It was a vexing data riddle: Were opioids leading seniors to commit suicide? Or did they have major health problems that led them to take their lives?
Over the course of a week in March, Los Angeles stand-up comic and life coach Kate Romero opened up to KPCC about the pain she feels from degenerative disc disease and fibromyalgia.
Some seniors there now say they are looking for ways to take as few prescription drugs as possible. And many are turning to cannabis as an alternative.
"We are overreacting to the need to lower opioid prescribing by punishing patients," says Dr. Kelly Pfeifer.
In Los Angeles County, the rate of deadly overdoses is much lower than the national rate. Why?
UC Irvine recently announced a $200 million gift to establish a new college of integrative medicine. The press coverage revealed a long-running bias from the media toward alternative therapies, one supporter argues.
How do we begin to solve the prescription drug crisis ravaging communities across the country? A recent report points the way to promising solutions, including some that should've been implemented years ago.
In 2011, when the U.S. Congress commissioned the Institute of Medicine Committee and opened a dialogue about the chronic pain problem, the conclusion was clear: it is undermanaged.
How likely are you to get hooked if you start taking prescription painkillers? There's scant evidence because most painkiller studies focus on whether they work. Whether they are addictive is logged merely as a side effect.
Reporting on Health Contributing Editor William Heisel set off a spirited discussion this week on Twitter on the risk of addiction to opioid pain medicine. What are the implications for chronic pain management and treatment?
