erin@erinhouchin.com

Ms Houchin,

Could you please share your position on the war on drugs and all the illegal fentanyl coming across our SW border from China & Mexico cartels and 70K-75K/yr dying from illegal opiate poisoning ? There is a estimated 100+ million people dealing with chronic pain and that could suggests that in Indiana 9th district has some 200K-250K and the DEA is raiding prescriber’s practices apparently based on (illegal) data mining of states’ PDMP’s and charging prescribers of violating some undefined standard of care and best practices and red flags that the SCOTUS recently declared were UNCONSTITUTIONAL in regards to being used to confiscate guns https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/breaking-supreme-court-rules-red-flag-gun-laws-unconstitutional-should-red-flags-used-by-dea-be-unconstitutional/ and the results of the 2016 CDC opiate dosing guidelines have caused many dealing with chronic pain to have their medically necessary pain management to be reduced and patient’s quality of life is being greatly compromised https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/new-data-on-opioid-dose-reduction-implications-for-patient-safety/

Thanks in Advance

 
This person (Erin Houchen) is running for Congress as the candidate for the 9th Indiana district House seat. She was the Senator representing the 47th Indiana district for 8 years, ending in 2022. A few years back, I attended a political action day at the Indianapolis state house organized by the Indiana Pharmacist Assoc, which I am a member.  Part of that day was the typical “chicken meal” and speakers addressing the couple of hundred Pharmacists, Pharmacy students and technicians.  There was three speakers, two pharmacists, one in the House & one in the Senate and Senator Houchin.

As I remember, Senator Houchin was pretty much “gun-ho” about fighting the war on drugs, you know.. all opiates are bad and everyone who takes opiates get addicted.  So, on June 15th, 2022, I sent the above question to her, via the email on her campaign webpage.  She is a little younger than our Daughter, maybe I should have sent it via Face Book or text since she is part of GenX like our Daughter.

According her wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Houchin#Early_life_and_education  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a Master of Arts political management . which would suggest that she lacks a depth of knowledge in regards to addiction vs dependence and the understanding that the illegal Fentanyl that last year killed/poisoned some 70K- 75K of our citizens and that according to wikipedia there is some 400 different KNOWN Fentanyl analogs and only one is approved for by the FDA for human use and the FDA approved Fentanyl analog that is commercially available is not available in a solid oral dosage form.  Here I am 2+ weeks after sending that email and I have only heard

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Retailers’ websites show the emergency contraceptive in short supply after Supreme Court’s abortion decision

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cvs-walmart-limit-purchases-of-plan-b-pills-after-surge-in-demand-11656358819

Some of the nation’s biggest retailers are rationing over-the-counter emergency contraceptive pills as demand spikes following the Supreme Court ruling overturning a constitutional right to abortion.

CVS Health Corp., CVS -1.42%▼ Walmart Inc. WMT -1.41%▼ and Rite Aid Corp. RAD -5.15%▼ were limiting purchases of the pills, which were in short supply or out of stock on major retailer websites. CVS and Rite Aid were limiting purchases to three, while Walmart was limiting orders to 10.

Plan B pills are different from medication abortion, also known as plan C, which requires a prescription and involves the administration of different pills to terminate a pregnancy. In the U.S., medication abortion has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. Two medications—mifepristone and misoprostol—are typically used in a

Several companies make versions of Plan B that range in cost from $10 to more than $50. On Monday, the cheapest option available from major retailers’ websites was a pill for $35. There are three types of emergency contraceptive pills: progestin-only pills like levonorgestrel (sold under the brand name Plan B, among others), ulipristal (brand name Ella) and combined emergency contraception pills that consist of ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel. The latter two types require prescriptions.

Plan B One-Step, the top-selling emergency contraceptive, is owned by a pair of private-equity firms, Kelso & Co. and Juggernaut Capital Partners. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. sold the brand in 2017 to the investors as part of a move to shed its women’s health business. Representatives from the firms didn’t respond to requests for comment.

