July 29, 2011: New ACTTION Working Groups
In response to discussions and recommendations at the recent ACTTION Scientific Workshop and IMMPACT meeting, two new Working Groups are being established by ACTTION. The first is "Community Patient Awareness About Clinical Trials" (COMPAACT), which will be co-chaired by Dr. Dennis Turk, Associate Director of ACTTION, and Penney Cowan, Executive Director of the American Chronic Pain Association. This Working Group will develop, evaluate, and disseminate educational materials for patients in the community describing the objectives and importance of analgesic clinical trials and what can be expected when participating in these trials. If you are interested in being considered for membership in the COMPAACT Working Group, please respond with an e-mail describing your background and experience here. The second Working Group is "Safety and Benefit-Risk Evaluation" (SABRE), which will focus on safety reporting and assessments in analgesic clinical trials and the development of improved approaches to benefit-risk assessments of analgesic treatments at the individual patient and study levels. More information about the SABRE Working Group will be provided in a future news item.