Miami, FL, November 25, 2013 – Past Florida Society of Anesthesiologists (FSA) President Dr. Rafael Miguel has been appointed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee. The 13 member FDA Advisory Committee is charged with reviewing and evaluating data regarding the safety and effectiveness of drugs used in anesthesiology and surgery, and formulating recommendations to the commissioner of the FDA. The Committee’s review process is among the final reviews prior to full FDA approval of any anesthetic and analgesic drug products.
“I am honored to serve on the FDA’s Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee,” said Dr. Miguel. “Developing safer abuse-resistant pain-relieving medications are among the many ways in which the committee will be working to make anesthesia safer for patients and to finding a way out of the present prescription drug crisis. Physician anesthesiologists and pain medicine physicians have been instrumental in this effort and will continue to be a vital part of these goals and I hope to contribute to the Committee in making the best decisions for our patients and our specialty.”
“We congratulate Dr. Miguel on his appointment to the FDA’s Advisory Committee,” said FSA President Dr. Jay Epstein. “As one of the foremost experts in pain medicine, Dr. Miguel will bring an incredible wealth of knowledge to his new role helping to further the committee’s mission as well as FSA’s commitment to enhancing drug safety and effectiveness.”
Dr. Miguel specializes in pain medicine and currently has a practice affiliated with the University of South Florida (USF) with clinics in Tampa and Sarasota in Florida. A past president of the FSA, Dr. Miguel presently serves on the Board of Directors and is the Chair of the FSA Committee on Pain Medicine. He is the 2013 recipient of the FSA’s Distinguished Service Award, the highest tribute the Society can pay to an FSA member for outstanding clinical, educational or scientific achievement, contribution to the specialty and exemplary service to the Society.
About Dr. Rafael Miguel
Dr. Miguel has been a lifelong academic Anesthesiologist and Pain Medicine Physician. He is currently Professor and Medical Director of the Nova Southeastern University Anesthesiologist Assistants Program in Tampa and Medical Director of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System Pain Medicine Program in Sarasota with four ambulatory Pain Medicine centers. He is a Special Government Employee for the FDA and was recently appointed to the FDA’s Analgesic and Anesthetic Drug Products Advisory Committee.
Dr. Miguel is the 2013 recipient of the FSA’s Distinguished Service Award, the highest tribute the Society can pay to an FSA member for outstanding clinical, educational or scientific achievement, contribution to the specialty and exemplary service to the Society. As an academic physician he attained the rank of tenured Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology of the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida. He was the Program Director of the ACGME–accredited Pain Medicine Fellowship at USF for 10 years and Chief of the Anesthesiology Department at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center for 17 years. Dr. Miguel was appointed by Governor Bush to the Florida Board of Medicine, served a four-year tenure and was elected as its Vice-Chair. He is presently the Chair of the Department of Health’s Board of Medicine Probable Cause Panel for the State of Florida. He is a Past-President of the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists, presently serving on its Board of Directors and is the Chair of the FSA Committee on Pain Medicine.
Dr. Miguel has been elected by his peers as one of America’s Best Doctors every year since 2004 and has published extensively in multiple peer-reviewed publications including Anesthesiology, Anesthesia and Analgesia, Pain and other specialty related scientific journals. He is an active member in multiple specialty societies, is a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Pain Medicine Committee (ASA), an Alternate Delegate to the American Medical Association from the ASA and serves on the Health Care Advisory Committee of US Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL). He has an active clinical and research practice and continues to train tomorrows Pain Medicine Physicians in the ACGME-accredited Pain Medicine Fellowship at USF.
