Who remembers Jack Kevorkian, Doctor Death? He was found guilty in 1998 of second-degree murder. Still, it was because of his advocacy that the terminally ill patient’s right to die by physician-assisted suicide was propelled into the public aren…
Category: Pain Management
I’ve prescribed opioids to patients. And I’m not a villain.
You’ve probably heard this one in one format or another: kid gets wisdom teeth yanked, dentist prescribes a handful of Vicodin, next thing you know, he’s on the street busking for change to pan the man for the big H. Meanwhile, the dentist is on cruise…
I’ve prescribed opioids to patients. And I’m not a villain.
You’ve probably heard this one in one format or another: kid gets wisdom teeth yanked, dentist prescribes a handful of Vicodin, next thing you know, he’s on the street busking for change to pan the man for the big H. Meanwhile, the dentist is on cruise…
Using low-dose naltrexone to treat pain
Lori Pinkley, a 50-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., has struggled with puzzling chronic pain since she was 15. She has had countless disappointing visits with doctors. Some said they couldn’t help her. Others diagnosed her with everything from fibromyal…
How do we manage pain in the era of the opioid crisis?
“6 in 10 Kids Got Opioids After Tonsil Surgery, Study Says.” So screams the headline from The Daily Beast. “In the midst of the opioid crisis, doctors sent many kids home with oxycodone and hydrocodone,” it goes on to say. Another example o…
A patient predicted her tragic future
I’d been told in my hospital sign-out that Melanie was transgender, but I stumbled on the first day and referred to her as “he” in front of my medical team. “She!” she said immediately. “Oh, man,” I thought to …
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…
Settlements in the opioid cases need these non-negotiable conditions
The judgment in the Oklahoma trial against Johnson & Johnson for their role in the opioid crisis is a good start to what deserves to be an ongoing pursuit of justice for the victims, their families, and the states. Any financial settlement is only …
5 things I wish I had known earlier about chronic pain
I’ve been living with chronic pain for more than a decade. It began in 2009 with nerve damage after emergency groin surgery. Four years later, I fell and hit my head. That fall led to a constant headache, a whistling sound in my ear, back and hip pain,…
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…
