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Expert Discussions on Alcohol Dependence

neuroscienceCME Podcast

Premiere Date: Monday, July 23, 2007

This activity offers CE credit for:

  1. Physicians (ACCME/AMA PRA Category 1)
  2. Nurses (CNE)
  3. Pharmacists (ACPE)
  4. Psychologists (APA)
  5. Social Workers (NASW)
  6. Certified Case Managers (CCMC)


All other clinicians will receive a Certificate of Attendance stating this activity was certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

Credit Expiration Date:
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Note: Credit Is No Longer Available

Faculty


Robert R. Conley, MDRobert R. Conley, MD 
Distinguished Scholar, Eli Lilly and Company
Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacy Science
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, MD

Richard N. Rosenthal, MDRichard N. Rosenthal, MD 
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Chairman, Department of Psychiatry
St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center
New York, NY

Robert Swift, MD, PhDRobert Swift, MD, PhD 
Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Brown University Medical School
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies
Associate Chief of Staff for Research
Providence VA Medical Center
Providence, RI

Raymond F. Anton, MDRaymond F. Anton, MD 
Distinguished University Professor
Professor of Psychiatry
Director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs
Director of the Clinical Neurobiology Laboratory
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

Michel Sucher, MD, FASAMMichel Sucher, MD, FASAM 
Medical Director, Community Bridges
Medical Director, Monitored Aftercare Program
Arizona Medical Board
Scottsdale, AZ

Statement of Need

A major treatment goal for alcohol dependence is to increase rates of abstinence. When used in combination with psychosocial support, pharmacologic agents can help committed patients reach this goal. However, physicians continue to struggle with challenges in the management of alcohol dependence. Issues surrounding treatment adherence, understanding the evidence for various treatment options, the impact of combination treatments, and the special challenge of co-occurring disorders all complicate effective management. Efforts to provide clinicians with the tools to address these barriers are imperative to improving outcomes for our patients. In this neuroscienceCME podcast series, experts will address these issues and give clinicians tools that they can utilize in their practice to improve the outcomes of their patients with alcohol dependence.
Module 1: Co-Occurring Mental Disorders: Impact on Outcomes
Module 2: Barriers to Adherence in the Management of Alcohol Dependence
Module 3: Combination Therapies Can Improve Patient Outcomes
Module 4: Effective Treatments for Alcohol Dependence


  • American Psychiatric Association. Understanding Alcohol Use Disorders and Their Treatment, 2001.
  • The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Missed Opportunity: National Survey of Primary Care Physicians and Patients on Substance Abuse. May, 2000.

Activity Goal

To examine the importance of recognition, diagnosis, and treatment in patients with alcohol dependence; to examine the challenges inherent in co-occurring disorders, combination therapies, and adherence; and to evaluate the evidence for effective treatment options.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this CE activity, participants should be able to:

  • Recognize the varied presentations of co-occurring psychiatric disorders and alcohol dependence to improve recognition, diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes.
  • Identify barriers to treatment adherence that prevent recovery.
  • Evaluate combination therapies for alcohol dependence to improve patient outcomes.
  • Design a treatment plan with pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic strategies to improve outcomes.

Financial Support

CME Outfitters, LLC, gratefully acknowledges an independent educational grant from Cephalon, Inc., and Alkermes, Inc., in support of this CE activity.

Target Audience

Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychologists, social workers, certified case managers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals interested in mental health.

Credit Information

CME Credit (Physicians):
CME Outfitters, LLC, is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. CME Outfitters, LLC, designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CNE Credit (Nurses):
CME Outfitters, LLC, is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the New York State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

It has been assigned code 6WASUP-PRV-067. 1.5 contact hours will be awarded upon successful completion.
Note to Nurse Practitioners: The content of this CNE activity pertains to Pharmacology.

CEP Credit (Psychologists):
CME Outfitters is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CME Outfitters maintains responsibility for this program and its content. (1.5 CE credits)
Note to Addiction Professionals and Professional Counselors: NAADAC and NBCC accept APA and NASW continuing education (CE) credits toward national certification CE requirements. Please check with your state board to determine which type of CE credit is acceptable toward licensure CE requirements.

NASW Credit (Social Workers):
This program was approved by the National Association of Social Workers (provider #886407722) for 1.5 continuing education contact hours.

CCMC Credit (Certified Case Managers):
This program has been approved for 1.5 hours by the Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC).

