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An Orange County doctor was arrested by federal authorities in December on suspicion of illegally prescribing narcotics, “flooding Southern California with huge quantities of opioids,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Dr. Dzung Ahn Pham is accused of distributing drugs to five people who died of overdoses and a sixth who has been charged in a DUI crash that killed a Costa Mesa fire captain. In addition, the gunman who killed 12 people in Thousand Oaks in November had pills that Pham had prescribed for someone else.Although the allegations against Pham paint a stark picture of extreme negligence and violation of the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm, most of us doctors have the best of intentions when prescribing medications, including narcotics. However, even when our motivations are pure, the reality is that we still vastly overprescribe opioids. In Los Angeles County, doctors in 2017 wrote 4,266,149 opioid prescriptions. That includes me. (Atul Nakhasi, 1/1)

With drug overdoses now America’s leading accidental killer, cities and states have been struggling to find some way — any way — to curb the loss of life. A handful have found flickers of hope. The common thread? A willingness to try unconventional solutions and the fortitude to handle the political heat that often follows. (12/26)

Over the last several years, many journal articles and opinion pieces have been written outlining the steps policymakers should take in the face of increasing rates of overdose deaths and decreasing life expectancy. Having worked on the opioid epidemic first in the Obama administration and now at Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute, I believe there are five basic issues that must underlie any response aimed at curbing overdose death rates. (Regina Labelle, 1/1)

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights the growing problem of firearm suicides in the U.S. Since 2008, the rate of gun suicides has risen 22 percent and is driving the increase in gun-related deaths. (Suicides make up almost two-thirds of all gun-related deaths.) Among children and teens in particular, the gun-suicide rate is up more than 76 percent. Although only a small percentage of suicide attempts are made with a firearm, more than half of all suicide deaths are carried out with one. The primary victims are older white men. (12/27)

Last week my Twitter feed filled with separate but intimately intertwined stories: coverage of the GAO report on VA’s failure to spend millions of dollars earmarked for suicide prevention outreach and reports of a veteran who died by suicide at a VA medical center. The first frustrated me deeply, not only as a taxpayer but also as someone both personally and professionally invested in this issue for years. The second left me gravely concerned. (Kayla Williams, 12/30)

The input and direction that practicing physicians can add to biomedical startups is invaluable. Beyond clarifying how a new technology or product might affect the current health care system, their experience in the clinic and with the health care system provides key insights into company strategy, direction, and growth. Physicians often have the answers to essential questions such as: What are the logistical challenges of how health care is delivered? What are the financial incentives for providers? Who “controls” access to patients — and their lab samples — for clinical studies and for patient care? How do we align the interests of providers and patients, so these innovations make sense for both? (Vijay Pande and James L. Madara, 1/2)

It would be easy to assume that unjust abortion restrictions that endanger women’s lives are a problem only in deep red states. But laws that restrict the rights of women exist in even the bluest bastions of the country. They don’t get much attention, and many people might not know they’re even on the books. Until the moment when the law steps between patient and doctor.Erika Christensen and her husband were at her obstetrician’s office on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a few blocks from Central Park, when they were given news that broke their hearts. (1/1)

The statutes granting personhood rights to fetuses are never more pernicious than when they criminalize acts of God. Stomach pains woke Keysheonna Reed late one night last December. She climbed into the bathtub, hoping she would not wake any of the other nine people living in her small home in eastern Arkansas. Within minutes, she’d delivered twins, a boy and a girl. Both babies were born dead, the medical examiner would later determine. Their mother — 24 and already the mother of three — panicked. She found an old purple suitcase, put the bodies inside and got into her car. She “began to pray and just drove,” she said, according to a court affidavit, eventually leaving the suitcase on the side of County Road 602. (12/28)

It has been estimated that more than 90 percent of adult smokers develop the habit as a result of lighting up their first cigarette around the age of 18. If the national minimum legal age was raised from 18 to 21, the overall health of the nation would be improved by lowering the incidence of tobacco product use among young adults. (Jenna Lashley, 12/31)

Legalizing marijuana will likely mean the same thing in Pennsylvania it has meant in other states. That is, people of color will get to legally smoke marijuana, but the bulk of the estimated $581 million in annual state marijuana revenue would go to white organizations instead of the black and brown entrepreneurs who made marijuana a multibillion-dollar enterprise. (Solomon Jones, 1/1)

In November, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment that will allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients with serious and debilitating illnesses. The initiative was overwhelmingly embraced by Missourians, receiving the most votes of any issue or candidate on the Missouri ballot. And while we are still several months away from Missouri patients being able to officially enroll in the program, now is the time to start discussing this topic with your doctor. (David Yablonsky, 1/1)