Brandeis University’s Dr. Andrew Kolodny is wrong … dangerously damn wrong about the opioid crisis and epidemic!

Brandeis University’s Dr. Andrew Kolodny is wrong … dangerously damn wrong about the opioid crisis and epidemic!

https://opioidmakersnotcauseofopioidcrisis.weebly.com/debunking-brandeis-dr-andrew-kolodny.html

  • Joel Shapiro <jrs_14618@yahoo.com>
    To:president@brandeis.edu
    Cc:winship@brandeis.edu,horgan@brandeis.edu,davweil@brandeis.edu,msurchin@goodmans.ca,editor@PainNewsNetwork.org
    Jan 31 at 11:52 AM
  • Attention Brandeis University President Dr. Ron Liebowitz et al. – Re: Exposing Your Vile Opioid Policy Research Collaborative (OPRC) Think Tank …Does my accusation right away appear just pure rhetoric without substance and corroboration; thus not worthy of your response?
  • Straight away I’m telling you sir if you’re even reading even this far into my Email letter here to you; you could not … NOT be more mistaken! Aye, perhaps on seeing the preceding subject you just nonchalantly moved my Email to you here to your trash bin.
  • Perhaps after my posting of my Email to you here to you on my webpage at the URL link below has garnered enough interest and support from the public; especially the (soon enough to be) pain afflicted public and you heard tell of me; Joel Shapiro and my SearchSpecifics app you thought you’d check it out for yourself. And so here you are:
  • https://opioidmakersnotcauseofopioidcrisis.weebly.com/debunking-brandeis-dr-andrew-kolodny.html
  • Then perhaps if you are indeed reading this document you have no intention or inclination of formally responding to it; just like you didn’t to the 60 patient advocates and health care professionals that include board certified M.D.’s who called on you to fire your Dr. Andrew Kolodny. You obviously unquestionably support and endorse him and he thrives under your watch. You have his back:
  • https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/10/3/patient-advocates-call-on-brandeis-to-fire-kolodny
  • So yes, I’m the one who created the SearchSpecifics app that will keep exposing your and by extension Brandeis University’s support and endorsement of your/its pet Opioid Policy Research Collaborative (OPRC)  project; headed up by your one favored Dr. Andrew Kolodny.
  • I intend my expose’ of you, Brandeis, and your OPRC for the dangerous fraud, hoax and farce that it is in an ongoing systematic, precise and categorical effort. My expose’ will include valid, robust references from every nook, corner and crevice of the Internet; the likes of which you’ve never seen before.
  • If per chance you’ve heard of “Google Alert” any comparison of its Internet perspective to those of my SearchSpecifics app is only marginal at best. My SearchSpecifics completes Internet perspectives that Google Alert only primitively initiates. In fact, I can readily integrate Google Alert into my SearchSpecifics app. Only then will Google Alert truly achieve its full potential.  
  • To realize your PhD in Geography from Columbia University in 1985, attending other universities and institutions of higher learning along the way and ultimately becoming president of Brandeis University I’m assuming a few things … that is putting aside what they say about “assume” for a few minutes.
  • Firstly, I assume you must have some capacity when presented with new ideas and concepts, you at least get the gist without needing much in the way of further details and elaboration. For instance I have no doubt you got the gist of the petition to fire Dr. Kolodny:
  • Secondly, I assume in your experience you have learned that at times advice and information originating from “folks from the field” i.e. myself with only a high school diploma and some college can be every bit as valid and substantial as those with formal university degrees.
  • Sometimes, I admit few and far between, “the field” can be much wiser and correct than those holding degrees and prominent positions. I contend your Dr. Kolodny is a quintessential example of just such a case.
  • Thirdly and perhaps most importantly; I certainly assume you’ll agree for the opioid crisis or for that matter any crisis that has life and death ramifications to be solved, or if not possible at least contained; only the current best, most corroborated, validated, verified and vetted information and data should be considered.
