Month: November 2014

1/12/2012, High-dose opiates could crack chronic pain

http://www.nature.com/news/high-dose-opiates-could-crack-chronic-pain-1.9796

“Has a cheap and effective treatment for chronic pain been lying under clinicians’ noses for decades? Researchers have found that a very high dose of an opiate drug that uses the same painkilling pathways as morphine can reset the nerve signals associated with continuous pain — at least in rats.”

A Losing Battle

http://interactive.fusion.net/a-losing-battle/

What happened next would start a five year battle with the Army. Luther was diagnosed with PTSD. Then the diagnosis was changed to a “Personality Disorder.” He was quickly booted out of the military with no benefits. Luther appealed the discharge. But then came the ultimate injustice: he discovered the one place in the Army he could go for help would leave him, and thousands like him, defeated.

10/31/2014, Almost 1 in 5 Americans Plagued by Constant Pain, Survey Suggests

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_149202.html

[Jae] Kennedy [a professor of health policy and administration at Washington State University] suggested that for those experiencing chronic, crippling pain there are a variety of potential interventions, including physical and occupational therapy, exercise, dietary changes, weight loss, massage and psychotherapy, alongside alternative interventions such as acupuncture, yoga and chiropractic services. Medicines, including narcotic painkillers like hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine, can also be helpful, but only if long-term use is avoided, Kennedy said.

“We are clearly overusing opioids [narcotics],” he noted. “The U.S. consumes about 80 percent of the world’s opioid supply, and 99 percent of the hydrocodone supply. These medications are effective in the short term, [such as] for managing postoperative pain, but long-term use often leads to dependency or addiction.”

Bob Twillman, director of policy and advocacy for the American Academy of Pain Management, agreed, noting that the kind of crippling pain that can make it impossible for people to work tends to have many different sources, not all of which are best addressed with narcotic painkillers.

—–

No, Mr. Kennedy, long-term use does not often lead to dependency.  And what Mr. Kennedy fails to mention about those international statistics is that many countries refuse to treat pain at all. So the world’s supply of opiates isn’t really a “world” supply.

Doesn’t it piss you off when so-called “experts” lie?  And thanks, AAPM, for caving into the echo chamber — what, lost your spine?

10/27/2014, Opioids prescribed by doctors led to 92,000 overdoses in ERs in one year

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-opioid-overdose-prescription-hospital-er-20141026-story.html

“Overdoses involving prescription painkillers have become a leading cause of injury deaths in the U.S….”

Why doesn’t the media pay attention to the word “involve”?  The problem is the mixture of drugs which cause overdoses, not any certain one.

Is meth addiction still a pandemic?

http://cdex-inc.com/cdex-ships-first-order-of-pocket-id2-device-to-lifeloc-technologies/

1/27/2010, CDEX Ships First Order of Pocket ID2 Device to Lifeloc

Studies by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health have estimated Crystal Meth addiction is now the largest illegal drug pandemic gripping the nation.

A recent report by the RAND Corporation in 2005 titled ‘The Economic Cost of Methamphetamine Use in the United States‘ estimated the cost of meth abuse at $23.4 billion annually in the US, imposing serious costs to the criminal justice system. The results of a survey conducted in 2007 by the National Association of Counties reported by law enforcement officials from 45 states showed that Meth is still the number one drug problem agencies deal with.

What To Do When Your Long Term Disability Claim Has Been Denied

https://www.creakyjoints.org/what-to-do-when-your-long-term-disability-claim-has-been-denied/

“It is crucial for you to create a record of documented evidence during the appeal in case litigation subsequently becomes necessary.  This is because there is a high probability the only evidence a court will consider is that which you provided the insurance company during consideration of your appeal.”