How do we manage pain in the era of the opioid crisis?

--------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsors [Nearly 30% of malpractice cases]( are attributed to communication failures. Dive into the real-life story of an academic medical center that experienced challenges with their communication infrastructure: [Explore the five leading points of failure]( and discover how you can correct or prevent issues in your organization. What are some [real-world actions to counteract burnout]( The most common strategies provided by physicians and advanced practice providers from their own experiences relate to [scheduling or setting limits](. [Ready to go on the offense this season?]( It's time to add 7 key plays to your game plan that will quickly increase patient engagement and satisfaction. [Download your free playbook and learn how](. [Workplace violence in health care]( is probably an issue that personally impacts your work. These 10 resources can help you develop programs to decrease health care workplace violence. [It’s time to help change the belief]( that being silent is the only option. Neurosurgeon Mark McLaughlin, MD is a [powerful, inspiring presence on stage]( with a storytelling skill that moves audiences. Mark is available for keynote opportunities in 2020. [Find out more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Oct 7, 2019 [How do we manage pain in the era of the opioid crisis?]( “6 in 10 Kids Got Opioids After Tonsil Surgery, Study Says.” So screams the headline from The Daily Beast. “In the midst of the opioid crisis, doctors sent many kids home with oxycodone and hydrocodone,” it goes on to say. Another example of scaremongering and sensational headlines, or is this something we should still be […] [What it means to be an attending physician]( Dr. Ryme had been retired at least thirty years from medicine when he met me, his last pupil. I was a freshly minted doctor, and he became the first teacher of a new course at my new school called “Life as an Independent Doctor.” At our first office visit, after telling me his life story, […] [What it’s really like to be a doctor on the border]( The clinic intake form we used had a space for an asylum number. The number assigned when people first presented to the border requesting asylum. It’s not a tattoo, yet. Refugee Health Alliance (where I worked for much of July 2019) provides care for asylees, refugees, and deportees just across the border from San Diego […] [How we got from 18th-century tinctures to the opioid crisis]( Americans have always loved their medicines and sought them out actively to cure whatever ailed them. Their interest ranged all the way from “staying well” to “feeling better.” Productivity in this hard-charging, pull yourself up by the bootstraps society required activity, and it’s hard to be active when you’re sick. In the 18th-century in Germany, […] [Using low-dose naltrexone to treat pain]( Lori Pinkley, a 50-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., has struggled with puzzling chronic pain since she was 15. She has had countless disappointing visits with doctors. Some said they couldn’t help her. Others diagnosed her with everything from fibromyalgia to lipedema to the rare Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Pinkley has taken opioids a few times after surgeries, but they never helped her […] [Enter a clinical trial because it helps others, not necessarily yourself]( From time to time, I am asked by someone about participating in a medical research study. These situations are usually when an individual, or someone close to them, has unmet medical needs. Understandably, a patient with a condition who is not improving on standard treatment, would be amenable to participating in a clinical trial to […] [Primary care could hold the key to preventing Alzheimer’s disease]( To delay or prevent the onset of memory loss, talk to your doctor. It can really be that simple. Among the diseases that Americans fear most, Alzheimer’s and dementia consistently rank at the top of the list. What people don’t always realize is that many causes of memory loss are treatable and preventable, and the […] [Is automation the anti-workaround?]( Anyone who has spent any time on the internet knows better than to spend much time on the comments from an opinion piece. The comments section, even one on a site as reputable and respected as the New York Times, is often a minefield of trolls, contrarians, and conspiracy theorists. But after reading “The American […] [How a patient’s passing changed this radiologist]( I can still recall my first day of medical school orientation. A humbling silence fell across a sea of 162 enthusiastic and largely arrogant aspiring trainees as the dean proclaimed, “As doctors, you will all kill someone at some point in your career.” I did not give this declaration much thought at the time. I […] [Religion and spirituality are in the exam room]( Religion and spirituality play a role in both patient’s and provider’s lives. Despite this, medical school is usually an atheistic experience. I went to a state-run medical school. No consideration of religion happened throughout my entire medical school or residency curriculum. It was a long apprenticeship to the god(s) of science. A survey in 2015 […] [20 minutes isn’t long enough for an office visit]( As many of you know, if you’ve read my columns regularly, once a year the whole family escapes from the city, and we travel up to New Hampshire to stay at the lake house that’s been in my wife’s family for over 100 years. A modest wooden house perched out over the water, situated just […] [Why this doctor was so uncomfortable arguing with another physician]( I hate confrontation. It’s just the way I was raised. I’m not saying it’s right, or healthy, it just happened. My parents and I almost never confronted one another; even when it would have been healthier. That, of course, is water under the bridge and not in any way a condemnation of my folks who […] [The public charge rule crosses the line, and doctors need to push back]( An impossible choice: your child’s health or your child’s future. This is the choice being posed to immigrant families with the proposed changes to the public charge rule. These changes would make those using government aid — such as food stamps, housing assistance, or Medicaid — less likely to be granted a green card. Under this rule, immigrant […] [Taking away a senior’s smartphone is a complicated issue]( At first, Dr. Robert Zorowitz thought his 83-year-old mother was confused. She couldn’t remember passwords to accounts on her computer. She would call and say programs had stopped working. But over time, Zorowitz realized his mother — a highly intelligent woman who was comfortable with technology ― was showing early signs of dementia. Increasingly, families […] [Essential financial tips for new medical residents]( The transition from medical school to internship is both an exciting and traumatic period for doctors. As a fully anointed “MD” (or DO), the new doctor has a well-deserved and distinguished title to her name. No more “student doctor” anymore. Most orders won’t have to be cosigned anymore. Want to place an order for 100 […] [MKSAP: 54-year-old woman with flushing of the face]( Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 54-year-old woman is evaluated for flushing of the face of 1 year’s duration. These episodes occur two or three times per week and last about 30 minutes. She went through menopause at age 50 and is on estrogen and progesterone […] [How non-physician practitioners are pawns of large health care organizations]( During our family trip to Walt Disney World this past year, we got the Disney Dining Plan. It turned out to be a lot of food. On the last day of the trip, we each still had two sit-down meals and about five snacks apiece to go through. Needless to say, we ended up leaving […] [It’s time for women in medicine to get their moonshot]( This year, the world reflected on the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The achievement was extraordinary for many reasons, not the least of which was the sheer tenacity and imagination required for thousands of scientists, researchers, dreamers, and doers to roll up their sleeves and accomplish what seemed impossible. […] [Uber and Lyft are playing larger roles for Medicaid]( Arizona Medicaid Director Jami Snyder heard many complaints about enrollees missing medical appointments because the transportation provided by the state didn’t show or came too late. So this summer she hatched a solution familiar to millions of Americans looking for an efficient ride: She turned to Uber and Lyft. Arizona became the first state to revamp […] [Avoiding late-stage dementia with advance directives for stopping eating and drinking]( On October 1, 2019, Nevada began allowing individuals to avoid living in late-stage dementia. The new statute recognizes the legitimacy of an advance directive that instructs health care providers to stop hand feeding food and fluid by mouth. Individuals have already been completing such directives in New York and Washington. The Nevada law is the […] --------------------------------------------------------------- If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 345 Hudson Street New York NY 10014 USA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](