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Aug 14, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | L. Joseph Parker |Amy Mae Baxter |Rita Agarwal |Julie Appleby
A doctor in Virginia named Joel Smithers was serving a 40-year sentence in an Atlanta prison when he won his appeal to the 4th Circuit. No, he didn’t shoot someone. That’s probably 25 years. He treated patients in pain. Now, he will get a new trial where he will be bludgeoned again with false metrics and innuendo. To ensure that the benefit of the doubt prevails, a Reuters article starts with, “A Virginia doctor who prescribed more than 500,000 opioid doses in less than two years …” OK.
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Jun 27, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | Richard A. Lawhern |Janet Tamaren |Gary Call |Rita Agarwal
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!Join us as we sit down with Amy Baxter, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine, to explore the future of pain management. We’ll dive into the challenges and advancements in non-opioid alternatives, focusing on the impact of the NOPAIN Act set to transform reimbursement policies in January 2025.
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Jun 19, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | L. Joseph Parker |Janet Tamaren |Rita Agarwal |Julie Craig
Drug use has a complicated history in the Western World. Not quite two hundred years ago, starting in the Fall of 1839, Britain attacked the nation of China for having the audacity to ban an addictive substance, opium, that the British were selling to the Chinese people. Opiate addiction was rampant in China at the time, and the emperor had issued a prohibition on the drug.
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May 13, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | Rita Agarwal |Anna Swenson |Barbra Orlando |Christina Menor
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD. We always hear about the art and science of medicine, but with our busy practices, the science stays at the forefront, while the art can get lost. Personal experiences or a special patient can help open our eyes. The following are just a few stories from physicians that illustrate the power of enhanced communication and listening to our patients and how both can positively impact patient experiences and care.
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May 8, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | L. Joseph Parker |Rita Agarwal |Kathleen A. Hallinan |Richard A. Lawhern
When I heard about the new AvertD genetic test, pronounced like “averted,” I was compelled to contact the CEO of SOLVD Health, the maker of AvertD, and ask him to answer some of my questions. To my surprise, he was willing to do so, and here is what I learned from the training documents that will be mandatory for all prescribing MDs.First, AvertD is not for use in patients receiving treatment for chronic pain, period.
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Apr 22, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | Richard A. Lawhern |Janet Tamaren |Rita Agarwal |Gary Call
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!Join us as we sit down with Amy Baxter, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine, to explore how societal factors, deceptive marketing, and profit-driven health care systems have contributed to the opioid epidemic. Amy will shed light on the effectiveness of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) and cost-effective non-pharmacological interventions for pain relief.
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Apr 2, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | L. Joseph Parker |Rita Agarwal |Richard A. Lawhern |Elizabeth M. Barreras-Rivest
The CDC is trying, desperately, it seems, to pound a square peg into a round hole, blaming COVID-19 for a surge in alcohol use and ignoring a glaring problem with the evidence. That’s not something you generally expect from scientists. However, I would argue the CDC is no longer controlled by scientists. While dedicated scientists still work there, the CDC is now controlled by politics.
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Feb 29, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | L. Joseph Parker |Rita Agarwal |Richard A. Lawhern |Matt McCord
The absolute belief in a vast conspiracy is often associated with an unbalanced mind. People suffering from some forms of mental illness are prone to these beliefs, seeing the invisible hand of the CIA behind the music choices on their radio stations. But that’s not always the case. Dr. Andrew Wakefield was born in 1956 and completed his medical degree in 1981, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1985.
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Jan 25, 2024 | 
kevinmd.com | Richard A. Lawhern |Janet Tamaren |Gary Call |Rita Agarwal
As a non-clinician patient advocate and health care writer, I am frequently reminded of a quotation attributed to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain): “Figures don’t lie.
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Jan 11, 2024 | 
healthychildren.org | Scott Hadland |Rita Agarwal
Page Content
By: Scott Hadland, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP & Rita Agarwal, MD, FAAPAn overdose crisis is affecting children, adolescents and adults across the United States. Most drug overdoses in young people are caused by opioids. Opioids have long been used medically to treat pain. But highly potent opioids like fentanyl, which is rampant throughout the illicit drug market, are now the leading cause of overdose deaths across all ages.
