In November 2022, revisions to the United States Pharmacopeia’s (USP) General Chapter <797>, a standard for sterile pharmaceutical compounding – defined as the process of “combining, admixing, diluting, pooling, reconstituting, repa…
Category: Meds
Counterfeit drugs: a hidden danger lurking in your medicine cabinet
The timing of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s One Pill Can Kill campaign is crucial, considering the recent Carrollton teen tragedy in which Fentanyl-laced pills posing as oxycodone were distributed through a “juvenile d…
Telemedicine in the opioid crisis: a game-changer threatened by DEA regulations
In March 2020, I was directing a federally qualified health center in rural New Mexico when the first flashover of COVID ripped through the state. In two days, the clinics transitioned from an entirely in-person model to a near-total remote model. The …
The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame
We’ve all heard about America’s so-called “opioid epidemic.” Nearly 100,000 people died in 2021 of causes that included overdose by one or more narcotic drugs and often alcohol. We also hear assertions from anti-opioid advocates…
Can personalized medicine live up to its hype in health care?
The genius of Henry Ford was in his perfection of mass production. Ford’s assembly lines produced oodles of Model T, with economies of scale so that the cost of each car fell to the point that even those working in those lines could afford them. …
The effects of the nationwide stimulant shortage on a private psychiatry practice
I have a solo outpatient private practice focusing on psychiatric medication management and brief therapy for adults. Early on, I decided to accept insurance to help address the shortage of psychiatrists in this country. Because of the advances in tele…
Why North American medical cannabis can’t compete globally
The United States and Canada started a movement that began as medical cannabis and quickly exploded into adult-use cannabis markets. However, the North American operators failed to properly regulate the processes from growing to manufacturing to compet…
How were we duped and what can we do about the opioid overdose crisis?
Who among us as physicians and prescribers, not to mention the millions of families who have been affected and suffered deep personal loss due to the current crisis and record overdose deaths, regardless of whether the opioid was legally written or ill…
Caught in the middle: How health insurance companies influence cancer drug selection
Patients may find themselves caught in the middle between their health insurance company and their oncologist when it comes to selecting the drugs used to treat their cancer. Why is this? The American Cancer Society explains biologic drugs (derived fro…
Timely treatment decisions: the promise of surrogate markers
Driving around, searching for children’s Tylenol and a pharmacy that had the antibiotics my son needed, was not how I wanted to spend the holidays. I am not alone – shelves are bare, and antibiotics are in short supply as we head into the n…
