As the oldest medical society in the United States the Massachusetts Medical Society can count some of the greatest minds in the history of American medicine as members but this guy is not one of them. My how far we have fallen! This same author has also unintelligibly and bizarrely compared the medical profession to Barbra Streisand’s face and tried to send a medical student who (naively) presented to him with “sleep apnea” for an evaluation in Kansas for “schizophrenia.” He also opportunistically blamed the Boston Marathon bombing on “marijuana withdrawal” as seen below:
Disrupted Physician 
That’s ridiculous. Marijuana is a substance that doesn’t speak nor act on its own. Prescribed marijuana means a doctor has power, and through prescription, takes the power of choice, in part, away from the patient. Without prescription, that is, if bought on the street, it’s a free choice if the user is a free adult. A powerful religious group is coercive and also has power over a person. Family has coercive power as well. The older brother had power and influence over the younger, and we can see that the older one was larger in size as well.
I am a former anorexic and I am also very short (5’1″, 155 cm) which meant for me getting bullied a lot and always looking up at people. I STILL look up at everyone. Tsarnaev, before he was caught, was small enough to fit inside a boat. During the day that Tsarnaev visited my town of Watertown, I had not eaten for two days. I hoped the lockdown would last forever so I’d starve. Afterward, all I could think of was that I, too, would hide myself in a boat and I would be scared. I was thinking, he must be a small boy, and I was a small girl, small enough to survive by hiding in small place no one else could go. While the rest of Watertown praised the cops, I hated the cops more than ever. It was 11:30 at night. I walked outside and heard the cheering. All I could feel was pure hatred.
Tsarnaev was extremely young and vulnerable already, away from his home country. At that age, peer pressure alone has so much power over a young person, whose emotions swing wildly anyway. It’s meant to be that way, and if our lives continue, we grow out of it.
I made an oral narration of my marathon experience for Northeastern University’s project in 2014 that hardly got listened to. It’s here in the archive:
http://marathon.neu.edu/items/show/8503
I don’t believe it has been accessed very much. The copyright is mine, so I’ll probably put it up on you-tube.
As for the medical marijuana connection, I don’t see that it’s logical. I got a letter yesterday from a friend of mine stating that it was helping her with her eating disorder. You die if you don’t eat. If it saves someone’s life, well, geez.
Julie
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Very good Julie–you should put it up on you-tube.
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Dr. Steve Adelman, there is “no medical evidence to support prescribing medical marijuana”? Are you serious? So all those clinical case studies of refractory grand mal seizures which can only be managed by medical marijuana doesn’t constitute any “evidence” of medical necessity? I guess that all the suffering chemotherapy patients, who have no appetite without medical marijuana, can just waste away until there are enough double blind placebo controlled trials to accommodate our scientific sensibilities.
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Yes, that is what my friend who is recovering from her eating disorder uses it for. She is by all means eligible to receive it in her state. She tells me that to use it is preferable to dying of starvation. I am myself formerly anorexic, but since I also suffered binge eating, I fear using marijuana might start the bingeing up again. I wish I could use MJ to help me sleep, though. I hear it’s terrific for that. I don’t think it’s right for everyone, but for many, a blessing. My dad was an advocate for medical marijuana, truly a cool guy. He was also a patient rights champion. A hero. He died of cancer in 1997. You all would have liked him.
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Medical marijuana is preferable to schedule I-III anxiolytics and (opiate and non-opiate) narcotics, in terms of morbidity and mortality, for a wide spectrum of disorders, not the least of which is chronic refractory pain. Marijuana does not cause the serious respiratory depression and loss of protective reflexes of these other agents. True, marijuana is indicted for causing amotivational syndrome, but if an industry PHP expert is not even motivated enough to stay current on the medical science regarding the substances of which he is an alleged expert, then perhaps marijuana is not the most significant cause of amotivational syndrome in the PHP treatment arena. It occurs to me that a high pedantic dogma titer might be the more disturbing predisposing factor for amotivational syndrome in the PHP industry.
