the painful truth Archives - The Painful Truth

Women, Opioids, Benzodiazepines and Pain: A Potential Deadly Combination

When we think of the segments of the population who have been most affected by the opioid epidemic, we tend to think of poor, unemployed people who live in rural areas. In September of 2016, I published a blog called “Tough Times Feed America’s Opioid Epidemic: What You Need To Know.” In it, I described how the disease of addiction and overdoses can infest an economically-challenged community. I referenced a CNN article written by Wayne Drash and Max Blau, “In America’s drug death capital: How heroin is scarring the next generation,” that tells the story of how addiction, poverty, and social issues together have opened the door to increased opioid use and deaths in America’s heartland. Additionally, I mentioned a book titled Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, in which author Sam Quinones ties the opioid epidemic to the same risk factors: poverty, hopelessness, and unemployment.

Response to Stat News Article

Open Letter to Stat News

In Stat News, David Armstrong’s article on March 24, “TV documentary on pain treatment funded by doctor with industry ties,” misrepresented the purpose of the film, “The Painful Truth“; ignored several of my detailed answers to his questions; and unfairly criticized my professional associations.

Armstrong suggested that the TV documentary downplayed the role of pharma’s contribution to the opioid problem. It didn’t, nor did it advocate for the use of any drugs, including opioids, because that was not the purpose of the film. Rather, it focused on the lack of compassion and treatment for people in pain, and it shed light on the largest public health problem in America: chronic pain.

The Survey Says…the CDC Opioid Guideline Needs to Be Honestly Assessed

One-Year Anniversary of the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guideline

On the one-year anniversary of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) opioid prescribing guideline, an online survey of patients, doctors, and healthcare providers conducted by Pain News Network and the International Pain Foundation (iPain) found that the guideline has “harmed pain patients, reduced access to pain care, and failed to reduce drug abuse and overdoses.”

Constipation Isn’t a Fitting Punishment for People With Pain

Deb was in a near-fatal car accident. Her arms, legs, and pelvis were severely injured and would require multiple surgeries. She relied on opioids to ease the pain. Along with her other day-to-day medical challenges and constant setbacks, she suffered from constipation which her doctor attributed to her use of painkillers. But he offered no treatment or advice, nor did any other members of the hospital’s medical team. With all of Deb’s serious health problems, constipation wasn’t on the list of issues the team felt obligated to address. The medical team, therefore, allowed Deb to suffer, perhaps needlessly, from a common and potentially treatable side-effect of opioid use: constipation.

Pharmacies May be Blackballing Physicians Writing Opioid Prescriptions. What You Need to Know Now

Are Pharmacies Blackballing Physicians Writing Opioids?

A colleague, Dr. Bill Jones (not his real name), recently wrote me about a serious threat to his career.

One of Dr. Jones’s patients, who is on chronic opioid therapy, told him that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had blackballed him. The patient tried to get a prescription for her usual meds filled at a pharmacy at her local supermarket, but they told her they could only fill a one month’s supply of the medications. According to the patient, Dr. Jones was on a list of the top five prescribers of opioids in the area, and the local pharmacies were all being intimidated into not filling his prescriptions. Admittedly, it is unclear what “intimidated” means.

Solving the Opioid Crisis Won’t Be “Cheap, Quick, or Easy”

“Last Week Tonight” is a late-night television show that satirizes the news. Therefore, you probably wouldn’t expect the show’s host, John Oliver, to make the news. Yet he did (see Rolling Stone, Time, Newsweek, Slate, and more) when he did a segment about the opioid crisis.

Using Humor to Discuss the Opioid Crisis

Oliver tackled a difficult topic. He used humor to discuss the controversy of opioids, addiction, and overdoses. Of course, Oliver is not a physician or a scientist, so fact-checkers might have expected to find errors in his broadcast. However, in my opinion, his content was largely accurate and, therefore, I believe that every American should see the video.

How Media Fuels the Opioid Crisis

Data reporting by the media about the opioid crisis can be confusing, but when it is repeatedly reported inaccurately, it creates a perception of truth. Misinformation by the media can lead the public to demand quick fixes that won’t solve the problem and can make things even worse.

Inaccurate Media Reporting

Here’s an example of how that works, and why it is important that we have accurate reporting:

The United State of Grief

Steven D. Passik’s mom (Fran) and dad (Ike), and their granddaughter (Sofia). That was almost exactly 22 years ago.

This is a follow up to a guest blog my friend, Steve D. Passik, posted here on September 21, 2016, called “The Painful Later Years of Frances Passik.”

Steven D. Passik, Ph.D., is a Pennsylvania-based pain psychologist. I’m proud to call him a friend. He is a giant in the field of pain medicine, but that doesn’t make his family members immune to the problems that other chronic patients face.

Join me on reddit.com tomorrow

I will be doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) tomorrow at 3 pm EST on Reddit.

Check out reddit.com/r/iama, and ask me a question.

3 Reasons the New CDC Guidelines May Contribute to the Cost of Addiction

In the September 13 issue of Vice, Maia Szalavitz challenges the myth that the U.S. can solve the opioid crisis by reducing the supply. According to her biography published in Wikipedia, “[Szalavitz] has been awarded the American Psychological Association’s Division 50 Award for Contributions to the Addictions, the Media Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Drug Policy Alliance‘s 2005 Edward M. Brecher Award for Achievement.”

Szalavitz is an informed and highly accomplished neuroscience journalist who applies common sense to the opioid epidemic. She says, “If America really wants to reduce the death toll from its opioid crisis, we need to focus on reducing demand, not supply.”