Amol Soin M.D., MBA
Chairman, Medical Director
Phone: (937)434-2226
Fax: (937)434-2283
Hello, this is Dr. Amol Soin. I am a practicing pain management physician, member of the state
medical board of Ohio, the pain management rep to medicare with the CAC, and am current
President of the Ohio Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. I support HB 48 and am a strong
proponent of the new abuse-deterrent opioids (ADOs) being introduced into the market. By
making prescription painkillers much harder to abuse, we can give people in pain the treatment
they need without contributing to the accidental or purposeful overdose problem.
The average abuser will crush a pill into powder and snort it, or melt and inject it. Many prefer the
extended release form designed to be taken once or twice a day.
As you might imagine, a pill that can relieve significant pain for 12 to 24 hours contains a lot of
medication. When it's abused, the user gets the whole dose at once, producing a strong high.
Abuse-deterrent opioids provide a significant barrier to this kind of tampering. They make the pills
difficult to crush, or cause them to melt into a form that can't be injected.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has done a lot to encourage more ADOs to be brought to
the market. When most of the prescribed opioids on the market are hard to abuse, we will have
taken a significant step toward stemming the tide of pain pill addiction.
This is not to say that abuse-deterrent opioids are a panacea. A sophisticated chemist could
probably still get around the deterrent properties. But for the average abuser, prescription pain
pills with abuse-deterrent features are significantly harder to abuse, and data show this prevents
overdose deaths. By preventing the immediate release of the whole dose, the deterrent mitigates
the likelihood of an overdose.
Because tamper-resistant pills are more expensive than their counterparts, many insurance
companies will not pay for them, even though they save lives.
This should change. State Reps. Robert Sprague, a Republican from Findlay, and Nickie Antonio,
a Democrat from Lakewood, have introduced House Bill 248, which prohibits health plans from
denying coverage of ADOs based solely on cost. Of particular note, this bill includes the way
Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income people, covers pain
prescriptions.
I treat Medicaid patients and I can tell you that some of them are in this situation because they got
hurt and lost their jobs. Their pain keeps them from working again, and their lack of income
means they must rely on Medicaid for health insurance coverage.
In Ohio, Medicaid is provided through managed care providers that specify what medical
providers a patient can see, what treatments he or she can have, and what medications are
allowed. These are vulnerable people who deserve to have their pain managed appropriately.
Doing so can substantially improve the quality of their lives, perhaps even allowing them to
resume productive activities.
Mailing Address: 8934 Kingsridge Dr., Suite#101 Centerville, OH 45458
Phone: (937)-434-2226 Fax: (937)-434-2283 Email: ohiopainclinic@gmail.com
Office Locations: Beavercreek, Centerville, Hamilton, Hillsboro, Wilmington
Amol Soin M.D., MBA
Chairman, Medical Director
Phone: (937)434-2226
Fax: (937)434-2283
Every patient who takes a prescribed painkiller is at risk of becoming addicted to it, and society
runs the risk of having that medication diverted into illegal use. Seventy percent of the opioid
painkillers abused are taken from a relative or acquaintance.
We are not going to control the human factor in this equation – the temptation some people have
to divert and abuse opioids. But now we can control the formulation of the pill itself, making it
much less attractive to those who might want to abuse it. I commend lawmakers for promoting
access to abuse-deterrent opioids. Their efforts will decrease abuse, reduce overdose deaths, and
make legitimate pain treatment available without worry to patients who need it
Sincerely,
Amol Soin, M.D., MBA, ABIPP, FIPP, DABPM
Chairman, The Ohio Pain Clinic
Medical Director, Ohio Anesthesia Providers, LLC
Medical Director, Kettering Innovation Center
Medical Director, Pain and Regional Anesthesia-Greene Memorial Hospital
Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Wright State University
Mailing Address: 8934 Kingsridge Dr., Suite#101 Centerville, OH 45458
Phone: (937)-434-2226 Fax: (937)-434-2283 Email: ohiopainclinic@gmail.com
Office Locations: Beavercreek, Centerville, Hamilton, Hillsboro, Wilmington