What's killing more Americans -- heroin, cocaine, or prescription painkillers?

Do you know anyone who poo poos the use of marijuana because it's "illegal" and instead takes pain pills all day long? Do you, as I, wonder why the government has such bans while allowing the synthetics to kill our citizens? (I'll give you a hint... it starts with M and ends in Y)

A few years ago, I was astounded at a policy at a Catholic hospital mom stayed in while battling cancer. They literally locked up her prescription for Marinol, synthetic marijuana (not even the real thing!) that helped with her pain, nausea and sleeplessness. Instead, they prescribed her a hardcore narcotic, a pill for nausea and one for sleeping which causes hallucinations.

Painkillers are real killers

by William C. Douglass, MD

Pop quiz time: What's killing more Americans -- heroin, cocaine, or prescription painkillers?

Since you're a reader of the Daily Dose, I'm sure the answer is obvious. It's the painkillers, of course. A look at the numbers from 2007 showed that these perfectly legal meds killed more people in 2007 than heroin and cocaine COMBINED... and that's not even counting suicides!

Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the Duke University Medical Center say these meds made up the bulk of the 27,500 unintentional drug overdose deaths that year.

Of course, they make up a pretty good bulk of the intentional deaths as well. Opioids alone were responsible for 36 percent of all suicide attempts in '07, according to the commentary in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

In 20 states, the number of unintentional prescription drug overdose deaths actually exceeded motor vehicle deaths or suicides.

The researchers call this an "epidemic," but I call this business as usual -- because when it comes to pain, we're total wimps. We pop pills for every little ache and pain, and the numbers reach shocking new highs every year.

Just last year, the generic form of Vicodin, was the most prescribed drug in America, with 131 million doses given out -- up from 112 million just four years earlier.

The U.S. has 4.6 percent of the planet's population... but uses up 99 percent of the global hydrocodone supply and 80 percent of all opioids, according to ABC News.

With those numbers still growing rapidly, that means our national drug problem -- the "legal" one -- is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

Explaining the pain,

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

P.S. Research has shown that painkillers can stop antidepressants from working... which is comical, since most antidepressants don't work in the first place. Do yourself a favor -- don't choose one over the other. Skip 'em both.

"Say 'Ahhh'. Does Daddy Have a Gun?"

(title borrowed from Bob Barr http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2011/05/02/“say-‘ahhh-’-does-daddy-have-a-gun/)

We recently moved to the burbs of Atlanta, Georgia. With two young children, one of my first tasks was to find a convenient and reputable pediatrician. In a metropolis like this, it wasn't at all hard to find a great place. Unlike the small-town where I came from in Florida, doctors in the big city must compete for business, which means their offices are nicer and *hopefully* their studies are current.

I logged into the website for our new Ped to fill out the appropriate new patient paperwork. One of the first questions on the family history reports was "Is there a firearm in the home". I was taken aback! What business is it of the pediatrician if we own a gun? And now that my medical records are all going online, who will have access to this information?

The next day I was eating lunch at Moe's with my boys and a police officer walked passed the table. I stopped him to ask if this firearm question was something that the Georgia Legislature required. He told me no, that maybe the pediatrician just wanted to teach "gun safety"! Then he went on to explain that the town we live in, Kennesaw, does have a law on the books that says every resident in Kennesaw MUST own a firearm! The law came about when Chicago banned guns a few years ago.

I say: way to stand up for our rights, Kennesaw! And a couple weeks later, this opinion came out in the Atlanta Journal Constitution: http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2011/05/02/“say-‘ahhh-’-does-daddy-have-a-gun/

Should pediatricians be asking parents if there are guns in the house?

I left the question blank.

I don't want to ruin it for you...

I ran across this blog post today on Babble.com. Take 3 minutes to read it and consider writing your first impression before reading my response.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee Hawking Animated History Videos for Kids

POSTED BY MEREDITH CARROLL ON MAY 12TH, 2011 AT 6:30 PM

Who would you trust more to teach your kids about history? A text book or a former and possibly future politician?

I don’t know about you, but I’m quite comfortable with the idea that my kids will learn about history in school when they’re old enough to attend. If I wasn’t, I guess I would take on the burden of educating them myself. But I have a good deal of faith in the curriculum of the local school system and I feel like I would have heard by now if there were a large gap in learning or a glaring bias in the lesson plans.

I’m kind of scratching my head at former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who has launched a new “education company” that sells animated history videos for kids because “our children’s classes and learning materials are often filled with misrepresentations, including historical inaccuracies, personal biases and political correctness,” his website claims.

To me that seems like an awful lot of paranoia and hostility, particularly coming from someone who is potentially running for president next year and, if he does, will undoubtedly talk about healing our nation’s divide. But I’m not a historian or a politican, so what do I know.

Huckabee’s company is offering video episodes (God forbid our kids read more!) that dramatize various chapters in history. The first episode is titled “The Reagan Revolution.” The bad guy in the video, by the way? A knife-wielding African-American man wearing a disco shirt. Kids will learn how Reagan “believes we can do anything! We just need to get the government out of the way.”

Huckabee says on the website that schools haven’t found a way to make history fun for kids. I don’t know about the kids, but it sure sounds like these videos will be fun (or funny) for the adults.

Are you satisfied with the history curriculum in your kid’s school? Do you think Huckabee’s raison d’être is valid, and that there’s a benefit to the videos he’s peddling?

Image: LearnOurHistory.com

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Had enough time to digest that?

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To MEREDITH CARROLL:

You don't know about me, eh? Well, let me tell you a little... I am absolutely NOT "comfortable with the idea that my kids learn about history in school..." Have you read the history books in your local school system? Are you really waiting to "hear" about it?

History books are biased and have changed throughout the years to reflect the views of powerful people. Yes, some changes are good, like including information on "Japanese internment camps" (comment from KikiRiki on the blog); much of history has been rewritten and rewritten to benefit those controlling the government school system.

And what about the history of slavery and racism that has been rewritten? Frantz Kabreau, founder of the National Association of Conservative People of all Colors (NAACPC), has been studying the history of race relations in America and wrote a book about it: Stolen History. Did you know that the first official slave owner in America was black? Won't learn about that in school!

Most importantly, though, is that our American children are some of the dumbest in the industrialized world (in general - not mine or yours, of course!). It's because parents shirk their responsibility as teachers and researchers so that the government can spare them the "burden". Shouldn't American history, at least what you know of it, be part of family discussions? Or would you rather chat about Harry Potter or the Royal Wedding?

Whether or not Huckabee's videos are silly or biased, and no matter your political viewpoints, believing that your local school system is the only education your kid needs on American history shows a lack of parental responsibility that is plaguing our future.