Doctor, can't you ease the pain?
Article Abstract:
It is very common for cancer patients to suffer severe pain in the period before their death. Many experts in palliative medicine recommend the use of morphine, which has been shown to give almost complete pain relief in nearly all cases. However, there is a widespread fear among doctors, nurses, patients and politicians about the use of narcotics of this kind. It is widely believed that morphine is automatically addictive, and that increasingly large doses are required. For this reason, there are many restrictions on its use.
Publication Name: The Independent
Subject: Retail industry
ISSN: 0951-9467
Year: 1996
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In the hands of drug giants
Article Abstract:
National Health Service trusts and health authorities in the UK will shortly receive permission from the department of health to link with pharmaceutical companies in the development of 'Disease Management Packages,' which claim to provide all the care required for entire categories of patients. This goes against the department of health's earlier caution about such schemes. Some observers are opposed to this development, expressing fears that patients will be transformed into profit-making units.
Publication Name: The Independent
Subject: Retail industry
ISSN: 0951-9467
Year: 1996
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Morphine still drug of choice for pain
Article Abstract:
Opium derivatives are still widely seen as the most effective treatment for chronic pain. Among these, the most commonly used is morphine, which controls pain in 85% of cases and has relatively few side-effects. However, most doctors are still unaware of how morphine works and what its side-effects can be. It is possible that morphine has more applications than those which are currently known, for example, and that improvements can be made in the way in which it is delivered to the system.
Publication Name: The Independent
Subject: Retail industry
ISSN: 0951-9467
Year: 1997
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