Archive for March 2016
This Is Why an Implant Cannot Stop Heroin Addiction
A recent The Daily Beast article asks the question: Can an implant stop heroin addiction? Heroin Addiction Implant The short answer is that, no, an implant cannot stop heroin addiction. The buprenorphine implant the article cites is only used once someone has already developed an opioid addiction. Therefore, the implant isn’t preventing heroin addiction, it’s…
Read MoreWhy You See The Pendulum of Addiction Fear Swinging Again
Addiction Fear “The data about the ability of opioids to cause addiction haven’t changed. But that ‘old’ news can’t compete with the fire-breathing, vote-getting, be-seen-to-be-doing-something mentality of our political and regulatory folks,” said Charles F. von Guenten, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Palliative Medicine. I couldn’t have said it better. Of course, this…
Read MoreThis is the Reason Mindfulness and Meditation Transcend Religion
Mindfulness is not a foreign religion or threat to anyone’s religion, despite what some people may assume. We should remember that Walking the Labyrinth is a traditional process by which believers in Christianity can meditate. All religions have recognized the healing properties of meditation or mindfulness. Each religion may use its own symbols or mannerisms…
Read MoreWhat Is the Correlation Between Financial Stress and the Ability to Cope with Pain?
The authors of this Harvard Business Review article appropriately report an association between economic insecurity and the rise in painkiller consumption. Of course, a person’s painkiller consumption may increase for many reasons, but augmented pain due to stress certainly may be one reason. The Experience of Pain People consume painkillers primarily because of pain which…
Read MoreThis is the Way We Learn: Through Family Connections
The Importance of Family Connections This article discusses the needs of grandparents and why it is important to them that their grandchildren stay in touch. That reminds me of the movie, “The River Runs Through It,” and the impact the film had on several of my friends and me. Before I saw the movie,…
Read MoreAbuse-Deterrent Formulations Are Part of the Solution to Overdose Crisis
Curbing The Epidemic of Drug Overdoses Dr. Robert Califf, the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is focusing his energy on curbing the epidemic of drug overdoses. He told a panel of FDA advisors last week that abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) may be part of the solution. However, many speakers at that panel…
Read MoreThe Reasons Caregivers are Heroes and Saints
Some religions call their holiest people saints. In secular speak, a saint is a person who is pure, honest, and beyond reproach, and who mostly devotes their life to benefit others. In our more common vernacular, we use the word “heroes” to describe those who sacrifice themselves for the good of others. Saints and Heroes:…
Read MoreIs Death from Pain a Natural Death?
What is a natural death? That’s partly a judgment call, and it reveals our prejudice against pain patients. Pain treatment and cancer treatment are two colors of the same spectrum. They both serve the same purpose, and yet they’re perceived very differently. Pain treatment with an opioid is unacceptable to many advocating against the use…
Read MoreWhat Is the Icon for Chronic Pain?
The Icon For Cancer: The Jimmy Fund Say what you will about Boston sports teams. One of them, the Boston Braves, helped launch “The Jimmy Fund.” It all started in 1948. At that time, members of polite society rarely mentioned cancer. Fear, superstition, and ignorance caused people to whisper about cancer, steer clear of anyone…
Read MoreChronic Pain and the Death of a New York Times Journalist
The death of the New York Times journalist, Sarah Kershaw, reminds me painfully of too many conversations I had with my patients during the course of my career as a pain doctor, about whether or not they wanted to live. During the 30 years of my practice, countless patients told me they had no hope…
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