Your Source for Competent Pain Management Resources and Professionals for pain management new orleans
Dr. Narider Gupta Anesthesiology - Pain Management 120 Terry Pkwy Terrytown, LA 70056 Phone: 504-362-7246
Member American Board of Pain
Rating
Accessible
Treatments
Pill Mill?
NO
August 1, 2010 - New Orleans
I am a patient of Dr. Gupta's and have been for some time since I suffered multiple spine injuries and surgeries about 10 years ago. He is the only Pain Doctor I have seen that treats me with complete dignity and actually provides real relief and solutions.
Ten years ago I was told I was as good as I would ever be. In other words I was S#$%#$%ed. I was going to live the rest of my life in intractable pain that interfered with my work, and quality of life.
Much to Dr. Gupta's credit he started me on a diverse strategy which involved local anesthetic type trigger point injections (with some magical ingredients that actually work). While he also prescribed medications, he never over did it. And he always kept the pressure on me to make the lifestyle changes which would ultimately lead to become pain free, or substantially pain free.
He's not just a Pill Factory which is a good thing as medications alone are just a mask for a pain, and if you take too many of them, it's like a downward spiral with no bottom.
He is a dedicated caring medical professional and he got the opportunity to once again demonstrate this recently. In mid July I was walking in the French Quarter when suddenly I lost my footing on the uneven pavement. The fall that ensued was nothing short of ghastly. Aside from pulling a lot of scar tissue loose from my lower lumbar fusions, and my mind-thoracic injuries; the fall also felt like it bulged a disk in my neck.
I mean my arms, first went numb, and the began to ache and become weak. I had been through the ER and the emergency surgery thing before, and quite frankly I did not allow that to become an option for me. I wanted to hear what the man who would ultimately be playing "Mop Up" had to say first.
Thank God he convinced me to NOT go to the ER, and to agree to an aggressive non surgical/non "spend thousands and thousands of dollars needlessly on MRI's and the like" route. Now this diagnosis is probably not for everyone; however, Dr. Gupta Knew me, and knew I'm not looking for a meal ticket from malpractice or anything like that. I wanted the least expensive, fastest recovery route possible, and NO, I did not believe surgery was the route.
So I followed his plan to a T. And within 6 weeks I was virtually pain free from that injury. I am certain that had I gone to the emergency room in New Orleans, that would have costs me and my insurance company thousands, and they they would have probably wanted to operate on what was obviously a bulging disk.
No way ... just by listening to DR. Gupta, and Following his recommendations I was back on track in short order. Sure it hurt, sure I was afraid of having more surgery. However, I really, really didn't want surgery, and I am so glad that this man had the courage (know how and experience too of course) to take a conservative approach.
I could write for days about Dr. Gupta. He's that good. If you a re looking for a pill dispensary, he's probably not your guy. We does prescribe APPROPRIATE medications and amounts. However, be prepared to work with a doctor who is in the business of relieving your pain using several disciplines, not just medications.
DR. Gupta is the best Pain Management doctor I have ever met or been to. He provides the best pain management new orleans.
pain management new orleans::In alleviating sore wrists, sore hands and other recurrent tendonitis and irritated neurology, symptoms often attributed to Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), we look at the cause not the symptoms.
In alleviating sore wrists, sore hands and other recurrent tendonitis and irritated neurology, symptoms often attributed to Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), we look at the cause not the symptoms.
We find that the basic cause of many forms of CTS, wrist Pain are what we call, Repetitive Muscle Stress, reactive muscle imbalances. That is muscles not working together and communicating with the brain. The tendon, joint, and nerve injury is secondary.
Remember, Muscles pull bones; bones do not pull on muscles.
The bottom line cause of CTS, Wrist Pain is the muscles in the forearm get very stressed, tight and pulls on the Carpal Tunnel, which eventually collapses.
The stress on the wrist will begin to irritate and injure the tendons and nerves passing through the wrist area, greatly increasing the pain intensity. In time the injury may become so intense that you will be unable to use your fingers.
What is a Reactive Muscle?
Reactive muscles are muscles that weaken when another muscle, the reactor, is activated. The weakened muscles can lead to muscle pain, and the overly strong reactor muscles can cause tendon and joint pain.
Reactive muscle combinations may be created by sudden injury or by repetitive muscle movements (as found in playing musical instruments, using computer keyboards, etc.).
Muscles play a tug of war with each other. They have to learn to work together and communicate with the brain.
A Grocery Store Check-out Clerk suffered constant pain in her shoulders and couldn't raise her arms to put pullover sweaters on or off. She also had severe wrist pain. Going through the movements involved in a checkout procedure, sliding packages along the counter with one hand while punching cash register keys with the other triggered multiple reactive muscle imbalances. Correcting these muscle imbalances relieved the pain and enabled her to raise her hands over her head. This also deleted the stress in her wrist.
A Creative Musician, who was recording her own compositions using a synthesizer keyboard, was so troubled with pains in her arms and wrists that she was unable to continue her recording sessions. Resting for several days at a time was no help; since whenever she went back to playing the keyboard, the problems would return.
We had her sit down and mimic playing the keyboard and corrected the resulting reactive muscle imbalances. Her pain level was much reduced.
She telephoned a couple of days later to tell us she was feeling better and better, and had started up her recording sessions again.
Muscles are the missing link to our aches and pains.
And now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE video on the body-mind connection at http://drelizabethbarhydt.org. Elizabeth Barhydt is a Muscle-Brain Therapist
pain management new orleans:: The research experts scrutinized ache features of Forty subacute spinal pain patients and Thirty Seven unceasing spinal pain patients. Their assessment demonstrated unceasing spinal pain patients reported substantially higher ache intension on the Visual Alternative Scale, weighed against subacute spinal pain patients.
In an evaluation of subacute and unceasing spinal pain, research experts uncovered 3 key distinctions in the medical features of these 2 ache conditions, along with a study published in the Journal of Ache. The best Doctor in New Orleans for Pain Managment? Dr. Naarinder Gupta.
The research experts scrutinized ache features of Forty subacute spinal pain patients and Thirty Seven unceasing spinal pain patients. Their assessment demonstrated unceasing spinal pain patients reported substantially higher ache intension on the Visual Alternative Scale, weighed against subacute spinal pain patients. Ache spot was in addition markedly diverse between the 2 ache groups. Subacute ache patients reported higher unilateral ache, while unceasing ache patients reported more bilateral ache. Temporal dynamics of unprompted ache were in addition substantially diverse between subacute and unceasing spinal pain patients.
Read the study about subacute and unceasing spinal pain patients.
Read different coverage about ache management:
– Research Experts Shed Light on Absence of Screening Instruments for Opioid Adherence
– Boston Scientific’s Neuromodulation Sales Boosted Fourteen percent in Q1 FY 2011
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To obtain the most recent ASC announcements and feature stories from Becker’s ASC Study, sign-up for the free Becker’s ASC Study E-every week by clicking here.
