Spine Pain and Death Revisited

A recent investigative report published in the New York Times yesterday highlights the alarming increase in methadone prescriptions. How much you ask?  Try a 700% increase from 1998-2006.  Why? Methadone was once limited to use in addiction treatment centers to replace heroin, but today it is frequently given out by physicians to manage spine and joint pain. The result has been a shocking increase in methadone related deaths. In Florida alone, methadone was a cause in 785 deaths in 2007, up from 367 in 2003.  That is in only 1 of 50 states... yet one more piece of evidence that the medical management of spinal pain in this country is a failure.  Please see the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT) press release on this topic.  Also come join the AAOMPT at our annual conference in Seattle in late October.

Tim