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Chronic Pain in the Media

The media is an excellent source to read about chronic pain related headlines.  Here’s a few:

 

 

Can’t make this stuff up……controversial medical procedure known simply as the “Jesus Shot” …click on the following link to read more– which is supposed to cure pain for life.  

 

Please take the time to click on the above “red” link…..this heinous crime committed by medical professionals is a key root cause of the opioid national health crisis….it’s “greed”, not the opioid.          

 

Felon, Doctor Injects Oklahomans With ‘Jesus Shot’…..a controversial medical procedure known simply as the “Jesus Shot” – which is supposed to cure pain for life for $300.    

 

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Click on the links below to read more incredible details:

 

    Felon, Doctor Injects Oklahomans With ‘Jesus Shot’

 

    Oklahoma doctor claims $300 ‘Jesus Shot’ can cure chronic pain

 

 

Here’s a glimpse that very well may be a possible future for Big Pharma’s lucrative opioid market…..

 

Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday night, just days after striking a settlement with more than 2,000 local governments over its alleged role in creating and sustaining the deadly opioid crisis. The filing in New York follows the Sackler family agreeing to relinquish ownership of the lucrative company. The family also agreed to provide $3 billion in cash over several years and future revenue from the sale of OxyContin to assist communities hardest hit by the opioid epidemic.

 

Click the following link to read more…

 

Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

 

 

Florida recently passed Medical Marijuana with 70% of voters saying “yes”.

 

Florida also allows CBD Oil (an extract from the cannabis plant) to be legally sold in stores.

 

Click on the link below to read about a great-grandmother arrested at Disney World for having CBD Oil along with medical authorization from her physician to use it for her painful arthritis.

 

Great-grandmother with CBD Oil arrested at Disney World

 

    MPW CBD              

 

 

BOSTON — The billionaire founder of the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics and four other top executives were found guilty on Thursday in a scheme involving bribes and kickbacks to physicians who prescribed large amounts of a fentanyl spray to patients who didn’t need the painkiller.

   

After 15 days of deliberations, a jury in Boston federal court reached a first-ever conviction of a drug company CEO in the federal government’s fight to combat the opioid crisis, finding the Arizona-based company’s founder and former chairman John Kapoor guilty of racketeering conspiracy charges.

   

Also found guilty were: Richard M. Simon, the company’s former national director of sales; Sunrise Lee and Joseph A. Rowan, both onetime regional sales directors; and former Vice President of Managed Markets, Michael J. Gurry. 

 

MPW Insys

 

 

Click the following for the full story:

Insys Therapeutics    

Insys produces a fentanyl-based pain medication called Subsys, a powerful, highly addictive and potentially dangerous narcotic that is intended to treat patients with cancer suffering from intense pain.

 

Federal prosecutors argued that doctors between 2012 and 2015 provided patients large numbers of Subsys prescriptions – including to non-cancer patients –  in exchange for kickbacks and bribes from the Insys executives. Some of the doctors, already convicted of crimes the states where they practiced, testified against the Insys executives during trial.

   
 

Click on the following link to hear a compelling Medical Marijuana interview with an Ex-SC Senator’s wife:

  Medical Marijuana riveting testimony

   

 

Doctors in 5 States among dozens charged with illegally  distributing opioids.  

 

MPW 4:20:20  

 

Big Pharma referring to patients as “annuity” income.  Insensitive?  In my opinion, absolutely.  Click on the following link to read how this label is misused:   Glaxo chief defies calls by activists for break-up  

 

How disappointing that we must remind Big Pharma we are people.   Would you buy a product from a company that refers to you as an “annuity”?  Insulting and cold isn’t it??   Replacing the word “annuity” with “patient” would go a long way, and wouldn’t cost Big Pharma a dime..

 

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Chronic Pain articles in the media are always positive as the awareness helps to keep it in the forefront.  Many articles, unfortunately, fail to identify the real causes.  Click on the following link to read such an article along with mypainweb’s response:  

 

How to cure America’s pain crisis without risking addiction 

 

mypainweb’s response:   Mr. Twillman,   While your Pain Crisis article is appreciated…..with all due respect you fail to identify the real problems.     Similar articles published today are repetitive; simply dancing around the core issues. To name jus a few: Commercialization of Narcotics & Big Pharma’s questionable business & lobbying practices, the FDA’s lack of consumer protection, lack of “real” research, inadequate physician education, inconsistent opioid prescribing guidelines, failed 40 year “War on Drugs”, and too many more factors to list here.   I plead with you to use your journalism power to dig deeper.  I’ve spent over 20 years as a Chronic Pain patient researching, reading and understanding the truths behind our Chronic Pain national healthcare crisis.  

