Ignoring the Law of Unintended Consequences—which dictates that undesired outcomes result from a well-meant action—appears to be human nature. In trying to do good, people create more problems, in part because they fail to consider all the moving parts in a complex world. Simple human stupidity is another reason, but much can be explained by…

Lynn 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…

The grueling sport of ultramarathon has fostered a mingling of two seemingly opposite camps: endurance jocks and potheads. “If you can find the right level, [marijuana] takes the stress out of running,” says Avery Collins, a 22-year-old professional ultramarathoner. “And it’s a postrace, post-run remedy.” The painkilling and nausea-reducing benefits of marijuana may make it…

Physician dispensing may have contributed to the unnecessary prescribing of strong opioids by some physicians in Florida, a recent study suggested. The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), an independent, notforprofit research organization, analyzed 46,192 claims from injured workers to gauge the effect of Florida’s antipill mill bill (HB 7095) on prescribing behavior. The ban, which went into effect on…

Objective To better characterize safety profiles associated with the intrathecal (IT) administration of morphine and ziconotide and discuss how they relate to mechanisms of action. Methods Published data were evaluated to identify potential relationships between safety profiles of IT morphine and IT ziconotide and their mechanisms of action. Results Potentially severe and clinically relevant adverse…

Maria C. Foy, PharmD, remembers the patient who first piqued her research interest in methadone policy—a pregnant, recovering heroine addict on methadone therapy who presented to Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, Pa. “The incident made us aware that there was a real lack of understanding and knowledge on the use of methadone and the differences…