In 2017, the CDC rolled out a “solution” to the opioid crisis. The recommendations, which were never intended to become laws, were mostly level of evidence three or below. To put it another way, they were not robust, nor were they based on …
Category: Pain Management
Phoenix pain clinic touts new office as ‘lower-cost’ alternative to ASCs
Arizona Pain recently launched an office-based procedure suite in Phoenix that the company’s CEO and founder called a lower-cost alternative to ASCs in an April 6 LinkedIn post.
The true story of morphine milligram equivalents
They are the foundation of the CDC’s 2016 opioid guidelines, resulting in legislation limiting opioid prescribing in 36 states. Morphine milligram equivalents, or MMEs, are used to set arbitrary prescribing limits for opioids by physicians since …
Art as a tool to manage pain
My niece and I look across the expanse of the second floor of Marshall’s Dranko Library as we take in the library’s Spring art exhibit: Creation in Confinement. We spot my moon drawings on black paper hanging on the opposite wall. As a new artist, acco…
Coal mining culture and the opioid crisis [PODCAST]
“For me, my own personal stories of opioid patients come to mind, including one who keyed my car when I stopped prescribing his opioid after an acute injury. I think of some local opioid overdose deaths in my community. I would love to hear what …
Breaking down the real cost of the opioid epidemic
I have been writing of late about recent developments in the opioid saga. My first piece talked about a fresh decision in California’s seven-year-old The People vs. opioid pharma case. The next one focused on how the middle-man, distributors, con…
Listening to pain in our younger patients
As a family physician for more than 40 years, I have seen countless patients struggling to alleviate chronic pain, with far too many turning to self-destructive coping methods such as alcohol and opioids. Unfortunately, the struggle with chronic pain i…
How drug distributors contributed to the opioid crisis
A recent headline in my neighborhood newspaper read, “A Dentist Became a Top Opioid Buyer in W. Va. Now a Drug Firm Faces Penalty for Ignoring Red Flags.” The drug firm sent 25,400 hydrocodone pills and 3,600 Xanax to one Huntington, WV are…
$134,000 forfeited by pain physician whose patient died from opioids
Read the full post on Becker's ASC Review
What you don’t know about pain will hurt you [PODCAST]
“If you treat chronic pain, or are someone living with it, remember this: Changing the brain can change pain. Addressing emotional health directly impacts physical health, because brain and body are always connected. Pain psychologists can serve …
