Romanoff Joins Innovative Statewide Program to Combat Abuse of Prescription Pain Medications

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Romanoff, MD, of Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants in Charlotte, has been appointed a regional trainer and mentor for Project Lazarus, an innovative statewide initiative to help combat the misuse and abuse of prescription medications used for pain management.

As usage of highly addictive narcotics and other opioid medications for pain management has risen 160% over the past decade, unintentional deaths from the drugs in North Carolina have reached "epidemic proportions" according to the state's Division of Public Health. In 2011, more than 1,100 residents died from misusing prescription pain medications – roughly the same number as those who died in motor vehicle accidents on North Carolina roadways.

Project Lazarus, implemented through Community Care of North Carolina, helps communities develop and implement strategic action plans to address the problem, led by primary care physicians and pain specialists with the involvement of diverse community partners. It is modeled on successful interventional and integrated care pilot in Wilkes County that began in 2008 and reduced the unintentional overdose deaths in the county by 69% from 2009-2011. The two-year project is funded by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and the NC Office of Rural Health.

Romanoff will train and mentor medical professionals, consult on pain management cases and assist with public education and community outreach.

He is board certified in anesthesiology and pain management and has practiced at Southeast since 1993.  Romanoff earned his medical degree at University of Connecticut School of Medicine and did his residency in anesthesiology and Fellowship training in cardiovascular anesthesiology and pain management at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at Penn State University.

He also is a founding member of the Advisory Board for the North Carolina Controlled Substance Reporting Service, which tracks the more than 19 million controlled substance prescriptions made annually to help prevent abuse.

For more information about Project Lazarus, visit https://www.communitycarenc.org/population-management/chronic-pain-project

ABOUT SOUTHEAST ANESTHESIOLOGY CONSULTANTS
Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants is physician anesthesia and pain management practice with more than 90 physicians serving more than 100,000 anesthesia and more than 45,000 pain management patients each year in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. SAC is a division of the national practice American Anesthesiology, which comprises more than 1,600 anesthesiologists and advanced practitioners who provide anesthesia care to patients in connection with surgical and other procedures as well as pain management. American Anesthesiology has administrative offices in Raleigh, N.C., and Sunrise, Fla. Additional information is available at www.americananesthesiology.com and www.seanesthesiology.com.

SOURCE Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants