Opioid Withdrawal Not Deadly? Wrong!

One thing I always tell practitioners who are beginning a jail medical practice: you’re going to see a lot of withdrawal cases — study up! In particular, since the opioid epidemic hit, the number of patients I’ve seen in my jails withdrawing from heroin and other opioids of all stripes has skyrocketed. I’ve seen enough patients withdrawing from opioids that I think I am reasonably knowledgeable on the topic. Because of this, I was quite surprised when I ran across this sentence in a recent edition of The Medical Letter:

“Opioid withdrawal is not life-threatening.” — The Medical Letter

The problem is that although this sentence seems quite self-assured, it is flat out wrong. In fact, it is not just wrong; it is also dangerous. People do die from opioid withdrawal. I know of several such cases from my work with jails. Opioid withdrawal needs to be recognized as a potentially life-threatening condition, just like alcohol withdrawal and benzodiazepine withdrawal. Continue reading

How Did I End Up in Jail? from MedPage Today

I have begun a new blog that is being published on MedPage Today entitled “Doing Time:  Healthcare Behind Bars.” The difference between that blog and JailMedicine is the audience.  JailMedicine is written for medical professionals already working in a jail or prison (bless us all!). The MedPage Today blog is written for medical professionals who have no idea what Correctional Medicine is all about.  The first post of Doing Time follows: Continue reading