taw comments on Undiscriminating Skepticism - Less Wrong

97 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 14 March 2010 11:23PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 16 April 2012 07:38:00PM 1 point [-]

We pretty much know how to deal with even the most severe pain - very large doses of opiates to get rid of it, and large doses of stimulants like amphetamines to counter the side effects.

I'd be incredibly surprised if this actually worked clinically.

Comment author: taw 16 April 2012 11:11:33PM 0 points [-]

Start here, and follow the links.

Comment author: [deleted] 16 April 2012 11:49:07PM *  3 points [-]

That doesn't answer my question. I'm not interested in the ethical, legal, and societal barriers to adequate pain management, which is what your link covers as far as I can tell.

I want to know how one intends to circumvent opiate tolerance, and whether or not large doses of stimulants really do counteract the side effects of large doses of opiates in a large enough class of people to be effective, without the side effects of these stimulants becoming undesirable.

Comment author: Strange7 14 December 2013 05:14:50AM 0 points [-]

Assembling a drug cocktail in order to achieve some central result while minimizing side effects, with ongoing adjustment as the severity of the underlying condition and the patient's sensitivity to the drugs in question both change, is one of those complicated problems which modern medicine is nonetheless capable of solving, given adequate resources.