Expert on Adverse Drug Reactions Speaks to AC About Leslie Fishbein's Death from Drug Injection for Back Pain

Leslie Fishbein was a Denver, Colorado celebrity, being most famous for her TV commercials for Kacey Fine Furniture, owned by her parents. Leslie Fishbein, 50, died a few weeks after being given an injection for chronic back pain. Back pain is America's No. 1 nonfatal health problem. Leslie Fishbein's back pain developed after falling from a horse in 2002.

Leslie Fishbein was an attractive woman who was also on the charity fundraising circuit. It's still hard to believe that an injection in a physician's office for chronic back pain caused her a "serious reaction," that caused her to later be placed on life support. Most people in Denver probably know the name of Leslie Fishbein, as she'd reduce the price of her furniture by the percentage of her age for each new birthday.

So how does a back pain injection kill someone?

I asked Shane Ellison, M.Sc., a medicinal chemist* based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My first question, just to get the ball rolling, was, "Do you have any idea what happened?" after sending him the link to Leslie Fishbein's death. To which Ellison replied:

"Could have been any number of steroids - likely cortisol - or opioid mimics that killed her. Happens all the time. This time it was a celeb, so we hear about it...People need to stop letting physicians stab them."

But what if you have chronic back pain? Isn't there natural back pain relief? Can you cure back pain without drugs? Can you get back pain therapy without a doctor poking you with a syringe? Natural back pain remedies do exist.

Even though we don't have details about the mechanics behind Leslie Fishbein's back pain, what are proven back pain remedies for natural back pain relief?

Ellison: Clearly, back pain can be debilitating. A person has to decide when stopping it with drugs is worth risking their life. Safe, natural methods can be used to treat pain aggressively.

The California poppy seed is a non-addictive (slow absorbing) cousin of the opium poppy that helps to relax and soothe pain safely. White willow bark, MSM and long-term use of glucosamine sulfate with curcumin have also proven wildly effective. Using dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) can bring fast relief, but for shorter periods.

AC: You said a steroid, cortisone or opioid mimic killed Leslie Fishbein. How does such a drug kill, when all it's supposed to do is relieve back pain?

Ellison: Cortisone works as an anti-inflammatory. It inhibits pain-causing molecules known as pro-inflammatory cytokines. It is often given to athletes. When blocked, we experience pain relief. However, as a mere pain blocker, it has zero healing properties, speeds up aging and actually damages tendons! But that's not the only thing it does. Cortisone causes adrenal and immune suppression. The end result is usually obesity, then diabetes. As a CNS stimulant, injecting too much can lead to raised blood pressure and heart failure.

Another class of drugs that are often used to relieve pain are opioids - narcotics. These simply block the transmission of pain in our brain. At the same time they can shut down the autonomic nervous system, which causes users to stop breathing. These drugs are only approved for cancer patients...But they are becoming all too common for everyday pain (backache, joint pain and headache). Their use has become so rampant in the U.S., that their deadly side effects of cardiac arrest warrant a national emergency.But you never hear about among the drug complaint media outlets.

NSAIDS are also commonly used, which lead to kidney failure...About 16,000 arthritic patients die (annually) from NSAID use. I'm sure tens of thousands more die too, but studies aren't looking at healthy populations, only the arthritic.

Myopic doctors continue to use these drugs because the drug industry uses "statistical contortionism" and "ghost writing to hide the dangers." Furthermore, the industry pays physicians via "seminars" to prescribe such drugs...It works like this: Drug company gets the doctor to use the drugs. As a thank-you, the industry pays them $2,000 or more to give a 30-minute seminar over lunch to some of his friends. If the doctor doesn't continue prescribing, he doesn't get the lucrative lunch seminars.

*A medicinal chemist studies all aspects of biological, medical and pharmaceutical sciences. They use this science for the invention, discovery, design, identification and preparation of

biologically active compounds - i.e., drugs. Drug metabolism, mechanism of action and structure-activity relationships at the molecular level are further investigated by a pharmaceutical chemist.

Ellison's entire career has been dedicated to the study of molecules; how they give life and how they take from it. He was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Grant for his research in biochemistry and physiology. He is a bestselling author, holds a master's degree in organic chemistry and has firsthand experience in drug design. Ellison's combined experience has taught him real answers to the biggest health problems. Learn to Live Young naturally at www.thepeopleschemist.com.