Posts Tagged ‘Dr. Lynn R. Webster’
A War on Drugs That Bombs Boats, Pardons ‘Narco-State’ President, and Prosecutes Doctors
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on December 6, 2025. On September 1, 2025, a U.S. warplane blew apart a small speedboat in the Caribbean, killing all eleven people on board. President Trump released the video like a trailer for a new season of a drug…
Read MoreVaccines, Autism, and a CDC That Blinked. Part 1.
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on American Council on Science and Health on December 4, 2025. This essay examines how recent political intervention has reshaped the CDC’s public messaging on vaccines and autism. In Part 1, I explain why the scientific evidence on this topic has not changed—and why the…
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 MoreLegislative and Research Efforts to Reduce Opioid Exposure: Progress, Challenges, and Emerging Threats
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in Pain Medicine News on October 15, 2025. The United States continues to face an opioid crisis marked by persistently high rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdose deaths. In 2023, 8.6 million adults misused prescription analgesics. Prescription opioids can cause harm, and the risks…
Read MoreNo Health Care For Lawmakers Until Every American Has Affordable Health Care
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on October 17, 2025. No Health Care For Lawmakers Until Every American Has Affordable Health Care By Lynn R. Webster, M.D. Millions of Americans stand on the brink of losing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that make their health…
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 MoreWhy “Dopesick” Should Get an Emmy for Fiction
As entertainment, Dopesick is an achievement, but the awards should only be given if the admission is made that the Hulu series is almost entirely fictional.
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 MoreTrading One Crisis for Another Is No Answer to the Opioid Epidemic
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on May 20, 2021. Many years ago, I took on an unforgettable patient (“Jack”) who was on a high dose of physician-prescribed opioids. He wanted me to continue his high dosage. But I was unsure whether the benefit of doing…
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