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My dear fellow Freepers. I am in need of some advice for a procedure my wife is scheduled to go through. To give you an idea of just what she faces I should let you know that she is a paraplegic and that her level of injury is T-6. 22 years ago we were passengers in vehicle that went off a 30 foot embankment outside of Norris Montana. She has been in a wheel chair since. Well about four years ago she started having neck pains that eventually moved to her arms and hands. She has gotten to the...

With all the medical miracles scientists have discovered, pain management is still one area with a lot of holes. Most heavy duty pain killers make you unconscious or just dopey. Then there is that other problem of stomach distress and kidney problems which sometimes accompany use of pain killers and anesthesia. Dr. Alexander Binshtok of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine might have found the key to killing pain without any of those side effects and its a really hot idea. Binshtok found a way to use chili peppers as a base for a revolutionary new pain killer:

WASHINGTON — Government medical advisers recommended a ban Friday on Darvon, a prescription medicine that’s been used to treat pain for more than 50 years but left a trail of problems such as addiction and suicide. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 14-12 to recommend withdrawing Darvon after a daylong hearing examining its risks and benefits. The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisers, but it often does so...

Kim Adair fights a daily battle with arthritis. "With 10 being the worst, I would say it's about a 7 or 8,” she said. But she recently found relief in a study at Baylor University using cherries. "They have a lot of the same properties that common anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen or naproxen will have," said Dr. John Cush, Rheumatologist. Kim took cherry extract gel caps. "I think about maybe three months, I didn't notice any pain at all," she said. "Overall, about five out of six patients did very well in the study," said Dr. Cush. Another plus, cherries...

AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON --Improper use of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl is still killing people, the government said Friday - its second warning in two years about the powerful narcotic. Some of the deaths came after doctors prescribed the patches to the wrong patients, the Food and Drug Administration said. The drug is only for chronic pain in people used to narcotics, such as cancer patients, and can cause trouble breathing in people new to this family of "opioid" painkillers. Yet the FDA found cases where doctors prescribed it for headaches or post-surgical pain. The FDA said patients...

'They're stalling me until I die' John Atkins, who has late-stage leukemia, fights his last battle -- paperwork Wednesday, September 05, 2007 MARK LARABEE The Oregonian Staff As he shifts his weight over his cluttered desk and hoists himself on his feet, John D. Atkins lets out a wail.The pain in his back is so great that tears well up in his eyes and his hands shake. Breathing hard, he turns and stumbles, reaching for a cane that lies across his double bed.Eventually, from the dresser he grabs a miniature bottle of Cutty Sark scotch from among a dozen pill...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - People in the United States are living in a world of pain and they are popping pills at an alarming rate to cope with it. The amount of five major painkillers sold at retail establishments rose 90 percent between 1997 and 2005, according to an Associated Press analysis of statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person...

Ronald McIver is a prisoner in a medium-security federal compound in Butner, N.C. He is 63 years old, of medium height and overweight, with a white Santa Claus beard, white hair and a calm, direct and intelligent manner. He is serving 30 years for drug trafficking, and so will likely live there the rest of his life. McIver (pronounced mi-KEE-ver) has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the classic sense. He is a doctor who for years treated patients suffering from chronic pain. At the Pain Therapy Center, his small storefront office not far from Main Street in Greenwood,...

Pakistani boy leads scientists to pain discovery By Patricia Reaney Wed Dec 13, 1:25 PM ET A young Pakistani street performer and members of three related families have enabled scientists to make a genetic breakthrough that could lead to more effective painkillers. During his short life, the unnamed boy never felt pain. He was a local celebrity in northern Pakistan where he astonished crowds by plunging knives through his arms and walking on burning coals. He died on his 14th birthday after jumping from a roof. By studying his case, and other individuals from families in the same clan, researchers...

Euthanasia Robs Dying of Opportunities for Reconciliation, Family Connections, Says Leading Ethics Professor Fr. Robert Spitzer speaks at pro-life conference in Vancouver The last stages of life serve as a vital “wrap-up” period that provides opportunities for important developments in relationships with family and friends, said Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., ethics expert and co-founder of the Center for Life Principles, at a B.C. pro-life conference on Saturday. He said the end of life period should never deliberately be cut short.  Speaking at the International Pro-Life Conference held in Vancouver Nov. 16-18, Fr. Spitzer identified dominant myths put forward by...