CPE Credit (Pharmacists):
ACPE CME Outfitters, LLC, is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. 1.5 contact hours (0.15 CEUs) Universal Program Number: 376-000-07-008-H01

Credit request forms/activity evaluations can be completed online at www.neuroscienceCME.com (click on the Testing/Certification link under the Resources tab - requires free account activation), and participants can print their certificate or statement of credit immediately. Otherwise, participants should fully complete and return both the credit request form and activity evaluation located within the course guide for this activity. A certificate or statement of credit will be mailed within 4-6 weeks to all who successfully complete these requirements.

Robert R. Conley, MD, Moderator
Dr. Conley is the Chief of Inpatient Research at Spring Grove Hospital Center, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. After earning a degree in Natural Science from the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Conley received his medical degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore and completed a residency at the University of Pittsburgh in psychiatry. He is the Chairman of the Institutional Review Board for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a member of the Executive Committee for the Institutional Review Board of the University of Maryland Baltimore, Director of Research at Perry Point Veterans Affairs Medial Center, Perryville, Maryland, and a Member of the Human Research Policy & Oversight Committee, University of Maryland Baltimore.

Dr. Conley's work focuses on comparing the clinical effects of newer antipsychotics in people with schizophrenia, including those with refractory to therapy. His group performs large clinical trials, outcome studies, and human post-mortem studies and provides the clinical characterization of the subjects in the Maryland Brain Collection. He has a primary interest in the binding patterns of antipsychotic medication in the human brain and antipsychotic-induced changes in the ultra structure of the human synapse and has an active interest in the area of research ethics, particularly in the area of evaluation of ability to consent to research trials. Dr. Conley is currently engaged in extensive work in adjunct pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia, conducting multiple trials employing adjunct pharmacotherapy in partially responsive people with schizophrenia. He is also the principal investigator of a 10-year research contract between the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and MPRC. As such, he is charged with developing research in serious mental illness complicated by substance abuse.

Dr. Conley is the author of a number of publications in journals such as the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the American Journal of Psychiatry, Archives of General Psychiatry, Schizophrenia Research, and the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and is a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society for Neuroscience, and the Society of Biological Psychiatry. Dr. Conley is the Editor-In-Chief of Clinical Schizophrenia & Related Psychoses.

Richard N. Rosenthal, MD
Dr. Rosenthal is Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in psychiatry, with subspecialty certification in addiction psychiatry. For more than 20 years, Dr. Rosenthal has treated and conducted research with persons with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental illness, and has lectured and written extensively on the clinical relevance, training needs, and systems impact related to co-occurring disorders. At Beth Israel Medical Center, NY, he co-developed and manualized Brief Supportive Psychotherapy for the Brief Psychotherapy Research Program and has since become one of the leading proponents of Supportive Psychotherapy. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books. He is Past President and Head of the Public Policy section of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Rosenthal is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the APA Council on Addiction Psychiatry. In 2004, he was appointed as a Senior Fellow, SAMHSA Co-Occurring Disorders Center for Excellence and Co-Chair of its National Steering Council. Governor Spitzer recently re-appointed him to the NY State Mental Health Services Council.

Robert Swift, MD, PhD
Robert Swift received his AB in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL in 1972. He also received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences in 1977 and an M.D. with Honors from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 1979. He completed his residency in Psychiatry at Yale University from 1979-1983 and was Chief Resident in 1982-83. Dr. Swift moved to Brown University in 1983, to become a psychiatrist at Roger Williams Medical Center and subsequently was appointed Chief of Psychiatry in 1988. In 1997, he became the Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the Providence VA Medical Center, where he is responsible for all the development and oversight of all research at the VA Medical Center. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University Medical School. He is also Associate Director of the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies and Associate Director of the Post-doctoral Training Program at the Center. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry in Adult Psychiatry and in Addiction Psychiatry.

Dr. Swift conducts clinical and laboratory research on the pharmacological and psychosocial treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence, with the goals of developing new treatments and determining the efficacy of current therapies for the treatment of alcohol dependence and understanding the mechanism of action of pharmacotherapies. He is also working to develop a transdermal alcohol sensor to improve the assessment of alcohol consumption in treatment and research settings. He is a recipient of research grants and contracts from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health and from foundations and industry. He is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles in the field of psychiatry and the addictions and has published in prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Research Society on Alcoholism and Secretary of the Society, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and was elected to membership in the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Raymond F. Anton, MD
Dr. Anton is a distinguished university professor and professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is the director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, the Clinical Neurobiology Laboratory at the Institute of Psychiatry, and the Clinical Scientific Director of the NIH funded Charleston Alcohol Research Center. Dr. Anton is an internationally recognized alcoholism researcher specializing in medications development for alcohol dependence. His current interests, in addition to his continuing work in pharmacological interventions in the treatment of alcoholism, include blood tests for heavy alcohol consumption, genetics of alcoholism, and neuroimaging of craving.

