Joshua Prager (doctor)

Joshua P. Prager
President, North American Neuromodulation Society
In office
2005–2007
Preceded by Richard North, M.D.
Succeeded by Jaimie Henderson, M.D.
Chair, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)SIG, International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
In office
2008–2012
Preceded by Michael Stanton-Hicks, M.D.
Succeeded by Candida McCabe Ph.D, R.N.
Chair, Neuromodulation Therapy Access Coalition
In office
2005–2010
Preceded by (was Founding Chair)
Succeeded by David Kloth, M.D.
President, Board of Governors, Stanford Medical Alumni Association
In office
2001–2002
Preceded by Hewlett Lee, M.D.
Succeeded by Newt Harband, M.D.
President, UCLA House Officers Association
In office
June 1982 – December 1983
Preceded by Lawrence Presant, M.D.
Succeeded by Pamela Boyer, M.D.
President, Harvard Graduate Student Council
In office
1974–1975
Preceded by Robert Sorbello
Succeeded by John Byrne
Personal details
Born December 4, 1949
New York, New York
Nationality American
Occupation Physician

Joshua Philip Prager MD MS is an American physician. Dr. Prager specializes in pain medicine. He is a past president of the North American Neuromodulation Society(NANS).[1][2] and serves as Senior Advisor to the Executive Board of the society. He served two consecutive two year terms as Chair of the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Group of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).[3] He served on the Board of Directors of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS). He was founder of the Neuromodulation Therapy Access Coalition (NTAC), a coalition of national and international physician organizations and other stakeholders dedicated to insuring patient access to neuromodulation. He serves as Liaison Board Member between NANS and the INS.

Life and research

After undergraduate and graduate studies in Stony Brook University, and Harvard where he served as the President of the Harvard Graduate Student Council, Dr. Prager graduated from Stanford University with M.D. as well as M.S. in Management/Health Services Research in 1981. He completed training in internal medicine at UCLA before completing training in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine. He has served on the full-time faculty at MGH at Harvard Medical School and at UCLA School of Medicine where he served as Director of the UCLA Pain Medicine Center. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine.

Dr. Prager has authored numerous scientific publications and book chapters in pain management, especially on complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), intrathecal pumps, and spinal cord stimulators. He directs a comprehensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation program for treatment of CRPS, integrating physical therapy, behavioral treatment, neuromodulation, ketamine infusions, and occasionally hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Current position

Dr. Prager is the current director of California Pain Medicine Center and Center for Rehabilitation of Pain Syndromes at UCLA and is also the Editor of the California Society of Anesthesiologists Pain and End-of-Life CME Program.[4]

Current and recent public service

Dr. Prager recently completed six years of service on the Medical Evidence Evaluation Advisory Committee (MEEAC), a group appointed by the Governor of California to develop treatment guidelines for medical care of the injured worker. He is a Medical Expert for the Medical Board of California, the California Attorney General and the District Attorney of the County of Los Angeles. He has advised Medicare on the local level as reimbursement expert and as a member of the Clinical Advisory Committee (CAC) and currently holds an appointment on the national level on the Clinical Advisory Committee.

Public service has been an important aspect of Dr. Prager's career. He helped establish or reorganize several inner-city health centers, provided volunteer internal medicine care at Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, and provided volunteer anesthesia for children in the developing world who need corrective surgeries for congenital anomalies. He has held numerous positions with other medical organizations. Most recently, he organized the first meeting of a coalition of pain organizations and all three manufacturers of spinal cord stimulator systems to collaborate on issues of patient access and reimbursement for neuromodulatory procedures

In popular media

Dr. Prager has been interviewed extensively in lay media for expertise in pain medicine. This includes extended interviews in the National Public Radio[5] as well as ABC News,[6] Nightline, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, Lifestyle Magazine,[7] the Wall Street Journal, USA today, Dateline NBC, the National Geographic Television, and The Doctors.[8] CBS News [9]

Dr. Prager has also been cited in medical media including Medscape[10] CE Medicus,[11] and PainClinician.com

Awards and Distinctions

Trivia

Credo

For many years Dr Prager ended every lecture with his credo, "No one should ever wish for death because of the unwillingness of a health care provider or third party payer to provide the most appropriate medication delivered by the optimal route to provide pain relief without untoward side-effects"

Select articles

Books

References

  1. ↑ International Neuromodulation Society website
  2. ↑ Neuromodulation newsletter
  3. ↑ IASP PSNS group
  4. ↑ California Society of Anesthesiologists CME
  5. ↑ NPR Interview
  6. ↑ ABC News Interview
  7. ↑ Lifestyle.org website
  8. ↑ The Doctors October 21 2013
  9. ↑ "There’s No Cure For Complex Regional Pain Syndrome But Doctors Say Treatment Offers Hope « CBS Los Angeles". Losangeles.cbslocal.com. 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  10. ↑ Medscape article
  11. ↑ CE Medicus

External links