  • That’s only less than half of the full equation. The other is all of the information, data, facts and figures must be interpreted in the correct light; contexts, perspectives and proportionalities.
  • I could have stated my third assumption here much more succinctly; but I purposely did not.  
    Obviously information and data in their own right don’t solve or best mitigate tremendous social problems and crises such as the opioid epidemic. Rather, correctly interpreting all facets of a serious issue or crisis does. This should be an unquestionable given and not open for debate.
  • For a prestigious institution such as Brandeis to continue to endorse the thoroughly disproved and refuted contentions, ideas and opinions by Dr. Kolodny merely to save face and prestige and/or achieve a desired effect or objective under invalid premises ESPECIALLY makes you complicit to the danger to society that he is!
  • Obviously you can see I’m not mincing words here and I stand by them with tremendous robust substance and veracity at my, and now your, easy reference.
  • I fear congress and other government entities may write policy based on one of your Dr. Kolodny’s more notable pieces of severely flawed logic and mis/disinformation titled “The Opioid Epidemic In 6 Charts” that is pervading the Internet with webpage after webpage referencing it:
  •  http://theconversation.com/the-opioid-epidemic-in-6-charts-81601
  • Lawmakers undoubtedly (will) love his piece of opioid crisis excrement as it bends opioid facts and figures just right to invalidly justify and substantiate their already established sentiments. He like author Sam Quinones vilifies and demonizes the “Big Pharma” industry in general and the opioid contingent of it in particular.
  • If you (ever) have the inclination, please refer to Mr. Quinones’ subpage I dedicated to him like here to your Dr. Kolodny:
  • https://opioidmakersnotcauseofopioidcrisis.weebly.com/disputing-quinones.html
  • The opioid crisis has made possible a trendy new bipartisan vote getting machine with Big Pharma such an easy, undeserving scapegoat.
  • It’s a win-win situation for you Dr. Liebowitz, Brandeis University, by extension Dr. Kolodny and lawmakers. You/Brandeis and Dr. Kolodny get to bask in your undeserved, unfounded glow of increased notoriety and prestige while lawmakers get to bask in their sanctimonious self-righteous glow their (mis)conceptions having been substantiated by such (dubious) highly regarded authorities.
  • The losers are the American public who have to deal with the hideous consequences of an eternal opioid crisis only getting worse by the day and optimum pain relief being set back by years due to bad policy based on invalid, incorrect insights and perceptions by the power that be.
  • Never (you) mind that literally every point and conjecture made by Dr. Kolodny in his “Opioid Described In 6 Charts ” is thoroughly debunked in Josh Bloom’s:
  • https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/10/12/opioid-epidemic-6-charts-designed-deceive-you-11935
  • which has nowhere near the Internet footprint or presence of Dr. Kolodny’s flagship piece of hubris.
  • But I’m going to try change all of that. I will now explain how by way of the common description so that “a fifth grader can understand it” and I’m continuing on with more of my assumptions.
  • With my name being Joel Shapiro I assume you take me for being Jewish which I just happen to be. Brandeis is a Jewish Institution, no assumption there:
  • http://www.brandeis.edu/about/jewish-roots.html
  • and I’m assuming you’re at least of Jewish heritage. In fact I’ll bet my house on this one.
  • Collectively of all the peoples in the world; Jews whether religious or secular should have special insight and understanding of the consequences when unfounded, disproved notions and concepts are permitted to propagate, grow, fester and evolve.
  • With respect to us Jews, Gypsies and other racial and cultural minorities it was the widely held belief we were subhuman especially subscribed to by Adolph Hitler that laid the foundation for the highly efficient German extermination machine more commonly known as concentration camps.
  • I assume you know these sentiments based on total fallacies still exist today. Need I go on Dr. Liebowitz? Do you get the gist of what I’m trying to convey here. I assume you do.
