Archives for December 2016

Misguided Repeal to Cure Opioid Crisis Ignores Patients’ Pain

Once again, I read the Intractable Pain Act (along with the section of it known as the “Pain Patient’s Bill of Rights”) which was passed by the Tennessee House and Senate in 2001 and repealed in 2015.

I did not see anything in the legislation that supports the statement made by Knox News columnist Frank Cagle that “when a patient was discharged from the hospital, they had to sign a form saying they have been issued all the pain medicine they wanted. If they didn’t get all the pain pills they wanted, the doctor could be sanctioned.”

Media Reports About Opioids Have the Wrong Focus

The headline reads, “As prescription opioid addiction rises, help from doctors lags.” That belies the following statement by Washington Post reporters Scott Clement and Lenny Bernstein:

“Despite the high rate of dependence, the poll finds that a majority of long-term opioid users say the drugs have dramatically improved their lives. Opioids relieve pain that is otherwise intractable, they said in follow-up interviews, allowing them to walk, work and pursue other activities. Fully two-thirds of users surveyed said relief is well worth the risk of addiction.”

The Disturbing Myth of the Gateway Drug Theory

In 2012, Vanyukov et al published an article describing two separate views on the role that drugs play in initiating an addiction (Drug Alcohol Depend 2012;123:S3-S17). One is the “gateway theory” and the other is the “common liability to addiction concept.”

The gateway theory places the drug as the primary factor in initiating a substance use disorder (SUD). The belief is that exposure to a licit rewarding drug (e.g., tobacco or prescription opioid) begins a developmental process that progresses like a disease to a more serious stage, culminating in the use of an illicit drug (e.g., marijuana, heroin). Thus, in this theory, exposure to a drug initiates an SUD independent of the biology of the individual.

Fascinating New Cancer Tech of Biomarkers and Dogs’ Noses

We are making headway in the fight against preventing, detecting, and treating cancer. You may already know that genes may someday hold the answers to treating, detecting, and even preventing cancer.

Improved Genetic Therapy for Cancer Treatment

You may also have heard that genetic therapy carries with it risks. But, according to the Genetic Literacy Project, scientists have recently found a way to make genetic therapy safer. In November 2016, the Genetic Literacy Project reported, “Scientists have developed a new safer gene therapy that may reduce the risk of cancer and can be used for many blood diseases” by altering the way in which a virus carries a beneficial gene to its target cell. This reduces the risk of cancer and can also be used for many blood diseases.

What Is the Truth About Overdose Deaths?

In its 2015 Report Overview, the Clinton Foundation calls prescription drug abuse (leading to overdose) an imminent public health threat that kills “more people than motor vehicle accidents.”

The CDC reports that, during 2014, a total of 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States. Indeed, that is a large number of tragic deaths.

Is There More to This Problem Than Prescription Drugs?

But a closer look at that statistic reveals that these deaths were caused by all drugs, not just prescription drugs, which is what those who relay statistics to the public often imply. Furthermore, the number also includes overdoses of illicit drugs along with over-the-counter medications.