Logan is welcoming Jim Whedon, DC, MS to campus for a Chiropractic Grand Rounds presentation Friday, Nov. 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Dr. Whedon is the Director of Health Services Research at Southern California University of Health Sciences and an adjunct instructor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine. An award-winning clinical and health services investigator, Dr. Whedon currently researches topics in integrative healthcare, chiropractic, Medicare and health policy.
During his presentation, titled “Impact of Care Provided by Chiropractic Physicians on Use of Prescription Opioids,” Dr. Whedon will address the relationship between the use of chiropractic services and opioid medications by referencing several studies he has conducted utilizing payer claims data from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as nationally representative Medicare claims data.
“Recent evidence suggests that the likelihood of opioid prescription fill among recipients of chiropractic care is significantly lower as compared to non-recipients,” Dr. Whedon said. “Reduced use of opioids among recipients of chiropractic services may lead to lower costs and improved safety.”
According to the American Chiropractic Association, Dr. Whedon’s research is part of a growing number of studies confirming the efficacy of chiropractic care and how its drug-free approach to pain management can help prevent addiction resulting from the overuse of prescription opioids.
“I am interested in generating knowledge about safe and effective non-pharmacological healthcare services such as chiropractic,” Dr. Whedon said. “It is my hope that this knowledge will inform health policy decisions that put the interests of patients and the public first, and lead to reductions in adverse drug effects and certain harmful influences of the pharmaceutical industry.”