DALLAS, TX USA (News Release) - November 19, 2014 - The American Medical Association (AMA) gathered physician and medical student leaders representing all aspects of medicine during its Interim Meeting last week in Dallas, Texas, and voted to adopt new policies on emerging health care topics.
The delegates from the American Urological Association, Aaron Spitz, MD, Roger Satterthwaite, MD, and Terrance Grimm, MD, were joined by other urologists representing their state medical societies or other medical societies to form the Urology Caucus. The 16 members of the Caucus met throughout the meeting to align policy priorities and advance urology’s agenda.
Members of the American Medical Association House of Delegates adopted numerous policies on key issues that impact physician practices and patient health and debated several of AUA’s priorities.
Penile Prosthetics
The AUA introduced resolution 801, “Patient Access to Penile Prosthesis as Legitimate Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction.” The House of Delegates passed policy urging that the AMA advocate for a full continuum of treatments for erectile dysfunction, but voted down a provision urging that penile prostheses be included among the "essential benefits" in insurance plans sold in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges. The resolution was cosponsored by the American Association of Clinical Urologists.
Advocating on behalf of their patients, the AUA’s delegates presented information on treatment for erectile dysfunction. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that erectile dysfunction affects as many as 30 million men in the United States. Erectile dysfunction is recognized as a potential complication of certain cancer therapies as well as various other metabolic diseases, and published data demonstrate that penile prosthetic implants demonstrate long term efficacy, safety, and patient satisfaction.
Passage of the resolution directs the AMA to work in concert with national specialty and state medical societies to advocate for patient access to the full continuum of care of evidence-based erectile dysfunction treatment modalities including oral pharmacotherapy, penile vasoactive injection therapy, vacuum erection device therapy and penile prosthetics.
American Urological Association (AUA)
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