Pain

Roundup: Neuropathic cancer pain; spinal/peripheral neuromodulation; comorbid depressive disorder; morphine and prialt IT therapies; spinal cord stimulation.

A lively question and answer session follows a pro and con debate on the use of opioids.

Both the story of getting to Haiti and the story of getting supplies has been incredibly helped by people online, especially on Twitter.

A study of the costs of targeted medicine delivery systems, and an analysis of the differences between the costs of treatment for chronic pain treatments.

A study of minimally invasive facet arthrodesis and spinal cord stimulation show they can achieve relief for patients with back pain.

Identifying the needs of the Haitians who were affected by the earthquake, finding a place to stay and work, and getting there would be impossible for us without the help and coordinated efforts of many people.

Roundup: Safety and efficacy of Diclofenac; effect of Duloxetine; MIS non-instrumented facet arthodesis; paresthesia coverage; and Milnacipran for fibromyalgia.

Witness the outrageous 20-30% administrative overhead of medical insurance companies....That includes a covert and obnoxious 'cost-savings-is-more-important-than-patient-care' reward system.

The international community of epilepsy specialists is providing financial support and specialized medical equipment contributed by its manufacturer to help re-establish services to epilepsy patients in Haiti halted by the devastating earthquake.

10 days and counting to Haiti. My mind is whizzing and my days are packed with to-do lists that overflow into the next day. I keep trying to project myself into that moment when I return, and stare at my desk and try to figure out where I was and what I was doing before I left. It seems impossible to emotionally transport myself from these moments now, to there, and, then back.

A frank discussion of healthcare reform and its expected effects on the practice of pain medicine.

More than half of patients recently surveyed about their breakthrough pain from cancer said that their pain is an eight, nine or 10 on a 10-point scale, indicating that this type of pain is still a prevalent problem.

A debate over whether the use of prescription opioids is really the most effective method of pain control.

A 10-year study showed that whle methadone represented less than 5% of all opioid prescriptions, it was responsible for a third of the deaths.

Doctors showed positive results of peripheral nerve stimulation in a patient suffering from pain after a herpes breakout.

Tanezumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets nerve-growth factor, reduced pain in three common pain conditions.

Recent court rulings have grown in prominence because the Obama administration has taken a more tolerant stance toward the use of medical marijuana.

The efforts by the government to thwart drug abusers have dramatically increased the chances that a physician will face criminal complaints.

When the earthquake in Haiti happened, my wife and I were at a musical, and I got an iPhone update saying "massive earthquake in Haiti." I went home and started researching and found out just how really terrible the earthquake was. I called up a friend who led a mission trip to Katrina and one following the San Diego wildfires.

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. just announced that it has received marketing approval from the FDA for XIAFLEX(TM) (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), a novel, first-in-class, orphan-designated, biologic, for the treatment of adult Dupuytren's contracture patients with a palpable cord.

Is it just me, or is everyone else out there dying to get their hands on an iPad?

When our home state of New Jersey became the 14th state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana, OBTN decided to take a closer look at the herbal remedy. With help from oncologists on our advisory board, we sought to filter through the smoke and examine the realities of medical marijuana.

New research suggests that targeting macrophages may be a more effective approach to lupus kidney disease management.

This online CME activity provides a step-by-step guide to the latest information on the diagnosis and management of gout.

TNF antagonists are not highly effective in 30 to 50 percent of patients, but investigators have discovered that patients with higher baseline levels of type I interferon beta were more likely to respond to therapy.

USA Today has published an interesting opinion piece by Kevin Pho, MD, encouraging physicians to embrace social networking tools as a way to interact with patients. For me, the comments on the article were as interesting as the article itself.

Sign up now for a reminder about our live coverage of the conference.

Apple's iPad is sleek, innovative, and should change the landscape of the tablet computer market going forward. But for all the things they got right, Apple has a few things to learn if it wants to become the the healthcare industry's tablet leader.

What if the insurance industry profited most when it did the most to enhance effectiveness, efficiency and caring even while absorbing the cost of covering the entire population (pure community-rating)--akin to universal healthcare?

HCPLive has scoured the blogosphere to find the best postings about Haiti. We've included some here.