Baclofen on the Radio

[Murphyx]

Here's another local radio broadcast about baclofen. It was broadcast earlier today. Fortunately this one doesn't involve OA, so you should be able to listen without falling asleep. Dr L is on it.

Drug could offer respite for alcoholics | WBEZ

[SlipperyPete]

Baclofen on the Radio

The more publicity for baclofen, the better!

I thought the University of Amsterdam study had already started though?

[Godwhacker]

Baclofen on the Radio

Nice read, cheers dude.

[ik1966]

Baclofen on the Radio

thanks for sending it...

:thanks:

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen on the Radio

Fantastic job!

xxoo

[wanttobesober]

Baclofen on the Radio

Wow!
Dr. L was saying 99.5% success rate.
He had only 2 patients that was unsuccessful out of 300 patients!
That is very impressive!!!

Cheers,

Brian

[redhead77]

Baclofen on the Radio

Thank you Murphy for posting this. I missed the broadcast this morning and just now had the chance to listen to it because of you. I had to listen from my phone of course, but listen I could. This piece turned out very well.

[LittleLessBoozin']

Baclofen on the Radio

wanttobesober;1142194 wrote: Wow!
Dr. L was saying 99.5% success rate.
He had only 2 patients that was unsuccessful out of 300 patients!
That is very impressive!!!

Cheers,

Brian

It is very impressive, but it is also an exaggeration, alas.

Paul.

[Greg]

Baclofen on the Radio

Thanks Murph, it's good to see baclofen still getting attention like this. I don't think anyone would really believe it has a 99.5 % success rate, but it's still positive exposure.

Personally I would never believe that any medicine for any condition has a 99.5 % success rate...that sounds a bit like assertions I have heard at AA, telling newcomers that AA has a 100 percent success rate, but that this rate only applies to people who stay in AA...conveniently "forgetting" about those who started attending but dropped out because they didn't find it helpful!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen on the Radio

SlipperyPete;1142128 wrote:
I thought the University of Amsterdam study had already started though?

I don't know, Pete. I think the process has started, not the actual study until later this year.

Maybe someone'll check it out?

[SlipperyPete]

Baclofen on the Radio

Skeptic you don't need to post that opinion of yours twice. NE is helping people PAY LESS for their meds. Nothing dishonorable about that.

[SlipperyPete]

Baclofen on the Radio

Nowhere has anyone ever said he's the only guy in the country that can or will prescribe baclofen. You're making that up. NE started a thread for people to put down doctors that will prescribe. No one would do that if they had some secret agreement with a doctor.

Also, phentermine is a controlled substance in the U.S. Baclofen is not, and is historically known as a rather benign drug, although like any other drug it of course has it's risks.

And just the fact that you'd be willing to try to take away a doctor's license for helping out struggling alcoholics is making me think you're a parody account that's just trying to rile people up. Normal people aren't that insensitive and ignorant.

Thanks for playing.

[terryk]

Baclofen on the Radio

skeptic101;1142321 wrote: Yeah, while claiming a 99.5% success rate too.
Oh yeah and here's his cellphone number and his umm wife might answer too.
And yeah, it's not unethical to prescribe patients drugs without ever meeting them either?
This Dr. L guy is going to get his medical license taken away for this. It's an easy complaint to make and I bet Ne/Neva/eva stops posting when it happens.

You just cant prescribe over the internet or phone a drug that can be fatal and for off label prescribing and shill it on the internet with these people.
You just cannot do it, it's illegal, unethical and is going to be reported.

I already had Dr. Branch have his license rescinded for prescribing phentermine this way. I'll do it again with Dr. L.
And if you think this is doing anyone a favor by prescribing a drug that is at best, a placebo according to research is a good thing, then youve fried a few too many brain cells with the drink.
This does not work, she works tirelessly to put people his way. Dr Branch did the same thing in texas And guess where his medical license went, *poof*

Guess what happened to the shills *poof*
they all magically disappewared when no money was to be made.

If Dr. L. was committed, he'd do it for free, no fees, no professional shills. Only one guy in the country and here is his cellphone number. And he's on the radio with 99.5% success rate.
Are you retarded?

I have spoken to Dr Levin and know him to be a legitimate psychiatrist/MD. I also know that he is a repected Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at a major university. I volunteered to pay him (and did p?y him)$150 though I really can't afford it and he only asked me to pay "whatever I think is fair." I asked for advice only and have not asked for or received a prescription.

