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Tucker Carlson interviews Gerald Posner on www.foxnation.com about our opiate crisis and the Sackler Family
Posted on June 4, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America
About Gerald Posner
This is abt a 38 minute interview. Posner’s position is to target Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family and all the profits that they made off of the marketing/selling of Oxycontin and of course … to sell his new book.He talks about a lot of issues surrounding the fabricated opiate crisis.. he describes the health issue of Hyperalgesia without ever mentioning the name of Hyperalgesia.
He at times injects the fact that “some” people actually needs opiates for long term pain – abt 30 days ?
He mentions a couple of Mothers who lost children to overdoses and how they took action after their kids OD.
He blames everyone for failing to control the distribution of opiates – FDA, Pharmas, Drug Wholesalers, prescribers, Pharmacy/Pharmacists… I do not remember the first word about the failure of the DEA ?
He didn’t mention the DECADE OF PAIN LAW https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/2260 where prescribers were encouraged to adequately treat pt’s pain and the Joint Commission made proper pain management – the 5th vital sign – and a MAJOR STANDARD.
There was no mention that addiction was a MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE
Tucker even mentioned having some dental procedure and receiving TWO PRESCRIPTIONS – did not indicate what they where – put stated that he did not take them and FLUSHED THEM. He also made the statement that he had previously had some surgical procedure and was given Morphine IV and “..didn’t like how it made him feel..” It would seem obvious that Tucker is opiophobic.
Anyone can get a 7 or 30 day FREE TRIAL of www.foxnation.com… if anyone really wants to watch this lopsided piece of literature.
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VT has decriminalized and placed a “sin tax” on the possession of small quantities of Buprenorphine
Posted on June 4, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
The state of VT has decided to place a “sin tax” on buprenorphine. IMO, this was just a matter of time before this was done. This follows the bureaucracy’s mindset after putting sin taxes on the drugs Alcohol and Nicotine. The state has turned the corner of people using/abusing some substance and costing them money paying for putting people in jail and is trying to turn it into a revenue stream. They are still going to put people in jail who they have determined are SELLING BUPRENORPHINE by possessing > 224 mg. Which substance that has an abuse potential will be next be classified by a state that is worthy of generating more revenue via a SIN TAX ?
Vermont decriminalizes buprenorphine, used to treat opioid use disorder: What to know.
Vermont has decriminalized possession of a medication typically prescribed to treat opioid use disorder.
Gov. Phil Scott signed into lawH.225,a bill that replaces criminal penalties with civil penalties for possession in quantities of 224 milligrams or less of buprenorphine.
The medication is considered an opioid partial agonist and can produce effects weaker than heroin and methadone, known as full opioid agonists. Benefits associated with buprenorphine include its ability to diminish the effects of opioid dependence, like cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Scott in a letter to the General Assembly expressed some doubt, including concerns about the lack of data related to decriminalizing the medication and its efficacy in minimizing overdoses.
“Although I remain skeptical, I signed this bill because it is well-intentioned and offers another potential approach to reduce the impacts of substance use disorder,” he said in the letter.
Trey Anastasio of Phish:Musician describes his opiate addiction, plans for Vermont treatment center
The law took effect immediately with Scott’s signature. The governor noted the Legislature set an endpoint for the law in July 2023 “providing experts the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of this initiative.” The governor signed an executive order assigning the chief prevention officer to create a task force, which will track data to assess the impact of decriminalizing the drug.
Several representatives sponsored the bill, including the following lawmakers from Burlington:
- Brian Cina (P/D).
- Selene Colburn (P).
- Barbara Rachelson (D).
The history in Burlington:Why Chittenden County prosecutor Sarah George stopped prosecuting buprenorphine cases in 2017
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‘I didn’t know what I was signing’ | The fight for transparency among nursing homes
Posted on June 3, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
‘I didn’t know what I was signing’ | The fight for transparency among nursing homes
Nursing home residents and their families say there’s a document they received during the admissions process they wish they hadn’t signed—an arbitration agreement.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On any given day, there are more than 20,000 people living in nursing homes and rehab centers in Kentucky, according to a spokesperson at the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Many of them are nearing the end of their lives. They are among our most vulnerable.
“Well, I think you just don’t want anybody to go through pain,” said Kelli Stein, a nursing home resident advocate.
But during the final years, the pain was overwhelming for the woman Kelli Stein cherished most— her mother.
Her mother is no longer around to tell her story. She passed away from complications after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2016. So Stein is giving her a voice. She said it’s her responsibility to reveal a deceptive practice among nursing homes.
