Call to action: Request that FM be included as a therapeutic category

[Guest guest]

Medicare Model Guidelines 2012-2014: Open for Public Comment

Call to action: Request that fibromyalgia be included as a therapeutic category

ACT NOW AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) has created the Model Guidelines Expert Panel, which

is responsible for reviewing and updating the USP Medicare Model Guidelines

v5.0. This is the document used by prescription drug plans to determine

medication coverage. People affected by pain have a chance to speak out and

request that fibromyalgia be included as a therapeutic category. Currently,

there is no such classification option.

The public has been invited into the decision-making process and can submit

public comments from November 1 to November 30, 2010.

Any interested party may submit written comments to the USP Model Guidelines

Expert Panel for their consideration.

To submit a written comment, please send an e-mail to ModelGuidelines@...

before November 30, 2010.

Results of the expert panel deliberations, as well as submitted comments and

source materials, will be available to the public through the USP website with

the posting of the final USP Medicare Model Guidelines v5.0 to Centers for

Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).

Public open microphone web meetings will be held on November 4, 8, 11, and 16,

2010.

The Model Guidelines Expert Panel will deliberate through early 2011. They will:

Review current scientific evidence related to newly FDA-approved medications and

their clinical indications.

Determine the placement of medications within the USP Medicare Model Guidelines

therapeutic categories and pharmacologic classes.

For more information, see: http://www.usp.org/hqi/mmg/.

If fibromyalgia fails to be included as a therapeutic category, the

FDA-indicated medications approved for managing fibromyalgia will continue to be

left out of the Medicare Model Guidelines as recognized pain treatments. This

reinforces the misconception that fibromyalgia is not a legitimate medical

condition and this oversight may cause the continual denial of insurance

coverage for appropriate pain treatment options of this painful condition.

Let the USP know that:

Fibromyalgia is a legitimate, painful, chronic condition and should be added as

a therapeutic category.

The expert panel must review the scientific evidence related to the newly

FDA-approved medications for fibromyalgia so that they are appropriately

considered as viable treatment options in the guidelines.

Access to appropriate pain treatment is critical for a productive quality of

life while living with pain. Any effort to curb access by insurance companies

that interferes with quality clinical practice is not acceptable.

Share your pain story related to how your life has been affected by the denial

of pain treatment recommended by your medical provider and denied by your

insurance company.

Thank you for helping protect the rights of people with pain!