Joshua Prager (doctor)

For other people with the same name, see Joshua Prager (disambiguation).
Joshua Philip Prager
Born
Queens, New York, United States
EducationStony Brook University, Harvard University, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, UCLA Center for the Health Sciences
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician
FieldPain medicine
InstitutionsUCLA Medical Center
Websitecaliforniapainmedicinecenter.com

Joshua Philip Prager M.D., M.S. is an American physician. Prager specializes in pain medicine and is the executive director of Center for the Rehabilitation Pain Syndromes (CRPS) at UCLA Medical Plaza.

Early life and education

Joshua P. Prager was born in New York City, the son of Julian Arthur Prager (1914–1981) and Eleanor Vernon Goldsmith (maiden; 1917–2008).[1] Joshua is the son of a New York City police officer, and later, a public school mathematics teacher, and a United Cerebral Palsy shelter workshop supervisor. Prager was educated in the New York City public school system[2]

He studied as an undergraduate at Stony Brook University,[3] completed his premedical education, and was a graduate student at Harvard University.[4] Prager graduated from Stanford University with M.D. and attended Stanford Graduate School of Business receiving an M.S. in Management/Health Services Research in 1981.[5]

Prager financially put himself through college and medical school. He was a Resident Fellow at Stanford running an undergraduate residence.[2]

He completed training in internal medicine at University of California, Los Angeles before completing training in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine.[6]

Career

Prager 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.[7]

In 2005, Prager was elected as president of the North American Neuromodulation Society,[8] and served two consecutive, one-year terms as president until 2007. Until 2012, he served as Director at Large of the International Neuromodulation Society.[9]

He has served two consecutive 2-year terms as Chair of the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Group of the International Association for the Study of Pain.[10] He is also the Editor and Chair of the Pain and End-of-Life CME program from the California Society of Anesthesiologists.[11]

Prager is one of the few physicians in the US to perform Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation for CRPS.[12]

Prager is a recognized expert who speaks nationally and internationally in the administration of Ketamine for depression, CRPS and other pain problems.[13] In 2016, he was involved in writing guidelines for Ketamine treatment under the aegis of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA).[14] Dr. Prager is also a member of the Board of Directors for the RSDSA.[15]

He has been interviewed on ABC News,[16] CBS News,[17] The Doctors,[18] Lifestyle Magazine,[19] LA Times,[20] National Public Radio,[21] and Medscape.[22]

Public service

In 2005, 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.[23] The same year, Prager joined 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 continued in the role for six years.

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.and the City Attorney of the City of Santa Monica[24][25][26]

He helped establish or reorganize several inner-city health centers and provided volunteer internal medicine care at Haight Ashbury Free Clinics. He also provided volunteer anesthesia for children in the developing world who need corrective surgeries for congenital anomalies.[2]

He serves as the volunteer director of pain management and as a volunteer physician for Veterans in Pain (VIP)[27]

Personal life

Prager plays blues harmonica under the pseudonym Dr. Lester "Les" Payne. He has played with the late James Govan in Memphis, as well as with Jimmy Burns in Chicago. He lives in Los Angeles and has three children.[2]

Awards and distinctions

  • Bounty of Hope Award, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Society of America (RSDSA) for Patient Care and contributions to the RSD community. (2007)[2]
  • Decade of Pain Lecture, American Academy of Pain Medicine. (2007)[28]
  • Texas Pain Society, Samuel Hassenbusch Lecture. (October 2009)[29]
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Presented at the 16th Annual Meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society (December 2012)[2][30][31]
  • Distinguished Service Award, Presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society (October 2018)[32]

Select articles

  • Prager JP (2010). "What does the mechanism of spinal cord stimulation tell us about complex regional pain syndrome". Pain Med. 11 (8): 1278–1283. doi:10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.00915.x. PMID 20704677.
  • Prager JP (2002). "Neuraxial Medication Delivery: The Development and Maturity of a Concept for Treating Chronic Pain of Spinal Origin". Spine. 27 (22): 2593–2605. doi:10.1097/00007632-200211150-00037. PMID 12435999. S2CID 30191791.
  • Prager J, Deer, T, Levy R, Bruel B, Buchser E, Caraway D, Cousins M, Jacobs M, McGlothlen G, Rauck R, Staats P, Stearns L (2014). "Best practices for Intrathecal Drug Delivery for Pain". Neuromodulation. 17 (4): 354–372. doi:10.1111/ner.12146. PMID 24446870. S2CID 25935175.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Connolly SB, Prager JP, Harden RN (2015). "A Systematic Review of Ketamine for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome". Pain Medicine. 16 (5): 943–969. doi:10.1111/pme.12675. PMID 25586192.
  • O'Brien SL, Pangarkar S, Prager JP (2014). "The Use of Ketamine in Neuropathic Pain". Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports. 2 (5): 128–145. doi:10.1007/s40141-014-0045-2. S2CID 39466500.
  • Deer TR, Prager J, Levy R, Rathmell J, Buchser E, Burton A, Caraway D, Cousins M, De Andrés J, Diwan S, Erdek M, Grigsby E, Huntoon M, Jacobs MS, Kim P, Kumar K, Leong M, Liem L, McDowell GC, Panchal S, Rauck R, Saulino M, Sitzman BT, Staats P, Stanton-Hicks M, Stearns L, Wallace M, Willis KD, Witt W, Yaksh T, Mekhail N (2012). "Polyanalgesic Consensus Conference 2012: Recommendations for the Management of Pain by Intrathecal (Intraspinal) Drug Delivery: Report of an Interdisciplinary Expert Panel". Neuromodulation. 15 (5): 436–466. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1403.2012.00476.x. PMID 22748024. S2CID 10011197.
  • Prager J, Deer T, Levy R, Bruel B, Buchser E, Caraway D, Cousins M, Jacobs M, McGlothlen G, Rauck R, Staats P (2014). "Best practices for intrathecal drug delivery for pain". Neuromodulation. 15 (5): 354–372. doi:10.1111/ner.12146. PMID 24446870. S2CID 25935175.