  • So, how do I effectively legally tear down the vast inaccurate, invalid opioid policy “platform” that Dr. Kolodny has established, you/Brandeis endorse and which I consider such a threat to society?
    Well it’s going to be a daunting task
  • Via my SearchSpecifics apps I can readily see Dr. Kolodny’s purposeful misconceptions, data skewing and mis/disinformation to suit his own purposes and objectives endorsed by you and Brandeis University are firmly entrenched and established on the Internet.
  • It’s easy to see why and where he’s so innocently revered and embraced by so many.
  • If I’m going to be effective in bringing down Dr. Kolodny’s invalid ironclad, armored plated Internet presence or footprint fortified by your seemingly unconditional support and encouragement Dr. Liebowitz; it’ll have than just a couple more web pages of mine exposing Dr. Kolodny for the fraud that he is.
  • My new one or two webpages would undoubtedly just become lost in the bowels of the Internet right next to the aforementioned call for you fire Dr.Kolodny and the excellent point by point “6 Charts Designed To Deceive You” expose of Kolodny by Josh Bloom.
  • The inherent problem I’m trying to address is if one is to read about and consider the case against Dr. Kolodny with your unbridled support of him, (s)he has to proactively find and bring up these webpages and documents.
  • Also finding webpages and online critical of Dr. Kolodny does nothing for me and others to find and perhaps reach out to his supporters to set them straight. This is an entirely different challenge.
  • Furthermore, “old school” Google searching using for example “Kolodny Andrew fraud” as my search terms will not give me an immediate birds’ eye view perspective of his overall Internet presence or footprint. And then, even with that realized I’ve no indictors which of the many web web pages returned likely better to examine before others.
  • In a nutshell what I wanted was just a basic Internet profile app based on search engine (Google) results but a very flexible advanced one that I can easily tweak to my own very specialized filtering and categorization specifications.
  • After a couple days of intense Internet searching for such a program or app, I couldn’t find any program or app that even remotely met my requirements. So like Newton and Leibniz who simultaneously invented the Calculus because the math at the time wasn’t sufficiently advanced to describe systems in a state of flux, I set about to creating my own app which would instantly allow me to see the extent of someone’s or something’s Internet footprint or presence and more.
  • While my solution i.e. my SearchSpecifics app in its latest revision today functions better than I envisioned it would at the beginning; it will be a lifetime work in progress for me.
  • Following in more detail is my unique Internet profile solution. Perhaps you have no interest in the more specific (no pun intended) details how I intend to uniquely and comprehensively expose Dr. Kolodny for the fraud and charlatan that he is and your endorsement of him … but then again you just might.
  • To do this I need an example subject and (why not?) I’m going to use Dr. Kolodny.
    Picture I have a list of 255 assorted names (proper, general, trade etc.), terms and regular words I feel are associated with Dr. Kolodny Let’s call my list a “keyword list” thus however all entries are (un)related as they indeed may be; each entry of the list is another keyword.
  • Now if my objective is to see which of the entries of my keyword list is present on a given webpage or online doc, or in another less useful reverse context; not present … right away I can see that simple “old school Googling” is not going to do the trick.
  • Even if I perform multiple Google searches using a few terms that are but variations on a theme or one grand Google search with very complex search parameters using something called logical operators, it’s not going to get me the instantaneous overall perspective I’m looking for.
  • Perhaps here you might want to interject: “Old school Googling has done just fine for me Mr. Shapiro I don’t need your app!” Well, I’ve heard this tune before. How do you conduct a one-pass Google search for all of them practical maximum of the 255 keywords in your list? Google doesn’t allow you that much room. And then how do you get that instantaneous overall perspective?
