Archive for January 2017
Can You Feel My Pain?
Are patients qualified to determine whether or not opioids help in treating their pain? Pain Medicine Advance Access published a study that was conducted at the Back and Pain Center, University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, MI. The Back and Pain Center is an outpatient tertiary care pain clinic where patients are evaluated for…
Read MoreCreating Positive Change for Babies, One Word at a Time
I’ve been critical of the media’s language in describing aspects of the opioid crisis. To solve the opioid crisis, we have to understand it and use terms that are factual but without spin. I believe the media could be a force in motivating people — the public as well as lawmakers — to take constructive…
Read MoreWhat Happens When Pain Changes a Cop’s Perspective?
A cop who arrested addicts is now experiencing life as a pain patient and has a much different perspective. You can read Nick Selby’s first-person account of “what happens when pain meets bad health policy and bad drug laws” in the Washington Post. He tells his story well, and it’s one that’s familiar to…
Read MorePresident Obama, Overprescribing Isn’t the Only Reason for the Opioid Epidemic
President Barack Obama wrote in the January issue of the Harvard Law Review, “As their [prescription opioids] use has increased, so has their misuse.” This is true, but blaming only overprescribing of opioids for the current opioid crisis demonstrates a lack of understanding about the complexity of the problem. The putative argument President Obama…
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