We’ve written a good amount here about pain in the back. We’ve criticised several of the info patients get, shown how information has undermined a lot of extensively held beliefs about pain in the back (here and here), and recognized the quite desperate state of the indication in terms of treatment efficacy. It is ending up being more famous to see pain in the back as a trouble of soreness rather than of the spinal column (see Jason Silvernail’s latest contribution) and since the Biopsychosocial model first rose to reputation, treatments targeted at changing the demeanor and beliefs of pain in the back sufferers to perfect function have came to a point being usual. Possibly the ideal recognized of these approaches is Cognitive Behavioural Healing (CBT).
Last year the Cochrane Study of behavioural treatments for persistent pain in the back was updated to incorporate more latest studies. It drew the following conclusions:
Operant healing was more operative than waiting list for small-term soreness ease
little if any distinction subsists between operant, cognitive, or maybe combined behavioural healing for small- to intermediate-term soreness ease (i.e. no sort of behavioural approach is evidently outstanding)
behavioural treatment was more operative than typical look after small-term soreness ease
there were no distinctions in the intermediate- to long-term, or maybe on working status
there was little if any distinction between behavioural treatment and group workout for soreness ease or maybe dismal signs over the intermediate- to long-term;
adding behavioural healing to inpatient rehabilitation was no more operative than inpatient rehabilitation alone.
We can concentrate on some positives in here however that would be to take no notice of some indeed pressing questions that come up for these treatment approaches.
In terms of effect size we could be rather sure that the average effects on small term soreness don’t go over a little One point change on a ten point scale, and are about to be less than that. Maybe worse, for approaches that search to help patients by teaching them long period of time self management talents, the absence of any measurable benefit beyond your instant and small term isn’t motivating. In fairness these approaches to not search to treat soreness, they search to allow patients with soreness to function more operatively.
However the true humdinger in here’s that the information don’t specify any effect of behavioural intervention on working status. Not for any comparisons. Concentrate on advancing function is at the heart of these approaches and that appears a major blow. It is worth noting that there wasn’t scores of information for nearly all of these comparisons and, as the creators imply, it is expectedly that future study can change the conclusions.
We’ve talked about here before that the part of psychological variables in the course of pain in the back is right now not completely clear. We shouldn’t conclude that these results from behavioural treatments invalidate the significance of cognitive and behavioural aspects in pain in the back. It doesn’t inevitably follow that the failure of a treatment directed at them signifies that they’re not significant, just that our tries to impact them can’t be operative.
Nevertheless it appears that our present ideal valued don’t give a resounding slap on the back for behavioural treatments for persistent pain in the back. More expectedly they send them to the disobedient step with a stern brought up to. Meantime pain in the back gets to act as badly as it wants. Where is Supernanny when you need her?
About Pain Management in New Orleans and Narinder Gupta is a research expert in the Centre for Study in Rehabilitation, Brunel Academy, West London, United Kingdom. He splits his time between study and coaching new physical therapists and before worked extensively as a musculoskeletal physical therapist. Neil is right now fighting his way through a PhD inspecting persistent lumbar pain and cortically directed treatment approaches. He’s specifically involved in lumbar pain, soreness typically and the rigorous checking of treatments. He in addition tends to get all geeky over manipulated trials.
Reference
Henschke N, Ostelo RWJG, van Tulder MW, Vlaeyen JWS, Morley S, Assendelft WJJ, General CJ. (2010). Behavioural treatment for persistent low-pain in the back. Cochrane DB of Methodical Studies
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TAGS: psychological variables, Study in Rehabilitation, treatment approaches, pain in the back, behavioural intervention, behavioural treatment,
If you are suffering from joint pain or arthritis, then you must be eager to seek about joint pain cure. If fact, the best way to overcome joint pain is simply, exercising regularly.
If you really, really, really want to know and do what is absolutely necessary for your recovery from pain and misery, read my testimony to the true facts concerning your plight. I write these things because I care to reach back to you from where I have been.
If a person has neck pain or lower back pain and pain management are directed only to the area involved, although the symptoms may get better, that person is a candidate for further injuries with resultant neck pain and lower back pain again. When pain management are applied only to the area that hurts, the pain management are symptom directed and not treating the root cause of the problem. Treating the root cause of the problem is more effective in treating the pain symptoms as well as in preventing further recurrences. In nerve related muscle pain, pain management are best directed toward muscles in the painful region and the connections of these muscles to other muscles through the fascial envelope. Additionally, muscles sharing the same nerve root supply as the nerves supplying the painful muscles also need to be treated.
Although you should take the time to relax, it's also important that you explore other forms of fibromyalgia treatment so you can enjoy your life to the fullest. For instance, hydrotherapy is a unique treatment that has helped many fibromyalgia sufferers find freedom from pain, without all the nasty side effects that accompanies many other pain management.
One of the biggest problems fibromyalgia sufferers face is the escalation of their fatigue and painful symptoms, which is caused by the emotional and physical stress of their condition. Thus, since stress can worsen symptoms, to help control the way you feel, try engaging in relaxation therapy techniques.
There are several methods of treating your chronic pain, from over the counter and prescription medications, to acupuncture and other more natural methods of pain management. It's important to realize, however, that no single method of pain management should be expected to be your cure-all. It's smart to adopt a combination of different methods to effectively treat your chronic pain.
The treatment of a compound fractures. He put my fingers into a contraption that looked like a bunch of Chinese finger puzzles hanging from chains connected to a pole.
Nine months ago I fell down a full flight of stairs, thirteen steps. I had flown in the night before to see my sister. In the morning we went on her usual hike, two big dogs in tow. My goal was to hike with the same stride of my sisters and touch the same rock she touched each morning as she ...
Acupuncture is slowly making its presence felt among the medical fraternity as an effective alternative to problems where regular medical treatment has either failed or not been able to rid the body completely of pain and disease. There are times when antibiotics and other medical procedures are just not effective...
Often, physical pain can be a metaphor for unresolved emotional issues affecting our life. Maladaptive thinking can also intensify chronic physical pain and make it more troublesome.
Orthotics are orthopedic devices designed to treat various mechanical foot disorders. Orthotics are heel cups or full insoles for shoes that are custom tailored devices designed to meet the needs of individuals who have had persistent problems with their feet.
Suffering from a chronic pain can can become a consuming problem when trying to find relief. Are prescription drugs the way to go? The adverse side effects can put you at an unnecessary risk. Herbal, or natural drugs, on the other hand, are almost risk free. by Dianne Davies
Never underestimate the severity of the agony that is so simply known as heel pain. Constant pain of this nature can really drag you down to leave you drained and lethargic. Heel pain can have various causes, many of which are not fully understood. Although there are many different apparent causes of heel pain, the most common is plantar fasciitis (plantar fash-ee-eye-tis).