In the days following Friday’s court decision, social media filled with comments either encouraging or dissuading people to stock up on the contraceptive. Some users posted that they were buying as many as possible; others argued against stockpiling for fear it would cut off access to people with an immediate need.

Planned Parenthood on Monday advised against stockpiling emergency contraceptives as they have limited shelf life and because hoarding supplies could limit access for women who have an immediate need.

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Lawmakers Pummel Biden’s Drug Policy Czar at House Hearing

— GOP and Democratic members raise issues with border control, medication-assisted treatment

https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/opioids/99473

WASHINGTON — Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, got hit from all sides Monday at a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on the federal response to the overdose crisis.

As often happens during a congressional discussion of substance use disorders, committee Republicans focused on the issue of border control. “One [outstanding question] is how President Biden’s border crisis and this administration’s open border policies have aided and abetted trafficking of illicit drugs, such as fentanyl, in our country,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the committee’s ranking member. “Fentanyl is being smuggled across the southwest border at unprecedented rates … We must act now to secure our southern border to stem the flow of illicit fentanyl.”

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) also pressed the issue. When Gupta, in response to a question, said that the southern border of the U.S. was secure but the administration is continuing to work with Mexico on the drug issue, Fallon called that response “shockingly inadequate” adding “it shows just gross negligence … the Mexican drug cartels are controlling the southern border, not the federal government. It’s a gross dereliction of duty that’s putting Americans at risk.”

Medication-Assisted Treatment Questioned

But Republicans weren’t the only ones showing their displeasure. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) decried the use of medication-assisted treatment as a strategy for helping those with substance use disorder. “We allow doctors to have hundreds of patients and just give them Suboxone [buprenorphine/naloxone] and not really deliver any behavioral health services that would get at the underlying addictive activity,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of clinics that hand out Suboxone — the patients go out the door and then they either trade that or they buy fentanyl or methamphetamines, which is even a worse problem. They can’t get high with the Suboxone, so they’re going to harder drugs,” which leads to more stabbings and other violence.

“We’re actually seeing much more violent activity because an individual on methamphetamines might be up for days, and we’re seeing a lot of stabbings,” he said. Gupta noted that “people have different ways of getting at the treatment … Some may do OK cold turkey, while others may need medication for varying amounts of time … We’ve got to help people when they need it and where they need it.”

Lynch seemed unimpressed with that answer. “It’s not working where I am,” he said. “I’ve got tent cities, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people all together, right next to a methadone clinic, that are shooting up … I think we’re pushing more of this stuff out, and it’s not helping. So I think we’ve got to reassess.”

Should Cannabis Be Reclassified?

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wanted to know why cannabis — which he said could sometimes be a useful alternative to opioids for pain management — was classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a Schedule I drug — a class with the most restrictions — while opioids were classified as Schedule II. Classifying cannabis as Schedule I also means that researchers are barred from conducting rigorous, large-scale studies on it, he added. “Do you see this as a contradiction that needs to be resolved?” Khanna asked.

Gupta agreed that “it’s important for us to continue to look at this from a research perspective, from a medical use perspective. Clearly, the policies that we’ve had in this country with regard to marijuana have not worked, and the president has said so.” Khanna reminded Gupta that “the president has the executive authority to direct DEA, HHS, and FDA to consider administratively rescheduling marijuana, which would facilitate research, which would facilitate patient access … At least make sure it’s rescheduled so it’s not more restricted than opioids themselves.”

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said that she was “extremely disappointed that the Biden administration’s two budgets have proposed maintaining the rider that prohibits the District of Columbia from spending its local funds on commercializing recreational marijuana.” Gupta responded that “in the matter of the D.C. rider, I understand it’s with Congress, and I’ll leave it at that. And having said that, the president has been very clear that he supports decisions regarding legalization of marijuana to be left up to individual states, but at the federal level, he has supported decriminalization of marijuana use and automatic expungement of records.”