 

Clicking on my website below will help you gain a sharper perspective:   http://www.mypainweb.com    

 

Kindest Regards,   mypainweb        

 

 

A few of the more recent headlines reporting doctors committing prescription medication crimes:

 

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American Medical Association votes to BAN prescription drug commercials  

 

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Dr. Lisa Tseng Guilty of 2nd-degree murder in Patient Overdose Deaths   UPDATE: Dr. Tseng faces sentencing for murder  

 

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Birmingham-area doctors charged in federal prescription drug crackdown  

 

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Doctor arrested for selling prescription pills  

 

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Amherst Doctor Arrested for Distributing Controlled Substances and Obtaining Prescriptions by Fraud      

 

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L.A. doctor, 4 others arrested in prescription drug ‘pill mill’ case   Doctor gets 5 years in prescription drug case     

 

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Long Island Doctor Arrested For Selling Prescriptions For Narcotic Drugs   Feds bust Alabama doctors, as state leads nation in pain pill use   Doctor caught on camera collecting cash, selling painkiller prescriptions  

 

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Elderly doctor, wife charged in $77M ‘pill mill’  

 

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Kansas doctor, wife face new sentencing in overdose deaths    

 

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Former Pratt mayor admits to selling pills  

 

Drug firms want W.Va. Supreme Court to halt ‘pill mill’ suit  

 

BRIEF: State attorney general charges two clinic doctors with insurance fraud  

 

W.Va. doctor pleads guilty to dispensing narcotics illegally  

 

Ky. settles lawsuit with OxyContin maker for $24 million  

 

Georgia Doctor sentenced for roving pain management clinic  

 

Colorado Surgical Technician indicted on charges for tampering with narcotics  

 

Nurse pleads guilty to charges of stealing pain meds      

 

When Caregivers become the Patient

 

 

 

Powerful Opioids shows no mercy…..  

Pretty good article. Shameful how the media attempts to filter an outcome with this slanting headline….  

 

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Medical Marijuana Painkiller Deaths Drop 25%  

 

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Jim Carrey Ex reportedly committed suicide using pills prescribed to comedian   Very tragic….majority of those killed by overdosing from legal prescription medications obtain the medications from a friend or relative; not prescribed directly to them from their physician.  

 

Jim Carrey Ex reportedly committed suicide using pills prescribed to comedian

 

 

  jim carrey red background reuters      

 

 

Even the strong may be no match for powerful opioids….  

 

Former NFL Defensive Back overdosed on pain medicine  

 

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Nurse Pleads Guilty to taking Kickbacks from Drug Maker  

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Think of this powerful opioid as “heroin in an ultra-convenient spray form”. According to the FDA this specific Fentanyl (opioid) spray formulation is only to be dispensed to cancer patients experiencing severe pain for which all other opioids fail to provide any pain relief.

 

Read about this Nurse who was paid $83,000 by the manufacturer to prescribe this dangerous opioid to non-cancer patients experiencing Chronic Pain.

 

Even more unbelievable is the statement made by legal experts stating it was unusual for them to take action against the person taking the money!!

 

Read about the case by clicking the link below:

 

Nurse pleads guilty for accepting prescription drug kickbacks

 

 

World Drug Report 2012   The UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME has released their World Drug Report 2012.   The World Drug Report 2012 reports, among many other statistics, that our increasing opioid epidemic is destined to continue.  

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Click on the following link to access the entire World Drug Report 2012:  

 

World Drug Report 2012      

 

Outrageous‼️  

 

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U.S. officials on Thursday arrested a pharmacist linked to a 2012 outbreak of meningitis, which killed 64 and sickened 700 people across the United States, as he was boarding a flight out of the country  

 

This appears to be an intentional act, repeated countless times, directly causing the death of 64 people and sickening 700 people across 20 states.  

 

If convicted, the crime only carries a 20 year prison sentence with a fine of $250k‼️.  And he attempted to flee the country to avoid arrest.  

 

Many of us suffering from Chronic Pain endure epidural injections with the hopes of achieving some pain relief.   We rely on these key pharmaceutical professionals to execute their work flawlessly & meticulously every time they compound our medications.   A single accident resulting in a single death may prove to have extenuating circumstance befitting a lighter sentence.  