I also know that Baclofen definitely works. It works for me, and it works for many, many people, including some of whom I keep in regular contact with from other countries who could not benefit from Levin's services even if they needed them. I'm pretty sure that I've never referred him to anyone (he seems overextended as it is and I would hate to lose him as a resource), but the man's capacity to reach out and help is profound. I'm sure he does not need my money and I could care less if anyone else gives him any. I owe him a lot more than that anyway, and I sincerely hope that the example he is setting will grow to treat (and absolutely cure) many, many more alcohol addicts.

Let's remember not to feed the trolls folks, because the clowns that post this kind of crap will eventually get tired of flinging feces from their mother's basements if they don't get a rise from anyone here. yawn.

-tk

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen on the Radio

terryk;1142328 wrote:
Let's remember not to feed the trolls folks, because the clowns that post this kind of crap will eventually get tired of flinging feces from their mother's basements if they don't get a rise from anyone here. yawn.

-tk

ne

[redhead77]

Baclofen on the Radio

I know we shouldn't feed the troll, but I have a personal interest in this. I am royally pissed off that the message of this broadcast has been lost and destroyed by this creep. Skeptic, have you actually listened to the broadcast? It is a balanced view of baclofen. Yes, Levin states there is a 99.5% success rate, but the reporter was hard pressed to believe it. Not because he believes Levin is a doctor who is out to make money off alcoholics at their bottom (like most alcoholics who are desperate really have much money anyway), but because it's unlikely 99.5% could really be the number helped.

Why does Levin claim this number? He may just live in lala land. Maybe, many people don't tell him when they do decide to stop baclofen. They may go down in their dosage, because they can't handle the side effects, and they don't tell him. This would be the case for me. I have been open and honest with him in the past, but I haven't been in contact recently. I still have two refills left and I didn't feel it necessary to tell him I had to back down. He would have told me to come down anyway. It doesn't matter, he knows now. He has heard the final broadcast, and he heard me in the interview.

I was the woman, "Rebecca".

My mixed feelings and the difficulty it took for me to do this were relieved, when I heard the final product. The reporter was in a quest to find a way to balance what Levin said, and what he already knew. He knew there were SEs and that people sometimes have to stop or reduce their dosage. I believe he did an amazing job of portraying where baclofen is right now. It was interesting and creative. He interviewed Levin, an addiction specialist who won't prescribe because there is no human studies (the study in Amsterdam is set to start in September or October, I can't remember which), and a real person who took baclofen and didn't have a *perfect* experience. Behind the scenes he was in contact with Dr Ameisen, who it turns out does believe in side effects. Although, I don't know what Dr Ameisen believes the efficacy rate is.

As far as getting Levin's license revoked, good luck trying. You will be wasting a tremendous amount of time and energy, and you will fail. Prescribing medication off label, is not considered illegal or unethical. Your example of phentermine is ridiculous. Phentermine is a controlled substance, baclofen is not. Phentermine cannot be prescibed to patients with just a phone consult, when the physician doesn't even know them. This would be not only unethical, but illegal also. His phone consultations may provide him a slap on the wrist, and he could be told to stop, but it would in no way get his license revoked. He hasn't had any patients who have died or had serious physical harm, when following his protocol. It is probably one of the reasons he is so cautious with his titration. He often charges his alcoholic patients sliding scale fees. Many pay him what they can afford. I haven't given him a penny in months. I did at one point have to quit my job to do this. He knew I couldn't afford to pay him.

He works for Northwestern University. It says so right in the interview. He is not hiding behind any masks. You can bet since this broadcast was local, some people who know him, work with him, ect, may have heard it. He isn't worried about it. Northwestern is fully aware he is treating hundreds of alcoholics with baclofen. Some of his colleagues have expressed an interest as well. So, plug away at this dear skeptic. You will get absolutely nowhere.

What didn't get stated in the interview (we all interviewed for much longer and said more than was put on the tape, it could only be 6 minutes), is that baclofen has already changed my life. Even at the level that doesn't provide me the "switch". Luckily, I wasn't on other pharmaceuticals at the time, or I may have been exempt from the interview. This will become a mainstream treatment for alcoholism in the future. I know it, others here know it, even the reporter knows it. You aren't going to be able to curb what is already rolling skeptic, and I have no idea why you would even want to try.

Whatever shortcomings Levin has (he has a few, I am sure of it), unethically prescibing to alcoholics for money isn't one of them.

Thanks for dragging me out from behind the curtain, skeptic.