AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Rural Doctor Arrested Over Opioid Prescriptions
- Doctor Stephen Schneider was arrested after agents accused him of running a pill mill linked to overdose deaths.
- He began prescribing OxyContin after sales reps claimed its time-release coating made it non-addictive.
Pain Is Hard To Measure And Understudied
- Pain is subjective and understudied, with only nine hours in med school typically devoted to it.
- Opioids historically treated terminal pain but shifting attitudes reopened their broader use.
Hospice Doctors Seek A Morphine Pill
- At St. Christopher's hospice, doctors used IV morphine to keep dying patients comfortable and feared taking them off it.
- They longed for an oral, sustained-release morphine pill to allow pain control at home.