“She had the broken shoulder, that was not repaired, wasn’t even x-rayed for a whole week,” said Stein.
She said it happened as a result of neglect, while her mother was living at a nursing home in Louisville from 2012 to 2014. Stein’s mother, June Lee, once the president of Kentucky’s teachers’ union, was always an advocate for others.
She appeared on WHAS back in 1976, while leading a teacher’s strike. She fought for smaller class sizes and more pay for thousands of educators. Her daughter saw her mother lose her fighting spirit.
More from FOCUS: ‘It seems that they did not value her as a human.’ | Investigating decades old claims of wrongdoing inside Central State Hospital
Medical documentation shows at least nine falls led to “permanent, severe, and disabling injuries.” She suffered multiple urinary tract infections. Stein said her mother, undernourished, lost about 20 pounds.
“Oh, it makes me really angry. It really does,” said Stein.
“Why are you sharing your story with me?” asked FOCUS investigative reporter Paula Vasan.
“So people will know their rights are being taken away from them,” said Stein.
Stein said she wishes someone had told that to her, before she signed on a dotted line after admitting her mother into the nursing home. An administrator handed her a document.
“She’s like oh we just forgot to get you to sign a piece of paper when we signed you in this morning. And I was just like okay and just signed it because it was just such a rush because there was no explanation of what it was,” said Stein.
“Did you know what you were signing?” asked Vasan.
“No, I didn’t know what I was signing,” she said.
That document is known as a pre-dispute binding arbitration agreement. Legal experts tell us the majority of nursing homes in Kentucky and around the country include it in their admissions process.
“You don’t have to sign these forced arbitration to get into a nursing home,” she said.
By signing it, Stein – who was her mother’s power of attorney – gave up her right to a jury trial under Kentucky’s Constitution. Unknowingly, on day one of admitting her mother into that nursing home, Stein relinquished her ability to ever bring a civil suit against the facility.
“I wish I would have known that I didn’t have to sign that clause,” said Stein.
It’s a clause that took her allegations into a private setting instead of a public one. It led to her being unable to tell us the name of the nursing home that caused her mother so much pain. But we found it, digging through documents. Limited court records reveal the nursing home was Oaklawn Health and Rehabilitation Center in Louisville. They never admitted to wrongdoing. We tried contacting the nursing home directly, but it doesn’t exist anymore. A few years ago, it was sold. Stein’s attorney Lindsay Cordes has seen it happen many times before. When nursing homes face bad ratings and legal trouble, she said they often change their names and ownership. Others, she said, threaten to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying out settlements.
“It allows facilities to escape from being held accountable,” said Cordes.
And between frequent name changes and arbitration agreements in their admissions paperwork, Cordes said many nursing homes hide the truth.
“We do believe they are intentionally doing it. And we think the reasoning is simple. They do not want the general public and people in our court system to know what is going on in these nursing homes,” said Cordes.
Attorney Emily Newman disagrees. She represents nursing homes across the state.
More from FOCUS : The ups and downs in the journey for unemployment payments
“It’s an agreement by the parties to just go to a different forum,” said Newman.
It’s a forum she believes is more efficient.
“Arbitration will expedite a case. It will go faster, you could get things done more quickly, you don’t have to wait on the court’s docket,” said Newman.
But Stein and her lawyer argue the public is often kept in the dark when lives are at stake.
“If you go to a restaurant you could see a letter grade on the restaurant and you could say oh if there’s a C on the front of that restaurant I may change my mind and go somewhere else. Well you don’t have that opportunity to have a grade on a nursing home when you walk in that door,” said Stein.
But there is similar information if you know where to look, within The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We dug through public government data on hundreds of nursing homes in Kentucky. The numbers show in general, facilities rated the worst have something in common: shorter amounts of time staff spent with residents.
“You may have these facilities that could have easily prevented this if they were adequately staffed, if they had adequate infection control in place,” said Cordes.
But without enough staffing, she said nurses are often stretched too thin. Many argue lack of state staffing requirements perpetuates the problem. Kentucky is one of only a few states without a minimum daily requirement of hands-on nursing care for residents, according to Charlene Harrington, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco who studies the nursing home industry.
Cordes said residents often pay the price. Attorneys we’ve interviewed said this is something they see far too often. In nearly all of their cases, they said, nursing home residents or their families have unknowingly signed arbitration agreements, often just a few pages in a stack of admissions paperwork. One arbitration agreement we obtained says in part: “The parties understand… they are selecting a method of resolving disputes without resorting to lawsuits or the courts…” In short, you won’t find their stories in a Google search or a courthouse.
More from FOCUS : Students at ‘economically disadvantaged’ JCPS schools were twice as likely not to log onto online learning
“So you don’t hear about some of these egregious things that are happening at nursing homes,” said Cordes.
“They’re horrific, they’re tragic. They’re cold-blooded,” said Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth about nursing home arbitration agreements.
Yarmuth has been fighting for federal legislation that would require more transparency. It’s called The FAIR Act.
“You have to make sure that people who are signing these agreements have a full understanding of what it means for them. That they may basically never have a way to hold a nursing home or other business accountable for neglect and abuse,” said Yarmuth.
His proposed legislation, currently stalled in Congress, faces opposition from a wide array of corporations, including nursing home lobbyist groups. They argue arbitration agreements result in speedier, less costly decisions. But Stein said these contracts favor big corporations, putting a muzzle on those who just want a voice.
“Because I know there’s families out there. I know there’s people in those nursing homes who don’t have anybody visiting them ever and don’t have anyone fighting for them. And everybody needs an advocate,” said Stein.
We reached out to more than a dozen nursing homes in our area. In multiple follow-up emails and calls, we asked them whether their staff explains to residents and their families that signing an arbitration agreement would mean their Constitutional right to a jury trial would be taken away from them, should they want to sue the facility. Not one of them answered that question by our deadline.What you need to know— you don’t have to sign it to be admitted. Kelli Stein said not signing could be key to transparency and accountability.
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Is your insurance/PBM telling you to use a pharmacy that is not your pharmacy of choice ?
Posted on June 3, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Good morning-
Have you felt pressured by your health insurance company or pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) to utilize a pharmacy of their choosing rather than your own choosing? Maybe you have received calls from a PBM such as Caremark, Express Scripts or Optum after filling a prescription telling you that you could save money if you utilized a specific big box chain pharmacy or get your drugs via mail order. Or perhaps you have been told your pharmacy of choice is no longer in your pharmacy network. What you have experienced is called steering, and Fight4Rx wants to hear about your experiences and assist you.
Fight4Rx has created resources that you can use to fight back against this practice by informing your insurance company, regulatory agencies and elected officials to alert them of these practices and ask for action to remedy them.
You can customize your own letter to share your own experiences. Simply answer a few questions and this tool will generate a personalized letter for you.
Your voice is powerful and sharing your personal stories illustrate the need for action by policymakers and employers and insurance companies to ensure decisions regarding health care remain in the hands of patients, not insurance companies or PBM middlemen.
Please share your story today, and please help alert others to the resources available by sharing this information with your friends and contacts through email and social media.
Thank you,
Fight4Rx
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Patient Abuse … let me count the ways !
Posted on June 2, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
51 yr old Patient comes to ER after falling 3 days prior. They are in severe back pain barely able to walk, tried to tough it out. Xrays shows fractured T9/10. They were given 12 Percocet 5’s. 1 every 4 hrs next day follow up w/neurosurgeons NP. Patient arrives next day & told ER failed to schedule w/ office. Patient shows paperwork appt was that day. Office states they will have to come back next day. Patient shows next day 8:30am. After reviewing file orders more tests & will RX additional medication. They were advised it would be sent in within 2 hours. Patient waited 4 hours & called office. Was told Dr hasn’t had time. Patient advised severe pain & it was very close to their next dose & was only given 2 days of meds. Office advised within an hour. Patient waits 2 hrs calls again. Told the same thing. Patient waits & calls back as advised. They got the after hours who said sorry there is nothing they can do. Patient pleads they are in severe pain there has to be someone who could help. Was told it would have to wait until next day. Patient calls next day to be told they have been banned from that facility & their affiliates (including the hospital they were seen at) because of drug seeking behavior. Imagine that, 2 broken vertebrae, severe pain & needing medication. (Patient already taking Tylenol & Ibuprofen & NO that is not the same or better then pain medication when your back is broke.) Patient also has had gastric bypass, stomach ulcers & has explained why they can’t take NSAIDS. Patient now in bad stomach pain. My question to Dr’s which are you more concerned with? 1. DEA because they track your Opioid prescriptions.
