Follow Dr. Webster on Substack
Going forward, all my new articles will appear on Substack. This will give us a cleaner, more reliable way to stay connected with thoughtful, evidence-based commentary on pain, addiction, health policy, and the science that matters most to patients, and people interested in the health-related topics I write about.
What are we to believe? I, for one, can no longer believe what the CDC says unless it is verified by non-partisan scientific bodies. This is a sad time. Our health is being played with as if it were a game. I feel like a commoner in Game of Thrones, as the kings fight for power and ignore their people.
There is a worldwide race to find a vaccine for the coronavirus. This is a good thing. We all want a vaccine. Everyone is eager to get back to a “new normal,” whatever that will mean, but it’s unlikely to happen until we have an effective, safe COVID-19 vaccine.
White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx may have the best recommendation of all: wear a cloth mask and a face shield simultaneously. The mask, she says, protects others, while the face shields protect wearers. She calls masks and face shields “two different technologies for two different reasons.”
COVID-19 has forced me to think about the reality that death can catch any of us by surprise. As I write this, we are in the midst of a pandemic that has infected more than 17 million people and taken more than 680,000 lives worldwide. Many of the COVID-19 victims died alone and didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones.
How we experience pain is a result of both environmental and genetic features. The genetic factors are what we inherit.
A mischaracterization of the phrase “First, do no harm” must not prevent providers from caring for people, or prevent policymakers from allowing physicians to treat their patients. That treatment must include providing patients with medication that can adequately provide pain relief with acceptable risk.
Only 5 percent of physicians in the United States are Black, despite the fact that the population includes more than double that number of African Americans. That needs to change.
Dr. Ziegler is an advocate for people in pain. A Purdue University professor emeritus, Dr. Ziegler has also worked as a lawyer, police officer, detective, DEA agent, and humorist. I don’t know how he puts these experiences together, but I’m grateful that he is willing and able to leverage all of his skills and knowledge in a remarkable way to produce entertaining and informative podcasts.
Those who follow my work on Linked In, in social media and in medical journals will be aware that I am a sharp critic of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain to adults with chronic non-cancer pain
If I had been of a different race, would I have been treated with the same compassion? Research today suggests I probably would not have been.
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