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Pain, Addiction, and Public Health

This Substack is about clear, evidence-based writing on pain, addiction, and the public policies that affect millions of patients and the general public every day.

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Latest posts

When a Risk Score Begins to Govern Patient Care

My FDA comment calls for transparency, validation, and safeguards when algorithms influence opioid prescribing and access to treatment.

Aug 19, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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Socialism on the Rise?

Sorting Panic from Meaning in the Healthcare Debate

Aug 12, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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Why Opioid Policy Still Misses the Drivers of Overdose

Cutting prescriptions changed the drug supply—but it did not address the trauma, isolation, economic distress, and untreated illness that sustain demand.

Aug 5, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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The Fauci Hearing Produced Theater, Not Answers

When Suspicion Replaces Evidence

Aug 3, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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Five Hard Questions About the Stories We Tell About the Opioid Crisis

Q&A about evidence, ideology, uncertainty, and the argument behind Deconstructing Toxic Narratives

Jul 28, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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America’s Drug Decriminalization Experiment

Oregon’s decriminalization policy did not fail, its implementation did.

Jul 22, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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Demand Still Matters

Pain and despair sustain demand.

Jul 15, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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We Cut Opioid Prescriptions. The Overdose Crisis Moved

Supply mattered. But treating the crisis as a prescribing problem was never enough.

Jun 23, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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When Supply Falls, Demand Moves

Heroin, fentanyl, and the limits of prescription-focused policy

Jun 18, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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Oregon's Drug Decriminalization

Did Measure 110 Really Fail" Data Says...

Jun 4, 2026 · Lynn R Webster, MD

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