2. Patient because they have a legitimate need w/ proven documentation & the patient should come first.
Such patient is filing med mal lawsuit. (It took patient 1 week to find & receive medication, patient still in severe pain bed bound)
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CDC refuses responsibility in Chronic Pain Care because of the Opioid crisis
Posted on June 2, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
CDC refuses responsibility in Chronic Pain Care because of the Opioid crisis
Footage from the RX summit in Atlanta, Georgia.
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song writer: Rob Thomas wrote this song for his wife who suffers from chronic pain
Posted on June 2, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Has anyone heard the song that Rob Thomas wrote for his wife who suffers from chronic pain? It’s called “Her Diamonds” which means her tears. It made my husband cry. It might be good for caregivers
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Marines of Lima Company remember the fallen and reunite in Nashville to halt veteran suicides
Posted on May 31, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Marines of Lima Company remember the fallen and reunite in Nashville to halt veteran suicides
60 surviving members gathered for a reunion weekend dubbed Operation Resiliency
https://www.foxnews.com/us/marines-lima-company-remember-reunite-nashville-halt-veteran-suicides
The Marines of Lima Company, 3rd battalion, 25th Marines, took some of the heaviest casualties during the Iraq War. Of the 184 Marines who deployed together from this Ohio Reserve unit, 23 were killed in action, including 15 in one roadside bomb in Anbar province, the largest single loss of life in a roadside bombing during the war.
Those who survived the seven-month tour, including 37 who received Purple Hearts, had some of their hardest days after returning home. Their 2005 deployment on the Syrian border was to some of the war’s biggest ambush territory. They received three Silver and 11 Bronze Stars for valor. Back home, suicide became the enemy of this battle hardened unit who spent all but 10 days of their tour “outside the wire,” the safety of their base camp.
Private First Class Michael Logue on a tank
Private First Class Michael Logue was 19 years old in 2005. This native of Lebanon, Ohio, deployed six months after high school, postponed college and became the unit’s “mortar guy.”
“You know, I personally took sniper fire, machine gun fire, RPG fire bounces just feet away from your head and it’s a dud and bounces around the rooftop with you, you know, thank the Lord. Direct impact, mortars just feet above your head,” Logue recalled.
MARINE FATHER’S SALUTE TO SON GOES VIRAL: REPORT
On May 11, six Marines were killed in a deadly roadside bombing just days after two others were killed as Lima Company took a break from clearing houses. “You know, the very last house that one of our teams was clearing ended up being just a ‘kill house,’ it was concrete steel reinforced with a 50 cal machine gun under the concrete to basically be aimed up at the entryway so that when the Marines that were in there popped off their helmets,” Logue said.
It was a shooting gallery. The losses from that incident and so many others still haunt the unit, which is why their commanders reached out to The Independence Fund, which had partnered with the Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in a pilot program to prevent additional suicides among veterans. The idea was born at the funeral for Derek Hills (Bravo Company, 2-508) from the 82nd Airborne in 2018. “Someone said, ’see you at the next funeral’,” recalled Danica Thomas of The Independence Fund, whose husband, Allen, a combat vet from the same unit had died by suicide. “We said, no, there’s not going to be another one.”
Lima Company preparing to head outside the wire in Iraq.
Sixty surviving members of Lima Company gathered in Nashville for a reunion weekend dubbed Operation Resiliency and organized by The Independence Fund from May 20-23. For some, it was the first time they had seen each other in 16 years. Last year, 571 service members died by suicide, up 13% from the year before. The VA estimates 17 veterans take their lives every day, an epidemic made worse during the isolation of the past year’s pandemic.
“You’re always vigilant. You’re always in that hyperactive. So, you know, as a 19-year-old combat veteran returned home to Lebanon, Ohio, you know, two weeks being home, in my mind, I just felt like I wasn’t home. I felt like I was home. I felt like there was unfinished business. We left brothers, you know, and blood on the sand in Iraq,” explained Logue, who attended the Operation Resiliency weekend. He is now married and has two children, living in Cincinnati. “Statistically speaking, the highest rate of suicide in the military is combat veteran males from 18 to 25.”
As the Marines from Lima Company checked into the Nashville hotel, some were given T-shirts that said “Not all Heroes Wear Capes.” They hugged. Some cried. The weekend began with storytelling.
Their Sgt Major Dan Altieri, told them, “It’s OK not to be OK.” Therapists from the VA broke the ice with talk therapy broken up by group physical therapy and a little axe throwing, for good measure.
