Survival Skills for the 21st Century
Part One of Two: The 20th century’s lost leader.
So why is there is so little care in healthcare? Many would say follow the money. Healthcare has become the focus of corporations and insurance carriers bent on making a profit. Health insurance for most of the 20th century was a lost leader. Continue reading “Our Healthcare System: Follow the Money”
In the last five posts, we have been discussing the opioid crisis. An epidemic that has taken thousands of lives and devastated thousands of families. Interdiction has not worked very well at all. Physicians limiting the prescriptions that they write for opioids and using other strategies for dealing with pain may have an impact on the epidemic. But what are we doing about the demand for these drugs? Continue reading “An Addict Among Us: Part Six”
One of the strategies in dealing with addiction is Harm Reduction. This is a strategy that has been practiced in Europe for many years. There is, however, still much resistance to doing this in our country. The strategy involves doing such things as giving people with addictions clean needles and a safe place to use. Critics say the strategy encourages and supports the addiction. The research that has been done on these programs seems to contradict that argument. Studies point out that the strategy reduces death and disease among those addicted and can encourage them to become involved in treatment programs. Continue reading “An Addict Among Us: Part Five”
Our president recommended building a wall on our southern border to keep illegal drugs out. Unfortunately, the problem is not that easy to solve. Much of the illegal drugs coming into this country come by sea or air. And a large quantity of the drugs being abused are prescription medications bought and sold on the streets of this country. Interdiction efforts have not been that successful. Many doubt they will be in the future. Continue reading “An Addict Among Us: Part Four”
As we have discussed in the previous blog post, addiction, especially opioid addiction, is a major issue for our society. And this is not just the abuse of drugs like heroin. Prescription medications are frequently abused. Patients become addicted to them very quickly when they are prescribed in large quantities for the treatment of pain. Unfortunately, medications such as oxycodone and OxyContin may be very effective in treating acute pain, but often don’t work that well for the long-term treatment of chronic pain. These prescription medications are refined to such a degree that addiction to them may come faster than addiction to heroin. Continue reading “An Addict Among Us: Part Three”