  • I’d like to say my solution I’ve come up with; my SearchSpecifics app is the ultimate solution for what I had in mind, but rather it’s “a” very good one perfectly functioning realizing everything I envisioned from the start and more.
  • So here’s the nitty-gritty of my SearchSpecifics without getting into its many neat nuances, subtleties and multilingual aspects.  If it seems irrelevant and even useless to you at first glance, just give it time. It might be an “acquired taste” for you.
  • Firstly what I do is make the search engine (Google) search teams as simple as possible. Because “Kolodny” is such a unique name, the results of just using it should essentially be the same as “Andrew Kolodny” and this is indeed the case.
    Taking into consideration how many people with this surname and same respective fame or Internet presence as your Dr. Kolodny? Not many, and in this particular case virtually none.
  • A better search than “Andrew Kolodny” is “Kolodny Andrew” which is exactly what I did for his Internet profile because Google gives preference and/or precedence to its search terms reading left to right.
  • When Google performs its search on: “Kolodny Andrew” it first returns all the web pages and online docs that pertain to Andrew Kolodny (of Brandeis University) nobody else until all of the Kolodny references Google can find are exhausted. Then “just Andrew” results are returned on the coattails of the “Kolodny” primary search term.
  • Obviously web pages/online docs that support Dr. Kolodny, deride him or are neutral are all in the mix of Google search return.
  • To realize these distinctions SearchSpecifics “processes” each of the webpages and online docs returned by Google in the order they are received and brings them up in the background. The text of each webpage or online doc is compared or matched 1:1 with the entries of the keyword list.
  • With a little or a lot of additional programming depending on my objective, the criteria for what constitutes a match can be very complex. While this is outside the scope of this document it still bears mentioning how much more powerful this aspect of makes SearchSpecifics.
  • In the “off-the-shelf” SearchSpecifics which I’m only referring to in this document, when there is at least one match of any keyword in the text of a webpage or online document it’s URL link is posted to the SearchSpecifics “Main Dump” output file. Where there are multiple keywords matches they are listed in alphabetical order along with their respective “instance counts”.
  • Here’s a perfect example:
  • https://heller.brandeis.edu/facguide/person.html%3femplid%3dfed1af017db070b94ce59c13714f1e7970a787ad
    |addiction|latin-1|1|addiction|ENGLISH: en|
    |Administration|latin-1|2|Administration|ENGLISH: en|
    |Andrew|latin-1|4|Andrew|ENGLISH: en|
    |Brandeis|latin-1|74|Brandeis|ENGLISH: en|
    |Center|latin-1|4|Center|ENGLISH: en|
    |Chair|latin-1|1|Chair|ENGLISH: en|
    |co-director|latin-1|1|co-director|ENGLISH: en|
    |director|latin-1|4|director|ENGLISH: en|
    |Drug|latin-1|1|Drug|ENGLISH: en|
    |executive|latin-1|8|executive|ENGLISH: en|
    |Health|latin-1|9|Health|ENGLISH: en|
    |Heller|latin-1|91|Heller|ENGLISH: en|
    |heroin|latin-1|1|heroin|ENGLISH: en|
    |House|latin-1|1|House|ENGLISH: en|
    |Kolodny|latin-1|8|Kolodny|ENGLISH: en|
    |LinkedIn|latin-1|3|LinkedIn|ENGLISH: en|
    |List|latin-1|3|List|ENGLISH: en|
    |Maimonides|latin-1|1|Maimonides|ENGLISH: en|
    |Management|latin-1|8|Management|ENGLISH: en|
    |Medical|latin-1|2|Medical|ENGLISH: en|
    |national|latin-1|21|national|ENGLISH: en|
    |News|latin-1|25|News|ENGLISH: en|
    |Opioid|latin-1|4|Opioid|ENGLISH: en|
    |Phoenix|latin-1|1|Phoenix|ENGLISH: en|
    |Physicians|latin-1|5|Physicians|ENGLISH: en|
    |Policy|latin-1|14|Policy|ENGLISH: en|
    |Prescribing|latin-1|2|Prescribing|ENGLISH: en|
    |PROP|latin-1|2|PROP|ENGLISH: en|
    |Psychiatry|latin-1|1|Psychiatry|ENGLISH: en|
    |request|latin-1|2|request|ENGLISH: en|
    |Responsible|latin-1|1|Responsible|ENGLISH: en|
    |Ron|latin-1|6|Ron|ENGLISH: en|
    |School|latin-1|12|School|ENGLISH: en|
    |Social|latin-1|14|Social|ENGLISH: en|
    |Twitter|latin-1|9|Twitter|ENGLISH: en|
    |University|latin-1|6|University|ENGLISH: en|
    |YouTube|latin-1|3|YouTube|ENGLISH: en|
     
