Xylazine has been found to be adulterating pills in America, and doctors will need to understand this new threat. First, xylazine is not “krokodil,” although it produces somewhat similar-looking skin ulcers. Krokodil is a pseudonym for des…
Category: Meds
Can weight loss medication interfere with ADHD meds?
Why bother going to work? If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t get paid, so there was that. But it seemed like a pointless exercise. I would stare at my monitor until it was time to go home. On some level I knew I should be, well, working, but I co…
Big pharma ignores low-cost migraine solution
If you are a fan of pharma, you might want to skip this article. Some pharma enthusiasts will call it a rant. By pharma, I mean avaricious pharmaceutical (a pleonasm) companies collectively. On the other hand, those of you who treat acute migraines wil…
AvertD: Can a simple test help reduce opioid addiction?
When I heard about the new AvertD genetic test, pronounced like “averted,” I was compelled to contact the CEO of SOLVD Health, the maker of AvertD, and ask him to answer some of my questions. To my surprise, he was willing to do so, and her…
Venture-backed telemental health care companies are creating a new opioid epidemic
More Americans are seeking mental health care than ever before, but many people receiving treatment have never met their psychiatrist in person—or even at all. Telemedicine has been growing in popularity for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic sent tele-h…
GLP-1 medications like Wegovy are effective metabolic health tools for teens with insulin resistance
Lizzie is a 13-year-old with a great sense of humor. She tells it like it is, especially to her Mom, Jackie, who admits to being a bit of an Almond Mom (the parent who is stuck in a weight-focused diet culture). Jackie leads a very healthy lifestyle an…
Elite access vs. public scrutiny: Medication disparities exposed
A recent New York Times opinion piece detailed a lack of available pain medications. While the DEA claims that it is not purposefully restricting legitimate medication availability, even the names of its own operations belie this statement. On Hallowee…
Too many older adults are taking risky sedative medications
A recent investigation in Quebec uncovered a concerning trend: benzodiazepines — medications commonly used for sleep or anxiety — are being overprescribed. This investigation has prompted the Quebec College of Physicians to closely examine …
Saving lives with naloxone: perspectives from the frontline
According to a recent report by the Stanford-Lancet Commission on the North American Opioid Crisis, “more than 600,000 people in the USA and Canada have died from opioid overdose since 1999, and a staggering 1.2 million more are estimated to die …
How Enhanced Recovery After Surgery solves our opioid problems
In retrospect, we were an addicted nation waiting to happen. Not from a self-indulgent culture, not from an unwillingness to suffer hardship, nor any of the generational criticisms of lack of grit. Our opioid crisis derives from an impatient culture th…
