Archives for November 2017

Digital Pills and Other Medical Adherence Technology

The Future of Medicine

The future of medicine may have arrived, and it has its benefits — but it might also create an Orwellian, Big Brother culture.

All medical developments are meant to solve a problem. It is estimated that as often as 80% of the time, patients fail to use medication as directed for some diseases. According to The Atlantic, nonadherence (or noncompliance), in general, costs Americans between $100 billion to $289 billion a year. That has led to considerable research focusing on how to improve patients’ compliance.

The DEA Raids the Offices of My Friend and Colleague, Dr. Tennant

DEA Raids Offices of a Prominent Pain Physician

According to Pain News Network, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has conducted a raid on the offices of Dr. Forest Tennant, “confiscating all of his patient records, appointment books and financial documents.”

A prominent California-based pain physician, Dr. Tennant is a valued friend and colleague. Unfortunately, I know what he is going through. It happened to me, too.

A DEA Raid on Another Pain Specialist’s Offices

I tell the whole story in my book, The Painful Truth, but here’s the abbreviated version. On Friday, August 27, 2010, nine men and women — some carrying guns, and all wearing black jackets emblazoned with either “DEA” or “POLICE” — trooped, unannounced, into the Lifetree Clinic’s offices. It was a raid.

Revealing the Hidden Pain Crisis

Our Perception of Pain Depends on Time and Culture

Pain seems universal and irrefutable. Surprisingly, though, our perception and treatment of pain have always depended on time and culture.

Currently, pain isn’t considered to be as important as the opioid crisis. The voices of people in pain are often ignored. Sometimes, those who have pain are silenced because they fear the consequences — which may include losing their job, their friends, or their status — of telling their stories. That amounts to as many as 100 million Americans who may be actively hiding their pain, and who may feel isolated from a culture that stigmatizes chronic pain patients.

Ways to Help a Recovering Senior Addict Parent from a Distance

Photo via Pixabay

By Marie Villeza, Guest Columnist

When your senior parent is fighting addiction in a recovery treatment center, and you live far away, it becomes difficult to identify what you can do to help her. Recognized as an “invisible epidemic,” many relatives of seniors hooked on drugs or alcohol first have problems accepting the grandmother of the family needs professional rehabilitation help. The standard public imagination resists the idea of a “sweet” senior being hooked on drugs or alcohol.