Tag: acep
Madness, Death, and the Real Solution to Over-Prescribing Prescription Narcotics
Last month, the LA Times chronicled the stunning rise of deaths attributed to prescription drug overdose, particularly narcotics meant to manage pain. The push to control or manage all pain regardless of the legitimacy of the pain has made overdose from prescription drugs a bigger killer than heroin and cocaine combined, the story reported. Incidentally, […]
Read ArticleUpdate from the 2011 ACEP Leadership & Advocacy Conference
“Our commitment to our patients is no longer limited to the clinical skills we demonstrate in the emergency department. Due to the changing dynamics of health care, our profession requires stellar leadership as well as political effectiveness.” – from ACEP’s webpage advertising Leadership and Advocacy Conference, 2011. The 2011 ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conference is […]
Read ArticleEmergency Medicine – Where Do We Go From Here?
We cost too much. We take care of URIs and ankle sprains. We don’t coordinate care well. We use too many resources. We’ve all heard it in the media, even our President taking passing shots at the usefulness and cost effectiveness of emergency care. Of course the reality is federal law requires us to see […]
Read ArticlePrescription Monitoring Programs Changes Opioid Prescribing Behavior – AKA Sometimes a Little Big Brother is a Good Thing
A recent article in Annals of Emergency Medicine involves the change in prescribing patterns when a prescription monitoring program is put in place. After reviewing past prescriptions, emergency physicians changed opioid prescribing plans for 41% of patients. Many states have instituted prescription monitoring programs to limit potential fraud and abuse of controlled substances. In 2006, Ohio instituted a […]
Read ArticleThe Perils of Preventive Medicine
I recently came across a great post by Amy Tuteur on the perils of preventive medicine. I found Dr. Tuteur’s comments insightful and illustrative of many things we do in medicine. We think there is always hope in doing the right thing: eating right, exercising, not smoking and limiting our alcohol intake. All prudent suggestions, which I […]
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