    At the end of the Main Dump which as the name implies is SearchSpecifics, primary output file, all of the webpages and online docs that were processed are listed by just their URL links. Importantly this listing is in order that Google generated them is listed; -not- in alphabetical order as the matching keywords.  
  • I consider the Main Dump to be the lowest entity that constitutes a “SearchSpecifics profile”. Any “adjunct” file that enhances a SearchSpecifics profile is derived from the Main Dump.
  • For only English SearchSpecifics profiles which currently is the only language I’m entertaining with respect to the opioid issue … a very special Excel file is generated which I call an “Inference Matrix”. Much more..
  • Through it Dr. Liebowitz, I can immediately see where Brandeis University is mentioned in Dr. Kolodny’s profile in much more than just the mundane context of him being listed as a Brandeis staffer.
  • What SearchSpecifics does after creating the Main Dump is take all of the entries of the keyword list and make each an Excel spreadsheet column header (Row 1). Every column is dedicated to a different keyword.
    Each subsequent row under Row 1 is respectively dedicated or assigned to the webpage or online document again, in the order each is generated by Google in its search results.
  • You can see now where 255 is such a special number of for keywords. That is the maximum number of columns in a standard .xls spreadsheet minus one. In this context or perspective instead of the keywords being listed under the “header” of a URL link as in , the URL link is listed under the header of a keyword.
  • The perspective provided by the Inference Matrix is much more powerful and enlightening than that of the Main Dump’s. From my simple Kolodny Andrew Google search there’s obviously going to be webpages and docs returned by Google that contain the word university in general and Brandeis in particular.
  • As you look down the Brandeis keyword column you can see how soon when “Brandeis” makes its first appearance. If you consider the Brandeis column in totality, from this perspective you can get a sense or feel of Brandeis’ overall, but not specific importance of Brandeis to Dr. Kolodny’s life.
  • Obviously, the more instances of webpage or online doc URL links appearing in the Brandeis column, the more solid and reliable your inference that Brandeis is an important aspect of Dr. Kolodny’s life and/or career will be.
  • But, however large the number of the URL links in the Brandeis column may be, only taking “Brandeis” into consideration is of really limited value. Just the presence of “Brandeis” any one given or particular row i.e. webpage or online document gives you no context. There’s no indication if Brandeis is being cast in an (un)favorable or neutral light. You can’t tell.
  • To get this perspective you have to look across the row and observe at what other keywords from the list are also present on that particular webpage or doc. One possible pertinent keyword with respect to Dr. Kolodny is the word “charts”. One of Dr. Kolodny’s more notable disinformation pieces on the opioid crisis is his aforementioned and unfortunately widely accepted “The Opioid Epidemic In 6 Charts”.
  • But “charts” is also used in webpages meant to rebuke and debunk him as in the aforementioned article “6 Charts Designed To Deceive You” by Josh Bloom. While “charts” may be more useful in other contexts here the keywords “Bloom” and “Deceive” are two much more decisive for inferring that the webpage or document is going to be negatively critical of Dr. Kolodny. Josh Bloom is a known critic and debunker of Dr. Kolodny.
  • With the negative aspect of the webpage or document once firmly established, further negative inference(s) can be made with respect to Brandeis for supporting such a charlatan.
  • Dr. Liebowitz, if you’re still with me and haven’t cast me/my Email to you here aside long ago; I think, I assume you get the gist, the crux of what my SearchSpecifics app is about at this juncture.
    But I can still see where you could be undecided about its value of providing a unique picture scope and breadth of Dr.
  • Kolodny’s purposeful skewing of opioid data that’s totally debunked As I said before; it’s an acquired taste.
    So with this assumption I leave with a couple tidbits how to get most out my SearchSpecifics app, a few extra assorted thoughts and my totally honest above-board offer to you. In my life threatening cancer situation I’ve no time for playing little mind games with you.
  • 1.) If your objective is realize that picture-perfect profile fully supporting Dr. Kolodny or for that matter any person or subject with no hints of negativity or doubt; logically you want especially the family names or surnames of ONLY his ardent supporters and disciples in the keyword list. In this genre or context of course you’d like to see the presence of “Brandeis”.
  • In compiling your ardent Kolodny supporter keyword list, where you just may want include yourself up to the current 255 entry limit for an Inference Matrix; a limit that will be moot in the near future as I will explain shortly, consider the how rare or distinct a given surname is.