An Equity Lens

Norton wasn’t entirely negative about the administration’s response to the issue so far, however. “Since assuming office, the Biden administration has shown a robust commitment to advancing equity and centering recovery over punishment in federal response to the overdose crisis,” she noted, and gave Gupta a chance to further explain the administration’s policy in this area.

Gupta said that with his office’s recently released drug control strategy, “one of the things we are doing is looking at all of the metrics that are available to us … We were able to put forward a state model for nonviolent crimes; if someone has a mental health disorder, or addiction, let’s get the person help; let’s get them treatment; let’s get them housing — instead of incarcerating them. It’s not only a good thing to do and prevents recidivism, but it’s also cost-effective for the communities. It is these types of things that the strategy looks at, figuring out how to solve problems at a community level and making sure that we’re doing that with the lens of equity.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) was also supportive of Gupta, praising his understanding of the issue. She saved her wrath for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and other Republican governors who are opposed to expanding Medicaid in their states. “Research shows that overdose rates are lower in states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act,” she said. “In fact, states that expanded Medicaid coverage experienced at least 10% fewer overdoses involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and 11% fewer overdoses involving heroin, when compared against states that haven’t expanded Medicaid.”

“Sadly, because Governor DeSantis is immune to facts, science, and even the shame that families must endure because of his callous inaction, he is not likely to be moved to act,” Wasserman Schultz concluded. “But that doesn’t mean we stop calling out his and other Republican governors’ cruel indifference and how it compounds this crisis and adds to the pain that millions of American families will suffer.”

This is a image I first posted in 2014, probably data from 2013 or 2012… so while the deaths from the two drugs, Alcohol & Nicotine use/abuse has not changed much in the intervening 8 to 10 yrs, but drug/opiate overdoses are up around SEVEN TIMES. From a White House administration perspective, the problem has been BIPARTISAN perspective over the up to last decade of time.  There is enough blame to go all around for both political parties.

Could it be time for the chronic pain community to align with those protesting “my body, my choice”, “healthcare is a RIGHT”, “I don’t what some politician/bureaucrat to decide what I do with my body”..  SCOTUS unanimously decided last week that the DOJ/DEA were applying undefined standard of care and best practices – objective standards – to determine if prescribers were not meeting those objective standards when treating pts dealing with subjective diseases Supreme Court Rules for Doctors on ‘Pill Mill’ Prosecution Proof: 9 to 0 in favor of practitioners

The pro-abortion groups seems to have a fairly large number of supporters and a LOT OF ENTHUSIASM.. and the chronic pain community represents a MASSIVE NUMBER OF VOTES.  After all 435 members of the House and 33-34 Senators will up for election/re-election in Nov 2022.  Could a coalition of those two very large groups – AND VOTERS – could that cause politicians to listen to their constituents. ?

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The illegal Fentanyl from China is killing more American EACH YEAR… than all the soldier killed in ALL THE YEARS of the Vietnam war, everyone killed at the attack on Pearl Harbor and all the people killed at 911  TOGETHER…

Now that the SCOTUS has declared that DOJ/DEA is incorrectly/illegally charging many prescribers of prescribing control meds without meeting a UNDEFINED standard of care and best practices Supreme Court Rules for Doctors on ‘Pill Mill’ Prosecution Proof: 9 to 0 in favor of practitioners

Who believes that the DEA will start to focus on their original charge back in 1973 to deal with illegal controlled substances being sold – mostly on our streets.

Here is graphic I have from 2014 – EIGHT YEARS AGO…  16K OD’s per year. the number of deaths from use/abuse of alcohol & tobacco hasn’t changed much BUT, the number of OD drug deaths is up ALMOST SEVEN TIMES.

