The following American Article talks about promising non-opioid treatments on the horizon for chronic pain, however, of particular note the Author highlights the following: “We now believe that aggressive, appropriate treatment of acute pain after surgery may prevent persistent postoperative chronic pain.” Why has this trend of “undertreatment” only been noticed & reported in relatively … Read more
IN AMERICA, “The causes of the opioid crisis are now coming to light and a coherent narrative can be constructed. It seems that the CDC, in attempting to deal with a crisis in the streets [i.e. illicit fentanyl] by restricting treatment of pain in clinics, has created a second very serious crisis, this one involving … Read more
Interesting study, on readmission to hospital within one day of discharge from a general surgical service, in Australia. And the most common reason for readmission? Pain. Could it be that all those anti-opioid zealots who are ‘minimising’ opioids use, which in reality often means denying opioid pain relief, might have to admit that denying opioids … Read more
Another large international Study [Canadian], which highlights how force-tapering or “Discontinuing opioid therapy for people with chronic pain raises the risk of a patient dying from an overdose.” YET in Australia, our recently released National Pain Survey showed that over 1 in 4 Australians with Chronic Pain [i.e. 26%!] have experienced enforced opioid tapering since … Read more
Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2022, was released by the Penington Institute on 2-9-22, coinciding with International Overdose Awareness Day. Their website [see Link above] loudly trumpets the shocking news: “America’s Opioid Epidemic is Australia’s Future, If We Don’t Act Now!” TRUE OR FALSE? It is crystal clear to me, from this fear-based & emotive announcement, how & … Read more
Due to the recent opioid reforms and changes to guidelines in Australia [June 2020], many individuals living with chronic pain have been needlessly subjected to, often dangerous, forced tapering of their much-needed painkillers. Discontinuing opioid therapy for chronic pain is not always possible or safe! In fact, in America: “Discontinuing stable, long-term opioid therapy may … Read more
https://apnews.com/article/science-health-medication-opioids-robert-califf-92ce45d2c37a53cdaf7bfac051d71eb6?fbclid=IwAR10Vu_6KdSOeDnamVJBxthmmOrpkDhYYxqdh10VKn9vVriMA8nnrU3vqGo The above Article states: “Last year, U.S. overdose deaths soared to a record of 107,000, driven overwhelmingly by fentanyl and other illegal opioids.” The biggest problem in America is illicit fentanyl from China, entering via the Mexican border, which comprises up to 80% of their “opioid” overdoses. Sadly, many deaths were chronic pain patients, … Read more
“Painaustralia has today issued a media release calling on the government to undertake a reset of the 2020 opioid reforms. Painaustralia’s plea to the Federal Government is supported by Professor Paul Glare, one of Australia’s leading pain management researchers and clinicians and a director of the Pain Foundation. ‘People who have been on long-term opioids … Read more
The 2021 TV Drama Series Dopesick is meant to be a truthful expose on the unscrupulous Purdue Pharma Co. in America, who made huge profits when their drug OxyContin was developed and patented in 1996. Despite Purdue’s “aggressive” campaign to promote the use of opioids in general and OxyContin in particular, it is NOT in question that the drug … Read more
It has been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of writing up a scientific study on chronic pain. Not because I believe that there isn’t a need to do this work, but because I am living with severe, daily pain, chronic illness and all the other mechanics of life – family, work, money. I … Read more