Ankle pain can be a nuisance to anyone who enjoys an active lifestyle. Common structures in the ankle that can be damaged and cause pain are the tendons, cartilage and blood vessels. There are several causes of this type of foot pain. Some of the common causes are ankle sprain, arthritis, tendonitis, psoudogout and infection.
Tired of living with daily pain? Today almost every other person you talk too is living with daily joint pain. It does not matter what the age or physical shape of the person, daily pain seems to be a common complaint. Living with chronic pain can wear a person down, affecting energy levels, mood and overall stamina. The cause can vary however...
Pain management can often be helped considerably through the use of alternative health methods. Pain medications can often lead to addiction and this is one of the reasons why many people resort to the alternative methods of pain relief.
We will explore how our vital energy affects our sense of well-being. We will see how we can control this energy to reduce stress and pain. What is this energy, and how can we access it?
Recent research suggests that even though a painful injury may have healed, the brain and central nervous system sometimes "stores" the memory of the pain. This results in the pain recurring even though there are no physical symptoms.
When it comes to foot pain, everyone is different, but the most common sign is going to be discomfort in one or more parts of the foot. The first thing a foot pain sufferer needs to do is to make sure the source of the pain isn't coming from something that isn't easily fixed, such as an ill-fitting pair of shoes or a high pair of heels. With those common culprits removed from the picture, it's a good idea to notice things like where the pain starts and if it migrates at all, what time of day and during what activity the pain is most acute, a particular event that might have caused the pain, any lingering health concerns that might have attributed to the pain and so on.
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome (fibromyalgia syndrome, or FMS), or a cluster of problems. People who have fibromyalgia suffer with pain, either all over or in particular places, have sleeping problems, are overwhelmingly tired and may have many other symptoms.
The first step in getting suspected fibromyalgia diagnosed is to find a physician, nurse practitioner or other health care provider who is knowledgeable and compassionate. Maybe it should be the other way around: compassionate and knowledgeable.
Pain management techniques are as diverse and far ranging as the areas of the body pain impacts. Massage represents the safest, most effective component of a multi-disciplinary approach to pain management. Discover the options available to your clients in addition to your valued services.
Pain management doctors in most cases happen to be anesthesiologists. Anesthesiologists ensure that you are safe, pain-free and comfortable during and after surgery. They are also at work in the labor and delivery area, or in doctors' chambers where painful medical tests or procedures are performed. But the methods applied by anesthesiologists have now traveled beyond these familiar territories, and led to the development of a new category of medicine known as pain medicine.
No sane person wants to live with chronic pain. The adverse side effects of reckless consumption of painkillers are now driving many sufferers to pain management clinics. These clinics provide multiple approaches to pain management for the best possible results. According to a survey, nearly 60 percent of people with chronic pain undergoing treatment in a pain clinic for a year experience a significant reduction in their sufferings.
Nobody likes to suffer pain. An unpleasant sensation, pain is a reaction of the body to physical illness, injury, or mental disease. Pain is generally divided into two categories: acute and chronic. The former occurs suddenly because of injury suffered by a tissue. The injury can be inflicted by anything that damages body tissue, i.e., surgery, trauma or cancer. Heart rate and blood pressure usually rises in acute pain. But once the cause of the pain is eliminated, the pain normally goes away. Chronic pain, usually linked to a chronic disease, persists longer and lacks a clear cause. Chronic lower-back pain, chronic headaches, or cancer pain belongs to this category.
From over-the-counter and prescription drugs to mind-body techniques to acupuncture, chronic pain can be treated in many ways. However, no single method can guarantee you total pain relief. Rather, a combination of options may help you get rid of the pain.
Years of walking and running can wear down our feet, and can be hard on our heels. Likewise, poor circulation, improperly trimmed toenails, disease and tight fitting shoes all contribute to pain in the heel.
Acceptance of particular Insurance Plans may vary, based on different office locations. As a result, we've listed Plans accepted at different locations. Click on any company to see which specific plans are accepted by Dr. Gupta.
pain management new orleans::Natural Relief For Chronic Pain
Are you one of over 50 million Americans who are in chronic pain? If so, please keep reading. I've done some research for you in regards to natural ways to relieve your pain. Of course, I'm assuming that you have gone to your health care provider and are following their instructions. And if you were told to 'learn to live with it', I do have some ideas for you that hopefully will bring relief for the pain. There are many safe and effective natural remedies. If you're looking for natural remedies, here are three areas that you can explore to relieve your pain. There are nutritional solutions, tools to purchase, and techniques to learn for pain management new orleans. I will give you a brief overview of each to get you started on this journey.
pain management new orleans::Nutritional Support
First of all pain is how your body gets your attention and asks for help in some area of your life. You might need nutritional support. Nutritional support can come in many forms -- capsules, lotions and liquids. We are going to begin with three - white willow bark, tart cherry juice, and magnesium. White willow bark is the original source of aspirin. It is very safe and very effective in decreasing inflammation for pain management new orleans. This is important for osteoarthritis and back pain. If you are severely allergic to aspirin you should not use white willow bark. You can take white willow bark in a capsule. Next is tart cherry juice. Research shows that Tart cherry juice is 10 times more effective than aspirin in reducing pain caused by inflammation, arthritis or gout. Tart cherry juice provides relief for joint discomfort, reduces inflammation of joints, improves mobility and reduces headaches. Look for Montmorency cherry juice traditionally known as the 'pie cherry' and the 'healing cherry', great source of potassium and is low in sodium. The fourth most abundant mineral in the body is magnesium. If you have a deficiency in magnesium you could experience muscle spasm and pain, PMS, irritability, depression, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms and heart disease. A German study shows that an increased intracellular magnesium level by only 11% was associated with the reduction of pain in 76 out of 82 people with chronic low back pain. Magnesium is best absorbed through the skin. Look for a lotion or a mineral salt you can use in a bath. Next we'll take a look at 'tools'.
pain management new orleans::Tools Using Light Therapy
There are two 'tools' that I will offer for your consideration. Each is unique and a 'cutting edge' product to relieve pain. First is the DPL Therapy Light Treatment Pain Relief System. This is for treatment of pain and relief of muscle and joint aches. Works well to relieve pain and stiffness of arthritis, the light system penetrates deep into the body easing the pain. LED therapy is used to repair damaged tissues. The second tool is the Amethyst Bio-Mat which is an FDA registered medical device. There are 28 pounds of amethyst crystals in the mat which, when heated, convert their energy into far infrared light. Far infrared light penetrates deeply into tissues and bones creating pain relief, improved mood and reduced stress. The Bio-Mat also produces negative ions which energize the body for optimal health. There are some health problems associated with too few negative ions in the body: shoulder pain, rheumatism, headaches, insomnia and fatigue to name a few. Both of these tools are natural ways to relieve pain without drugs.