 

In this egregious case, Mr Chin knowingly and repeatedly jeopardized the lives of several hundreds resulting in the deaths of 64 and sickening 700 people.   Mandatory life without possibility of parole is the only just sentence with the added consequence of forfeiture of all assets he earned from his executive-level position.  Confiscated assets to be donated to fund Chronic pain research.  

 

This is a heinous crime.  The media and others should portray it as such and not dilute it as a “professional white collar unfortunate mishap’ allowing Mr Chin to walk free after serving much less of the max 20 year sentence.  

 

Click on the link to read more:  

Pharmacist tied to deadly 2012 U.S. Meningitis outbreak arrested    

 

 

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Big Pharma’s Big Controversy  

 

The pharmaceutical industry makes its giant profits by making us sick. A whistle-blower with 35 years working for Big Pharma is now speaking out about their practices.  

Click on the link below to read more:

Whistle-blower Reveals How Big Pharma Corps Profit from Lifelong Disease  

 

 

  Joan Rivers’ Medical Tragedy  

 

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Thursday’s Joan Rivers’ medical tragedy exposes the frightful reality of medical errors.  While we know little about the circumstances of Joan Rivers’ medical procedure, we do know she struggled with vocal trouble for the past year, and went Thursday for a diagnosis.  Emergency workers pulled the unresponsive comic from a doctor’s office where Rivers was in the midst of a procedure on her vocal cords. You can read more at the following link:

 

Daily News.

 

We do not yet know if Joan River’s medical procedure was determined to be “medically necessary”, or “elective”, while rumored, we do not know if medical error was the cause of the medical catastrophe.

 

 

Joan Rivers Update: September 9, 2014

  Joan Rivers had surprise throat biopsy that cut off her air supply, medical source claims.   The routine surgical procedure Joan Rivers was supposed to undergo turned deadly when a doctor who arrived at the clinic with the legendary comic’s entourage performed an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords.   Such a procedure is not supposed to be performed outside of a hospital, according to medical experts.   Rivers’ doctor — who identified himself as an ear, nose and throat specialist — asked if he could use their instruments when the clinic’s doctor noticed “something” on Rivers’ vocal chords, according to the medical source.   “He asked and they let him,” the medical source said. “A huge no-no.”   The medical source added that the “Fashion Police” star had only signed off on an endoscopy — not the far more dangerous biopsy of her vocal chords.   Click on the Daily News link below to read more:   Daily News      

 

How often are medically errors happening??

 

If medical errors were a disease, they would be the sixth leading cause of death in America.

 

Here are a few medical error statistics:

 
  • *Medical errors kill the equivalent of four jumbo jets’ worth of passengers every week, but the death toll is being largely ignored
 
  • *It’s estimated that up to 30 percent of all medical procedures, tests and medications may be unnecessary — at a cost of at least $210 billion a year (plus the untold cost of emotional suffering and related complications and even death — which are impossible to put numbers on)
 
  • *Urgent reforms are needed to make medical care safer, and simple steps, like installing cameras in hospitals and making hospital performance / error data public, could have a dramatic effect on patient safety
 
 
 

According to the 2011 Health Grades Hospital Quality in America Study, the incidence rate of medical harm occurring in the United States is estimated to be over 40,000 harmful and/or lethal medical errors each and EVERY day.

 

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The following link discusses this disturbing trend along with helpful tips to help keep you safe:

 

Hospitals are killing us

 
 
 

Medtronic considering inversion to beef bottom line

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Medtronic appears to be executing a merger with their competitor, Covidien, located in a Boston suburb.  Covidien is headquartered in Ireland.  The move would be mean that Medtronic would also be headquartered in Ireland.   This corporate inversion strategy would mean a significant reduction in taxes for Medtronic.  The corporate tax rate in Ireland is about half of what US headquartered corporations must pay.   Why am I mentioning this?   Medtronic is by far the innovator and supplier of advanced pain relief implanted devices such as spinal cord stimulators and intrathecal pumps along with many other medical devices.   As a business strategy , I understand Medtronic must protect their financial health, but “leaving” America to achieve it will “hurt” in the long run.   This maneuver tarnishes patient confidence as the once Medtronic headquartered in our own “backyard” will be moving far away.  Will this bold move affect Medtronic operating procedures resulting in potential Medtronic patient concerns?   Medtronic is not the only American headquartered corporation “packing” for a new foreign headquartered address.  Burger King with Tim Horton’s (Canada),  Pfizer with AstraZeneca (Britain), and Walgreens with Alliance Boots (Switzerland) to name a few.  

