It’s hard to believe that cancer patients with a few days to live are denied sufficient painkillers for fear of addiction. Today common sense has become an uncommon commodity
The poppy is also a flower…
How history repeats itself! Today, politicians are once again ignoring the pain of terminal cancer patients. At the same time they are shooting themselves in the foot by making illogical remarks about pain. This human folly takes me back 37 years.
In January 1979, I wrote a New Year’s resolution in this column to petition the government to legalize medical heroin to ease the agony of terminal cancer patients. I knew that heroin had been used in English hospitals for 90 years, so why not have this painkiller available in North America? But rather than being applauded for my compassion, all hell broke loose. Continue reading
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a U.S. federal research institute focused on “[advancing] science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction … to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health.” Though it admits “the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, ‘harder’ substances,” it still describes marijuana as a gateway drug.
Every time you enjoy a cool, clear glass of tap water, you could be drinking a cocktail of other people’s second-hand medications.
When the average person makes the decision to add a nutritional supplement to their diet, a multivitamin is likely to be the first choice. That’s because to most people it feels like “taking out insurance” on their health.
It is now estimated that 1 in 8 Americans are on serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressants and a shocking 1 in 4 among women in their 40s and 50s. Yet the U.S. suicide rate of 38,000 a year has never been higher.
Many aspects of the GOP’s newly proposed A Better Way healthcare plan would improve the health system. But “A Better Way” seems to mean “Much of the Same” when dealing with Food and Drug Administration regulation. 
Many might say that a doctor saves lives and helps increase the average life span, but this is not true. Sure, they save a life here and there, but do they really relieve suffering? Patients extrapolate what doctors say, but they don’t realize that, while doctors do know about the diseases in depth, they know very little about the drugs they prescribe. 
Many children with hyperactivity disorders are prescribed medication that is intended to help them. But a recent comprehensive study (the first of its kind) showed that certain drugs may be doing more harm than good. For kids with ADHD and other behavioral issues, a few different types of drugs are often prescribed including ADHD medications, anti-depressants and in extreme cases anti-psychotics. It is this last group on which the study, published by neuroscientists at the University of Wollongong, focused: 
Skyrocking rates of antibiotic prescriptions now suggest that as many as four out of five Americans may be getting antibiotics annually, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Women who take antidepressants during pregnancy may be more likely to have children with autism, a Canadian study suggests.
For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics.