NEW YORK, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Judy Blaski is one of thousands of cancer patients who live with chronic, debilitating pain. But now, she is able to better control her pain when it worsens, thanks to the first-ever hand-held remote-control device that lets her administer doses of pain medication through a drug pump implanted in her body.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Medtronic Personal Therapy Manager (PTM), which allows chronic pain patients with the company’s SynchroMed(R) II drug pumps to deliver supplemental doses of pain medication that have been pre-prescribed by a doctor. Previously, only a constant, pre-set dose was delivered via the pumps.
The PTM is about the size of a cell phone, and used to manage all types of severe chronic pain. Patients use it by pressing a button, triggering the delivery of the physician-prescribed dose of liquid morphine after the device software verifies that the “lockout interval,” or the safe time during which the patient cannot receive additional doses of medication, has elapsed.
Chronic pain is estimated to affect between 50-70 million Americans. You may have chronic pain if your pain has lasted more than six months and is not relieved by medical and/or surgical care. Chronic pain may result from a previous injury long since healed. Or it may be from an ongoing condition, such as back or leg pain, complex regional pain syndrome, or painful neuropathy. According to the American Pain Foundation, half of cancer patients with significant pain don’t receive adequate relief. For more information, visit http://www.PTM.medtronic.com.
SATELLITE FEEDS: Wednesday November 9th, 2005 Thursday November 10th, 2005 1:45 PM - 2:00 PM ET 1:45 PM - 2:00 PM ET IA 6 IA 6 Transponder 22 Transponder 13 C-Band C-Band Downlink Freq: 4140 Horizontal Downlink Freq: 3960 Vertical Preview and access this video on Pathfire DMG: 23055 Search within the PR Newswire or MultiVu section by story ID # 23055 or by headline For technical assistance call Pathfire Customer Care at 1-888-345-0489 or e-mail support@pathfire.com FORMAT: News Package With Extra Soundbites and B-roll.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Video, contact information and more available at http://www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/23055/consumer.shtml
SOUNDBITES: * Allen Burton, M.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center * Judy Blaski, cancer patient
B-ROLL INCLUDES: **Patient/physician exam**lifestyle shots of patient and husband**product shots/demo of PTM**pump animation
VIDEO PROVIDED BY: Medtronic, Inc.
Video: Hard copy requests, downloadable MPEG2, contact information andmore available at http://www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/23055/press.shtmlMedtronic, Inc.
CONTACT: For Technical Information Or Hard Copy, Please Call: MultiVuMedia Relations, 800-653-5313 ext. 3
Web site: http://www.PTM.medtronic.com//
