5 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0
Why does the opioid epidemic hit home for you?
Ilan Kirsh, my best friend from childhood, died on the
stoop of my apartment in New York City because of
an opioid overdose. We were attending medical
school at the time with plans to enter a profes-
sion we both loved. It was a devastating loss.
Ilan was a kind, smart and giving person. I think
about him constantly and named my son after
him to honor his memory.
What impact has the crisis had on the way you
care for patients?
Several years ago, when opioid-related deaths
were spiking in western Pennsylvania where I
practice, a study was published about general sur-
geons giving patients too many opioids after major
abdominal surgery (osmag.net/Rf8GBk). It struck a
chord and I thought, Are we doing the same thing in
our urology practice? We replicated the study and
came up with similar, if not worse, results. It was a
disconcerting finding — I was overprescribing opi-
oids, even after losing my friend to an overdose.
What improvements did you make to your pain
management protocols?
We wanted to show that it was not only possible
Q & A
Turning Personal Tragedy Into Positive Change
Benjamin J. Davies, MD
Surgeon champion of opioid-sparing pain management