There is substantial evidence that most/all of this illegal Fentanyl analog is made in China and shipped to Mexico, who turns the raw illegal Fentanyl powder and using their tablet presses, produces  millions and millions of fake tablets that looks like legal prescription tablets/doses.  Recently the DEA or CDC stated that 60% of the illegal Fentanyl tablets contain a LETHAL AMOUNT OF THE ILLEGAL FENTANYL.

That is like playing Russian Roulette with a 5 shot gun with only 2 chambers EMPTY.

If another nation or two is contributing to the deaths of > 100,000 of our citizens EVERY YEAR … are we at WAR ?   All it took to declare war against Japan when they attacked Pearl Harbor and killed about 3000 … All it took was the 911 attack on the twin towers in NY and killed about 3000 to declare war on the Bin Laden and his followers.   Of course, those deaths all happened in a SINGLE DAY… and since the OD deaths from illegal Fentanyl is abt 300/day… a number not significant enough for us to act ?  We don’t have to attack another country… we could start by CLOSING OUR SOUTHERN BORDER and initiate other efforts to stop the tsunami of illegal drugs coming into our country. There is – on average 7700 people that die in our country VERY DAY… maybe 4% are being killed by illegal drug coming into our country is not significant enough to worry about ?

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I love math issues… let’s look at this example .. Medicare pays for how many doses of 20 mg or 40 mg ?

I checked on www.goodrx.com in my zip code lowest available price # 30 doses 20mg $0.25 each $ 7.42 & 40 mg $0.13 each $3.89

Cost Plus Drug Co. #30 @ $.019 =5.70  + 1.01 (15% profit) + $3 dispensing fee + $5.00 delivery fee  = $14.71

I checked our Humana Part D and #30 esomeprazole 20mg $16.50 ($.55 each) – no coverage for 40 mg

since no strength or quantity was provided in the article, both strengths seem to be less expensive using www.goodrx.com It would appear that pharmacy dispensing fee, 15% profit margin & $5 shipping fee .. turns their price stated as in PENNIES ..turns into DOLLARS TOTAL COST.  There are other cash discount cards like single care and others.

Cuban’s estimated Medicare cost – unless that is the cost that the PBM charges Medicare after paying the pharmacy and adding all their administration fees, could be true, but could possible point out how crooked the PBM industry is and why they are paying multiple million files for over charging various entities – mostly Medicare & Medicaid.

The truth is, when Congress passed the Medicare Part D & Medicare Advantage med bill, they turned this medication program for Medicare folks to FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANIES  and/or PBM companies, which are licensed insurance companies.  Congress agreed that they would not allow Medicare to negotiate prices.  The PBM industry for the last 50+ yrs have been extremely opaque on how their financial charges are determined.  The Insurance/PBM industry has one of the largest pots of money to lobby Congress and this might explain why Congress handed the medication for Medicare folks to this FOR PROFIT INDUSTRY and Medicare agreed not to try to negotiate a discount/lower price on covered medications…. that was back in 2003 +/- Part D program became active Jan 1, 2006.

‘Let’s get this done,’ Mark Cuban tells Biden on Medicare savings study

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/mark-cuban-s-generic-drug-prices-would-save-medicare-billions-of-dollars-harvard-study.html

Medicare recipients could have saved up to $3.6 billion on generic drug costs in 2020 if Medicare paid the same prices as investor Mark Cuban’s pharmacy, according to a study published June 20 in Annals of Internal Medicine. Mr. Cuban tweeted the results, urging President Joe Biden and other elected officials to “have your people call my people and let’s get this done.”

The pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co., has quickly gained speed from about 100 generic drugs at its launch in January to more than 700 generic drugs six months later. 

The researchers from the Program on Regulation, Therapeutics and Law at Boston-based Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital identified 89 generic drugs for which they could compare prices between Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. and Medicare Part D plans.

If Medicare Part D plans matched Mr. Cuban’s prices for 77 of the 89 generic drugs, 37 percent of Medicare’s $9.6 billion 2020 drug costs could have been slashed, the study found. Twelve drugs did not cost less. 