In terms of anorexia not related to chemotherapy, there are a number of natural herbal substances that would be very preferable over marijuana, but this is not to say that marijuana may not be the best choice in certain cases. Marijuana does has its problems, as do the FDA approved drugs for treating many of the conditions in which medical marijuana is a superior option. Patients who are obsessed with numbing emotional pain would probably be better served by avoiding mind altering controlled substances, including alcohol. Nevertheless, psychiatrists routinely prescribe dangerous and addictive mind altering chemicals as the medical standard of care in such instances.
There is clinical evidence of therapeutic efficacy with Siberian rhodiola extract for PTSD, turmeric for depression, and a topical acidified birch bark spray for chronic refractory pain issues related to the localized accumulation of inflammatory neurocytokines. Marijuana is probably best avoided if safe, effective, non-controlled substance treatment options are available. God knows I wouldn’t want to suffer from amotivational syndrome. Gads! Someone might confuse me with a PHP industry “expert”!
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I personally do not respond at all to opiates or barbiturates or alcohol, at least not in any favorable manner. I recall I’d be given bottles of these for a tooth extraction and they would sit around until doomsday, then maybe ten years later I’d find them in unused a drawer and decide to toss ’em. I made a desperate attempt in 2012 to become bulimic by drinking as much booze as I could as fast as I could, hoping this would make me puke. This worked on time out of every ten times I tried. I’d wake up in the morning those nine times swearing my butt off since I’d consumed all those calories, all for naught. My friend, whom I was speaking with the other day, looked at m wide-eyed, saying, “What’s the point? If you puke it up, then you lose the benefit. You don’t even get drunk.” I told her, “No, to me, that’s when you do get the ONLY benefit. You don’t get fat.” But puking it up was so rare, and turning out so costly, that I gave up.
I found out recently that one of my better shrinks I saw for five years never knew I suffered an ED. Where was she all those years?
I now have another word to sum up my THREE DECADES OF USELESS MENTAL HEALTH “CARE”:
MISUNDERSTOOD, or, THOSE “THERAPISTS” NEVER LISTENED. They sure got paid, though. I might have been better off doing street drugs. Or just waiting it out.
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If the Mass Medical Society’s blog has any editors, they were completely out to lunch. Maybe they and/or Adelman were high on marijuana. I think their blood and urine should be tested for THC. In fact a complete drug screen is in order. Check it out; there should be a period after the words “irrational decision making” in the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph of Adelman’s sophomoric little essay. Instead it continues on, repeating words from the end of the 1st paragraph. Was someone a little groggy?
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Agreed- it was quickly taken down by the MMS after complaints started thundering in but the fact it got past editorial review is amazing.
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If they tested his piss, it would come out the color of fudged, right? Tested at, er, where? Did I see my dog pee in that cup?
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Hey! A little restraint here, please! I really do not feel that it is appropriate to accuse a PHP Director of being under the influence of THC just because he misleads the public with potentially harmful PHP industry propaganda. While it is true that marijuana may cause amotivational syndrome, there are no double blind placebo controlled evidence based studies linking marijuana with recklessly inaccurate public medical statements. While medical marijuana certainly does has its problems, it is wrong to dogmatically suspect marijuana for professional incompetence.
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I just said a pee test. Anything could be in it, right. If the jokes have any truth to them and Adelman, the doctor with the Jewish-sounding name (but maybe he’s secretly Irish, right?) was just operated on, and there was malpractice involved, then we can safely assume the surgeon left an iphone 6 inside Adelman’s tummy. Are iphones Kosher? If not, the lawsuit stakes double. I’ll bet my Bat Mitzvah money on it. Either way, what’s gonna come out in the piss? All the text messages, of course. But it’s against FCC rulings to interfere with telecommunications, so these are all confidential. Don’t worry, they were just texts regarding more fake pee levels of whistleblowers like us. You name it, they’ll falsify any records they need to. Okay, I need to stop being silly or someone’s gonna stick me with a needle shouting “mania! mania!” Freedom is awesome, btw.
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Maintain your freedom! Sorry, I must have veiled my sarcasm too heavily. Do not be silenced.
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Know what my fake pee was? No, actually, more likely, a blood level. They didn’t even fake it, they just lied repeatedly about blood levels. “Normal” when they weren’t. “Abnormal” when they weren’t. Finally, when they started allowing patient online access, I went and checked.
I’ve even had my weight fudged in my records. I believe this was done as precaution in case I died and they had to cover something up. I am cracking up over that one.
