Here is the SMOKING GUN..
This project was funded in part by a contracted project agreement with the CDC, which is an agency of HHS.
An important objective of the project is to develop solutions that improve heart disease and prevent stroke in all communities.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is influenced by socioeconomic status, environmental conditions, institutional factors, structural racism, various forms of discrimination, and other factors pertaining to health equity.
One of the most common issues of pts dealing with under/untreated pain is typically high blood pressure and/or blood pressure at an emergency crisis level (>200/100). Look at the third section in the below chart. It doesn’t come out and say what damage can occur, but the other graphic does.
There is about 4 different categories of pharma meds to treat high blood pressure. Many pts have told me that after their opioids were reduced, stopped that their blood pressure typically increased dramatically and their PCP put them – one at a time – all four of these categories of BP meds and their BP typically doesn’t respond and remained at/near/past a hypertensive crisis level.
Perhaps this article and the two graphics will allow the pt to start a discussion concerning their hypertensive crisis level blood pressure levels and the potential physical consequences to the pt if their blood pressure is not lowered. I would hope that the pt would be able to get access to their medical records and if not available, start taking their BP and create a chart of your BP and the MME/day of the opioids that you were taking before having a forced reduction. Most pt would expect to see their BP increase as their MME/day went down and the intensity of their pain went up.
That chart should be an excellent “show & tell” to get a practitioner or pharmacist to defend their rationale as to why the pt’s BP is up as is the pt’s pain intensity is up and MME/day is down and mark on the graphic where pharma BP med is added.
If all else fails, the pt may wish to file a complaint, with HHS and/or CMS
APhA collaborates with CDC to advance health equity and prevent heart disease and stroke
WASHINGTON, DC—The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) announced today that it has entered into a contracted project agreement with CDC’s Applied Research and Evaluation Branch in the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention to accelerate the implementation of pharmacy-based strategies to advance health equity and prevent heart disease and stroke.
APhA’s vision to inspire, innovate, and create opportunities for its members and pharmacists worldwide to optimize medication use and health for all is aligned with the CDC’s goal to improve cardiovascular health equity. APhA will work toward this goal by
- Convening a community of practice to provide innovative peer-to-peer learning and capacity-building opportunities for health departments and pharmacy partners
- Identifying and tailoring promising program models to meet community needs, overcoming challenges to implementation, and building capacity for evaluation and dissemination
- Contributing to practice-based evidence for pharmacy-based strategies to advance health equity in heart disease prevention and treatment
An important objective of the project is to develop solutions that improve heart disease and prevent stroke in all communities.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is influenced by socioeconomic status, environmental conditions, institutional factors, structural racism, various forms of discrimination, and other factors pertaining to health equity.
Michael D. Hogue, PharmD, FAPhA, FNAP, FFIP, executive vice president and CEO of APhA, said “Pharmacists are trusted community health professionals who are highly accessible to patients and who increasingly engage in team-based care in practice settings that historically work with medically underserved patients. This project will build on the trust that people already have in their pharmacists to provide health screenings, education, and medication adherence counseling as they thoughtfully and comprehensively address patient concerns. Pharmacists, working together with public health entities, are a crucial partner in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke in the United States.”
This project was funded in part by a contracted 
project agreement with CDC, which is an agency of HHS.
Filed under: General Problems
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