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Reflections on medical policy, DEA permits, and the fentanyl crisisEdwin Leap is a board-certified emergency physician who has been practicing for 30 years since finishing residency. He currently works as an emergency physician for WVU Hospitals in Princeton, West Virginia. Follow When I was in my residency training, from 1990 to 1993, we were in the nascent phase of the "pain is a vital sign" madness. We were told, over and over, that we should treat pain aggressively and should not be afraid to give narcotics to patients in pain. Who were we to judge someone's pain, after all? The...

As stated, I am seeking a simple white, flavorless pill that I can occasionally take instead of consuming more actual pain reliever medication. Why? So that I don't become too reliant on pills to get through the day. So that I don't continue building new thresholds of tolerance, requiring even more of that same med. Such pain relievers can be rough on the organs of the body. Other reasons: So that I remain more clear headed during the days, during the times I need to drive, during the times when I'm expected to engage in conversation with people. Causes of...

For the last five years, I have been taking part in a terrible battle. I have been on the front lines of a war that I did not sign up for. I was drafted against my own will to fight. Or, so I thought. Five years ago somebody wreaked havoc on the life of my Mother. Somebody who was suppose to take care of her and protect her. This someone was a doctor. She approached this doctor seeking help for serious back pain that was keeping her from doing her job. He was an ally and someone she thought that...

Americans consume 80 percent of the world's supply of painkillers -- more than 110 tons of pure, addictive opiates every year -- as the country's prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes. That's enough drugs to give every single American 64 Percocets or Vicodin. And pain pill prescriptions continue to surge, up 600 percent in ten year, thanks to doctors who are more and more willing to hand out drugs to patients who are suffering. As more people get their hands on these potentially-dangerous drugs, more are taking them to get high. Their drug abuse leads to 14,800 deaths a year --...