US Healthcare: Consumes 80% of World's Opioid Prescriptions

The US makes up 4.6% of the world's population, yet we consume 80% of the world's opioid prescriptions. That means Americans consume 83 pain killers for every one the average person worldwide takes. An opioid is a form of palliative treatment that addresses symptoms, not intended to heal the cause.  Basically, an opioid is synthetic heroin or opium. ABCNews.com writes about this in an article on the state of our healthcare system.

Seeing Pain on a Brain Scan

Researchers have been able to see "pain" on a brain scan for the first time. This development indicates that in the future, we will be able to pinpoint pain and the scale of that pain more effectively.