Lynn R. Webster, MD

One of the world's leading authorities on pain management and addiction medicine.

About

Lynn R. Webster is one of the world's leading authorities on pain management, addiction medicine, and the complex interplay between public policy, misinformation, and human suffering. He is board-certified in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and addiction medicine, a past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, and a senior fellow at the Center for U.S. Policy.

He is the author of The Painful Truth: What Chronic Pain Is Really Like and Why It Matters to Each of Us, and coproducer of the PBS documentary of the same name. With Sarah Eichberg, PhD, he is coauthor of Deconstructing Toxic Narratives: Data, Disparities, and a New Path Forward in the Opioid Crisis (Springer Nature, May 28, 2026). A complete list of his titles is available on his books page, and he shares his work on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and YouTube.

Books

Deconstructing Toxic Narratives: Data, Disparities, and a New Path Forward in the Opioid CrisisView on Amazon

Latest articles

Physician finance

A medical license scam nearly took my life savings

Lynn R. Webster, MD

October 21, 2026Oct 21, 20262

As a physician, I spent decades training to manage medical crises, yet I nearly lost my life savings to a calculated deception. The caller offered me two ways to protect my assets: convert everything to gold and take it to…

As a physician, I spent decades training to manage medical crises, yet I nearly lost my life savings to a calculated deception.

The caller offered me two ways to protect my assets: convert everything to gold and take it to Washington, D.C., for deposit with the Department of the Treasury, or convert everything to digital currency.

By then, I had spent nearly three weeks communicating with people I believed might be investigating …

Drugs and prescribing

How fentanyl misinformation turns suspicion into fact

Lynn R. Webster, MD

September 16, 2026Sep 16, 2026

Numbers do not have to be fabricated to mislead. They can be technically accurate and still create a false story when "detected" becomes "caused," "involved" becomes "alone," and a preliminary suspicion becomes a headline. This dynamic played out following a…

Numbers do not have to be fabricated to mislead. They can be technically accurate and still create a false story when “detected” becomes “caused,” “involved” becomes “alone,” and a preliminary suspicion becomes a headline.

This dynamic played out following a May 2026 emergency in Mountainair, New Mexico. Three people died in a home where investigators found fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl, and methamphetamine, while eighteen first responders later reported symptoms such as nausea, …

Health policy

Fentanyl interdiction will not end the overdose crisis

Lynn R. Webster, MD

August 12, 2026Aug 12, 2026

Overdose deaths are falling in the United States, a sign of genuine progress. But President Trump's claim that his administration has nearly stopped drugs from entering the country by sea confuses an interdiction statistic with an overdose-prevention strategy. Trump has…

Overdose deaths are falling in the United States, a sign of genuine progress. But President Trump’s claim that his administration has nearly stopped drugs from entering the country by sea confuses an interdiction statistic with an overdose-prevention strategy.

Trump has repeatedly asserted that his administration reduced maritime drug arrivals by 97 percent or more. That figure, however, merely compares drug seizures across two selected months. Because seizures measure what …

Physician voices

Attorney generals are not qualified to set medical practice guidance

Lynn R. Webster, MD

May 22, 2022May 22, 20223

Eleven attorneys general (AGs) have responded to a long-awaited draft update on a nationwide opioid-prescribing guideline by asking that drafters do more to prevent prescription opioid diversion. Logically focused on law enforcement, the AGs, unfortunately, suggest reviving policies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already cited as potentially harmful to patients. In doing so, the AGs step into the practice of medicine which they are not qualified …

Physician voices

Intimidating doctors won’t solve the chronic pain epidemic

Lynn R. Webster, MD

August 11, 2014Aug 11, 201412

Nearly every day we read headlines about the serious prescription drug problem in America. Increasing heroin addictions and deaths from illicit drug use are taking a severe toll on far too many families and communities. While we must feel enormous sadness for the families experiencing these tragedies, we must not overlook the other major health crisis that is often associated with the opioid abuse problem: chronic pain.

The chronic pain crisis …