While Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton only recently announced her bid for office in 2016, she has already declared a few important issues on her presidential agenda, including the ever-important opioid crisis in the United States. Many are chiming in to offer their best solutions to curbing the opioid abuse epidemic; sadly, many of the proposed…
Read MoreSeveral years ago, I happened to be reading a research article about people who had lost limbs in landmine explosions, when I ran across a psychological distinction that I’ve seen validated many times since then. It seems that one of the major factors determining the quality of recovery for someone who has suffered this kind…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: This post was originally published on Clinical Pain Advisor in response to an earlier story titled: Opioids During Pregnancy Affect Birth Weight, Respiratory Health. Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported a well-known link between opioid use during pregnancy and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in a recently published study that is quickly gaining traction online. It is sparking a great deal of controversy — in part because there is…
Read MoreBy Barby Ingle, President Power of Pain Foundation As a leader in the pain community and someone who personally advocates for pain patients on a daily basis, I strongly believe that we can combat the issues of abuse while still giving patients who need pain relief a safe, effective and accountable access to these medications.…
Read MoreLynn R. Webster, MD Tinseltown does not generally have much in common with medicine, but the big screens will occasionally reflect what is happening in society. It’s been more than two decades since Tom Hanks won his first Best Actor Oscar award for his role in “Philadelphia,” a movie that contributed to a national social…
Read MoreIn an effort to curb opioid drug abuse and addiction, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has issued new rules that limit the accessibility of hydrocodone, putting chronic pain sufferers who rely on the drug in an impossible situation. The DEA’s new restrictions come after the decision to relabel hydrocodone as a Schedule II drug, making…
Read Moreby Lynn Webster, MD The Problems of Opioids During roughly the past two decades there have been significant increases in the prescription of opioid analgesics for helping millions of patients with pain disorders. At the same time, the United States is in the midst of an epidemic of misuse of these drugs and related abuse,…
Read MoreQuestion #6: Why has the CDC not recognized pain as an epidemic but says opioids should not be used for chronic non-cancer pain? Dr. Lynn Webster [Dr. Webster]: Hello, this is Dr. Lynn Webster. Thank you for listening to the Pain Topics series of interviews on LynnWebsterMD.com. Today I am joined by Dr. Steve Passik…
Read MoreQuestion #5: Can you tell me what a pain specialist is and what training should be required for a pain doctor? Dr. Lynn Webster [Dr. Webster]: Hello, this is Dr. Lynn Webster. Thank you for listening to the Pain Topics series of interviews on LynnWebsterMD.com. Today I am back with Dr. Steven Passik to…
Read MoreQuestion #4: Can you envision a cultural transformation as called for by the Institute of Medicine? Dr. Lynn Webster [Dr. Webster]: Hello, this is Dr. Lynn Webster. Thank you for listening to the Pain Topics series of interviews on LynnWebsterMD.com. Today I am back with Dr. Steve Passik to continue our discussion. Dr. Passik is…
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