References

  1. ^ Who's Who in America 2006 (60th ed.). Marquis Who's Who. 2005. Retrieved September 15, 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) OCLC 62401678 (60th ed. publication), OCLC 4779680069 (bio).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lifetime Achievement Award - Dr Joshnua Prager (Powerpoint). Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  3. ^ "Notable Alumni". Stony Brook University. p. 3. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Students 1976-77: First-Year Class". Cornell University Announcements. 68 (9): 132. 1976. Archived from the original on 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  5. ^ "Alumni Weekend Events". The Dean's Newsletter. Stanford Medicine. 13 May 2002. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Volunteer Physicians". ULCA. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Dr. Joshua Prager M.D., M.S." California Pain Medicine Center. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  8. ^ "The History of the International Neuromodulation Society". International Neuromodulation Society. 10 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  9. ^ Thomson, Simon (13 October 2015). "A Message from the President". International Neuromodulation Society. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Complex Regional Pain Syndrome". International Association for the Study of Pain. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Online CME Programs". California Society of Anesthesiologists. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Patients". St. Jude Medical. Retrieved 20 September 2016.[dead link‍]
  13. ^ Ketamine for CRPS. YouTube. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Ketamine: The State of the Art and the Science" (PDF). RSDSA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  15. ^ "About - RSDSA". rsds.org. 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  16. ^ Nilsson, Siri (13 December 2006). "No Pain -- and Without a Warning System". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  17. ^ "There's No Cure For Complex Regional Pain Syndrome But Doctors Say Treatment Offers Hope". 4 February 2014. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  18. ^ "Ways to Lessen RSD Symptoms". The Doctors. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  19. ^ "McDougall Program Archives". Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  20. ^ Olmos, David R. (9 March 1998). "The Mystery of RSD". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  21. ^ Norris, Michele (8 April 2005). "Doctors Reconsider Treatments with Painkillers". All Things Considered. NPR. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  22. ^ Bennett, Daniel S. (February 2006). "Highlights of the 22nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine". Medscape. WebMD. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  23. ^ Prager, Joshua P. (27 February 2006). "Spinal Cord Stimulator Systems Offer Advantages in CRPS Treatment". CRPS Advisory. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  24. ^ Evans v. Dart Transit Co, 2:12-CV-186-JVB-PRC. (D.C. Indiana 9 June 2015).
  25. ^ Yu Zhang v. Li, B218013 (Cal.App.2nd 16 November 2010).
  26. ^ Mendoza v. McDonald's Corp, No. 1 CA-CV 07-0903. (Ari.App.1st 7 June 2009).
  27. ^ "Veterans in Pain (V.I.P.) - Board Members, Nonprofit, Pain Physicians".
  28. ^ "An Overview of the Decade of Pain Lecture From AAPM 2008". Medscape Neurology. WebMD. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  29. ^ "Hassenbusch Lectureship". Texas Pain Society. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  30. ^ Oluigbo, Chima (2013). "NANS 16th Annual Meeting: Overview and Highlights" (PDF). North American Neuromodulation Society Newsletter. 8 (1): 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  31. ^ "From Innovation to Reality" (PDF) (16th Annual Meeting – December 6–9, 2012, Wynn Las Vegas). North American Neuromodulation Society. December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 19, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2013 – via Wayback Machine.
  32. ^ "North American Neuromodulation Society 22nd Annual Meeting". North American Neuromodulation Society.

Further reading

  • Prager, Joshua P. (1977). Binney St. Bridge: A study exploring the implications of a bridge connecting Longwood area Harvard teaching hospitals. Beth Israel Hospital Association. ASIN B0006YNXPE.
  • Prager, Joshua P. (8 February 2007). Four Decades of Neuromodulation (WebEx). New Orleans: The American Academy of Pain Medicine.