Email steve@steveariens.com 502-938-2414
Pay Attention
The Deadly Cost of Drug Busts: How Law Enforcement Fuels the Overdose Crisis https://www.cato.org/blog/deadly-cost-drug-busts-how-law-enforcement-fuels-overdose-crisis Two years ago, I reported on a study published in the American Journal of Public Health that examined data from Marion County, Indiana, covering the period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, to determine whether changes in the number […]
Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »
Not Even Regulations: The CDC’s guidelines alone created increasingly harsh conditions for Americans with chronic and severe pain. https://substack.com/home/post/p-159290287 Trish Randall Mar 17, 2025 President Trump’s first week in office included an order effective til at least February 1st, suspending all CDC, HHS and NIH communications: regulations, announcements, reports, advisories, updates and online posts. This aligns […]
Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »
Continuing resolution keeps government funded, skips health care, PBM reform https://ncpa.org/newsroom/qam/2025/03/17/continuing-resolution-keeps-government-funded-skips-health-care-pbm-reform Last week, the House of Representatives passed the slimmed-down government funding legislation without PBM reform. On Friday, the Senate took up consideration of the funding bill. Senate Democrats threatened to shut down the government, attempting to negotiate potential amendments as well as introducing their […]
Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »
The End of Compounded GLP-1s: What Physicians Need to Know https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/end-compounded-glp-1s-what-physicians-need-know-2025a100063o For the last 2 years, compounded versions of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) medications have been big business. Nearly 137 million American adults are eligible to use these costly drugs to treat diabetes and obesity, or for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. That’s more than […]
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
Do you remember all those wild fires in and around Los Angeles, Calf a few months back. Most of those fires were started from a spark, a camp fire, or other such things. Those fires torched some 90 sq miles. Just look at the CDC opioid dosing guidelines – as a spark – The VA […]
Filed under: General Problems | 4 Comments »
America’s aging population faces a growing shortage of geriatric care https://www.businessinsider.com/geriatric-care-aging-population-boomers-healthcare-nursing-homes-doctor-shortage-2025-2 There’s a growing problem for older Americans: doctors who specialize in geriatric care are dwindling. More than 80 million Americans are expected to be older than 65 by 2050, according to the US Census Bureau. However, geriatricians are in short supply, which could complicate […]
Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »
Five Things Patients With Low Back Pain Need From Their Doctors https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/114573 Hopelessness. Fear. Isolation. These are the feelings reflected in the stories we heard from people living with low back pain (LBP) who participated in two focus groups held by the Duke Clinical Research Institute These patients, members of our 300-person “Spine Squad,” volunteered […]
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
When the CDC in 2016 created their version of opioid dosing guidelines, no one with any authority or visibility stood up and stated that the CDC did not have any statutory authority to create those guidelines and they had no statutory authority to cause any prescriber to follow those guidelines. Because they were JUST GUIDELINES, […]
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
This video is from 1996, from an action taken by a Humana medical reviewer in 1987. Back then, many healthcare companies would call themselves Managed Care companies. Some out in the community often referred to these entities as “Mangled Care”. This video seems to explain why many within healthcare referred to some of […]
Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »
