According to the Ohio State University Medical Center chronic pain has been said to be the most costly health problem in US. Increased medical expenses, lost income, lost productivity, compensation payments, and legal charges are some of the negative economic consequences of chronic pain. Consider the following:
Low back pain is one of the most significant [...]

Volume 1 | Issue 1 | March 2010

Families | Professionals

Physicians Corner

Benzodiazepine Dependence and
Poly-drug Abuse in Adolescence
David Smith, MD, FASAM
Chair, Addiction Medicine Newport Academy

David Smith, MD

Benzodiazepines are part of a broad drug class called sedatives hypnotics and include a broad range of widely used medications from Librium (chlordiazapoxide) for anxiety, Halcion (Triazolam) for sleep, to Midazolam [...]

Neuropathic pain is a complex chronic pain state that is usually accompanied by tissue injury. With this type of pain, the nerve fibers themselves may be damaged, dysfunctional or injured. These damaged nerve fibers send erroneous signals to other pain centers in your brain. The impact of nerve fiber injury includes a change in nerve [...]

Given the biopsychosocial nature of chronic pain management it is imperative to utilize a multidisciplinary treatment team approach.  True multidisciplinary pain management involves interventions such as physical therapy, massage, medication management, counseling or therapy, biofeedback, occupational therapy, exercise physiology, an anesthesiologist or pharmacologist, and a case manager all at one site, at a minimum.  It [...]

I’m on a flight from L.A. to Guadalajara. Tonight I’ll sleep in my little blue house in Teotihuacan. The last few days I have been shifting my attention between the main aspects of my life, from my family, to The Ranch, from the Ocean and waves of Malibu to the music and creation of our [...]

The solutions to the problem of prescription medication abuse, especially diversion, are complex and need to be addressed not only by law enforcement, but also the healthcare industry.  With the quantity of Schedule II and Schedule III drugs continuing to increase significantly, the problem is only going to worsen.  Collaboration between law enforcement and healthcare [...]