A leader and respected voice in the telemedicine field, Dr. Peter “Pete” Killcommons founded Medweb in 1992 and has visited more than 50 countries in his work. Outside of his professional life, Dr. Peter Killcommons remains connected to the medical field through membership in the American Medical Association.

1. AMATALKS
ONGOING OPIOID
ISSUES
Peter Killcommons

2. Introduction
• A leader and respected voice in the telemedicine field, Dr. Peter
“Pete” Killcommons founded Medweb in 1992 and has visited more
than 50 countries in his work. Outside of his professional life, Dr.
Peter Killcommons remains connected to the medical field through
membership in the American MedicalAssociation.
The AMA recently commented on statistics that show opioid
prescriptions went down by 22 percent between the years of 2013
and 2017.The organization points to this trend as proof that the
healthcare community is becoming more aware of the problems
that opioid dependence can cause.

3. American Medical Association
• Even with the decrease in prescriptions, however, the number of
deaths related to opioids such as fentanyl and heroin are still
increasing, which means that prescription control alone isn’t
enough to solve the problem.The AMA says it will take a combined
effort from all key stakeholders (lawmakers, healthcare facilities,
insurers, etc.) to form a comprehensive strategy for better, non-
opioid based pain management and treatment for those caught in
the cycle of addiction in order to start seeing more significant
results.