Our wise elders had a saying: moderation is the key to happiness. Unfortunately, there is little moderation where opioids are concerned. They are both over-prescribed and under-prescribed for patients in chronic pain. This results in what I call the opioids paradox. Read the whole post here on my book blog: The Painful Truth
Politicians and some government officials tell us that the new CDC opioid guidelines will reduce deaths due to overdoses. But, based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, that is unlikely. The latest CDC report shows a continual increase in opioid-related overdose deaths despite about a 25% decrease in the number of opioids prescribed. This…
New CDC Opioid Guidelines Politicians and some government officials tell us that the new CDC opioid guidelines will reduce deaths due to overdoses. But, based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, that is unlikely. The latest CDC report shows a continual increase in opioid-related overdose deaths despite about a 25% decrease in the…
“I remember, the first pain pill they gave me, I felt really good. I actually felt very calm. I felt a sense of confidence that I never felt before. I knew it was going to be the start of something,” said a former high school football star to Soledad O’Brien on an episode of…
Our wise elders had a saying: moderation is the key to happiness. Unfortunately, there is little moderation where opioids are concerned. They are both over-prescribed and under-prescribed for patients in chronic pain. This results in what I call the opioids paradox. Opioids Prescribed In Excess In fact, opioids sometimes are prescribed in excess. Much,…
When the news first broke about comedienne Whoopi Goldberg’s latest venture, selling products that include marijuana to ease menstrual cramps, I thought: Holy cow! Here’s an excellent example of why the DEA needs to reschedule marijuana. It appears to be a wild frontier with efforts to turn marijuana into the latest snake oil. Like snake…
Sometimes, it embarrasses me to be a medical professional. I honor and respect my colleagues, and typically, I’m proud to call myself a physician. But a recent Washington Post story about the enormous biases medical students have regarding pain treatment has troubled me deeply. The Washington Post story reports that a majority of medical…
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…
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…
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