The RxProfessor

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical Healthcare is complicated. Healthcare delivered as part of a workers’ compensation claim is even more complicated, for manifold reasons. But stakeholders often do not act as that’s the case because they look for a simple solution to complex problems. For those with the problem (in this case, an… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical New habits form within 21 days. That time has passed (and then some) during the societal freeze of shelter-in-place related to the novel coronavirus. This tumultuous time has exacerbated existing issues and accelerated trends for entire countries, individual companies and industries like workers’ compensation. Because of that, this… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I want to share two articles about the brain and its incredible adaptation to life. The first article is about how the brain can change with regular aerobic exercise. The second article is about how childhood trauma changes your brain but not necessarily forever. As I’ve… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I have two articles to share with you about drugs. The first article is about how to properly dispose of unused medicines. The second article is about the work still needed to combat the opioid epidemic in its broadest and continually evolving sense. Below are these… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I have two articles to share about opioids. The first article reports on a study of prescribing patterns in the U.S. The second article is about how Australia seems to be following in the United States’ footsteps when it comes to opioid use. Just 1% of… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I want to share two articles that highlight the challenges with trading opioids for another prescription painkiller. The first article is about gabapentin and how evidence of abuse is driving it towards being a controlled substance. The second article is about tramadol and the potentially dangerous… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I have two very interesting articles, each with different topics. The first article is from a counselor about a patient who felt diminished by cancer and how that changed her approach to others. The second article is about how being intrinsically motivated, in any aspect of… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I have two articles to share with you about the changes surrounding medical marijuana in different facets of society. One could further change how Work Comp views medical marijuana and the other sets a societal tone from a very influential place – sports. The first article… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical This week I want to share two articles about chronic pain, opioids and how to treat the effects. The first article is about opioid addiction and the (hidden to some) negatives of prescribing gabapentin. The second article is how a doctor specializing in addiction believes adverse childhood experiences… [Read more]