There was so much fudging….How about putting marijuana in the fudge? oh, let ’em eat cake.
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Juliemadblogger, I am saddened by your disappointing experiences with your health care. It is written, “Be not overcome with evil, rather overcome evil with good.”
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Oh my Lord! I think I’m going to frame and keep this for when I need a little humor in my life.
My immediate impression was similar to that of a Hollywood celebrity pontificating on a subject they know little about simply because they have a forum. Seriously, I think Dr. Adelman’s article suggests an origin from a place where ones opinion isn’t commonly subject to critical commentary.
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Yes – and this man has the ability to bring any doctor in Massachusetts in at any time and act as judge, jury and executioner- that is SOP in most states.
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I was thinking along the same lines except, in place of a Hollywood celeb pontificating on something they know little (or nothing) about, I thought of Rush Limbaugh saying things just to agitate listeners so they’ll call in and argue.
Adelman’s outrageous speculation that the Boston Marathon bomber was suffering the effects of marijuana withdrawal has all the sensationalism and credibility of a National Enquirer headline.
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“anotherMD” hits on a good point. Questionable “experts” seem to insulate themselves from scrutiny by a façade of authority. It is just sad when “experts” exploit administrative authority over vulnerable professionals.
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Don’t I know it.
You’re telling me that this guy is really the head of the Massachusetts PHP? Really?
As an aside for Juliemadblogger. I feel for you and empathize with you’re experience. I was treated off label with a phsycotropic medication following a bad outcome from surgery. It rendered me helpless.
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I was given Seroquel and it caused my weight to double. When they gave me 900 mgs a day of it (and I was also on two other antipsychotics at the time simultaneously) I gained 50 pounds in six months. Off label? I had never been manic nor psychotic. I was also simultaneously put on three anticonvulsants. I was put on 600 mgs of Lamictal per day. This was an outpatient, maintenance dose, along with two other anticonvulsants and the other drugs. Yes, I am still alive. However, after a while, I had double vision and couldn’t stand up. My shrink told me, “If you stop taking those drugs, you’ll be unstable.” I told her I felt “wobbly.” She said, “You were always that way.” I am enjoying many off-label laughs these days. Off drugs, I don’t seem to be “wobbly” nor “unstable.” hmm…..
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I have both witnessed and heard testimonial accounts that echo the horrifying experience that you have so eloquently shared. I’ve found that none of it adequately described the sublime nature of the actual misery involved. I acknowledge that my experience was more straightforward than yours.
I agree that the best and maybe only option is to “escape”. I am glad you are alive, as am I. I love your voice and am glad you choose to share it with others. I haven’t noticed you to be the least bit “wobbly” or “unstable”.
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Thank you– hopefully we have some gains coming up
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What a complete choad. His comments remind me of the exchange between Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberts blaming the Trade Towers attack on homosexuality. He completely discredits himself and exposes the PHP mindset . Why is psychobabble given any merit ? Theres that bonehead making his lifes mission to ruin the lives of physicians and then the psychiatrists at Boston Womens and Childrens convincing the courts to terminate the parental rights of the Pellitiers. Whats up with that Massachusetts? https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/06/17/judge-orders-custody-justina-pelletier-returned-parents/mDWtuGURNawSuObO0pDX4J/story.html#
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[…] noted by many activists but ignored by all but niche marijuana media, in another instance, Adelmanblamed the bombing of the Boston Marathon on “marijuana withdrawal.” One of his cohorts, Dr. Robert Dupont of the Institute for Behavior and Health, rode a similar […]
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[…] Also funding the anti- side is SAM Action, a Virginia-based propaganda outfit founded by former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, George W. Bush insider and speechwriter David Frum, and proven prohibitionist liar Kevin Sabet. They pitched in $25,000, while the establishment Massachusetts Medical Society/New England Journal of Medicine kicked in $10,000. It should be acknowledged that said medical society’s affiliate, Physician Health Services, is still run by Dr. Steven Adelman, who once blamed the Boston Marathon bombing on marijuana withdrawal. […]
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Reblogged this on Disrupted Physician.
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[…] Source: May 3rd, 2013–Dr. Steve Adelman: The Mentality of What’s in Charge and Proof that Stupid… […]
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