pain management new orleans::Techniques To Learn
When you find techniques that relieve your pain, you celebrate. Here are two suggestions that may help you feel better. Each one of them can be learned and used at home for no cost. First suggestion is to learn Yoga. Yoga creates balance in the body and helps you develop flexibility and strength. A study of people with chronic low back pain showed significant reduction in pain intensity, disability and reliance on pain medication after only 16 weeks of practice. This may seem like a long time to see results but with yoga the benefits are cumulative and last longer. A second technique is to utilize the mind-body connection to relieve pain naturally. By simply counting your breaths you can restore balance and relieve pain and tension. Start by exhaling deeply and then allow the next breath to enter naturally. You can feel the tension drain from your shoulders all the way down to your toes. With each breath you can become more relaxed as tension releases from your body. A simple breathing practice is called 'The 36 Breaths'. Count your exhalations until you have completed 36 breaths. You can count 36 all at once or throughout the day by doing four groups of nine breaths. The breath is the simplest and most perfect of all techniques we have at our convenience, creating balance, harmony and a flow of natural healing. There are many ways to naturally find relief from chronic pain. We've looked at nutritional support, tools using light therapy and techniques you can learn. Begin with one idea and integrate it into your life. As you put this information to use you'll be able to see how natural pain relief is available to you in many forms.
pain management new orleans::Back Pain Treatment for Acute and Chronic Pain
Back pain treatment, pain management new orleans, can include medication, self-care techniques and manual therapies such as chiropractic or physiotherapy. Pain in the back can be acute or long-term, and a variety of treatment options are available for both types.
Acute back pain management new orleans treatment includes medication and self-care options. Paracetamol is usually prescribed as the first step in most treatments, and if it does not work, non-steroid anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen is the next step. If the milder painkillers do not reduce the pain, mild opiate-based painkillers such as codeine can be prescribed. Morphine is sometimes given for severe pain, but as it is a strong opiate, it is only used for a short time. If the patient also suffers from muscle spasms, muscle relaxant medication is sometimes included.
Today many pain management new orleans doctors recommend that a person suffering from acute pain in the back should stay active. If the pain is severe, it may not be possible to go back to work or to do all normal activities, but it is important to try to do at least something, and to return to normal daily activities slowly and step by step. Home care options include cold or hot compression packs that can be bought over the counter from chemists. It can also help to use extra pillows in bed: place a pillow under the knees when you are sleeping.
Painkillers form a part of most chronic back pain treatment programs. Other options include exercise, manual therapy such as chiropractic or massage therapy, and acupuncture. Spinal fusion surgery is generally only recommended if all other treatment options have been tried and nothing else helps. For chronic pain, a mild painkiller such as paracetamol is usually prescribed at first, and if it does not work, stronger pain killing medication is used. Other treatment options include acupuncture, manual therapy and exercise.
Manual therapy back pain treatment means manipulation and mobilization of the spine and can include physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic. Physiotherapy is used for back pain treatment and to recover movement after an injury. Osteopathy and chiropractic are alternative forms of treatment and focus on problems in the bone structure, the joints, the muscles and the nervous system and are used in pain management new orleans. Massage relaxes the back muscles and can form a part of a back pain treatment program. Acupuncture is also sometimes recommended as an alternative back pain treatment. Acupuncture is based on traditional Chinese medicine and uses thin, fine needles that are placed on different parts of the body to unblock the flow of energy in the body's energy channels, or meridians. Some Western experts believe that the needles actually stimulate the muscles and the nerves and this is why acupuncture can relieve pain in the body.
Many pain management new orleans doctors recommend regular exercise as a treatment for chronic pain. Swimming is often recommended as back pain treatment, and today gentle forms of exercise such as yoga or pilates are often thought to be beneficial. Yoga and pilates can also help to improve your posture.
pain management new orleans::A Link Between Depression And Chronic Pain
Pain serves two basic functions. First, it warns one to stop performing an activity responsible for causing injury. Second, it prompts you to care for the injured body part. IF you have this you should seek pain management new orleans.
However, the type of pain that lingers for a prolonged period is of a different nature. Many people live with chronic pain long after an injury or condition has gone. Over time, the injury or condition that may have originally explained the pain can become vague. Chronic pain may manifest itself as low-back pain, arthritis, or headaches - to name a few. Often enough, there is little physical evidence to explain the pain. This is a big reason people seek pain management new orleans.
In the past, when doctors could not identify a physical cause to explain the patient's pain, the complaint was typically dismissed as imaginary. Fortunately, this is no longer the case. Scientific evidence has emerged in New Orleans to show that patients with chronic pain experience structural changes to the nerves of their spinal cord.
Social and psychological factors heighten the effects of chronic pain. Patients frequently report a range of limitations in social and family roles. Many relate difficulties in performing household or workplace tasks, rear children, and socialize. The actual or perceived lack to fulfill these tasks may put a strain on children, spouses, or colleagues who may have to assume an additional role. The possible imbalance in these exchanges contributes to agitation, depression, resentment, stress, and feelings of anger.
pain management new orleans::Depression's Link to Chronic Pain
Those who experience chronic pain often report to feeling depressed. Depression is said to be three times more prevalent among people with chronic pain, and 30 to 80 percent of patients with chronic pain report to experiencing some type of depression. When chronic pain is combined with depression, the disability that ensues proportionately increases.
Those who experience either chronic pain or depression undergo changes in their mental, social, and physical well being. For people who experience both chronic pain and depression, however, the changes can be quite dramatic. Many people report insomnia, agitation, restlessness, a lack of concentration, and difficulties performing daily tasks at home and/or at work. These various impairments may induce a cycle of pain that leads to more depression, and the other way around. Pain may set off the depression, and the depression may trigger the pain.
The common wisdom to rest after an injury may not be so wise after all. Total avoidance of certain activities may actually worsen the pain, especially if these activities were formerly a source of pleasure.
pain management new orleans::The Symptoms of Chronic Pain:
• Pain from sources of stimulation that aren't usually painful or pain in other areas of the body • Increased sensitivity to pain • Increased intensity of pain • Pain that lasts more than six months after an injury
The Signs of Clinical Depression:
• Occurs for a period lasting more than 2 weeks • Appetite or weight changes • A sense of worthlessness or guilt • Sleep difficulties (sleeping too little or too much) • Decreased ability to concentrate • Poor memory • Sadness, hopelessness, irritability, and proneness to crying • Restlessness or fatigue • Lack of interest or pleasure in activities
Chiropractic Care for Depression
Chiropractic care's role in mental health is not new. There are well-established, chiropractic psychiatric hospitals successfully in operation. Studies and research has shown positive results in the chiropractic care of depression.
