Posts by Lynn Webster, M.D.
Media Reports About Opioids Have the Wrong Focus
The headline reads, “As prescription opioid addiction rises, help from doctors lags.” That belies the following statement by Washington Post reporters Scott Clement and Lenny Bernstein: “Despite the high rate of dependence, the poll finds that a majority of long-term opioid users say the drugs have dramatically improved their lives. Opioids relieve pain that is…
Read MoreThe Disturbing Myth of the Gateway Drug Theory
In 2012, Vanyukov et al published an article describing two separate views on the role that drugs play in initiating an addiction (Drug Alcohol Depend 2012;123:S3-S17). One is the “gateway theory” and the other is the “common liability to addiction concept.” The gateway theory places the drug as the primary factor in initiating a…
Read MoreFascinating New Cancer Tech of Biomarkers and Dogs’ Noses
We are making headway in the fight against preventing, detecting, and treating cancer. You may already know that genes may someday hold the answers to treating, detecting, and even preventing cancer. Improved Genetic Therapy for Cancer Treatment You may also have heard that genetic therapy carries with it risks. But, according to the Genetic…
Read MoreWhat Is the Truth About Overdose Deaths?
In its 2015 Report Overview, the Clinton Foundation calls prescription drug abuse (leading to overdose) an imminent public health threat that kills “more people than motor vehicle accidents.” The CDC reports that, during 2014, a total of 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States. Indeed, that is a large number of tragic…
Read MoreThis is How Food Manufacturers and Drug Developers Evaluate Products: What You Need To Know
A recent CNN article written by Lisa Drayer describes the techniques that food manufacturers use to develop foods that will be more desirable and, thus, more marketable. There’s a wonderful book on the topic called Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss. Both Drayer and Moss agree that the…
Read MoreEmotional Trauma Affects Boys and Girls Differently: What You Need To Know
Emotional Trauma Affects Boys and Girls Differently More than a decade ago, I published an article proposing a tool that providers could use to help assess the risk of someone’s developing opioid aberrant drug-related behaviors if prescribed an opioid. The instrument is commonly called the opioid risk tool, and it is still commonly used today.…
Read MorePharmacies May be Blackballing Physicians Writing Opioid Prescriptions. What You Need to Know Now
Are Pharmacies Blackballing Physicians Writing Opioids? A colleague, Dr. Bill Jones (not his real name), recently wrote me about a serious threat to his career. One of Dr. Jones’s patients, who is on chronic opioid therapy, told him that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had blackballed him. The patient tried to get a prescription for…
Read MoreThis is Why DEA Action Continues Catch-22 of Marijuana Research
A 57-year-old firefighter with chronic neck and back pain left a comment on my blog to ask: If they can send a man to the moon, why can’t they make a medication with no side effects that is not addictive and that can control pain? My response is that we do have the ability,…
Read MoreSolving the Opioid Crisis Won’t Be “Cheap, Quick, or Easy”
“Last Week Tonight” is a late-night television show that satirizes the news. Therefore, you probably wouldn’t expect the show’s host, John Oliver, to make the news. Yet he did (see Rolling Stone, Time, Newsweek, Slate, and more) when he did a segment about the opioid crisis. Using Humor to Discuss the Opioid Crisis Oliver tackled…
Read MoreThis is the Reason OIC Is No Joking Matter
Why Joking About OIC Isn’t Funny According to a recent Washington Post story, six in ten American adults take prescription drugs, and this has created a “vast market for new meds to treat the side effects of the old ones.” The article is titled: “The drug industry’s answer to opioid addiction: More pills.” The article…
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