Dr. Anton has designed, consulted on, or participated in over 20 pharmacotherapy clinical trials for alcoholism since 1987. He currently serves as vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the Alcohol Beverage Medical Research Foundation (ABMRF), as a member and fellow of the prestigious American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and as president-elect of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA). Additionally, Dr. Anton is the review editor for Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research and on the Editorial Board for Journal of Studies on Alcohol.

Dr. Anton has consulted for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and many pharmaceutical companies including Dupont, Pfizer, Forrest Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi-Aventis, Alkermes, Axis-Shield, Ortho McNeil/Johnson and Johnson, Drug Abuse Sciences, Biotie, Hythiam, and Eli Lilly.

He has published over 170 scientific articles and book chapters and given major presentations at national and international scientific meetings. He is chairman of the COMBINE Study and first author of the May 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association publication, Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence - The COMBINE Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Michel Sucher, MD, FASAM
Dr. Sucher was educated at Wayne State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1968, and a Medical Degree in 1972. Dr. Sucher's internship was at Sinai Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and his residency was at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

From 1974 to 1994, Dr. Sucher worked as an emergency physician and emergency department director at both Scottsdale Memorial Hospitals. He was president of the medical staff of Scottsdale Memorial Hospital-Osborn in 1994.

He practices addiction medicine and serves as medical director for the monitored aftercare programs for the Arizona State Medical and Dental Boards, and the State Bar of Arizona. He is certified by the American Society Addiction Medicine. Dr. Sucher recently served as the Acting Medical Director of the Division of Behavioral Health at the Department of Health Services, State of Arizona. He holds teaching positions throughout the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He is also certified as a medical review officer. Dr. Sucher is a nationally known speaker on addiction medicine and emergency medicine. Until July 2001, he served as Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Rural/Metro Corporation. He currently serves as the Corporate and Chief Compliance Officer. Rural/Metro Corporation is a $600 million revenue, ambulance and fire protection service company based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Disclosure Declaration

It is the policy of CME Outfitters, LLC, to ensure independence, balance, objectivity, and scientific rigor and integrity in all its CE activities. Faculty must disclose to the participants any significant relationships with commercial companies whose products or devices may be mentioned in faculty presentations, or with the commercial supporter of this CE activity. CME Outfitters, LLC, has evaluated, identified, and attempted to resolve any potential conflicts of interest through a rigorous content validation procedure, use of evidence-based data/research, and a multidisciplinary peer review process. The following information is for participant information only. It is not assumed that these relationships will have a negative impact on the presentations.

Dr. Conley has disclosed that he serves as a consultant to AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Rosenthal has disclosed that he receives research support from Forest Research Institute. He also serves as a consultant to Alkermes, Inc., Cephalon, Inc., and Forest Laboratories, Inc.

Dr. Swift has disclosed that he is on the speakers bureaus of Cephalon, Inc., and Forest Laboratories. He serves as a consultant to Alkermes, Inc., Cephalon, Inc., Forest Laboratories, Ortho-McNeil, Organon, and TransOral Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Anton has disclosed that he receives grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, and Hythiam, Inc. He is on the speakers bureaus of Alkermes, Inc., and Cephalon, Inc. He serves as a consultant to Alkermes, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Anton serves on the advisory board of Hythiam, Inc.

Dr. Sucher has disclosed that he serves on the speakers bureaus of Alkermes, Inc., Cephalon, Inc., Forest Pharmaceuticals, and Hythiam, Inc. He serves as a consultant to Hythiam, Inc. Note to participants: Dr. Sucher accepted a part-time position as Regional Medical Director for Alkermes, Inc., shortly after serving as faculty for this activity, which was recorded on June 20, 2007.

Unlabeled Use Disclosure

Faculty of this CE activity may include discussions of products or devices that are not currently labeled for use by the FDA. The faculty have been informed of their responsibility to disclose to the audience if they will be discussing off-label or investigational uses (any uses not approved by the FDA) of products or devices.

CME Outfitters, LLC, the faculty, Cephalon, Inc., and Alkermes, Inc., do not endorse the use of any product outside of the FDA labeled indications. Medical professionals should not utilize the procedures, products, or diagnosis techniques discussed during this activity without evaluation of their patient for contraindications or dangers of use.

Questions about this activity? Call us at 877.CME.PROS (877.263.7767).

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