Maureen Murdock's Blog, page 2

Sackler Family Misled Doctors and Public about Dangers of OxyContin

Since 1996, more than 200,000 people have died in the U. S. from overdoses involving prescription opioids manufactured as OxyContin by Purdue Pharma.

Members of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma are responsible for misleading doctors and patients about the dangers of OxyContin. A recent court filing by the Massachusetts attorney general cited internal communications from Richard Sackler, president of Purdue from 1999 to 2003, recommending that blame should be placed on people who b...

Good News in Dayton: Drug Deaths Decline

This year drug deaths in Dayton, Ohio are down by 54% compared to last year. A manufacturing center at the junction of two major interstates, Dayton had one of the highest opioid overdose death rates in the U.S. in 2017. For the first time in years the number of opioid deaths nationwide have begun to decline according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

What has changed?

Ohio Governor John Kasich is receiving a lot of the credit for expanding Medicaid, giving nearly 700,0...

Why I Didn’t Report

This past weekend, I was at an event in Louisville, Kentucky with alumni of Yale University. This was before there was a demonstration at the Yale Law School by faculty, staff, and students protesting Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court and allegations about out of control drinking at Yale. I was talking with an alumnus whom I consider politically astute in general, and who I assumed would be sympathetic about Dr. Ford’s allegations about being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh. H...

The Patriarchy is Crumbling

The patriarchy is crumbling and it’s about time! Last week a grand jury in Pennsylvania reported that 300 priests abused at least 1000 children over a period of 70 years and it was known and covered up by the bishops of the Catholic hierarchy. The 900-page document released by the attorney general listed more than 300 abusive priests by name and gave details that were horrifying. It described the fact that some young victims were given gold cross necklaces to signal to other predators that th...

72,000 Overdose Deaths in 2017

[image error]Coroners in San Diego County have taken a bold new approach to persuade doctors to curb opioid prescribing. The San Diego County’s chief deputy medical examiner, Dr. Jonathan Lucas, sent letters to physicians about their possible role in the escalating opioid abuse epidemic.

The doctors received a letter stating: “This is a courtesy communication to inform you that your patient (name, date of birth inserted here) died on (date inserted here). Prescription drug overdose was either the primary...

Trump: Expert at Gaslighting

“What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” President Trump

“Gaslighting” is a form of persistent manipulation and brainwashing that causes the victim to doubt her perception, her memory, and ultimately her sanity. The term is derived from the 1944 film Gaslight, in which a husband tries to convince his wife that she’s insane by causing her to question her reality. Gaslighting creates a subtle, unequal power dynamic in a relationship, with the gaslightee subjected to...

Aggressive Solutions to the Opioid Crisis

[image error]The opioid epidemic is considered the most unrelenting drug crisis in U.S. history. In 2016, approximately 64,000 people were killed by opioid-related overdoses, including prescription painkillers and heroin.

Two people recently in the news, are determined to find solutions to this crisis: Federal Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the Northern District of Ohio and Alex M. Azar II, the new Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Judge Polster has resolved to settle more than 400 federal lawsuits brou...

Don’t Tolerate Trump

When I went to Washington D.C. for the Women’s March last January with my daughter, granddaughter and partner, I never thought we citizens would tolerate a President who has consistently displayed nothing but arrogant, erratic, belligerent and vengeful behavior.

What is it going to take for Congress to invoke the 25th Amendment to protect us from his reckless taunts to Kim Jong Un to deploy the nuclear button:

“Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I to...

We Need a Cultural Shift in How We Think about Addiction

The recent The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health calls for a cultural shift in how we think about addiction. For too long, many people have viewed addiction as a moral failing. This stigma has created an added burden of shame for people with substance use disorders which makes them less likely to come forward and seek help. It has also prevented us from investing in prevention and treatment.

Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a chronic but treatable brain disease that we mu...

Let’s Try Portugal’s Solution to the Heroin Epidemic

Last year approximately 64,000 Americans died of overdoses, as many as were killed in the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars combined.

More than fifteen years ago both Portugal and the U.S. were struggling with illicit drug use. The U.S. cracked down, spending billions of dollars incarcerating drug users. Portugal, on the other hand, decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. At the same time, it unleashed a major public health campaign to tackle addiction, treating it as a medical issue ra...