The researchers found the best results with esomeprazole, a drug that treats acid reflux heartburn, which could have saved CMS up to $293 million if Medicare paid the same amount as Cost Plus Drug Co. Medicare paid $1.77 per pill. Cost Plus Drug Co. gets it for $0.19. 

Cost Plus Drug Co. sells its products with a $3 pharmacy dispensing fee, $5 shipping fee and a 15 percent profit margin. 

“Our sole mission is to be the low-cost drug provider for as many drugs as we can possibly offer,” Mr. Cuban told Becker’s. “That is counter to most business interests, particularly over a long period of time.”

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Will CVS Health Be a Positive Disruptor to Primary Care?

— Complex incentives pose reasons to approach this new model with caution

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/99374

While working at one of the nation’s largest safety-net hospitals, I experienced first-hand how difficult it can be for people to access medical care. For many providers, the story of the patient with diabetes or a suspicious lump who couldn’t get an appointment in time or wasn’t able to take time off work will resonate all too well. Many hospitals have adopted initiatives to improve access, but innovation has been slow, confined to individual institutions, and hampered by regulation.

In the absence of a productive government, some believe it necessary to turn to industry. One industrial giant touting itself as the newest solution to healthcare is CVS Health. Its power unknown to many, CVS Health is a nation-wide conglomerate composed of 9,900 retail stores, which serves over 1 million customers a year through its senior pharmacy, runs 1,100 MinuteClinics, has 105 million plan members through its pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Caremark, and manages health insurance for over 34 million people through traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including Aetna. And now, CVS Health has unveiled its newest venture: primary care.

CVS Health wants to expand by transforming MinuteClinics into HealthHUB clinics, a one-stop-shop for primary care needs. Customers will be able to schedule primary care visits, browse CVS’s 6,000 branded medical products, and receive education on chronic disease management. On November 5, 2021, CEO Karen Lynch announced CVS Health would be hiring primary care physicians for their new HealthHUBs, a move which will make CVS Health the first company to offer physician patient care coupled with a pharmacy, covered through its own insurance plan, and managed by its own PBM.

Can such a vertically integrated, for-profit company deliver on its promise to increase access to high-quality care while lowering healthcare costs? With the majority (71%) of Americans living within a 5-mile radius of a CVS, the company is poised to deliver local, convenient primary care. However, the complexity of incentives in the integrated CVS Health model pose reasons to approach this new model with caution.

First, the relationship between a healthcare provider integrated with an insurance company has implications for how high-quality care can be incentivized. While providing high-quality care that keeps patients out of the hospital will lower costs on the insurance provider, incentives could also be skewed to keep patients from accessing costly services. Current insurance companies do this with utilization controls, such as gatekeeping, prior authorization requirements, and step therapy. In theory, stricter utilization controls at CVS Health could result in telehealth first and in-person visits restricted to HealthHUBs, leaving Aetna members with little choice in primary care services, and reliance on an unknown quality of new HealthHUB practitioners. Additionally, having providers employed by both an insurer and PBM could incentivize reduced referrals out-of-network, preventing patients from getting the care they need. Meanwhile, the company’s profits would likely offset any losses incurred from worsened patient health.

Second, complexities arise from the potential for induced demand. A provider service owned by a pharmacy could theoretically incentivize physicians to increase prescriptions, particularly those covered under the formulary negotiated by the PBM Caremark. While some may think physicians would not engage in such actions, multiple studies have shown that physicians, like all human beings, can be influenced by financial incentives.

Lastly, with an insurer providing care to its own patient population, it will be important to watch for any potential cream-skimming in which less healthy persons are de-incentivized to join the CVS Health plan. Cream-skimming has been widely reported in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, and with a large portion of CVS’s 2020 revenue stemming from MA benefits, it will be important to keep an eye out for any additional cream-skimming tactics.