“Sometimes they just lose their memories or they want to forget about things that they did and they thought it was maybe a negative part of their life. So you get back together with groups like this, rekindle, listen to other people’s stories and just know that the military made them who they are today or being a large part of who they are today. And I think that’s a positive experience for everyone,” Lima Company’s Brian Hamilton said.
NASCAR TO HONOR FALLEN MARINE FROM OREGON AT COCA-COLA 600 IN NORTH CAROLINA
They talked about some of the worst days of their deployment: like May 11, when Michael Logue was traveling in a convoy of Amphibious Assault Vehicles, which at that time were not armored and were being used by the Marines on land. “There’s nothing assault about it. It’s a big, large, soft target. It has an aluminum underbelly,” Logue explained. The Marines bolted armor to the sides for makeshift protection but that made the vehicles move slowly. “We’ve got 17 Marines packed into it, knees interlocked. Shoulder to shoulder. We’re sitting on about 50,000 rounds of ammunition.” His platoon sergeant ordered him to switch assault vehicles at the last moment, a decision that saved his life.
“I stand up on overwatch and we start rolling forward. And 30 seconds later, I see a Marine in the open. I see a fireball. And then I see I, you know, start to feel explode, you know, start to hear the explosion because you always kind of feel it and see things first and then then you actually hear it,” Logue told Fox News. “It was a pressure plate, IED with like hacksaw blades, and it shot the amount of explosives, had a piece of steel over top of it. So it creates a big shaped charge. And it just sliced right through the aluminum underbelly of this Amphibious Assault Vehicle hitting all the jet fuel, hitting all the 50,000 rounds of ammunition.”
Fifteen Marines were killed instantly.
On May 11, 15 Marines were killed instantly by an IED.
One of his fellow Marines, Mike Strahle, was flung by the blast into an open field. He survived and has spent recent years traveling the country with a display of the boots and dog tags of Lima Company and telling their story in “Eyes of Freedom.”
They mounted the display in Nashville along with the photo and dog tag of Lance Corporal Nicholas B. Erdy – who was on the vehicle that blew up on May 11, 2005, shortly after Michael Logue was told to change vehicles.
“It’s the first time in 16 years I kind of mentioned this inside,” said Lima Company’s Jeff Valentine. “it almost felt like we were deployed again. It was fun. We’re all away from our normal homes. It’s just the guys. We’ve got to tell our stories freely and laugh and joke. And it was great. … The biggest thing for me was every stressor I have in my everyday life was gone for the last 72 hours. And I just it was like a reset. It felt great. I don’t know. I felt like I was 22 years old. It was fun.”
They did a service project: painting shelters for homeless vets.
“Something like this, you know, this program helps me kind of understand, ‘Hey, I’m not the only one, you know, I’m not the only one,'” Leighton Redhouse explained. “It’s kind of opening my eyes like, oh f–k, yeah, I’m not the one. Because when it’s you, you kind of think I’m the only one going through this.”
They visited the Johnny Cash Museum, where Cash’s nephew played guitar and a bugler played the national anthem and taps for those who did not come home.
Lima Company 3/25 killed in action:
• Private First Class Christopher R. Dixon 5/11/2005
• Lance Corporal Christopher P. Lyons 7/28/2005
• Staff Sergeant Anthony L. Goodwin 5/8/2005
• Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis Youngblood (Navy Corpsman) 7/21/2005
• Sergeant Justin F. Hoffman 8/03/2005
• Staff Sergeant Kendall H. Ivy II 5/11/2005
• Lance Corporal Nicholas William B. Bloem 8/3/2005
• Corporal Andre L. Williams 7/28/2005
• Lance Corporal Grant B. Fraser 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Aaron H. Reed 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Edward A. Schroeder II 8/3/2005
• Sergeant David Kenneth J. Kreuter 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Jourdan L. Grez 5/11/2005
• Lance Corporal William B. Wightman 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Timothy M. Bell, Jr. 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Eric J. Bernholtz 8/3/2005
• Corporal Dustin A. Derga 5/8/2005
• Lance Corporal Nicholas B. Erdy 5/11/2005
• Lance Corporal Wesley G. Davids 5/11/2005
• Sergeant David N. Wimberg 5/25/2005
• Lance Corporal Michael J. Cifuentes 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Christopher J. Dyer 8/3/2005
• Lance Corporal Jonathan W. Grant 5/11/2005
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Veterans can also reach out to the Veterans Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
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An Invitation to Save Our pharmacy Profession and Improve Working Conditions
Posted on May 30, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
| An Invitation to Save Our Profession and Improve Working Conditions |
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