I’ve spent 15 years treating addiction, mostly to opioids. I’ve worked in residential treatments, methadone programs. I have testified in cases related to overdose deaths. I know the harm that is possible from excess opioid precribing or use. But I also hope that some day, pain treatment becomes more rational. Read more…
I hope that people recognize the tongue-in-cheek nature of the title. After working as a physician in various roles over a period of 20 years, I can state with absolute confidence that the answer to the question is ‘yes’. I’ve written numerous times about the writer/activist for the Salem-News.com web Read more…
An Article by Mike Berens and Ken Armstrong, Seattle Times, discusses some of the problems with using methadone as a first-line treatment for pain: When it comes to battling pain, Washington health officials have encouraged doctors to reach for methadone, a powerful and inexpensive prescription drug. For the past decade, Read more…
A question about Suboxone and mood: I came across your website while looking for answers to Suboxone. I was wondering what you thought of a patient being prescribed Suboxone for depression and anxiety disorder? I have tried almost every antidepressant you can think of. I have also tried lithium and Read more…
I am moving the post below from the comments section to here because many readers will benefit from the information. As a doctor treating chronic pain I can attest to the problems and challenges from all angles. I worry about leaving patients in pain– but at the same time I Read more…
The interface between chronic pain and addiction is very complex. Pain becomes worse the harder one looks at it, and taking narcotics tends to draw attention to the pain… so as a broad generalization patients don’t do as well on pain meds as off. At the same time, patients will Read more…
Yes, I have changed blog platforms again… hopefully for the last time! I spent the past few days learning to use the self-hosted WordPress platform. After reading the instructions about uploading the program using FTP (no small task for non-techies like me) I went to my GoDaddy hosting account and Read more…
Wow. I have heard others talk about methadone zealots ‘out there’ who get very emotional about the drug– I figured the people that described them as a bit crazy were exaggerating… I went ahead and approved a couple of the replies to my last post so that people can judge Read more…
I feel that I have a good understanding of suboxone…. With the exception of the pain issue. The reason for my lack of confidence in that area is because first, I have seen less-consistent results in pain patients, and second, some of the claims made by patients just don’t make Read more…
I received a letter today– a person discussing the use of opiates by a family member with chronic pain. I was not sure if the letter was asking questions about my opinions, or was instead arguing that my ideas were off-base. In either case it is worth publishing, as several Read more…