They are the foundation of the CDC's 2016 opioid guidelines, resulting in legislation that limits opioid prescribing in 36 states. Morphine milligram equivalents, or MMEs, are used to set arbitrary prescribing limits for opioids by physicians, since many state legislators fail to understand – and translate into policy and law – the ‘16 guidelines. If we had all known the history of MMEs, perhaps we would not have been so eager to embrace them.
pain management
Medscape is a website focused on those working in healthcare. They recently ran a survey on some ethical dilemmas facing physicians.
Surgeons are frequently the first to prescribe opioids to patients. Of course, surgery usually hurts. After a year of government agencies and legislators practicing "medicine," it's time to hear from the actual physicians. They have practical solutions we can use today.
Can the FDA's tactics – to impact the current opioid problem – also predict its successor? The goal is to head off escalation before problems are crises, and the move is a departure from the status-quo, reactive nature of prior policies.
To underscore how important the battle for its eradication still is, misperceptions are clarified and key aspects of the inherited illness are addressed here.
In a proof-of-concept study, bioengineers have created a designer cell able to release an effective – and apparently non-addictive – analgesic. And it triggers its release by smelling a volatile component of spearmint.
In response to soaring opioid addiction and deaths, the U.S. is cracking down hard on the prescription of these painkillers. Aric Hausknecht, M.D., a neurologist and pain management specialist, speaks about pain control at a time when opioids, and the people who depend upon them, are being ostracized.