Post Author: Richard A. Lawhern, PhD
Richard A. Lawhern is a nationally recognized health care educator and patient advocate who has spent nearly three decades researching pain management and addiction policy. His extensive body of work, including over 300 published papers and interviews, reflects a deep critique of U.S. health care agencies and their approaches to chronic pain treatment. Now retired from formal academic and hospital affiliations, Richard continues to engage with professional and public audiences through platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and his contributions to KevinMD. His advocacy extends to online communities like Protect People in Pain, where he works to elevate the voices of patients navigating restrictive opioid policies. Among his many publications is a guideline on opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain, reflecting his commitment to evidence-based reform in pain medicine.
Richard A. Lawhern is a nationally recognized health care educator and patient advocate who has spent nearly three decades researching pain management and addiction policy. His extensive body of work, including over 300 published papers and interviews, reflects a deep critique of U.S. health care agencies and their approaches to chronic pain treatment. Now retired from formal academic and hospital affiliations, Richard continues to engage with professional and public audiences through platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and his contributions to KevinMD. His advocacy extends to online communities like Protect People in Pain, where he works to elevate the voices of patients navigating restrictive opioid policies. Among his many publications is a guideline on opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain, reflecting his commitment to evidence-based reform in pain medicine.
My primary focus is on U.S. and international public health policy for treatment of severe chronic pain. I have been active for over 28 years as a health care writer and educator, with over 300 papers authored or co-authored in a mix of peer-reviewed journals and mass media.
I am a particular critic of what I believe to be the proven misdirection (a.k.a. “fraud“) committed by Federal and State …
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At age 81, I speak and write voluminously as a health care educator specializing in public health policy and practice for the treatment of pain and addiction. My wife and I are also careful about getting our periodic vaccinations for flu and COVID-19. A few days ago we responded to an invitation from our pharmacy to drop in for our shots on a walk-in basis. The process turned out to …
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We are informed by the Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, and poet George Santayana, that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
That has never been my problem.
I grew up immersed in family stories from both parents — some of them true, and some not so accurately remembered. Starting at about age three with Little Golden Books that my mom bought for a nickel each at local thrift stores, …
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At age 81, I am one of “the old guys” who writes in online chronic pain support groups. I get a lot of emails from people in pain. One recent inquiry was from a lady named Marisa, who asked questions that are combined in the title of this article. The following is my response to Marisa and others.
My wife is a chronic pain patient who has multiple medical issues. I …
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Among Americans and Europeans, overweight and obesity are endemic. Excess weight is also a primary or contributing cause and a significant risk factor for many chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, several cancers, liver and kidney diseases, respiratory and musculoskeletal disorders, and mental health problems.
That being said, one can read any amount of advice we can make time for, concerning dieting or exercise. But a harsh reality persists: Fat …
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As a health care writer and data analyst, I hear frequently from patients who are being denied safe and effective pain care due to unscientific bias on the part of U.S. health care agencies—and sometimes on the part of otherwise once-reputable medical journals. These are among millions of U.S. citizens who are now being deserted by the medical profession.
Thousands, overcome by their pain and depression, have already …
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As I have written elsewhere, the United States is now embroiled in a highly contentious debate concerning the causes of the so-called “opioid crisis.” Prescribing guidelines updated in 2022 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Veterans Administration (VA) have become the basis for continuing scientifically unsupported restrictions on patient access to long-term prescription opioid therapy. Doctors …
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As a health care writer and patient advocate for over 27 years, I have interacted with thousands of patients who experience chronic severe pain, caregivers who support struggling family members, and clinicians who treat painful conditions. Depression and anxiety are very common in these patients and may significantly complicate treatment. Untreated depression – or under-treated pain – can cause increases in healing times, suicidal ideation, and Read more…
At age 80, I’m an “old guy.” I’ve been an avid reader and writer on multiple subjects all of my life. Though I write primarily about U.S. health care, I maintain a lively interest in politics generally. Since election day, I’ve been hearing stories that express a profound sense of trauma in millions of us. Many feel themselves to be in mourning for their beloved country. Others feel vindicated and …
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On May 9-10, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a workshop titled “Training health care providers on pain management and safe use of opioid analgesics — exploring the path forward.” I attended the workshop in person to offer comments on behalf of chronic pain patients. A summary of my observations at the time was published by the now-defunct Pain News Network. The following extended extract is from …
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At age 80, I am an old man. I am also an experienced writer and voracious reader. I’ve been active in internet bulletin boards and social media interest groups since the 1980s—in what we used to call “users net” (USENET)—before the emergence of the World Wide Web.
In the 1980s, I briefly moderated a community on the internet called “Internet Village Elders.” The forum was intended to share information between librarians …
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For years, the U.S. public has been hearing that prescription opioid pain relievers are always and forever a bad thing—and that doctors and big pharma companies are supposedly responsible for an epidemic of addiction and drug overdose-related deaths. However, these assertions are outright lies. Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Veterans Administration know it.
The recent national opioid settlement is as bogus as a three-dollar bill—and …
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Dedicated to my friend and colleague Pat Irving to whom I first told the story.
I’m 80 years old and I’ve been writing for over 60 years—first in systems engineering, later in advanced technology, and more recently in public health policy for the regulation of pain medicine. At this stage of my life, some of my writing is introspective, in an attempt to extract and share “lessons learned” with others. Thus, …
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As a U.S. health care writer and patient advocate for almost 30 years, I read a lot. Recently, some of that reading is in court transcripts of doctors being persecuted out of medicine or into jail by various prosecutors and their hired “experts.” I use the term “persecuted” intentionally. I believe that “medical experts” in many court or Medical Board proceedings are simply “hired guns” – clinical predators hired for …
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As a health care writer and patient advocate for people in pain, I spend a lot of time online on venues like Facebook, Quora, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter). I am visible. And because I am visible, many people reach out to me seeking help or doctor referrals to the few clinicians who are still prescribing safe and effective opioid pain relievers. In recent years, I have also been contacted …
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Anyone reading health care news today must be aware that American medicine – particularly pain medicine – is in crisis. Doctors are experiencing high levels of burnout due to administrative burdens, prior authorization demands, and a health care system that often prioritizes efficiency over patient care. This burnout is leading to mental health issues and, in some cases, physician suicides.
Medicare payments to physicians have decreased by 26 …
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As a health care writer and subject matter expert in public health policy for the treatment of chronic pain and opioid addiction, I spend a lot of time online reading or writing. Nearing the age of 80, I have time for such occupations. In that context, I recently ran into a quite profound quotation on Facebook:
I lived when simply waiting was a large part of ordinary life: when we waited, …
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As a non-clinician patient advocate and health care writer, I am frequently reminded of a quotation attributed to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain): “Figures don’t lie. But liars figure.” I am also aware of a second quotation from economist Ronald H Coase: “If you torture the data for long enough, it will confess to anything.”
I find that both quotations apply directly to the U.S. Centers for …
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I write widely as a patient advocate and subject matter expert on public policy for the regulation of prescription opioid analgesics in pain medicine.
Like many people younger than myself, I also visit many social media platforms almost daily. I am active on these platforms to share recent health care news and to support hope among people who increasingly struggle to find clinicians and pharmacists who will treat their pain by …
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