Heroin in the hospice : opioids and end-of-life discussions in the 1980s
Richert, Lucas (2017) Heroin in the hospice : opioids and end-of-life discussions in the 1980s. CMAJ, 189 (39). E1231-E1232. ISSN 1488-2329
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Abstract
At the end of the 1970s, a Toronto-based celebrity doctor and syndicated columnist, Kenneth Walker, who wrote under the pseudonym W. Gifford Jones, launched a campaign to legalize heroin (diamorphine). In his view, it was one answer to the problem of treating end-of-life pain in Canadian society. This ignited debates about patient-consumer choice in the medical marketplace and heroin as a valid analgesic. While this remains a largely untold story, heroin use in the hospice was thoroughly infused with politics, social values and cultural norms of the time. His story embodies how the politics of pain, opioid addiction, and proper end-of-life therapies present enduring challenges in a modern democratic society.
Creators(s): |
Richert, Lucas ![]() | Item type: | Article |
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ID code: | 61435 |
Keywords: | herion, opiods, end-of-life care, palliative care, medical care, hospices, History, Medicine (General), History, Medicine (miscellaneous) |
Subjects: | History General and Old World Medicine > Medicine (General) |
Department: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > School of Humanities > History |
Depositing user: | Pure Administrator |
Date deposited: | 02 Aug 2017 08:17 |
Last modified: | 05 Jan 2021 02:00 |
Related URLs: | |
URI: | https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/61435 |
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