  • For common surnames like Smith, Jones etc. it’s wise to also include the first name for better distinction. You can also throw in some “warm and fuzzy” regular words like “expert” [sic], “authority” [sic] ad nauseum.
  • The current maximum of 255 keywords at first glance appear more than enough but you’ll find all of the valuable “keyword slots” have a habit of filling up fast. The decision to keep one keyword candidate over another where you’d really like to include both often is not an easy one.
  • OK There! If you’ve very carefully curated your keyword list in the figurative equivalent of Pollyanna wearing rose colored glasses; your SearchSpecifics profile may well indeed only shed a positive light on Dr. Kolodny, you and/or Brandeis.
  • But maybe a few negative webpages will slip in. The same is true on the other side of a fence but with nowhere near the damaging equivalent order of magnitude. Again to avoid this you I can only emphasize you don’t want to mistakenly include the names of any detractors, debunkers or critics in your keyword list. Some examples of these are: Bloom or any one of the cosigners of the aforementioned “fire Kolodny petition” that was sent to you.
  • If per chance coincidentally a (Kolodny) detractor and supporter should have the same last name I would highly advise omitting common last name from the keyword list; no matter how fervent and unconditional the Kolodny supporter, disciple or defender may be.
    From my experience with my SearchSpecifics app it takes only a few negative webpages to put some really bad karma on an otherwise perfect Pollyanna Brandeis-Kolodny mutual admiration lovefest profile.
  • 2.) If you’re a regular user of Excel it may have occurred to you in reading this document the 255 column maximum I’ve oft been referring to up to this juncture is long outdated; kind of like the “oft” I’m using in this sentence instead of “often”. But if I am going to use “oft”, the context in which I just did is the most valid and appropriate. Go Google.
  • https://www.dailywritingtips.com/oft-often-and-oftentimes/My objective here is not go off on some obscure tangential grammatical discourse but rather give you yet another example I know where I’m coming from, I know what I’m talking about without being a man of letters and degrees.
    Anyway, 255 just happens to be 2 to the power of 8 -1. At the time I started programming my SearchSpecifics this was the maximum columns a Microsoft spreadsheet (.xls) could have minus one (256 – 1).
  • In the interim with exponential advances in technology, memory and hard drive space Microsoft came out with a much more advanced spreadsheet over its predecessor with a .xlsx file extension now having a maximum of 2 to the power of 14 – 1 or 16,383 columns. Of course by extension  this is/will be the new SearchSpecifics maximum keyword limit!
  • With a maximum of 16,383 keywords, now the decision to in/exclude a given keyword really becomes moot for all practical purposes! I’m intently “retooling” my SearchSpecifics to accommodate this increased capacity. Unfortunately this retooling is more than editing a couple lines of Python computer programming code.
  • With my touting of SearchSpecifics app my reputation, my claim to fame so to speak is being correct to the minutest detail for many things. For those of you who are very well versed in using Excel spreadsheets the “actual” maximum of columns for .xls and .xlsx spreadsheets are respectively 256 and 16,384.
  • For reasons I won’t go into here I really need the “extra” column to conveniently generate my spreadsheet Inference Matrices. Sometimes for convenience, I knowingly incorrectly state 255 and 16343 as Excel column maximums.
  • If you think you got a “gotcha” on me, you didn’t. And if you’re accusing me of promulgating incorrect information on an innocent, unsuspecting public knowing better … well mea culpa on this one!
  • 3.) While I’m on the topic admitting things Dr. Liebowitz, I want to emphasize yes, where I’ve indeed addressed this Email letter directly to you, it is for all intents and purposes for the detractors and critics of your Dr. Kolodny for whom you’ve provided safe haven in the form of credence and undeserved respectability via your/Brandeis’ endorsement that has an esteemed reputation of higher learning.
  • I intend to dismantle this Kolodny facade and you endorsement of it until the end of my days, using every ounce of energy I have left in my cancer ridden, pain wracked body and providing material support (un)knowingly along the way to my kindred spirits who share the same sentiments as I.
  • My Email letter here to you will become the initial content of the special subpage I’ve just established totally devoted to rebuking, refuting and debunking your most dangerous Dr. Kolodny. Here’s the URL link to it:
  • https://opioidmakersnotcauseofopioidcrisis.weebly.com/debunking-brandeis-dr-andrew-kolodny.html
