Month: February 2018
What Is the Sound of One Hand Clapping?
What Was Said or Missed in the FDA Opioid Policy Steering Committee Hearings? by Richard A Lawhern, Ph.D., as published in National Pain Report. Many years ago, a stand-up comic named Shelly Berman helped to immortalize a riddle told by Zen masters. “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” can have many answers. OneContinue reading What Is the Sound of One Hand Clapping? →
Criminalizing the Opioid Epidemic is No Way to Help Chronic Pain Sufferers
by Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D., as published in The Crime Report According to the best evidence we have, prescribing opioid painkillers for chronic pain patients has played only a minor role (if any) in yearly increases of overdose-related deaths. As I wrote recently in The Crime Report, “The US is now chasing the wrong epidemicContinue reading Criminalizing the Opioid Epidemic is No Way to Help Chronic Pain Sufferers →
Opioids: Chasing the Wrong “Epidemic”
As published in The Crime Report Every first responder is familiar with the scenario. You are called to the scene of yet another drug overdose. Naloxone is administered. The comatose “victim” rouses and groggily stands up. Many refuse to be taken to hospitals and drift away. You are tempted to call out “see you againContinue reading Opioids: Chasing the Wrong “Epidemic” →
