All addicted people (not patients yet), whether it be opioids, amphetamines, alcohol, or steroid creams – all have the same comment – “I’m only using a little,” “I can stop anytime,” “I am not addicted,” “Leave me alone.” There is always a hint of anger in their comment because you might take away their ‘fix.’ Dr Aron’s acolytes act as above. There is no way to change their belief – so be it – I strongly suggest that other patients not be influenced by this pipe dream. It is evident by all of the withdrawal patients that suffer for 2 to 4 years that they had been misled by using ‘only a little bit’ of steroids for years.
Suffering Patients
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About the Author: Dr Marvin Rapaport, MD
In 1978 I initiated and set up the contact and photo dermatitis clinic at UCLA. There was a need to evaluate a large group of patients who exhibited severe eczematoid rashes, especially on the face. Patients were referred from all over Southern California. All patients underwent a lengthy history and examination. Further evaluations included blood studies, allergy patch testing, special sunlight (photo) testing and skin biopsies.
From the start it was apparent that most patients experienced a mild dermatitis on various parts of the body that progressively worsened. Their histories always included numerous doctor visits, multiple physicians, and therapy consisting of an increasing amount of corticosteroids.
My testing failed to reveal any specific culprit chemicals, cosmetics, perfumes, workplace or recreational exposures. It became increasingly clear that the physician’s therapy, the corticosteroids, was invariably causing the problem.
I wrote 7 scientific articles that were published in the most august peer-reviewed dermatologic journals and I gave many lectures at various dermatology meetings. To this day an unfortunate reluctance exists on the part of most physicians to accept this simple concept.
