Wednesday, April 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
17
World Tai Chi and
Qigong Day in Sisters
Lawmakers try to stem opioid epidemic
World Tai Chi and Qigong
Day begins in Samoa and
continues throughout the
other time zones around
the world for a 24-hour
period.
Tai chi and qigong —
forms of “energy work” —
are considered by practitio-
ners to help bring balance
and calm to the world. There
are celebrations in over 80
nations around the world.
This year in Sisters the
occasion will be marked at 10
a.m. on Saturday, April 29 at
Creekside Park.
The purpose of the event
is to educate people about
tai chi and qigong and the
health benefits they provide.
The use of these ancient
Chinese modalities promotes
increased focus and concen-
tration, balance (physical and
energetic) and spiritual and
community connection.
Participating teachers are:
• Joyce Burk Brown
- Soaring Crane Qigong
style; certified at OCOM in
Portland, 2004. She will dem-
onstrate a Remedy Routine
designed for detoxifica-
tion. She presently teaches
SALEM (AP) — Seeking
to stem the opioid epidemic
in Oregon and prevent over-
dose deaths, the House of
Representatives unanimously
approved a proposed law on
Monday that would provide
safe-use recommendations
to those who prescribe such
pain-killing drugs.
However, provisions in
the bill that would have lim-
ited healthcare practitioners
to prescribing a maximum
seven-day supply and would
have criminalized improp-
erly prescribing opioids were
earlier stripped by the House
Health Care Committee. The
Oregon Medical Association
had lobbied against some of
the provisions.
The state attorney gener-
al’s office had strongly backed
the measure because “the risk
of overdose and addiction is
serious.”
“In 2014, enough opioids
were prescribed in Oregon
for nearly every person in
the state to have a bottle,”
Assistant Attorney General
David Hart said in written
testimony.
More than 15,000 people
privately and at Life.Love.
Yoga. in Sisters, Blissful
Heart Healing, and St.
Charles Hospital – Cancer
Center in Bend. She may be
contacted at 541-420-5875 or
joyce52brown@gmail.com.
• Irv Givot – He has been
practicing Nei Dan form since
1993 after studying in China.
He has taught qigong on and
off and has been a chiroprac-
tor in Sisters for 25 years. He
will demonstrate a Standing
Qigong Meditation. He can
be reached at 541-549-0624.
• Dawn Song has a
rich background including
teaching yoga, tai chi, and
three forms of qigong. She
has been teaching Spring
Forest Qigong since 2003.
She may be contacted at
dawnsong03@gmail.com or
by text at 541-207-7266.
• Bill Turner has been
practicing for 33 years. He
studied with seven masters
and is well known for healing
work with horses, people and
land. He will demonstrate
an easy-to-learn form using
nature. He can be reached at
bturner724@gmail.com.
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
died in America from over-
doses involving prescription
opioids in 2015, according to
the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. In
Oregon, more drug poisoning
deaths involve prescription
opioids than any other type
of drug. The Oregon Health
Authority says an average of
three Oregonians die every
week from prescription opioid
overdose.
The original bill, sponsored
by Rep. Mitch Greenlick,
D-Portland, and House
Majority Leader Jennifer
Williamson, D-Portland,
would have limited prescrip-
tions to seven days, unless a
healthcare practitioner deter-
mined more was needed for an
acute medical condition or for
various types of pain, like that
associated with cancer. It also
would have made it a crime to
refuse to furnish records or to
prevent inspections.
In a Feb. 28 memo to the
healthcare committee, Oregon
Medical Association general
counsel Mark Bonanno said:
“We do not believe crimi-
nalizing prescription writing
achieves better patient care. In
fact, if practitioners fear pros-
ecution for writing prescrip-
tions for opioids or opiates, we
expect the pendulum for the
public health issue of properly
treating pain will swing all the
way back to under-treatment
of pain.”
Under the amended bill,
the Oregon Medical Board,
the Oregon State Board of
Nursing and the Oregon
Board of Dentistry would
provide notice to practitioners
they regulate of recommenda-
tions for safe use of opioids.
Among the guidance con-
tained in Oregon Opioid
Prescribing Guidelines:
Recommendations for the Safe
Use of Opioid Medications:
• Consider opioid therapy
only if expected benefits for
both pain and function are
anticipated to outweigh risks.
• Prescribe the lowest
effective dosage.
• If clinicians suspect their
patient might be sharing or
selling opioids or intention-
ally misusing them, clinicians
should consider urine testing
to consider whether opioids
can be discontinued abruptly
or tapered.
• Clinicians should avoid
prescribing opioids and ben-
zodiazepines (a class of psy-
choactive drugs).
Now the bill goes to the
Oregon Senate.
Bend Memorial Clinic
Bend Memorial Clinic in Sisters has been taking
care of local families for years. Dr. Fan practices at the
Sisters clinic, where she finds being a small-town doc-
tor richly rewarding.
From routine shots to regular checkups, from
helping folks get over illness to helping them plan to
improve their health, Bend Memorial Clinic is there
for the Sisters community.
The BMC Sisters clinic team treats the whole
patient, not just a collection of symptoms, and they
tailor a healthcare plan that is unique and right for
you.
Bend Memorial Clinic also offers urgent-care ser-
vices in Bend and Redmond, including imaging and
lab services. And remember, no matter where you see
your Bend Memorial Clinic provider, all your informa-
tion is kept in a central electronic health-record sys-
tem so all physician notes are kept in one, confidential
place for your Total Care.™
Serving Sisters for 36 years!
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Malone, DC
Chiropractic Musculoskeletal
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