For example, a research study published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research showed considerable improvement of depression symptoms for patients treated with subluxations corrections.
The Treatment of Chronic Pain and Depression
If at all possible, the first step is to identify the source of the pain. Dealing with the underlying cause of the pain helps to alleviate it. Determining the source of the pain, however, is not always possible. In this case, the patient should try to seek ways to minimize the role pain plays in their life. Here are other helpful tips:
• Do not altogether forgo activities that may cause pain. At the same time, do not perform activities that would cause obvious harm. Seek guidance from your doctor of chiropractic to discuss your exposure to activities. • Try relaxation techniques, guided image exercises, biofeedback, and meditation. They are just some of the ways that can help you deal with chronic pain. • Look into cognitive therapy. It helps patients address destructive emotional patterns and behaviors. • Get family involved in your recovery. Evidence shows that familial support has a role in promoting recovery. • Lastly, discuss your situation with qualified professionals. Your doctor of chiropractic may recommend additional techniques or refer you to another provider for specialized care.
Remember: You don't have to live with chronic pain and depression
pain management new orleans::Chronic Lower Back Pain - Ways to Deal With The Chronic Pain
Individuals who suffer from chronic lower back pain tend to take drugs or medication to help ease the pain. This allows them to partake in normal daily activities despite the presence of pain. Most people fail to realize that sufficient bed rest may play an important part in finding a cure or relief for back problems.
When the muscles get a chance to relax and heal from the inflammation, the pain will inevitably subside. But in the presence of severe pain even under pain medication, a doctor or chiropractor should be consulted to diagnose the root cause of such a pain.
Try to get plenty of bed rest while applying a cold compress to the inflamed area. This will help soothe the muscles in the back and help lessen the sensation of pain. Do this repeatedly at least three to four times a day until the inflammation subsides. A warm compress should then be applied over the affected area to increase blood circulation and assist in the healing process.
Taking painkillers combined with this simple home remedy will help cure and prevent lower back pain in the future. Back rubs or creams may also be used to target problem areas in the back. Apply gradually and use with utmost care so as not to burn the skin.
Chronic lower back pain can turn to a debilitating condition. A slipped or herniated disk would need to be checked by a chiropractor or physician for a quick diagnosis and prescription. Consulting a doctor is the best way to cure chronic pains of the back as this allows them to make a quick prognosis of your medical condition. They will also be able to recommend appropriate treatment for the kind of back pain that you suffer
These are just a few examples of approaches you can take to deal with chronic lower back pain, see which works best for you. You shouldn't continue on suffering with the pain, when there are steps you can take to deal with it.
pain management new orleans::Consider a Joint Supplement to Decrease Chronic Pain
An unfortunate reality of growing older is aches and pains. Everyone feels a little discomfort now and again, but some people face regular and often debilitative pain in their joints. Pain can be a result of arthritis or related conditions, and can cause a disruption in an otherwise healthy life. While painkillers can be somewhat effective, the better solution it to treat the condition or problem with a joint supplement.
Joint supplements come in a variety of formulations and are produced by many different companies. In fact, choosing the right product can be overwhelming and require a fair amount of research. In order to make the best decision, it's a good idea to become familiar with some of the most important aspects of the various supplements that are available to treat joint pain. Spending a little time doing research will likely pay off in decreased pain and a better quality of life.
Many experts agree that the most effective way to treat joint pain is with Glucosamine and Chondroitin. Research indicates that the optimal daily dose is 1500 milligrams of these two important minerals, although many products contain other ingredients that aid in the therapeutic treatment results of the the joint supplement. Some other common ingredients include Vitamin C, Cetyl Myristoleate and MSM.
Just as it's important to consider what is in your supplement, it is also vital that you think about how effectively the vitamins and minerals in it will be absorbed by your body. Most people default to pills or tablets when they shop for vitamins, but there are other options available that will ensure that you get the optimal benefits from your supplement. One of the easiest and most effective ways to take Glucosamine Chondroitin is in powder form. It can be added to your favorite beverage, so you won't have to worry about taking pills anymore. Taking your joint supplement in this manner means your body can absorb the vitamins more readily, thus ensuring optimal results.
pain management new orleans::Officers See More Sick and Elderly Selling Prescription Drugs
In Gregory Watts’s 13 years as a New Orlenas police officer, he has arrested countless drug dealers. But only recently did he begin to notice that many of them resembled his grandparents who are pain management new orleans patients.
Officers in the New Orleans district on Aug. 31 searched a man they suspected of selling prescription drugs.
Easy access to prescription drugs, the authorities said, has created a growing population of the elderly, sick or disabled who sell their medications on the street, often to support themselves financially or to raise money to buy harder drugs.
In the drug-plagued New Orleans district, where Officer Watts patrols, sales of prescription drugs have tripled over the past decade and now make up about a third of drug-related arrests. The police said dealers were as likely to stock painkillers like Percocet and Oxycontin as heroin and cocaine. And they get them from pain management new orleans patients.
The shift has fueled a change in the way the police assess potential drug dealers.
On a recent morning, Officer Watts and his partner, Patrick Faye, arrested an older man the officers had spotted trying to sell a plastic bag of Vicodin and antibiotics. Frail and shaking, the man had track marks on his legs, a sign of heroin addiction.
“Any needles?” Officer Watts asked, pausing while patting him down.
“Yes,” the man muttered.
Nicknamed hillbilly heroin, opiate-based painkillers like Oxycontin are chopped up, snorted, smoked or injected for an immediate high. While a single rock of crack cocaine may sell for about $25 on the street, an 80-milligram pill of Oxycontin may sell for as much as $40.
The new breed of sellers, pain management new orleans patients., represents a fraction of dealers, but it is still a cause of concern for the police.
“Let’s not be naïve,” said Joe Garrity, captain of the New Orleans district. “A guy selling a few pills — he’s going to buy some cigarettes, a beer, some food; he’s not some highly organized criminal. But he’s selling drugs, and it creates problems.”
Swept up in the police department’s targeted arrests, patients selling their own medications are often penalized as drug dealers. But in New Orleans, that may soon change. Instead of routing some of the dealers through the regular court system, various city agencies are discussing handling individual cases in drug court or through the Community Justice Center, a local court with a focus on rehabilitation that handles mostly drug possession and quality-of-life cases.
Law enforcement and social service agencies said the different approach would better address the root causes of dealing prescription drugs. The reality, some clinic workers say, is that they cannot control what patients do with their pain management new orleans medications. Arrests and jail time are no deterrent to a drug sale that could help feed a family — or get a fix.
