Posts Tagged With: harm reduction

“The practice of medicine IS the practice of harm reduction. It is a fundamental principle of medical care that the patient has the right to disagree, to be non-compliant, to choose a path or a goal other than the one we might desire for them. The physician’s job is to do everything possible to help such a patient do the best he can, to minimize harm since, at least temporarily, it cannot be eliminated. Only in addiction medicine is it insisted that patients and staff hew to a ‘philosophy’ of ‘total abstinence’ rather than support appropriately individualized goals.”

Evidence for Controlled Heroin Use? (full text) Shewan and Dalgarno, British J. Health Psychology, 2005. Posted: 2006-02-17. Comment (DeLuca): In this study, subjects had occupational and educational status comparable to that of general UK pop. Ongoing problems were rare; heroin was not a significant predictor. Use frequency data suggests importance psych factors. The pharmacological properties of opioids, per se, do not inevitably lead to harmful use patterns. See also: Occasional and Controlled Heroin Use – Not a Problem? – Warburton et al., report from The Rowntree Foundation, 2005. Some Eminent Narcotics Addicts, and: The Heroin Overdose Mystery – Edward Brecher; Chapters 5 …