2019 Opioid Workgroup

The Federal Advisory Committee Actpdf icon (Public Law 92-463), often referred to as “FACA”, provides a mechanism for experts and stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process, by offering advice and recommendations to the federal government as members of federal advisory committees. A federal advisory committee is defined as any committee, board, commission, council, conference, panel, task force, or other similar group, which is established by law, by the President, or by an agency official, and utilized to provide advice or recommendations to the President or the agency, on issues or policies within the scope of an agency’s responsibilities. Federal advisory committees must be engaged when federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seek consensus advice and recommendations from non-government individuals. Federal advisory committees are a key component of CDC’s overall strategy to achieve stakeholder and public engagement in its efforts and commitment to improve people’s health.

The Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (BSC/NCIPC) is one of the federal advisory committees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (BSC/NCIPC) voted unanimously on December 4, 2019, to establish an Opioid Workgroup. The primary purpose of the Opioid Workgroup is to review, a draft updated and/or expanded CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain—United States, 2016 for opioid prescribing (as prepared by CDC) and to develop a report that will provide the workgroup’s findings and observations about the draft guideline to the BSC/NCIPC. The BSC/NCIPC will subsequently review the Opioid Workgroup’s report, discuss, deliberate, and provide advice and recommendations for CDC to consider as part of the potential update and/or expansion of the Guideline. The workgroup will help ensure broad, external, transparent input on the diverse and complex issues involved in this effort.

The Opioid Workgroup of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (BSC/NCIPC) is made up of 12-25 people. The chair of the Opioid Workgroup is an appointed BSC/NCIPC member, as well as at least one other BSC/NCIPC member as required by the federal advisory committee policy and procedures. The remaining Opioid Workgroup members are external experts who will provide relevant knowledge and guidance to the workgroup as it completes its tasks. The Opioid Workgroup has a Designated Federal Officer (DFO) that is a subject matter expert from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).

The final Opioid Workgroup Roster was presented at the July 22, 2020 BSC/NCIPC meeting.

To serve as a member of the Opioid Workgroup of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, nominees were instructed to email their curriculum vitae and current contact information to NCIPCBSC@cdc.gov on or before Tuesday, February 4, 2020.

In seeking a balance of perspectives among prospective Opioid Workgroup members, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has ensured inclusion of audiences directly affected by the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain —United States, 2016, audiences that would be directly involved in implementing or integrating updated or expanded recommendations into current practice, and audiences qualified to provide representation of a specific discipline or expertise in alignment with the tasks of the workgroup.

Perspectives‡^¶* of prospective Opioid Workgroup members that support or enhance the workgroup’s capacity to complete tasks include, but are not limited to, those of the following groups (and was balanced with considerations including workgroup size).

In alphabetical order, groups include:

• Clinicians
• Dentists
• Ethicists
• Patients and Families*
• Pharmacists/Pharmacologists
• Primary care clinicians
• Public health practitioners
• Research scientists
• Surgeons

‡ Given workgroup factors including size considerations, prospective members who offer two or more perspectives was desired.

^¶ CDC will exercise discretion, consistent with federal advisory committee management requirements, regarding the appointment of workgroup member.

* Perspectives will be sought to represent those of people experiencing benefit, harm, or both related to opioids prescribed for pain.

The process for forming the Opioid Workgroup included the following tasks of the Designated Federal Officer.

• Developed a list of prospective workgroup members (informed by sources including comments from BSC/NCIPC members during the December 4–5, 2019 public meeting and complete self-nominations received on or before February 4, 2020).
• Requested and reviewed nominees’ disclosures of competing conflicts of interest, if any.
• Developed a list of prospective Opioid Workgroup members, ensuring maximal breadth of expertise and diversity in perspectives.

Updated the BSC/NCIPC on the formation of the Opioid Workgroup at the July 2020 meeting; this public meeting was announced in the Federal Register.

Opioid Workgroup members will provide clinical and methodologic feedback on evidence reviews and an updated draft of the CDC opioid prescribing guideline. The Opioid Workgroup will provide a report summarizing the expert input/observations/findings obtained and present the report for BSC/NCIPC deliberation, discussion, modification and decision at a public meeting which will be announced in the Federal Register.

During a public meeting of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (BSC/NCIPC) that will include public comment opportunities, the BSC/NCIPC members will review the Opioid Workgroup’s report and discuss, deliberate, and provide advice and recommendations regarding a possible updated or expanded draft opioid prescribing guideline to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the Director, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).  Following the public meeting, the report of the Opioid Workgroup will be posted on the BSC/NCIPC website. Revision of the updated draft guideline will be informed by the recommendations of the BSC/NCIPC and public comment during the BSC/NCIPC meeting. It is anticipated that a revised guideline will be posted for public comment late 2021. Release of a final updated guideline would be anticipated to occur in 2022.

Presentations related to the background and update on the formation of the Opioid Workgroup are available here.  Presentations from future BSC/NCIPC public meetings will also be posted on this site as they become available.