pain
The PAIN GAME: How We Criminalize Medicine
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on November 20, 2025. “What happened?” It’s the most basic question you can ask about the opioid crisis. Yet for more than two decades, most of the answers the public has been given have been pre-packaged: greedy drug companies, corrupt “pill mill”…
Read MoreWhere Pain Research Is Headed and Why I’m Hopeful
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on October 18, 2025. If you live with pain, you’ve probably heard promises that “something better is coming.” At this month’s Pain Therapeutics Summit in San Diego, you could see that promise taking shape. For two days, clinicians, scientists, companies and…
Read MoreThe Malevolent Attack on Women
It distresses me to know that, while the original ORT served to help assess the risk opioids posed for individuals, it has also caused harm. Since the question about a woman’s sexual abuse history does not provide any additional benefit, there is no reason to retain it. The ORT-OUD should be used instead of the original ORT.
Read MoreCrime of the Century: Addiction Is Not That Simple
Crime of the Century had the opportunity to debunk myths about addiction. Instead, it confuses the terms addiction and physical dependence and propagates misinformation.
Read MoreWhat HBO’s “Crime of the Century” Doesn’t Tell You
The use of opioids was not a crime then, nor is it today. However, the failure to appropriately treat chronic pain when it is possible to do so should be a criminal offense.
Read MoreAre We Living in the Matrix?
A recent Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” illustrates how social media networks are selling each of us as commodities to advertisers. Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, points out that platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram make money by allowing advertisers to target only those who are interested in their messages or products
Read MoreSuicide Prevention and Pain Awareness: Ironic Partners
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides a hotline for anyone who is having a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts. Free, confidential help for a loved one, or for you, is only a phone call—or online chat—away.
Read More2020 Football Season Begins During a Pandemic
The 2020 football season has begun. There have been changes, including daily testing and limiting who can enter the teams’ facilities. Many referees will wear masks, and locker rooms have been restructured to discourage the spread of the virus. So the game will continue.
Read MoreWill Marijuana Be Decriminalized at the Federal Level?
Upcoming election results will likely determine whether the MORE Act has a chance to become law in the near future. It behooves every voter to become familiar with the candidates’ positions regarding cannabis. Criminalizing marijuana has caused great harm. We, as voters, have the power to change that.
Read MoreHow to Say Goodbye
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.
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