Study: Medical Marijuana Leads to Fewer Overdose Deaths

August 26, 2014February 17, 2016 / Thomas Cohn, MD

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states that have legalized medical marijuana report significantly fewer overdose deaths than states that haven’t legalized medical cannabis.

The Study

For their study, researchers analyzed mortality data and medical marijuana adoption across the US between 1999 and 2010. Only 13 states adopted medical marijuana by the end of data collection, but the results were fascinating.

“We found that there was about a 25% lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law,” said lead author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber.

Looking solely at 2010, Bachhuber said states with medical marijuana laws experienced about 1,700 fewer deaths than what would have been expected based on numbers prior to medical marijuana legislation. Bachhuber said medical marijuana can be a viable option for individuals suffering from certain chronic pain conditions.

“It can be challenging for people to control chronic pain, so I think the more potions we have, the better,” he said. “But I think it’s important, of course, to weigh the risks and benefits of medical marijuana.”

As I mentioned in previous blog posts, the issue I have with marijuana is that it contains so many compounds that haven’t been sufficiently studied. I’m all for conducting more research on medical marijuana, but I don’t think the results of this study mean every state should immediately legalize medical marijuana.

It’s certainly an eye-opening study and raises many good points, but one of the main objectives of any good pain doctor is to control for as many variables as possible. That’s much harder to do with marijuana. You don’t know how the compounds in that specific plant are going to react with that specific person.

The American Academy of Pain Medicine echoed similar sentiments when discussing the recent findings.

“AAPM believes that we need to do research on cannabinoids to determine its safety and efficacy,” said Dr. Lynn Webster, former AAPM president. “The problem with medical marijuana is that we never know using marijuana what chemicals are being ingested. That makes it really unpredictable, but the use of cannabinoids may well have a place in the treatment of pain and other diseases. The AAPM believes that the DEA should reschedule cannabinoids from Schedule I to Schedule II so that it will make it easier for research to be conducted.”

There will almost certainly be more research on medical marijuana in the near future, but until more is known, it can’t be viewed as a perfect solution.

Related source: CNN.com

Painkillers Most Often Prescribed in the South

July 31, 2014 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Many people have heard the term “Minnesota Nice,” but the term “Minnesota Tough” may soon be a new moniker after it was revealed that Minnesota was among the lowest per capita states for pain pill prescriptions.

The report published earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assessed painkiller prescriptions and analyzed how they varied state to state. The study analyzed prescription totals for common painkillers including Vicodin and OxyContin, and the findings uncovered an alarming trend about painkiller prescriptions, particularly in southeast.

Alabama had the highest rate of prescriptions, followed closely by Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana. Doctors in the south also had higher prescription rates for antibiotics and stimulants for children.

The study wanted to pinpoint the problemed states after some concerning overdose death trends emerged over the last few years. In 2011, 41 percent of the 41,000 overdose deaths were from prescription pain meds.

“Prescriptions go up, deaths go up. Prescriptions go down, deaths go down,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.

Frieden added that more drug monitoring programs at the state level and more laws aimed at shutting down “pill mills” are two main ways local and national governments could help curb prescription painkiller overdoses.

Minnesota’s Number Encouraging

Although the exact numbers aren’t known, USA Today published a color-coded map that determined whether a state’s total painkiller prescription per capita total was low, medium, high or very high. Minnesota was one of 13 states to earn the “low” distinction along with Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.

Aside from being tough, it appears that Minnesotans are aware that pain care needs to be a multi-faceted approach. There is no magic pain pill. Prescriptions need to be combined with diet, exercise, physical therapy and help from a trained professional if you want to give yourself the best chance to live a pain free life.

Keep it up, Minnesota.

Related source: Lee County Courier

What Types of Patients Do Pain Doctors Treat?

July 14, 2014May 10, 2016 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Finding the right care for each individual patient who is dealing with chronic pain can be difficult. If a patient has ongoing difficulties with pain symptoms, additional medical expertise is often helpful with symptom management. The comprehensive Pain Care program at CDI is designed to help manage these complex and difficult problems.

Pain Management at CDI

The Pain Care program at CDI will see any patient who has ongoing problems with pain. The program is run by a Board Certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialists with subspecialty training in Pain. We are available to help evaluate and diagnose medical problems that are causing ongoing pain symptoms in any region of the body. Common problems that we usually see include patients with:

neck pain
headaches
joint pain
neuropathy
low back pain
mid back pain
multilevel pain problems.

The goal is to develop an individualized comprehensive treatment plan to better control symptoms on a conservative basis. Early management of pain problems often leads to solutions that completely solve the issues.

Treating Pain Problems

A typical low back pain patient may have muscles strains, disc issues, nerve irritation, lumbar facet joint pain, or even pelvic problems. A comprehensive evaluation and examination often leads to an appropriate diagnosis and a number of treatment options. A Physiatrist can work with a patient to complete further testing, and if necessary, assist with physical therapy, medication, and interventions to overcome the medical problems causing low back pain. Muscle strains for instance may only need physical therapy and appropriate short-term medications. Lumbar facet joint problems cause axial low back pain and may benefit from a combination of injections, radio-frequency neurolysis/lesioning, and physical therapy. Depending on the diagnosis, a comprehensive treatment plan with the available options for management can be discussed and implemented with the patient.

Neck pain issues often cause headaches and can be treated with a number of conservative interventions. The Pain Care team can help diagnose and develop a comprehensive management strategy. One common problem causing headaches is irritation of the cervical facets, and this often occurs after trauma, especially motor vehicle accidents. This pain is often known as a whiplash injury. It often resolves with conservative physical therapy and short-term medication, but about 10% of cases require more intense intervention. These patients are often helped with injections and sometimes radio-frequency lesioning of nerves in the neck. Successful management often cures the problems for a prolonged time.

Pain is a complex problems, and every patient is unique with their own set of important issues. If all the answers were obvious, there would be no need for our services. Unfortunately, pain is the most common problem bringing a patient to the doctor’s office. When it does not resolve in short period of time, having the skills of a specialist is often extremely beneficial. There is not one solution, one medication, one shot, or one specific intervention that is right for every patient. Pain Care is designed to integrate and coordinate our skills into the community to treat these challenging patients with their current care team.

Pain management is not a new field. At CDI we have recognized the need to provide a more comprehensive service to help with the management of these complex and difficult patients. With a comprehensive approach to the evaluation and management of these patients by a Physiatrist, we hope to bring a successful approach to resolving these difficult problems within the community. At CDI we hope to partner with a community of physicians to better serve these patients and their providers.

Pain Care: The Benefits of Pain Management

July 9, 2014February 17, 2016 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Pain is a complex problem with physical and emotional components. It can affect all aspects of a person’s life. When pain is treated early and aggressively, often it can be cured. Sometimes the injury that has caused the pain cannot be completely reversed and the damage needs to be managed on a long-term basis. Medically, we are always looking to find a diagnosis and treatment for every problem. Pain Care is aimed at finding the individualized, comprehensive diagnosis and management plan for a patient’s symptoms and problems.

Pain Care

Pain Care has been developed to take the next step in managing a patient’s symptoms. A new patient will undergo a comprehensive evaluation by a Board Certified specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with a subspecialty in Pain Care. These physicians are medical doctors with extensive special training in the musculoskeletal, medical and neurologic systems, which allows them to better diagnose and treat almost any painful condition. As Physical Medicine doctors, they are the “Family “ physicians coordinating and delivering care to those with pain.

Since pain often is a complex problem, Pain Care is designed to help the patient move forward with management. Every patient is unique with their own set of important problems. If all the answers were obvious, there would be no need for our services. Unfortunately, pain is the most common problem bringing a patient to the doctor’s office. When it does not resolve in short period of time, consulting a specialist is often extremely beneficial. There is not one solution, one medication, one shot, or one specific intervention that is right for every patient. Pain Care is designed to integrate and coordinate our skills into the community to treat these challenging patients with their current care team.

Pain management is not a new medical field, however there are not many providers with the Physical Medicine and Pain specialty skills. Pain is complex and Pain Care is designed to address these issues and bring a solution to the patient and community.

Medical Marijuana For Chronic Pain in Minnesota

July 2, 2014 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Minnesota has taken a conservative approach to the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Only a little quality research has been done with regards to the use of marijuana for pain. Most of these studies have been done for patients with cancer or eye problems, and current research is focused on seizures.

The reason why marijuana research is moving slowly is because there are all over 100 compounds that may be an active in cannabis. Most medical professionals would like to know both the positive and negative aspects of any intervention. Since there is no significant marijuana research available, it is hard for medical professionals to recommend the use of this compound.

Marijuana in Minnesota

Minnesota’s new marijuana laws allow the use of marijuana for only limited medical diagnoses. At this time, chronic pain is not included in the list of treatment recommendations. Chronic pain is extremely complex, and has multiple causes in most people. A single compound like marijuana is unlikely to be helpful and every person. Determining which group of patients would be helped by such a compound will be difficult due to the variety of conditions that cause pain.

Most physicians in Minnesota will not be prescribing medical marijuana. If you have chronic pain, do not expect a physician to write you a prescription for marijuana, especially since it isn’t approved for recreational use in Minnesota or even nationally. Furthermore, the drug enforcement administration (DEA) can stop a physician from being able to prescribe any medications if they prescribe to known drug abusers. The use of marijuana is not considered a legal medication, and physicians can lose their license if they prescribe to a patient who abuses marijuana.

Alleviating Symptoms

Pain symptoms in some patients may seem to improve with the use of marijuana. There are many compounds in marijuana that may help control a variety of symptoms including anxiety and pain. Most physicians who are prescribing control medications such as narcotics will do a urine drug screen to determine whether street drugs are being used by the patient. Most physicians have a zero tolerance rule for the use of street drugs since they could lose their license if they prescribe to an abuser. If you use marijuana, do not expect to be prescribed narcotic medication. Most pain physicians will work with you to control your symptoms with other treatments that are very effective in managing your problems.

In the distant future, when we know which compounds in marijuana are effective, we may be able to develop more comprehensive treatment plans for patients with chronic pain. Until that time, hopefully the change in laws will promote good research with regards to the active compounds that will be effective in managing pain. More tools to treat pain will always be helpful. Unfortunately, research takes time and these new compounds may take up to 10 years or longer to develop.