good medical treatment, please email or call me at the address/phone number above so we can add the doctor to our reference database. Upcoming Webinar: Many blepharospasm patients call the BEBRF office for advice in dealing with their blepharospasm and its treatment. Angel and I have put together a program called How to Get the Most Out of Your Injections. We will be presenting this Webinar via Zoom on Friday, August 26, 2022 at 1:00 central time. Register for the Webinar through the BEBRF website or Facebook page. BEBRF will attend the American Academy of Optometry in San Diego, CA, October 26-29, 2022. The BEBRF presence is part of the on-going effort to familiarize relevant health-care providers with blepharospasm and its related disorders so that patients can get earlier diagnoses and earlier treatment. Reminder: all of the past BEBRF Webinars are available online at the BEBRF Website under the Events tab, and all the Symposium presentations all the way back to 2013 are also available under the About Blepharospasm tab. BEBRF would once again like to thank Office Manager Angel Roberts for designing our new Website, and offer her our congratulations on her upcoming nuptials and move to Missouri. We will miss her.
BEBRF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Heidi Coggeshall, President/Treasurer* Tishana Cundiff, Vice PresidentEducation & Support* Peter Bakalor, Vice PresidentDevelopment* Jane Boyd, MD, Vice PresidentPhysician Outreach* Charlene Hudgins, Executive Director/Secretary Cynthia Clark* Robert Campbell, PhD* Jonathan Healy Carlas Powell* Bryan Renehan*
EX OFFICIO
Brian Berman, MD, Advisor *Patients
MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD
BOTULINUM TOXIN INSURANCE AUTHORIZATIONS Are you or your doctor’s office finding it difficult to get authorization for your botulinum toxin injections? If so, you are not alone. BEBRF has been working with patients and doctor’s offices around the country to help facilitate botulinum toxin authorizations and approvals from insurance companies and Medicare. Often the problem is solved by using the correct ‘coding’ in the paperwork filed with the insurance company. If you encounter these problems, please call Charlene Hudgins, BEBRF Executive Director, at 409-832-0788, and she will coordinate with the pharmaceutical company patient assistance team to help your doctor expedite your authorization with your insurance issues. Or if you prefer, you can contact her at charlene@blepharospasm.org. As a reminder, BEBRF has also put together a packet of information that your doctor can use to appeal to your insurance company for more frequent botulinum toxin injections if you need them. Don’t let these authorizations come between you and your treatments! BEBRF is here to help you. 3
Brian Berman, MD, Chair, Richmond, VA Mark Hallett, MD, Bethesda, MD Andrew Harrison, MD, Minneapolis, MN Joseph Jankovic, MD, Houston, TX Hyder A. “Buz” Jinnah, MD, PhD, Atlanta, GA Laurie Ozelius, PhD, Boston, MA Sarah Pirio Richardson, MD, Albuquerque, NM Charles Soparkar, MD, PhD, Houston, TX Mark Stacy, MD, Greenville, NC Julie Woodward, MD, Durham, NC
DISTRICT DIRECTORS & EMAIL
Bryan Renehan, Eastern C T, DE, DC, FL, GA, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, PR, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV dir-e@blepharospasm.org Tishana Cundiff, Central AL, AR, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, ND, OH, SD, TN, TX, WI dir-c@blepharospasm.org Cynthia Clark, Western AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NE, NV, NM, OK, OR, UT, WA, WY dir-w@blepharospasm.org
