Sometimes linked misunderstandings possess awful power. Such has been the occasion of our growing public opioid mess. Opioid overdoses kill tens of thousands yearly, but will undoubtedly lead to far more fatalities. A misunderstanding of how opioids – the many synthetic and “natural” products of opium and morphine – work, has now been joined with a misunderstanding […]
Now – You Must Use Drugs
The health insurance companies know exactly how you should practice. These days, despite the admonitions of Nancy Reagen, they are pointedly telling you to use drugs – and quite peeved when you don’t. A recent postal arrival from a major insurer arrived on properly forbidding stationery. The declaration – it was incumbent that I put patient […]
Simple Ways to Treat Insomnia
America is increasingly sleepless. It’s no surprise. Insane politics and politicians cause many sleepless nights. But insomnia can be caused by sleep apnea and shift work; hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism; depression and anxiety; alcohol and marijuana; chronic lung disease and congestive heart failure. Just as there hundreds of causes of insomnia, most people who suffer sleeplessness do […]
Confessions of a Marijuana Maker
When drugs are also foods, addiction becomes easier. The pleasures of dining conflate with drug pleasures. Particularly when new experiences are so prized people often ask, how can this be bad? That is why edible marijuana, now being packaged into innumerable combinations with many foods – especially chocolates and candies – represent a particular public […]
Dirty Secrets of American Health Care – Drug Pricing
If you need a drug to live, you will do what you need to get it. This “secret” has been exploited by drug companies for many years. Now this form of exploitation has turned particularly obscene. Hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli took over a small drug company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, because he sensed an “opportunity.” What was […]