically be applied to this new project.
I need your help to make this study happen. The human ethics committee has already approved my study and this $3000 is the only thing preventing me from starting this project. No contribution is too small. By donating to this study, you are helping America to address its addiction to prescription opiates. You are helping doctors to learn how to take better care of their patients. And you ultimately are helping to keep your communities safer as they navigate the challenges of chronic pain and addiction.
Imagine being in so much pain that you take three different prescription opiates (e.g. Vicodin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone) daily just to function. The longer you take them, the more pills you need to manage your pain and sometimes, the drowsiness from your pain pills makes it just as challenging to get through your day as the pain. You're not an addict, but you have real, chronic pain and those pills are the only thing that help.
Then imagine being the doctor who prescribed those pills. You know they are dangerous. You know they are addictive. You want to stop prescribing them, but nothing else has worked and without them, your patient has no way to treat the crippling pain that prevents them from leading normal lives.
* * * * * * * * * *
Opiate-related deaths in America are occurring at record high rates and the dilemma I just described is largely to blame. The UCSF Clinician Consultation Center is launching a federally funded physician hotline staffed with experts who can help primary care doctors manage patients with chronic pain and addiction more safely. For my senior research project, I'm sending an 8-question survey to primary care doctors in California asking what kind of support they want and how they would like to receive it so this hotline can be as effective as possible.
I'm going to need help to contact every doctor in the state without overlooking anybody. It is important not to miss anybody because that will help ensure that my research findings are applicable to as big an audience as possible - specifically, the entire country! The only real way to accomplish this is to pay an established organization that already has every California doctor's email to contact them on my behalf. This company has made every attempt to reduce this cost to me since I'm a student, but the total price is $3000.
Since I just learned this, I have already missed all of the deadlines for UCSF's student research funding opportunities. And my research mentor doesn't have any funding that could ethically be applied to this new project.
I need your help to make this study happen. The human ethics committee has already approved my study and this $3000 is the only thing preventing me from starting this project. No contribution is too small. By donating to this study, you are helping America to address its addiction to prescription opiates. You are helping doctors to learn how to take better care of their patients. And you ultimately are helping to keep your communities safer as they navigate the challenges of chronic pain and addiction.
Organizer
Ben Feivel
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