Some may argue that such profit tactics are worth tolerating if they reduce U.S. healthcare costs. One argument is that, with its 105-million-member strong network, the Caremark PBM could negotiate with manufacturers and providers to drive down drug and hospital prices. However, research has not shown that for-profit vertical integration will pass on cost savings to patients. Rather, the current PBM structure incentivizes formulary coverage of whichever drugs the PBM can negotiate the highest percent rebate on, with rebates passed off to the insurer or PBM rather than patients. In fact, a lawsuit is alleging that CVS Health denied consumers low-cost generic medications, choosing only to cover higher-priced brand-name drugs, which increased profits for their pharmacy and PBM, and cost patients higher co-pays. Therefore, it is very possible that patients will not see savings through increased vertical integration, and that the promises of integration-driven efficiency may just be another example of for-profit “health-washing.”

Is for-profit vertical integration the innovation the U.S. needs to increase access to quality care, deliver improved health outcomes, and lower overall healthcare costs? Despite incentives that could theoretically skew the company towards strict utilization controls, induced pharmaceutical demand, or cream-skimming, CVS Health has the potential to deliver on their promises by enacting tight internal controls.

The question then becomes: how will CVS Health be held accountable? Without transparency into CVS Health payment structures, quality measures, and health outcomes, the public will be left to question whether this new disruption will truly bring about the changes in primary care we have all been waiting for.

While the road ahead remains uncertain, one thing is clear: CVS Health is forcing traditional healthcare to adapt. One promising avenue may be state-wide global payment models, such as Accountable Care Organizations, that reimburse on value rather than volume. If the monopolization of privatized healthcare forces hospitals to accelerate their switch to such global payment models, then perhaps the public will glean benefits from the for-profit sector after all.

Lucia Ryll is a fourth-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine, and a 2023 Boston University Questrom School of Business MBA Candidate.

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this is some items included in a Narxcare report… IF you notice Narxcare – someone – has CREATED a LME (Lorazepam ) Lorazepam Milligram Equivalents – just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG in this reporting system – there is a WHOLE LIBRARY of 3 color informational handouts the practitioner can print out. Also notice that any – per CDC – that anyone taking more than 50 MME opiates should be prescribed NARCAN.  there is all sorts of graphs included to give the practitioner viewing this report as much as a YEAR’S data on a pt… so that the practitioner can get a quick good/bad idea of the pt’s controlled substance use. Of course a LARGE BLIP in the middle of a graph covering the entire year may cause the practitioner to come to the wrong decision about the pt.

This appear to be a newer format and OVERDOSE RISK SCORE – the old format only had THREE SECTIONS – LOW-MED-HIGH over dose risk. Which was probably more useful and maybe more accurate than over the NINE DIFFERENT SCORES now used.

If you click on the images they will enlarge and be easier to read. 

Also notice that any one taking 50 MME’s has – according to Narxcare a 25-85 higher potential ratio to OVERDOSE and anyone taking >90 MME’s has a automatically score of having a higher potential for OVERDOSING.

In Indiana – don’t know about other states – the Narxcare report is AUTOMATICALLY INCLUDED when a practitioner pulls up a PDMP (INSPECT) report.

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We have been always been the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA… Our Constitution plainly states what is to be managed by the Federal gov and what is the responsibility of the states. We are not the 50 regional members of the North America Federalization Government.

This has been a interesting month for the bureaucrats in Washington DC..  SCOTUS decided that states could not prohibit USA citizen to own and bear arms, because it is guaranteed right by the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution.  SCOTUS also declared that RED FLAG laws regarding confiscating a person’s gun(s) was unconstitutional.

Congress turned around and passed a new “gun law” making  RED FLAG LAWS legal… I would presume that this law is going to handed to ATF… a “sister agency ” to the DEA… Both under the same Presidential Cabinet Seat of DOJ.  Most of us are well aware of all the RED FLAGS that the DEA has created surrounding prescribing/filling controlled meds… and RED FLAGS are not mentioned nor defined in the controlled substance act, but that has not stopped the DEA from turning their opinions into RED FLAGS and then apply those RED FLAGS as to who has violated the CSA.