Conviction Of McLean Pain Doctor Overturned Appeals Court Says Judge Erred in Jury Instructions A federal appeals court threw out the conviction of William E. Hurwitz yesterday, granting the prominent former Northern Virginia pain-management doctor a new trial because jurors were not allowed to consider whether he prescribed drugs in good faith. The decision again galvanized the national debate that the Hurwitz case had come to symbolize: whether fully licensed doctors prescribing legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be subject to prosecution if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. Patient advocate groups strongly supported Hurwitz and expressed...

... What many like Spence don’t know is that with just six prescriptions pain killers, such as Percocet, allow prosecutors to charge you with trafficking under the state’s mandatory minimum drug law. Just 28 grams of the painkiller is enough to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in jail. She was originally charged with possession by police, but later prosecutors upped her charges to drug trafficking. “Trafficking is definitely not a bottle of mom’s pill,” said Spence as she sobbed.

Video news story about a young woman who faces a 25 year mandatory minimum sentence for drug trafficking. The drugs were prescription drugs (the prescription was for her mother, who had recently passed away) and none were sold. Note: I couldn't get the video to play in a Firefox tab, but it played fine using the IE Tab extension.

Scores Of Deaths Blamed On Abuse Of Painkiller Patch ST. LOUIS -- Justin Knox bit down on the bitter-tasting patch, instantly releasing three days' worth of a drug more powerful than morphine. He was dead before he even got to the hospital. The 22-year-old construction worker and addict was another victim in an apparent surge in U.S. overdoses blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, a prescription-only product that is intended for cancer patients and others with chronic pain and is designed to dispense the medicine slowly through the skin. "I cannot tell you the amount of people I've seen...

Rush was on a roll. He made fun of polling showing that Hillary Clinton has a higher rating when she uses the last name Rodham instead of Clinton. He lambasted a Republican proposal to alleviate high gas prices with a $100 rebate check and accused Congress of pandering. "The more I think about this," said Limbaugh, "the more like a slut I feel." He extolled the patriotic new movie thriller "United 93." He criticized U.S. immigration policy for favoring uneducated laborers over highly trained technicians. He jauntily discussed the etiquette of cigar smoking. And he thanked his listeners, the 20...

<p>Rush Limbaugh's attorney has issued a statement announcing a settlement of the Florida prosecutor's investigation into alleged doctor shopping by Rush Limbaugh.</p> <p>Details have been read by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. Basically, the charge of doctor shopping is dismissed, with some conditions.</p>

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s War on Prescription Painkillers Since 2001, the federal government has accelerated its pursuit of physicians it alleges are contributing to an increase of prescription-drug addiction. These highly publicized indictments and prosecutions have frightened many physicians out of the field of pain management, exacerbating an already serious health crisis—the widespread undertreatment of severe chronic pain.

Patients with debilitating pain from chronic illness, accidents, surgery or advanced cancer have long had problems getting adequate medication to control their pain and make life worth living. Now the federal government, and especially the Drug Enforcement Administration, is working overtime to make it even harder for doctors to manage serious pain, including that of dying patients trying to exit this world gracefully. In an article in the current New England Journal of Medicine titled "The Big Chill: Inserting the D.E.A. into End-of-Life Care," two specialists in palliative care, Dr. Timothy E. Quill and Dr. Diane E. Meier, state that...

It has been more than two years since news first broke that Rush Limbaugh had an addiction to painkillers. That news led to a criminal investigation of Limbaugh by Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer, who in December 2003 leaked to the media that his office had uncovered evidence of 10 felony counts, including "doctor shopping," money laundering and drug trafficking. Despite the sensational allegations, no charges have been brought. Worse, in the latest round between the State Attorney's office and Limbaugh, Assistant State Attorney James Martz made a startling admission in open court on Tuesday as he sought...

White House Drug Czar Says Medical Marijuana Is 'dying Out'By Audrey McAvoy Associated Press Writer Published: Jul 29, 2005 HONOLULU (AP) - The White House drug czar said Friday that medical marijuana is "dying out" after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe pot to ease pain. John Walters, the national drug policy director, said state legislative efforts to expand medical marijuana programs have stalled in the two months since the high court's ruling overrode laws in Hawaii and nine other states. "I think it's dying out," Walters told reporters...