Following last week’s show, emails from across North America, from Europe and as far away as Sydney, Australia, have been coming in from desperate chronic pain patients.
This from a mom in the U.S.: “Do you know any people in the U.S. like you trying to make people question what they are doing to pain patients? I have thought long and hard about what I would do if I lost access to my pain medication (opioids). Would my family be better off without having to live with my pain? How bad would my suicide hurt my kids, especially my youngest, since he isn’t old enough to understand or care for himself?”
And I hear from doctors worried scammers are trying to score opioid prescriptions in order to sell to dealers. Possible? Sure. If you’re a doctor and have access to patients’ files or history, use that information. Use your intuition.
Today I’ll share some emails from doctors received over the past five days, as well as my response to these doctors.
Tomorrow a woman whose name you may recognize will join me, along with her husband. She has a suicide plan in place for the day her doctors end her access to opioids. Imagine knowing your wife has a suicide plan she will exercise if her medication is cut off — which it might well be at any time, and after years of responsible use which has lowered the agony scale to livable.
Also on the show, we’ll take a look at Bill Cosby, who is set to begin his public relations tour to warn young men about how to avoid sex assault accusations. Famed Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred, whose client testified at Cosby’s trial, joins me in our second hour today.
Is North Korea about to launch a shooting war — and does the U.S. have to stop it before it can begin? Colonel Peter Mansoor, former executive officer to General David Petraeus in Iraq, and author of the book Surge, will speak to that eventuality.
Some time ago, after I’d aired a program with women who had left the RCMP or were planning on leaving the force or engaged in legal action against the RCMP for sexual harassment and abuse, an email arrived from a listener named Bob. Bob wasn’t exactly complimentary toward the women, and thanks to that email, these women formed a club with a direct message for Bob. They also kindly made me an honorary member of their club. Today, former RCMP Corporal Catherine Galliford will share the club’s name, its purpose, and offer a response to Bob.
When a person is dying and no longer responsive, that person may still be able to see, hear and understand — so writes renowned neuroscientist Dr. Adrian Owen in his book Into The Grey Zone. Fully 20 per cent of such patients are living in this “grey zone,” Dr. Owen argues. He will join me in Hour 3.
And since it’s Saturday, we reconvene our Beauties and the Beast panel with Catherine Swift, spokesperson for the group Working Canadians, Linda Leatherdale, former Money editor of the Toronto Sun, and Michelle Simson, former Liberal MP. Which story most interested the Beauties this week? The JTF2 sniper’s world-record shot killing an ISIS terrorist. Lots to discuss there.
Please join us for today’s program.
Comments