  • As Dr. Kolodny’s Internet presence expands and his supporters and advocates become known, they too will become uniquely categorized as part of his ominous overall Internet footprint/presence and easily referenced.
  • 4.) And now I leave you with one final point or thought over and above most, if not all I’ve related so far that involves my “above board offer” I mentioned I was going to you make to you earlier.
  • There is one area, context or venue where the bending information, data, facts and figures to suit a particular perspective and convince a special group of people to subscribe to it isn’t only accepted by society but endorsed!
  • Obviously you know what I’m referring to; that venue being a court of law, the fact “benders” or “skewers” being legal prosecutors and defenders and the specialized group of course being a jury.
  • In this specific context or paradigm you have immediate debate and give and take better known as cross-examination and testimony duly recorded for posterity by a court reporter.
  • If (a) very sharp and astute defense attorney(s) present a very good defense ultimately freeing say a serial sexual predator and murderer on an obscure legal technicality and in his unfair and unjust but technically legal freedom the killer quickly goes out and kills again … indeed society in general and the new victim’s family in particular has been wronged.
  • But at the terrible expense of the death of a person, the best legal system in the world which is that of the United States becomes stronger. The deadly legal loophole can be studied in retrospect by legal scholars from precise court testimony and patched that never another killer will be set free by that loophole which doesn’t exist anymore.
  • This is not the case with the Brandeis endorsed Dr. Andrew Kolodny when he released his flagship “6 Charts That Describe The Opioid Crisis” document.
  • Furthermore, neither he, you or Brandeis decided to take it upon yourselves to set up a forum to discuss the veracity of his contentions and conclusions especially in light they’re being severely challenged and correct perspectives on the opioid are a matter of life and death.
  • I’m emphatically NOT being over-dramatic here simply for effect.
  • So the debunked and invalidated tenets of Dr. Kolodny continue to flourish and propagate to all corners of the world unabated, unimpeded and unchallenged at Internet warp speed.
  • Within this instantaneous global dissemination there’s a good chance that many who make policy from local to federal government legislating and other institutions innocently and ignorantly take him at his skewed perspective word without question. All that needs to be done is look the M.D. not board certified which doesn’t show after his name and Brandeis’ fine reputation.
  • Do you see how dangerous this is? I assume you do. I kind of alluded to this previously in my letter here to you but I wanted to emphasize it as a closing thought.
  • Dr. Liebowitz it’s obvious you, your Brandeis University and of course Dr. Kolodny who is being cc’d  in directly has no intention or inclination of providing a forum to provide a point by point discourse and debate.
  • So I tell you what … in keeping with my vow of being totally fair and above board, if you, Dr. Kolodny or any of your staff wish to respond that the contentions in his “6 Charts That Describe The Opioid Crisis” are indeed valid and meritorious,
  • I will post it on my webpage in a subpage all of its own pristinely verbatim, unabridged and uncommented.
  • While the premise of my webpage is obviously on the whole against or antagonistic of the tenets of Dr. Kolodny, AT LEAST I’m providing a true venue for discourse and debate.
  • There are corners of my webpage I can set aside where people can make their case again, unimpeded and absolutely verbatim with NO outside objections or commentary by myself or anybody else in that particular space.
  • I vigorously contend I take my responsibility to be a guardian of this principle VERY seriously if you or Dr. Kolodny would like to take me up on my offer.
  • I only hope you take as seriously the notion that information, ideas and contentions endorsed by Brandeis be as correct, valid and corroborated as possible as I make my preceding offer to you truly in good faith.
  • After my closing salutation below that includes my contact information that is a part of the body of this letter you will find my SearchSpecifics Internet profiles of Dr. Kolodny. Notice your name and Brandeis is firmly embedded in the keyword list. Just as the computer you buy is literally outdated as soon as you walk out of the store, so are these profiles that are figuratively but not actually just snapshots of a moment in time.
  • The only “true” SearchSpecifics profile are ones being conducted in an ongoing basis with a fluid, flexible keyword list. One last time I assume you get the gist.
  • Thank you for your interest and consideration. I welcome and look forward to your correspondence.
  • Best regards,
  • Joel R ShapiroJoel Shapiro
    Rochester, New York 14618