 

Click on the links below to read more:   Medtronic Inversion      

 

Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)   

 

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For decades, Robin Williams gave each one of us the precious gift of laughter.   As a fitting tribute to his legacy give a hug to someone you know or love who is suffering from depression.  

 

Accordion to the CDC, 1 in 10 people suffer from depression.  It’s likely you know at least a few people battling depression.   Depression attacks & damages the soul.  One cannot simply will it, wish it or even fight it away.  

 

Society as a whole continues the stigma that depression is a flaw or weakness which must be kept silent & hidden to avoid shame.  Sadly, this secrecy helps deepen one’s depression.   Among the many Robin Williams films, one in particular wrestles with a core theme of severe depression. 

 

In “What Dream’s May Come”,  Robin Williams takes you on a frightening journey as you see, feel, and experience what depression is, from within the depressed person.   In my opinion, this may be the opportunity to see the real Robin Williams as he silently wages his own personal war with depression.  

 

Depression can often be effectively managed with treatment from a mental health professional.  

 

Reaching out and giving that hug will help the depressed person reach within themselves to want to gain control and seek help, in turn helping to improve their quality of life.  

 

Connecting this way will give the depressed person hope & courage to face another day; possibly saving someone from contemplating or even committing a similar tragedy….   Click on mypainweb  for more insights and information about depression.    

 

 

 

Fake medical screws for back surgery

 

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Undergoing invasive back surgery requiring surgical implantation of instrumentation (medical hardware such as screws, rods and cages) is an extremely difficult and complicated procedure.  

 

The following report explaining the use of “fake” medical screws creates a downright frightening circumstance:   Fake Medical Screws      

 

 

Testosterone and long term opioid therapy connection.    

For some, long term opioid therapy has a negative effect on one’s testosterone level.   My testosterone level, at it’s lowest level, was approaching the mid 20’s ng/dl (nanograms per deciliter) as compared to the low-end normal of 300 ng/dl.  Opioids shut down my testosterone production.   The side effects of low testosterone range from bothersome to serious.  TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) is usually prescribed as a simple way to elevate testosterone levels to the normal range.   Daily topical gels or regular intramuscular testosterone injections are the two types of delivery methods for TRT.   While this treatment did work in restoring my normal testosterone level, TRT had to continue indefinitely in order to sustain normal testosterone levels.   All good until research revealed the serious health risk of TRT.  

 

Click on the following link to read more:   Adverse effects of Testosterone Products      

 

 

Epidural Injection Therapy  

 

It’s more than likely that your chronic back/neck pain journey included epidural injection therapy on multiple occasions.   It’s also probable that if you were to ask those who had undergone epidural injection therapy “did it help?”, you would get a “NO!” response from  most.   Despite dismal outcomes, epidural injection therapy is accepted widely and is a required treatment option by many health insurance plans.   The broad practice of prescribing epidural injection therapy is nothing short of an exercise of futility.   Knowingly performing this expensive and somewhat invasive chronic pain treatment option is like taking 3 steps backwards after advancing 2 steps forward from chronic pain technology improvements.  

 

Click on the following link to read more about questionable use of epidural injection therapy:   Epidural Injection Therapy  

 

The FDA has issued a warning on this procedure as well.

 

 You can review it by clicking on the following link:   FDA Warning      

 

 

Get “Fed-Up” with the help of mypainweb.  

 

Here are some of the sobering facts about the state of health in America revealed in “Fed Up,” a new documentary from producers Katie Couric and Laurie David about the country’s food industry:   (1) “Over 95 percent of all Americans will be overweight or obese in two decades”;   (2) “By 2050, one out of every three Americans will have diabetes”;   (3) 80 percent of food items sold in America have added sugar.   HuffPost Entertainment has debut the new poster for “Fed Up,” which is out in theaters on May 9, 2014:  

 

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The film’s official synopsis and must-see trailer are below:   For the past 30 years, everything we thought we knew about food and exercise is dead wrong. FED UP is the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever.   The film opens in theaters across the country on May 9, 2014.  

 

Click this link to watch the official trailer:   “Fed-Up” youtube trailer        

 

I read this recent article “A New Approach to Understanding Back Pain” and found myself applauding & booing it’s content.   First, applause with possible standing ovation is warranted as it properly “frames” pain associated with the back.   Why the boos?  It’s far from being a “New Approach”.  

