Posts by Lynn Webster, M.D.
CDC Revised Opioid Prescribing Guideline Falls Short of What People in Pain Need
The updated guideline contains beneficial changes. Among them, certain prescription duration limits and the upper MME dosage threshold have been removed. There is some acknowledgment that pain treatment is indeed important. Yet, the inappropriate usage of the 2016 guideline and policies created in its image to harass, prosecute and even jail clinicians must be specifically and adequately addressed. The MME threshold now in the revised version is no more scientifically sound than the ones in the previous version, and it has already been shown that dosage levels are too easily interpreted with rigidity by policymakers and payors. Until these issues are resolved, the fallout has the potential to harm patient care into the future.
Read MoreWhy the Pain Community Should Support Voting Rights Legislation
Disenfranchised people are in danger of losing their right to vote, and people in pain are an important constituency. Congress recently passed H.R. 4, which is a revised version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Read MoreCrime of the Century: Addiction Is Not That Simple
Crime of the Century had the opportunity to debunk myths about addiction. Instead, it confuses the terms addiction and physical dependence and propagates misinformation.
Read MoreTrading One Crisis for Another Is No Answer to the Opioid Epidemic
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on May 20, 2021. Many years ago, I took on an unforgettable patient (“Jack”) who was on a high dose of physician-prescribed opioids. He wanted me to continue his high dosage. But I was unsure whether the benefit of doing…
Read MoreWhat HBO’s “Crime of the Century” Doesn’t Tell You
The use of opioids was not a crime then, nor is it today. However, the failure to appropriately treat chronic pain when it is possible to do so should be a criminal offense.
Read MoreConsequences of the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
In my view, it was a mistake for the CDC to publish the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain in 2016.
Read MoreA Drug Problem Isn’t a Moral Failing
We may never know why Rush Limbaugh made the choices he did. But, just as we would never think of berating him for falling victim to the lung cancer that took his life, we also shouldn’t chastise him for misusing painkillers.
Read MoreCOVID-19 and People in Pain
I wanted to share an article that I recently wrote for The Pandemic Lens. It is a curated venue where selected photographers, painters, writers, and other artists can present works that express their reactions to the pandemic. I was honored to be asked to participate. This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on…
Read MorePause
I am taking a pause in writing blogs, columns, and editorials. I sincerely want to thank everyone who has followed me. I hope you all will continue to seek factual information. Please know that my commitment to the pain and addiction community is as strong as ever.
Read MoreThe Devil Effect and Patients with Pain
The belief that Big Pharma is inherently bad makes it difficult to appreciate the good things (such as vaccines and cures for diseases) that come from Pharma and separate them from the bad things (such as the negative consequences of some drugs and apparent greed).
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