Dr. Bryan T. Green of Digestive Disease Group, PA went to Washington, D.C. again this year on March 3 and 4 for appointments at the Senate and House offices to advocate for reducing the cost and increasing access for patients to prescription medications. Many insurance companies have created Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to manage prescription benefits for their enrollees but unfortunately this has contributed to rising cost of prescriptions. He also advocated to reduce “step edits” that health insurers use to require patients to try and fail several less effective medications before they will cover the more expensive but also more effective medication. Dr. Green is the immediate past President of the South Carolina Gastroenterology Association that represents over 100 gastroenterology physicians in the state. The trip was part of the public policy forum for the Digestive Disease National Coalition (DDNC) which is a national advocacy organization for patients with digestive illnesses. In conjunction with its member organizations, DDNC seeks to raise awareness of digestive diseases in Congress and in the media. There are over 40 organizations within the DDNC including the American Gastroenterology Association, Celiac Disease Foundation, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, Colon Cancer Alliance, and a number of state gastroenterology associations along with many others.

Dr. Green’s children Forrest and Saige accompanied him Monday to his appointments at the offices of Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott of South Carolina and Senator Ron Weis of Wisconsin and Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. Dr. Green and his children are pictured in the Senate Rotunda (following). In the afternoon they visited the offices of Representatives Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, and Brad Schneider of Illinois.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and one of the most preventable as it begins as a single polyp that if identified during colonoscopy, can be removed before it ever becomes cancerous. Due to increased screening, the United States has been one of the first countries in the world to actually show a decreased incidence of colon cancer. If all eligible individuals followed current screening recommendations, it is felt that over 70% of colon cancers could be prevented.

Dr. Bryan T. Green served as the South Carolina Medical Association Doctor of the Day at the South Carolina Statehouse March 6, 2019. The House on that day also issued the following resolution:

TO SPREAD AWARENESS OF COLORECTAL CANCER AND THE NEED FOR EARLY SCREENING AND DETECTION AND TO PROCLAIM THE MONTH OF MARCH 2019 AS COLORECTAL CANCER AWARENESS MONTH IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

See the resolution here.

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and one of the most preventable as it begins as a single polyp that if identified during colonoscopy can be removed before it ever becomes cancerous. Dr. Green is pictured with Representatives Craig Gagnon and John McCravy III and with other members of the South Carolina Gastroenterology Association on the steps of the state house after the proclamation

Dr. Mason has been involved with Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus for several years, a non-profit organization founded and operated by his mother and father-in-law and located in the Stann Creek district in Belize, Central America. One of their primary goals is to provide free medical care to the village communities in Belize and maintain continuity of care to treat chronic medical conditions. All are welcome to help spread God’s love! Learn more by visiting https://kidzkonnect4jesus.org

Congratulations to the two Matts, Matthew S. Z. Bachinski, MD and Matthew A. Mason, MD on passing their GI Board Certification. Physicians must complete 40 hours of continuing education every 2 years and the Boards must be taken every 10 years. This makes the third set of Boards for Dr. Bachinski and the first for our newest physician, Dr. Mason. Congrats again to both of you for staying up to date on the latest in order to provide the best of care to our GI community!

• See the flier for complete information.
• You can download and print the participant registration form.
• You can download the sponsorship SCF registration form here.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 145,600 new cases of colon or rectal cancer will be diagnosed in the United States during the current year and that the disease will claim the lives of more than 51,000 people. Those numbers in the Palmetto state are 2,166 and 829, according to the South Carolina Cancer Alliance.

THAT’S THE BAD NEWS … Click here to continue reading.

Dr. Bryan Green was invited to speak at the 2018 National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable in Baltimore Maryland on November 15. This is a national coalition co-supported by the American Cancer Society and CDC, which focuses on increasing colorectal cancer screening rates throughout the nation. He presented the results of an ongoing program in which gastroenterologists have partnered with the University of South Carolina Center for Colon Research to provide over 3,000 free screening colonoscopies to uninsured residents of South Carolina. He and the partners of Digestive Diseases Group were the first Gastroenterologists in South Carolina to begin to participate in the program when it began in 2008. Now it involves over 80 Gastroenterologists, 19 endoscopy facilities, 5 hospital systems, 12 pathology organizations and 13 anesthesiology organizations.