Stop cutting patients off their prescribed benzodiazepines
KevinMD.com,
In the wake of the opioid epidemic, benzodiazepines have been called “our other prescription drug problem” and “the next U.S.
CMS Issues Informational Bulletin on DUR Provisions Under the SUPPORT Act
Policy and Medicine,
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires each State Medicaid Program to submit to CMS an annual report on…
Doctor Says Sharp Limits on Opioids Hurts ‘Legacy Patients’
Science | KQED Public Media for Northern CA,
About four years ago, Dr. Stefan Kertesz started hearing that patients who had been taking opioid painkillers for years were…
Another Lawmaker Overlooks Pain Management in Bill to Fight Opioid Crisis
Rewire,
Hardly a day goes by when the discussion of opioids and their misuse is not on the front page of local or national newspapers.
Opioids are not much better at treating pain than a placebo
Forum:Blog,
A study examined 26,000 patients experiencing chronic pain, and found that opioids were only marginally better than placebos at…
Opioids not much better than placebos at treating pain, study says
Big Think,
The study examined more than 26,000 people experiencing chronic pain.Opioids were only marginally better than placebos at…
How early physical therapy can lessen the long-term need for opioids
Scope Blog,
Eric Sun, MD, PhD, is realistic about opioids and pain. He knows that the nation yearns for a solution to the national crisis…
Ann Robinson’s research reviews—3 September 2018
Latest BMJ blogs,
This week we introduce the next of our three new columnists who will be writing our weekly research…
For Chronic Pain, A Change In Habits Can Beat Opioids For Relief
Health,
There's a growing consensus among pain specialists that lifestyle changes can be more effective than drugs in managing chronic…
Crisis within a crisis
PainScience,
Jacob Sullum for Reason.com, on how the opioid crisis is not only killing addicts but also “leaving pain patients in agony”: …
Finally, proof: opioids are no better than other medications for some chronic pain
Oregon Health & Sciences University,
A new study finds patients who take opioids did no better than those taking opioid alternatives; Roger Chou, M.D., says, “The…
Our Travis Rieder argues that, yes, America probably needs a culture change regarding pain medicine, but we have to be careful how we frame that challenge.
Berman Institute Bioethics Bulletin,
Is it wrong to ask your doctor for opioids? When should you ask your doctor for opioids? Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com…
Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis (Rebroadcast)
Freakonomics,
How can it be that medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S.? And what’s to be done? (Photo: jasleen_kaur/fli…
JAMA Forum: Community-Based Prevention and Strategies for the Opioid Crisis
news@JAMA,
Solving the unrelenting opioid crisis has become a pressing national priority. As evidence, the President’s Commission on…
US heroin use has increased almost fivefold in a decade, study shows
Science news, comment and analysis | theguardian.com,
Researchers say increase is seen across all social groups, ages and sexes and highlight link between misuse of prescription…
CDC Recommends Behavioral Treatment for Chronic Pain
Association for Psychological Science,
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently launched a call for the use of behavioral treatments for managing chronic pain…
Narrating Medicine: When You 'Inherit' A Pain Patient On Opioids, You Need Guidelines
CommonHealth,
"I have not met a single primary care provider who has decided to start opioids for a patient. Rather, we are dealing with the 'i…
Cops aren’t the only ones handing out naloxone now
Scienceline,
Even more pharmacies in Ohio are allowing the public to get anti-overdose drugs without a prescription
The opioid crisis: Medicine X panelists explore the complexity of managing chronic pain
Scope Blog,
Saturday’s Medicine X session on the opioid crisis focused on how best to manage the chronic pain felt by millions of Americans…
6 Facts Every PT (and their patients) Should Know About Opioids…
Forward Thinking PT,
As many of you are aware, the APTA launched its #ChoosePT campaign a few months ago to help combat the opioid epidemic we are…
Pain Care As A Catalyst For Primary Care Transformation
Health Affairs Blog - REMOVED,
As part of our mission to improve New Jersey’s health care delivery systems and reduce the costs of care for its underserved…
JAMA Forum: The Pain and Opioid Epidemics: Policy and Vital Signs
news@JAMA,
Near the end of my tenure as editor-in-chief of AJN, the American Journal of Nursing in 2009, I asked one of the coordinators…
The widespread use of fentanyl escalates the risk of overdose
KevinMD.com,
A fentanyl overdose led to the recent death of musician and singer Prince, according to the medical examiner’s report released…
Addressing racial bias in the treatment of pain
KevinMD.com,
The opioid (painkiller) epidemic, with its seemingly indiscriminate reach, has embraced an alarming number of Americans. In the…
What Is Chronic Pain And Why Is It So Hard To Treat?
Medical Daily,
Unrelieved pain contributes more to human suffering than any other disease.
At 'Pain School,' Veterans Learn To Manage With Fewer Pills
CommonHealth,
Bedford's is one of 67 VA Pain Schools across the country. Through the schools, the VA is trying to shift the way patients…
At ‘Pain School,’ Veterans Learn To Manage With Fewer Pills
CommonHealth,
Robert, a veteran who injured his back several times during a dozen years in the Navy, stopped using opioids to treat his pain…
Not Everyone is Happy With the CDC’s Recently Updated Opioid Guidelines
Natural Society,
Earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) responded to the growing opioid addiction epidemic in the U.S. by…
12 Opioid Prescribing Recommendations: 2016 Guidelines from the CDC
Physician's Weekly,
The CDC issued new 2016 guidelines this week for prescribing opioid medications for chronic pain for patients 18 and older. Here…
Opioid-Related Overdoses And Deaths Are On The Rise In The ICU: Study
Medical Daily,
The rate of opioid hospitalizations and overdose deaths has only gotten worse in the past few years, new research finds.
Republicans’ Cynical Move To Blame Obamacare For The Country’s Drug Addiction Epidemic
ThinkProgress,
It's a misleading argument from some of the law's fiercest opponents. The post Republicans’ Cynical Move To Blame Obamacare For…
Is the government’s National Pain Strategy doomed to fail?
KevinMD.com,
Over the past few months, the federal government has mobilized against what is being called “the opioid crisis“: a national…
How the medical profession can solve the opioid crisis
KevinMD.com,
Opioids, also known as opiates, serve as important prescription medications in medical practice. But within the last decade or…
The opioid epidemic: It’s time to place blame where it belongs
KevinMD.com,
The media is full of stories about the current opioid crisis. But unlike many national crises, such as the Flint lead-contaminate…
Addressing the social determinants of pain
Common Sense Family Doctor,
Over the past few months, the federal government has mobilized against what is being called "the opioid crisis": a national…
CDC Chronic Pain Guidelines: Not so bad, but...
Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog,
by Tom QuinnIn case you didn’t notice, the US Centers for Disease Control published their long-awaited (dreaded?) “CDC…
Curbing opioid abuse
Vital Record,
Most people know that heroin is a dangerous drug, but its cousins, the legal, pharmaceutical opioids, such as codeine or…
How to Use Prescription Painkillers Without Getting Addicted
Lifehacker,
From the headlines, prescription painkillers sound pretty scary. Some of the people who take them switch to heroin, and some…
'Zero pain is not the goal' of medical treatment, doctors say
Booster Shots - latimes.com,
As doctors contemplate a future without opiates to treat chronic pain, some are making the case that eliminating their patients…