“We know there’s money to be made out there with selling Vicodin and different things,” said Karen Hill, a nurse practitioner at Glide Health Services in San Francisco, which provides chronic-pain management to the uninsured and the homeless. “That’s just a truth.”
pain management new orleans::A Wave of Addiction and Crime, with the Medicine Cabinet to Blame
NEN ORLEANS — Police departments have collected thousands of handguns through buy-back programs in communities throughout the country. Now they want the contents of your medicine cabinet.
Elizabeth Kempshall, the Drug Enforcement Agency’s special agent, announced the statewide prescription drug take-back day campaign in Phoenix on Wednesday.
Opiate painkillers and other prescription drugs, officials say, are driving addiction and crime like never before, with addicts singling out the homes of sick or elderly people and posing as potential buyers at open houses just to raid the medicine cabinets. The crimes, and the severity of the nation’s drug abuse problem, have so vexed the authorities that they are calling on citizens to surrender old bottles of potent pills like Vicodin, Percocet and Xanax. pain management new orleans
On Saturday, the police will set up drop-off stations at a Wal-Mart in Pearland, Tex., a zoo in Wichita, Kan., a sports complex in Peoria, Ariz., and more than 4,000 other locations to oversee a prescription drug take-back program. Coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, it will be the first such effort with national scope.
The take-back day is being held as waves of data suggest the country’s prescription drug problem is vast and growing. In 17 states, deaths from drugs — both prescription and illegal — now exceed those from motor vehicle accidents, with opiate painkillers playing a leading role. The number of people seeking treatment for painkiller addiction jumped 400 percent from 1998 to 2008, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
And from rural New England to the densely populated South, law enforcement officials are combating a sharp rise in crime tied to prescription drugs.
“We’re seeing people desperately and aggressively trying to get their hands on these pills,” said Janet T. Mills, the attorney general in Maine. “Home invasions, robberies, assaults, homicides, thefts — all kinds of crimes are being linked to prescription drugs.”
In Harpswell, Me., a masked man broke into the home of a 77-year-old woman in June, knocked her to the ground and snatched her Oxycontin pills at knifepoint. And in Hyannis, Mass., three men armed with a knife, a bat and a revolver broke into a home in 2008, bound the owner’s hands and feet with duct tape and tore through drawers and cabinets until they found her husband’s Oxycontin.
In other states, the authorities say, pill thieves have infiltrated open houses.
“One will distract the Realtor,” said Matthew Murphy, assistant special agent in charge at the D.E.A.’s New England field division in Boston, “while the other goes and rifles through the medicine cabinet looking for pain medication.”
Skeptics, pointing to the dearth of evidence that gun buybacks have reduced the gun crime rate, question whether even a national take-back effort will have much impact. And they question whether most people will bother to participate when the take-back programs, unlike the gun programs, do not offer a reward for turning in pills.
There is also the reality that many people intentionally hang on to pain or anxiety medicine for future use.
“They might say, ‘I’ll take back my Oxy but not my Vicodin,’ ” said Neale Adams, the district attorney in Aroostook County, Me. He said “easily a third” of the indictments there were related to prescription drug trafficking and abuse.
The officials coordinating Saturday’s drug take-back program acknowledge that even with a few thousand drop-off points, it will capture but a tiny fraction of the addictive drugs lining the nation’s medicine cabinets.
Nor will it address root causes of addiction, like the overprescribing of powerful drugs. In New York City, the number of oxycodone prescriptions filled at pharmacies rose by 66 percent from 2007 to 2009, with a high density of prescriptions per population in middle-class strongholds like Staten Island and Chelsea.
But Steve Bullock, the attorney general in Montana, said the program was a worthy tool, nonetheless.
“It raises the awareness that we tend to hoard these drugs and hang onto them,” he said. “And raising that awareness is one more step in dealing with the overall problem.”
In lobbying the public to participate, law enforcement officials and others who battle prescription drug abuse try to educate people on just how lethal keeping pills around can be.
“It’s really no different than having a loaded gun just lying around the house,” said Joanne Peterson of Raynham, Mass., who started a support group for relatives of prescription drug abusers after her son tried a friend’s Oxycontin and became addicted.
While the primary goal of the take-back day is to reduce the volume of pills in households, there may also be environmental benefits. The collected drugs will be incinerated instead of flushed down toilets, which can release them into the water supply.
Incineration is the best way to dispose of controlled prescription drugs, Mr. Murphy said, but the cost of contracting with private disposal companies can be prohibitive. Some communities have gotten creative: in Bella Vista, Ark., the police department bought a small incinerator specifically to destroy pills. And in West Lafayette, Ind., a pet crematory incinerates pills collected by the police at no charge.
Gary Boggs, executive assistant in the office of diversion control at D.E.A. headquarters in Washington, said the agency hoped to coordinate national drug take-back days twice a year until federal law allows other options for safe prescription drug disposal. Several bills before Congress would loosen regulations on who can collect used drugs.
Meanwhile, a growing number of state legislatures are considering bills that would require drug manufacturers to help coordinate and pay for the collection and disposal of leftover prescription drugs.
Bernard Strain of Philadelphia, whose teenage son Timmy died last year after taking prescription methadone pills that had been sitting in a medicine cabinet, said pushing for drug collection programs had become his crusade.
Timmy had been prescribed Percocet after burning his hand on a lawnmower, Mr. Strain said. When his pain persisted, his girlfriend’s mother offered him two pills that he thought were extra-strength Percocet but turned out to be methadone, another powerful painkiller. He died that night.
“This is about saving even just one life,” said Mr. Strain, who will help supervise a take-back site in Philadelphia on Saturday. “If we can dispose of cans and bottles and oil from our car properly, why can’t we dispose of something the size of a dime that can kill you?”
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 25, 2010) -- The Army's health-care system may soon see changes in how Soldiers are treated for pain, according to a report released by the Army's surgeon general Wednesday which recommends 109 changes.
The Pain Management Task Force's final report, which was initiated by Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker in August of 2009, addresses the lack of a comprehensive pain-management strategy across the Army, and suggests alternative treatments to medication such as acupuncture, meditation, biofeedback and yoga. Also noted in the report is the fact that pain management has changed very little since the discovery of morphine in 1805.
Schoomaker explained that with the increasing numbers of Soldiers returning from combat with severe wounds, reports of medication abuse and suicides with pain as a possible factor are troubling.
"While these issues might not be directly related to pain management, I felt a thorough evaluation and assessment of current pain-management practice was indicated," Schoomaker said.
He said part of the problem is that severely injured Soldiers, like those in Warrior Transition Units, are often prescribed multiple medications and sometimes seen by several different doctors, which can cause inconsistencies in care. But he maintained that this is not just an Army problem-it's a problem throughout the U.S. healthcare system.
"This is a nation-wide problem ... we've got a culture of 'a pill for every ill,'" agreed Brig. Gen. Richard W. Thomas, assistant Army surgeon general.
