In what should be seen as good news for those who care for patients with chronic pain, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a proposed rule on September 6, modifying the rules regarding narcotic prescribing. The ASA and AMA have lobbied for these changes over the past few years, and the DEA action mirrors ASA's and AMA's recommendations. For the DEA press release and full details on the changes, please click here. Also, the ASA has posted a statement on its website applauding the DEA's actions.

Oregon Health Sciences University's Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and the Oregon Society will be hosting a reception at ASA's Annual Meeting in Chicago on Saturday, October 14 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. Please see this announcement for details.

Mark your calendars. The Oregon Medical Association will be sponsoring the 2006 Patient Safety Convocation on September 29, 2006, which will be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. For pre-registration, additional details and the program, please visit this page.

OHSU's Division of Hospital Medicine will be hosting the NW Regional Hospital Medical Conference on September 15 and 16 at the Governor's Hotel in Portland. Many of the sessions may be of interest to both anesthesiologists and anesthesiologist/intensivists, including Dr. Dennis Mangano's lecture on perioperative medicine. Dr. Mangano is a member of the University of California at San Francisco's Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care and is a nationally known expert in the prevention of perioperative cardiovascular complications.

You can download the program here. Please check with the organizers to see if they will be offering a one-day rate for the Saturday session, and let them know that you are a member of the OSA when doing so.

Your Oregon Society of Anesthesiologists will be hosting a meeting in Eugene, Oregon, the weekend of September 23 and 24, 2006. In addition to an excellent series of lectures, we will also have an Ultrasound Guided Regional Anesthesia Workshop.

The Wendell C. Stevens Memorial Endowment Reception will be held Friday, June 16th from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in the Old Library Great Hall at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland.

The inaugural recipient, Doctor Yan McRae as well as Dr. Gerald Tanner will present highlights of their missions to Ecuador and Peru. This part of the program will begin at 6:30 p.m.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Joan Cossey at OHSU by June 9, 2006 (503-494-5210 or cosseyj@ohsu.edu)

The link to the OHSU page can be found here.

ASA members can now make on-line reservations for hotel rooms, as well as airline and rental car discounts, to attend ASA’s October 14-18, 2006 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

You can access this information directly at the ASA Annual Meeting Housing Website.  Exhibitors are asked to wait until June 1st to make housing reservations.

Educational sessions and the Scientific and Technical Exhibits will take place in McCormick Place - Breakfast Panels and Problem-Based Learning Discussions will be held at the Chicago Hilton. The three co-headquarter hotels are the Hilton Chicago, the Hyatt Regency Chicago and the Chicago Marriott Downtown. The House of Delegates, reference committees and caucuses will meet at the Chicago Marriott.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists now offers an online store. If you are looking to obtain Practice Parameters, Continuing Education materials, coding resources or other valuable products from the ASA, please check out the ASA store. Some products are free of charge, but not free of value!

If you are an artist and will be attending the ASA Annual Meeting in Chicago October 15 through 17, 2006, please consider exhibiting at the ASA Art Exhibit. For additional information, guidelines and an application please check out this ASA web page. The theme for this year's exhibit is "My Hometown." For those with children who are aspiring artists, ASA also recognizes junior exhibitors.

Your Oregon Society of Anesthesiologists is pleased to announce that registration is now open for our spring meeting in Salishan May 20-21, 2006. Featuring a guest faculty that includes Brian Infeld from the University of Florida, Gainesville and Craig Palmer from the University of Arizona, attendees will learn about obstetric emergencies, post-cesarean analgesia, ambulatory total joint replacements, combined spinal and epidural analgesia for labor, and continuous peripheral nerve blocks. Orin "Fred" Guidry, ASA's President, will also provide an update on current issues facing all anesthesiologists.

Other activities include a "Best Ball" golf tournament and the traditional wine tasting and Hors D'Oeurves at a lovely home that overlooks the Pacific. Please download the program and registration materials and make your hotel registration early. See you in May!