Addiction and the 2020 Presidential Race

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / July 27, 2019 /

The ideal presidential candidate should recognize the tragedies associated with all addictions, not just with prescription opioids.

Will Congress Make Football Safer?

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / July 20, 2019 /

Looking Forward to the Start of Football Season It seems as if summer has barely begun. Yet the Fourth of July holiday is already behind us, and many people already are looking forward to the start of football season. Boston’s CBS affiliate recently ran a story titled, “Tom Brady ‘As Excited As Ever’ For Patriots…

Man Trapped in a Billboard

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / July 13, 2019 /

It’s understandable that an advertising agency would have trouble accurately conveying the problems of drug dependence and addiction when the media, too, often has difficulty communicating the facts.

Teaching Children to Cope with Pain

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / July 6, 2019 /

It’s important to help children master their response to pain in age-appropriate ways. Children who have the emotional and cognitive ability to understand and determine their response to an injury generally suffer less. This is self-efficacy, and it allows the child to feel in control.

Who Is to Blame for Skyrocketing Drug Prices?

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / June 29, 2019 /

This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in The Hill on July 27, 2017. Drug Prices Are Soaring Across the board, drug prices are soaring. Even the cost of cancer medications are so high that some patients are delaying cancer treatments or skipping them altogether. But who is most responsible for higher drug prices: pharmaceutical…

Processed Foods

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / June 22, 2019 /

Some research suggests that the products’ packaging can leach such chemicals as bisphenol A (BPA) and perfluoroalky and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or that these toxins may act as endocrine interrupters and cause cancers, infertility, and other health problems.

What “Rocketman” Tells Us About Pain and Addiction

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / June 15, 2019 /

Adverse childhood experiences rewire the brain. The heightened response to stress that some children develop can affect the reward center of the brain and the executive functioning of the prefrontal cortex. It can also result in maladaptive behaviors associated with pain and addiction.

Is Postpartum Pain Control a Crap Shoot?

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / June 8, 2019 /

I worried that the hospital’s choice to lessen the amount of drugs prescribed, rather than focusing on patients’ clinical needs, might mean my daughter’s need for pain control would be unmet. The idea of my daughter enduring inadequately treated pain haunted me, as it would any father, but as a pain specialist, it may have troubled me even more.

Detoxification as Performance Art

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / June 1, 2019 /

This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on May 31, 2019.   “Treatment Box: Rebekkah’s Story” won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Class – Short Format Daytime Program at the 46th Annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The 6-minute video was produced by The Truth About Opioids, which is an opioid…

Honoring Our Veterans on Memorial Day

By Lynn Webster, M.D. / May 25, 2019 /

Those statistics are difficult to read anytime, but they seem especially troubling as the United States commemorates Memorial Day. This is the time for us to acknowledge that those who have served our country deserve the best medical care available.

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