I watched all three presidential debates this summer with health care being a time-consuming topic for all. Universal health care and Medicare for all, with or without an option for private insurance, were debated and discussed at length. At the same t…
Category: Meds
What’s the best way to treat doctors and nurses with drug addiction?
Dr. Wesley Boyd, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard, has spent years working with state programs that help doctors, nurses and other health care workers who have become addicted to opioids get back on their feet professionally. He supports…
Vapers may be using more nicotine than they realize
Lucas McClain started smoking cigarettes in high school but switched to vaping after he heard e-cigarettes were a safer alternative. His vape of choice became the Juul, the king of electronic cigarettes — which comes with a king-size nicotine hit. Now …
Does marijuana really relieve pain? Here’s what anesthesiologists say.
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Marijuana is made from the dried flowers of the cannabis plant. Made of more than 500 chemicals, including over 100 compounds called cannabinoids, the primary active…
Considering CBD oil? This psychiatrist suggests these questions to ask first.
One question I get asked a lot lately is this: “Is it OK for me to use CBD oil?” First of all, CBD oil and associated preparations are types of alternative medications, medicines that might not be mainstream or readily prescribed by doctors, but are n…
Doctors can change opioid prescribing habits. Incrementally.
When they started practicing medicine, most surgeons say, there was little or no information about just how many pain pills patients needed after specific procedures. As a result, patients often were sent home with the equivalent of handfuls of powerfu…
How drugmakers became masters at producing authorized generics
When PDL BioPharma’s $40 million blood-pressure medicine faced the threat of a generic rival this year, the company pulled out a little-known strategy that critics say helps keep drugs expensive and competition weak. It launched its own generic version…
MKSAP: 45-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 45-year-old woman is evaluated for management of type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosed 3 months ago. She was asymptomatic at diagnosis with an…
Think beyond benzodiazepines for anxiety
An excerpt from Understanding Medicines for Anxiety. Although the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are among the most widely prescribed medicines for depression, they also have a useful role to play in treating anxiety disorders. In this…
Are benzodiazepines “the worst thing that’s ever happened to people”?
Although Arnold Knutsen and I “met” virtually five years ago, we only first spoke on the phone recently when he called to share his story. He’s the eldest member of the online benzodiazepine support group we cohabitate. His posts in t…