SCOTUS following their other opinion(s) of what is stated/defined in our Constitution, they declared that the 50 y/o SCOTUS decision that the right to a abortion is guaranteed by the federal government is not supported by our constitution and  is neither guaranteed nor prohibited in our Constitution and sends the issue BACK TO THE STATES to dictate what is allowed/prohibited, in regards to abortion in individual state.  NO SCOTUS did not make abortion ILLEGAL

My first thoughts, with up to a dozen types of birth control/contraception. Including Plan B/morning after (72 hrs) pill for those who have been raped or there is incest.  I am sort of confused about the “my body, my choice”…  what about personal responsibility ? I have seen stats of one million + abortions performed every year.  Does that suggest one million + BAD DECISIONS “in the moment” ?

Personally, I am somewhere between agnostic and indifferent on the issue of abortion. The first question – after personal responsibility – One Million + abortions has got to involve some major $$$ of medical costs.  Not to mention some of these females may end up with  the need for some Psychological help when they later regret their decision.

I viewed a video from a female, probably in mid-late 30’s. Stating that she had a child when she was young and kept the baby and admitted that she was not a real good Mother to that kid… Then stated that “totally unexpected”, got pregnant again and had her first abortion in 2009.  Here is 2022 and she stated that she was in her last year in her PharmD degree and she found herself pregnant again and the “sperm donator ” did not want to be a FATHER and she did not want to give birth during her graduation and it would ruin her career.  Maybe, her first born was grown and left home and didn’t want to be a single Mother in her late 30’s and starting her career.

Obviously, she did not figure out how a pregnancy happened since apparently several years later was “totally unexpected” pregnant. I would hope by her 5th-6th yr of pharmacy school, she would have fair handle on how pregnancy happens and what contraceptives are available and how they work.

Maybe, as a country we should put vending machine .. right next the the ones that provide free Narcan, clean needles, etc, etc.. with free Birth Control pills, condoms , Plan B. Maybe be able to help prevent pregnancy rather than terminating pregnancies.

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This past week, we had a LESS THAN FOUR YEARS OLD Whirlpool washer FAIL ON US..  We had purchased it from a local owned appliance store we have been patronizing for some 3+ decades. We used a repairman that they recommended – didn’t know at the time that this guy had worked for a local Whirlpool service center until it was closed and he went into business for himself.  He told us that it was one of two boards – there was no error codes that would display and each board was $300-$400 each..  I contacted Whirlpool company customer service… they kept me on hold so long that I was able to search expected life span of such equipment – under HEAVY USE – EIGHT YEARS  — under light use – 10-12 yrs…  take a guess – TWO SENIOR CITIZENS is the only ones using this machine since it was purchased new and the anticipate life expectancy we should expect.

I was hoping that Whirlpool would provide the bad control boards and I would pay the labor… NOPE… I was told that I had to have THEIR APPROVED REPAIR SERVICE TO ASSESS THE MACHINE…  I had already paid $75 for an evaluation from a person who use to work for Whirlpool – and working on appliances for FORTY YEARS – and I was going to pay for another service run with NOT EVEN A PROMISE/HOPE that they may provide some compensation on this machine or credit on getting a new Whirlpool washer…

The CS person seemed to be totally unconcerned… and my closing statement to him was that our new washer would not be a Whirlpool…  I don’t know if he was chuckling under his breath, because after I went on line and found out all the different washing machine labels… they make…  Maybe he sensed that I would not be “smart enough” to find out that information..

We contacted our locally owned appliance store that we have been using for 3+ decades and our NEW LG WASHER WILL BE DELIVERED TOMORROW !

NO MORE WHIRLPOOL APPLIANCES FOR US !!!

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