Episode Description
The so-called opioid crisis is a tragedy unique to modern American culture. Our co-hosts ask Dr. Joshi poignant questions about how law enforcement agencies have essentially criminalized the practice of medicine by allowing due process violations, subjective interpretations of the Controlled Substance Act, and through “familiarity bias” by agents not trained in the clinical practice of health care.
The discussion continues about how patients with chronic, intractable pain are treated presently and what patients can expect in the future in light of recent Supreme Court rulings and subtle policy changes. Burden of Pain, A Physician’s Journey through the Opioid Epidemic is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.
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Filed under: General Problems
Great podcast! Thank you! I completely agree with Dr. Joshi. We need to destigmatize chronic pain patients, addiction patients, etc. & start caring & helping them as best as absolutely possible. If someone needs Rx pain medication to help improve their lives, then so be it. They shouldn’t be looked down upon because of it. Pain patients look down upon themselves enough as it is & don’t need others making it any worse. Same with addiction. In fact, someone who overcomes addiction has to be a VERY strong person. That’s NOT easy in the very least. They should be praised over & over again. & honestly the more you praise them for getting clean, the more they’ll want & try to become clean & stay clean. But I think some of the addiction comes from not being able to be adequately treated for pain. Which is horrible. We are supposed to be the great nation & the most advanced but yet we treat our lame & weak as horrible people, when most usually aren’t.