Rx for Change
Rx for Change: Alternatives for Chronic Pain
We’ve previously discussed the risks of opioids, and how pharmaceutical companies have encouraged over-prescription of these drugs that has created an opioid addiction epidemic. But what’s a person in pain to do?
Rx for Change — Help Your Doctor Break the Sample Habit
Does your doctor give you drug samples? It’s always nice to get something for free. But, medication samples aren’t like the free samples you get at the supermarket. If you accept a cube of cheese offered to you at a grocery store, you can decide to purchase more if you like it, and walk away if you don’t.
Rx For Change: Obfuscating Opioid Risks
Back when we were in training, more than 30 years ago, opioids were considered dangerous drugs that could cause addiction and life-threatening respiratory depression. Medical students were taught that opioids were very useful for end-of-life pain (especially for cancer, which can cause excruciating pain) and that they were important for a few days after surgery or a severe injury.
Rx for Change: The Real Cost of EpiPen Shots? Peanuts!
It’s probably not a coincidence that both FARE and AAN have received substantial financial support from EpiPen’s manufacturer. Since 2011, Mylan has provided more than $10 million to fund various “educational efforts” including donations to these two groups.
Over 40 years after Jane folded when abortion was legalized, its echoes continue to reverberate. But the right to an abortion has never stopped being under attack.
Rx for Change: Death Panel? That Would Be You!
Medical aid in dying is a safe and trusted practice. Laws such as EOLOA are an important component of end-of-life care, and these carefully crafted processes can have positive results.
Taken from the July/August 2016 issue of The Women’s Health Activist Newsletter. For months I’ve been training as a Medicare counselor with my State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Too often, when I’m answering questions about Medicare, an iron gate…
Whenever I hear a pro-choice politician say, “No one is pro-abortion,” I want to shout, “Excuse me but I’m pro-abortion, and I am not alone.” I’m pro-abortion in the same way I’m pro-organ transplant or any other medical procedure: when you need one, you should be able to get one.
Rx for Change: Hepatitis Drugs and Skyrocketing Health Care Costs
U.S. drug prices are out of control and unsustainable. We’re the only developed country where public programs cannot negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers; as a result, the U.S. generally pays more for branded prescription drugs than any other country.
There’s an old saw that says: The right cares only about individuals and not about people in the aggregate, while the left cares only about people in the aggregate and not about individuals.