"As a physician, the hardest thing to deal with is patients with chronic pain," said Col. Jonathan H. Jaffin, director of heath policy and services, Army office of the surgeon general. "So many of us went into medicine to relieve suffering, and chronic pain is frustrating because we want to relieve that pain."
The task force visited 28 military, Veterans Affairs and civilian medical centers between October and January to observe treatment capabilities and best practices. Schoomaker's said his goal is to form a pain-management strategy that is holistic, multidisciplinary and puts Soldiers' quality of life first.
"This is an opportunity to change medical care and the way we take care of patients," noted Thomas.
Schoomaker stressed that Army practices have always been in compliance with America's medical regulations, but he thinks the Army can do better.
"Everything we do in the Army, even managing a toothache, is all in compliance with national standards ... what we want to do is set the bar higher," Schoomaker explained.
Schoomaker's higher standards include offering treatment alternatives that might not yet be prescribed in average doctor's offices, but which patients are already seeking out on their own, such as acupuncture. He said the Army has looked at research on the effectiveness of complementary techniques, and he would like to see them integrated into traditional medical treatment.
"Programs such as biofeedback and yoga have been subjected to scientific randomized trials and have been proven to be effective," Schoomaker said.
Biofeedback involves measuring body signals -- such as temperature, heart rate, muscle tension and brain waves -- to help patients with relaxation techniques and pain reduction.
Schoomaker said he is hopeful that Soldiers will be receptive to alternative methods of care once they see that the treatments work.
"Seeing success is the best way to convince people of the usefulness and the need for other approaches," agreed Jaffin.
The 109 recommendations are divided into four areas: to provide tools and infrastructure that support pain management, build a full spectrum of best practices, focus on Soldiers and families, and synchronize a culture of pain awareness, education and intervention.
Schoomaker said the recommendations that can be put into policy under his authority will be implemented in the coming months, and the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act asks the secretary of defense to integrate a pain-management policy into the military health-care system no later than March 2011.
pain management new orleans::The DEA's War on Pain Doctors
Source: The Village Voice Date: November 5 - 11, 2003
The DEA's War on Pain Doctors
by Frank Owen
Twenty-four years after Darlene broke her back in a swimming pool accident, crippling pain still rules every aspect of her life, from getting up in the morning (which she describes as akin to "climbing the highest mountain") to falling into a fitful sleep at night. After years of botched surgery that left her in even more agony, she knows there is no real cure for what ails her, but thanks to synthetic opioids (which include such regulated substances as Vicodin, Dilaudid, and the devil drug of the moment, OxyContin), she says that she can now lead a halfway normal life. Just folding sheets or washing dishes or sitting at the computer are daily miracles for Darlene, who claims she would otherwise be bedridden and suicidal without the chemical crutches that high doses of these powerful opium-like painkillers provide.
But in some ways worse than the pain, says Darlene (who doesn't want her last name revealed), are the shame and fear that come with it. Shame when she goes to have her special triplicate prescription—required for all scheduled drugs—filled at the drugstore and the pharmacist looks at her as if she were some addict abusing the drug to get high. Fear that her medications will soon be taken away by the Drug Enforcement Administration's ongoing crackdown on pain doctors. "You worry every day that the medicine won't be available for much longer, or your doctor won't be there tomorrow because he's been arrested by the DEA," she claims. All the bad publicity in the press about the abuse of OxyContin by celebrities such as Rush Limbaugh and Courtney Love doesn't help matters. But, says Darlene, the media scare stories shouldn't blind people to the fact that these drugs—when taken under medical supervision—have made life livable for hundreds of thousands of chronic pain patients, herself included.
Some in the medical community call it "a war on pain doctors," others "a government jihad" or "state-sponsored terrorism." However you describe the current campaign, which according to pain-patient advocates began under Janet Reno, but which they say has increased in intensity under John Ashcroft, the DEA's hardball tactics—storming clinics in SWAT-style gear, ransacking offices, and hauling off doctors in handcuffs—have scared physicians nationwide to the extent that legitimate pain sufferers now find it increasingly difficult to get the medicine they need. Doctors' offices today display signs that say "Don't ask for OxyContin" or "No OxyContin prescribed here." And medical schools advise students not to choose pain management as a career because the field is too fraught with potential legal dangers.
"The war on drugs has turned into a war on doctors and pain patients," says Dr. Ronald Myers, president of the American Pain Institute and a Baptist minister who operates a string of clinics for poor people in the Mississippi Delta. "Such is the climate of fear across the medical community that for every doctor who has his license yanked by the DEA, there are a hundred doctors scared to prescribe proper pain medication for fear of going to prison. The DEA is creating a situation where legitimate pain patients now have to go to the streets to get their medication. It's a health care catastrophe in the making." (Myers theorizes that Rush Limbaugh is probably "a neglected pain patient" and another victim of the crackdown: "Why else would someone with all his money have to go to the street to get enough medication, other than if he couldn't find a doctor to give him an adequate supply?")
Advocates for pain doctors and their patients have had enough. Limbaugh's recent admission that he's addicted to OxyContin and other painkillers has brought the issue of pain management and the law to the fore in the media. But the September arrest of northern Virginia's Dr. William Hurwitz—a respected if controversial pioneer in high-dosage pain treatment—galvanized opposition among physicians and patients to the DEA's harsh approach. Hurwitz, a leading specialist in his field, was arrested on federal drug-trafficking charges, accused of prescribing excessive quantities of OxyContin to addicts who he knew were selling the drugs on the street. The 49-count indictment alleges that his prescribing practices led to the death of three patients and bodily harm to two others. Federal prosecutors have depicted Hurwitz, a contentious figure who has had his license suspended three times by medical boards, as no better than "a street-corner crack dealer . . . who dispensed misery and death." After initially being threatened with the death penalty, Hurwitz now faces life in prison.
But others defend the doctor. "Dr. Hurwitz saved my husband's life," says Siobhan Reynolds, founder of the Pain Relief Network, a New York City-based grassroots organization defending pain doctors and their patients. For over a decade, Reynolds's husband has suffered terrible head pain caused by a connective-tissue disorder. "Other doctors treated my husband like a leper. If it weren't for Dr. Hurwitz, he would have killed himself. Dr. Hurwitz is responsible for every day that my son has a father."
After the arrest, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons condemned the prosecution at a news conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., saying that doctors who treat pain patients are heroes, not felons. A major protest on the National Mall is being organized by the National Pain Patients Coalition for next April to bring attention to what some experts regard as the No. 1 health issue in America: the under-treatment of chronic pain. And a push is on in various states to get politicians to pass bills guaranteeing patients' right to opioids to alleviate their suffering, if a doctor deems it necessary.
