I recently listened to a Medical Doctor speak out against the use of medical marijuana in Kansas.   His main argument was that there is a process in the United States (the FDA or Food and Drug Administration) that makes sure drugs brought to the market are safe for patients to use.   He went [...]

Last week the FDA decided to ban the use of Darvocet (propoxyphene) by doctors in the United States and for drug companies that make it to pull it off the market immediately. The reason: they found it increases the risk of fatal heart arrythmias!

Darvocet is an opioid narcotic used to treat pain. It is the same class of drugs as percocet, vicodin, hydrocodone, oxycontin etc. It was approved by the FDA in 1957 and has been regularly prescribed for pain in around the world. DOCTORS CONSIDERED IT SAFE BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES THAT STUDIED IT SAID.

WELL ONCE AGAIN THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY GOT IT WRONG. And in this case patients died because of it. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT SO MANY OF MY PATIENTS COME IN AND TELL ME “I WANT OFF MY PAIN PILLS AND WANT TO USE SOMETHING MORE NATURAL AND SAFER”… HENSE THE REASON MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS THRIVING RIGHT NOW.

It is almost unspeakable what the drug industry has become: one huge profit driven monster! If you think this statement is radical consider what has taken place in the past decade alone with drug companies. On at least three occasions, drug companies have IGNORED AND DELIBERATELY SHELVED DATA which showed their miracle drugs had significant safety risks and never should have received FDA approval. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!

Today I took care of a 58 year old women who suffered from Sjogrens Syndrome and Rheumatoid Arthritis who had tried medical marijuana recently and found relief of her symptoms. Her arthritis mostly affected her hands and shoulders and required multiple drugs for pain management. She had been on Bextra then Vioxx then Celebrex but had to stop all of them because of kidney disease. She was at her “wits end” and wanted an alternative to help her get some relief and sleep throughout the night.

It is almost unspeakable what the drug industry has become: one huge profit driven monster! If you think this statement is radical consider what has taken place in the past decade alone with drug companies. On at least three occasions, drug companies have IGNORED AND DELIBERATELY SHELVED DATA which showed their miracle drugs had significant safety risks and never should have received FDA approval. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!

An important study just came out in the periodical “Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes” which demonstrated an increased risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attack and stroke for healthy patients who routinely use NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as motrin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, voltaren, celebrex, naprosyn, aleve etc. to treat pain. This is a very important study and you those patients who routinely pop motrins or take dicofenac to treat pain need to read. Marijuana has for many years been found to have potent anti-inflammatory effects without any of the increased risks associated with commonly prescribed NSAID’s.

As physicians we take an oath that states: “First do no harm.” Unfortunately as doctors we have to many times rely on data that has been produced and evaluated by drug companies that stand to make HUGE profits from the sale of these drugs. A 32 billion dollar per year company, named Pfizer, is just one of many that knowingly distributed a pill that was harmful to patients. It is for this reason that so many patients DO NOT WANT TO TAKE PILLS and rely on a more natural remedy like cannabis.