Skip to main content

Prince: An Untimely Death

In recent weeks, we all were shocked and horrified about the death of pop star Prince. At the time, the cause of death was not apparent.  The coroner would not speculate but instead said that the results were inconclusive pending toxicology results.




Just last week, the toxicology results were in--and the cause of Prince's death was said to be an accidental overdose of the pain killing drug fentanyl.  This might not mean much to the average citizen, but I see a huge red flag here.  First of all, fentanyl is one of the most potent opioids out there. To give you some perspective, fentanyl is one-hundred times more potent than morphine (intravenous use)!

This tells me a couple of things:

1)  Fentanyl would not be a first choice drug for a person with chronic pain.  It's pretty safe to assume that Prince was using pain medication for a while, and was prescribed fentanyl when other medications did not provide adequate pain relief.

2) This scenario can play out--and has played itself out--many times over.  It's said that insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.  What happened to Prince can happen to anyone.  No one is immune from it.

 Once again, I would like to emphasize my purpose for writing this blog...there are many pain management alternatives out there.  It might take a little trial and error to find out what is best for a specific individual, but it's all worth it in the end.  Opioids and other pain medications have their place in medicine, but the idea of using these drugs on a long-term basis is worth re-thinking.

 Sources: FoxNews; Medscape; Wikimedia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately?  Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake." Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members.  Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more! I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain.  This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story.  Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues. Here is the official trailer for the movie: Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube
Post a Comment
Read more

The Multimodal Approach to Pain Management

OK..so if you've been following this blog you will notice that there are a good number of ideas to help manage chronic pain.  You might ask yourself, "Which one of these ideas is best for me ?" I would suggest that you might try any number of these things, depending on your level of ability/disability, health care team recommendations, and your personal interests.  There are a number of reasons for doing this: 1) The patient is in control..with few exceptions, it is your decision what to try/not try and how many different things you want to experiment with at any time. 2) Non drug pain management ideas do not have any of the drug interactions or side effects that medications have.  You may have to set limits or modify activity according to personal circumstances, but usually it does not hurt to try any of them. 3)You usually do not need a prescription for most of the ideas I have described.  There are a few exceptions, such as physical therapy.  There ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beware Of The Tick!

It's tick season, everyone! And while we all know about Lyme Disease and its lingering effects, a new problem has entered the scene. According to the CDC, the Powassan virus is another tick-borne disease that has recently been recognized. The CDC says symptoms become apparent anywhere from one week to one month after infection. Symptoms include vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, problems with speech and seizures. Approximately half of those infected by this virus have permanent neurological symptoms, which can include muscle wasting, problems with memory, and recurrent headaches. Many people who have been infected with Powassan virus required hospitalization and sometimes even respiratory support (i.e., a respirator). Treatment is focused on supportive measures. In the meantime, preventive measures are the best way to avoid Lyme disease, Powassan virus , or any other tick-borne virus.  You can read more about preventive measures by clicking here . Sour...
Post a Comment
Read more