 

This article directly supports the facts and information  mypainweb has been discussing for sometime now.  

 

Click on the following link to read the entire article:  

 

A New Approach to Understanding Back Pain.    

 

 

How overmedication can be affecting our health…..take a look at this infographic below compliments toprntobsn.  

 

Please click on the following link for more information: toprntobsn.  

 

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Read how about how Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans on cutting back on painkiller   prescriptions:   Blue Cross & Blue Shield      

 

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Who knew……   JFK suffered from severe chronic pain back pain?   JFK’s medical records, released in 2002, outlines his regimen of daily pain medications, back surgeries and wearing of various braces.   Some have argued that he could have survived the assassination attempt had he left the brace at home that day!  

 

 

Read the link below to understand how chronic pain affected JFK along with his attempts to hide his ferocious pain:   Pain and the Presidency  

 

 

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The FDA approves ZOHYDRO……the new SUPER Opioid Painkiller   * 10 x the power of other painkillers like Vicodin. * A child could die from ingesting just one capsule & an adult new to opioids could die from just 2 capsules. * Nearly 60 percent of all drug overdoses are from FDA- approved prescription medications.   Zohydro will likely trigger a spike in deaths caused by opioids.  

 

 

Keep in mind in 1999 about 4,000 people died from opioid poisoning with 17,000 deaths in 2010!! *Over 40 Industry experts along with Congressional Representatives & State Attorney Generals urged the FDA to say NO to Zohydro. *

 

The FDA chose NOT to listen to its own advisory panel, which voted 11-2 AGAINST approving Zohydro.   Why did the FDA approve Zohydro?   Zogenix, the drug company maker, argued its safer than the existing opioid alternatives because it doesn’t contain acetaminophen.  

 

Zohydro is expected to be available next month.  

 

Read the complete Zohydro story at the following link:   Zohydro      

 

Lisa Bernard-Kuhn, Health Care Reporter with The Enquirer, has published an excellent chronic pain opioid use article.  

 

Click on the link below to read the article:  

Chronic Pain and Opioid Use      

 

 

Can YOU handle the Truth?

 

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On the same day Philip Seymour Hoffman died, roughly 99 other Americans also likely died from drug overdoses.   Overdosing is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, accounting for more deaths than traffic fatalities or gun homicides and suicides.  

 

We have 40 million surgeries a year with 5 to 10 percent of resulting in chronic pain, persistent opioid use, or both.   We are potentially generating a large number of people at risk for prescription opioid dependence and worse.  

 

Read this to help understand the painweb complication:   How do we stop overdosing deaths  

 

Trying to remember other celebrities / notable individuals who died from drug-related causes?  

 

Click on the following link to see the list:   Drug-related deaths   Warning….the list length will shock you.      

 

The Florida Law Enforcement Department confirmed the resignation of a chemist who is suspected of substituting non-prescription drugs for prescription painkillers.  

 

Click on the following link to read more:   Crime Lab painkiller crime    

 

As the Philip Seymour Hoffman news stories continue to tragically unfold, mypainweb opioid truths shares the brutal truths of opioids beyond just chasing the euphoria from these narcotics.   T

 

he biological effects of fentanyl are similar to those of heroin.   Fentanyl is an opioid narcotic prescribed by physicians for severe chronic pain.  Fentanyl helps manage severe chronic pain but it must be taken exactly as prescribed by the physician. 

 

Misuse and abuse of fentanyl has the same dangerous outcomes seen from heroin.   Friends & family who recently saw Philip during the days/weeks prior to his passing described the classic physical side affects that accompany opioid misuse/abuse.  

 

A realization of this may have returned Philip to rehab, with the hope of helping him cope with his dependency on drugs.   Philip was immobilized within his own painweb.   All opioids work by changing the person.  

 

Visit mypainweb.com to read more about the devastating affects of opioids.   When we suspect someone we know has a drug problem, we must take action.   Pretending, or wishing it away will likely result in catastrophic outcomes.  

 

 

Send this message to others in an attempt to save one life at a time.  

 

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Communication IS one of the keys to managing chronic pain.    

 

Read how this Harvard Medical School Doctor becomes patient, and gets a crash course in America’s medical care:   Doctor becomes patient    

 

  “Incidentaloma”….are we suffering from this??    

 

Read more at the following link:  

 

Incidentaloma 

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