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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 MoreLetter to Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox
In moments of tragedy, the words of our leaders carry extraordinary weight. They can either bring people together in shared grief or deepen the divides that already strain our communities. Following the recent killing of Charlie Kirk, Utah Governor Spencer Cox made public statements that, in my view, risked the latter. While I believe Governor…
Read MoreAwake, Not Woke: How Politics in Medicine Harms Patients
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on September 1, 2025. Awake, Not Woke: How Politics in Medicine Harms Patients By Lynn R Webster M.D. Somewhere between facts and social media, “woke”—a perfectly good word for being awake to reality—got transmogrified into a slur. If that alchemy puzzles you,…
Read MoreBeyond Financial Disclosure: Rethinking Conflicts of Interest in Science and Policy
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in Pain Medicine News on August 15, 2025. In nearly every medical journal, academic conference or government advisory panel, experts are required to disclose any financial relationships that could influence their views. This is a good and necessary practice. Monetary incentives can bias outcomes,…
Read MoreWhy I Participated in VuMedi’s Educational Program on Acute Pain Treatment
I recently had the opportunity to contribute a short educational video for VuMedi, a trusted platform used by over 900,000 physicians, including members of leading institutions like the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Chicago. VuMedi invited me to share insights on the treatment of acute pain—an area I’ve dedicated much of my career to…
Read MoreI’ve treated addiction for 40 years. Trump’s cuts to treatment will lead to deaths in Utah.
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in The Salt Lake Tribune on May 28, 2025. As a Utah-based physician who has spent more than 40 years treating people in pain and those struggling with addiction, I have witnessed how a single intervention — at the right moment — can mean the…
Read MoreCUSP Response to CDC
In 2016, before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published its opioid prescribing guidelines, I expressed skepticism in an interview with Pain Medicine News about the guideline’s potential unintended consequences. At the time, I cautioned that the guideline, while intended to address opioid misuse, could inadvertently harm patients who rely on opioids for effective pain management. I…
Read MoreRage Against the System: Opioid Lawsuits, Trump and the UnitedHealthcare Shooting
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on December 12, 2024. In recent years, we’ve witnessed a collective shift in societal attitudes, where deep-seated anger and disillusionment are driving public narratives in unsettling ways. Three seemingly unrelated phenomena—the public applause for opioid lawsuit settlements,…
Read MoreWhat are the psychological effects of chronic pain?
This is an article by Casey Bloom. I offer it with the author’s permission for informational purposes. The author and I have no financial involvement. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE HER OWN AND DO NOT REPRESENT MY VIEW OR MEDICAL ADVICE. Chronic pain can disrupt your life both physically and psychologically. It can…
Read MoreStephen F. von Till Shares an Original Poem Called “PAIN”
It is my privilege to share with you Stephen von Till’s poem, “Pain,” with his permission.
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