Many doctors used to think that extreme pain was something that their patients just had to live with. The pain-management movement that has sprung up over the past few years takes a radically different tack, believing that long-term chronic pain can be managed with large amounts of synthetic opium, a treatment that remains controversial both within and outside the medical community. The extremely high doses often prescribed—sometimes dozens of pills a day—can seem dangerous and excessive to both laymen and other physicians. A number of doctors insist that these drugs are so powerful that no one should be prescribed them except end-stage cancer patients. But pain-management advocates argue that despite the scare stories, drugs such as OxyContin are actually safer than the alternatives and are much more effective.
The DEA denies there's been an increase in investigations and prosecutions of physicians and refutes the notion that it's engaged in a crackdown on pain doctors in general. The agency insists that it's after only rogue practitioners who overprescribe the medicines and who know—or should know—that their patients are selling the drugs on the black market. So far this year, says the DEA, the agency has launched 557 investigations, pursued actions against 441 doctors, and arrested 34, a small fraction of the nearly 1 million physicians licensed to dispense controlled drugs. "DEA statistics," the agency proclaimed on October 30, "show that the vast majority of practitioners registered with the DEA comply with the requirements of the Controlled Substances Act and prescribe controlled substances in a responsible manner." The agency added, "Doctors operating within the bounds of accepted medical practice have nothing to fear from the DEA."
But some doctors believe that the DEA, having conspicuously failed to stem the tide of illegal drug use in this country, is coming after physicians to ratchet up the agency's prosecution count. (This year alone, two federal reviews lambasted the DEA for its poor performance in fighting illegal drug use, one report giving the agency a zero on a scale of one to 100.)
"They're unable to take down the real drug lords, so they're coming after doctors using the same tactics," one pain physician tells the Voice. For an agency keen to justify its massive budget, doctors provide an easy target. Consider some other recent cases:
In Roanoke, Virginia, pain specialist Dr. Cecil Knox and two of his associates were accused of operating what federal prosecutors call "a pill mill." Prosecutors alleged that Knox overprescribed OxyContin and methadone to increase the profits of his financially struggling operation and that this contributed to the deaths of eight patients. Armed agents in flak jackets raided Knox's office. "They all came in with guns drawn," a clinic employee who was present during the raid reported to the Pain Relief Network. "I thought I was going to die. My husband was helping out that day, and a DEA agent came in and pointed a gun at his head and said, 'Get off the phone now.' " (As this story went to press, news came that the feds failed to win a single conviction in the case; the jury cleared Knox of 30 of the 69 charges, deadlocking on the remaining counts.) In another case of DEA strong-arm tactics, more than 20 agents burst into a Dallas pain clinic in June. The agents kicked down doors, ransacked the office of Dr. Daniel Maynard, and handcuffed patients, including an elderly woman with a stroller and an oxygen tank.
In South Carolina, physician Deborah Bordeaux was convicted earlier this year under a federal drug-kingpin statute and is currently awaiting sentencing. She faces up to 100 years in prison as a major drug dealer for dispensing opiates to patients suffering from chronic pain at a Myrtle Beach clinic, where she had worked for only two months. Dr. Benjamin Moore, who worked at the same clinic, committed suicide in July 2002 rather than testify against his co-workers.
In Arkansas, Dr. Randeep Mann claims that a patient approached him in 2002 and told him that a federal agent had offered her $250 to say that Mann had prescribed her painkillers in exchange for sex. Mann also charges that another female patient told him that local authorities had offered to forgive her cocaine arrest if she told the same lie in court. "They destroyed my practice and they've managed to run away a lot of my patients, and I can no longer prescribe opioids, but I still have my license," Mann tells the Voice.
In New Orleans, Dr. David Jarrott, who specializes in pain management, claims that an undercover DEA agent posing as a truck driver tried to entrap him by giving him fake X-rays to secure a supply of Vicodin for a supposed bad back. Jarrott also says the same agent tried to bribe him for amphetamine-based diet pills claiming he needed to stay awake while driving his truck. In early October, the doctor had his license suspended for three years after two of his patients died, one of whom, unbeknownst to Jarrott, was mixing street drugs with his legitimate medication.
In Arizona, Dr. Jeri Hassman, who runs Tucson's biggest pain practice, was indicted in March after a sting involving two undercover agents and a three-time-convicted felon. She is being threatened with a 28-year prison term because some of her patients abused prescriptions she wrote.
It's not just on the federal level that harsh punishment is being meted out. Dr. Robert Weitzel from Utah was convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He gave morphine to a 91-year-old patient, who soon after died of heart disease. Weitzel won a retrial (and acquittal) in November 2002 after it was learned that a local prosecutor had concealed exculpatory evidence. In Florida in the same year, Dr. James Graves was not so lucky, becoming the first U.S. physician to be convicted of manslaughter related to an OxyContin prescription, after local authorities charged that four of his patients fatally overdosed on OxyContin, some of them after combining it with illegal street drugs. Graves contended that his patients would not have died if they had taken the drugs as directed. He is currently serving 63 years.
Federal officials claim that nearly 500 people died from overdosing on OxyContin in 2002, but a recent article in The Journal of Analytical Toxicology could find only 12 cases in which OxyContin was the sole cause of death; all the others fell victim to poly-drug abuse—mixing OxyContin with cocaine, alcohol, Valium, or various other substances.
"Opioids when taken under clinical supervision are not that dangerous," says the American Pain Institute's Myers. "The data tells us that only 3 percent of people who take opioids become addicts. The latest research conclusively shows that the best medicines for the treatment of chronic pain are narcotics. They have less side effects and more benefits than any other type of drug."
More dangerous, contends Myers, are the everyday drugs that pain sufferers turn to when they can't get narcotics. He talks about something called "suicide by Tylenol": "When chronic pain patients can't get opioids, they go out and use tremendous amounts of drugs like Tylenol and Motrin, which can cause serious liver and kidney damage. Pain patients are dying from kidney and liver disease because of this."
Many pain patients are also dying by their own hand, according to the Pain Relief Network's Reynolds. "All over America, pain patients are committing suicide because of the DEA's campaign," she claims. "I know of at least 17 recent cases in Arkansas alone. It's really astonishing the amount of human carnage that this campaign has already caused."
Fumes Myers: "What's going on here is morally reprehensible and medically incomprehensible and it has to stop. Doctors who treat pain patients are not criminals."
In alleviating sore wrists, sore hands and other recurrent tendonitis and irritated neurology, symptoms often attributed to Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), we look at the cause not the symptoms.
arms and wrists that she was unable to continue her recording sessions. Resting for several days at a time was no help; since whenever she went back to playing the keyboard, the problems would return.
In an evaluation of subacute and unceasing spinal pain, research experts uncovered 3 key distinctions in the medical features of these 2 ache conditions, along with a study published in the Journal of Ache. The best Doctor in New Orleans for Pain Managment? Dr. Naarinder Gupta.
