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…
Read MoreSometimes, 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…
Read MoreA 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 MoreAddiction 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 MoreMindfulness 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 MoreThe 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 MoreThe 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 MoreCurbing 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 MoreSome 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 MoreWhat 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…
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