    Phone numbers in order of preference:

    (585) 255-0997 (Cell – Call anytime – best to reach me)

    (585) 473-7013 (Home – 9:30 to 22:00 EDT/EST)
    (585) 250-8053 (Home – 9:30 to 22:00 EDT/EST)

    jrs_14618@yahoo.com

 

Chinese PhD in virology states COVID-19 is MAN MADE

Could this system be modified to treat chronic pain ?

Omnipod Logo

https://www.omnipod.com/Omnipod-system

An Innovative Approach to Continuous Insulin Delivery

The Omnipod® System provides all the benefits of insulin pump therapy while providing more flexibility and freedom than other traditional tubed pumps.

Customizable insulin delivery settings to give you what you need, when you need it.

Insulin pumps work by continuously delivering insulin at set and variable rates, mimicking the insulin release of a healthy pancreas. The Omnipod® System delivers insulin in two ways:

  • Basal rate: A small, constant supply of insulin is delivered automatically at a personalized, preset rate around the clock.
  • Bolus: Additional doses of insulin can be delivered when you need them, either around mealtime or to correct high blood glucose.

When opiates are given IM/SubQ… they become FIVE TIMES the potency of oral dosing.

This is a new system and I have previously dealt with ambulatory pumps… works in similar ways but are about the size of a large beeper, using a butterfly needle.  They have been around for years.

I am sure that this system would not be right for everyone… but… given the potential for a chronic pain pts to cut their opiate mgs/day by 80%. The pt would get a “smoother” blood level of opiates… fewer/no peaks/valleys as oral dosing provides… less/no break thru pain …

Boycott NFL over stupidity

 

Here’s a peek at the White House’s unreleased drug-pricing order – that probably won’t work !

This probably will not work as the President believes because there are several middlemen between the manufacturer and the pt who gets/needs the medications.  Two of those middlemen are insurance companies and PBM (Prescription Benefit Managers). They – sometime arbitrarily decide which medications they will pay for and/or demand kickeback/rebates/discounts from the pharma in order for the pharma’s meds to be on their approved formulary. So if Trump tries to implement a “favored nation status” to determine prices..  All of those Medicare Advantage and Part D programs are your basic for profit companies.  If the pharmas are required to cut their price to these entities… and won’t be in the position to pay those kickback, discount, rebates to those middlemen… the middlemen will just raise the premiums that pts pay, increase deductibles, increase copays.

Remember what happened when President Obama got his ACA (Affordable Care Act) with promises of everyone saving $2500/yr in premiums and being able to keep your doctor. Most people who were not “poor enough” to qualify for financial assistance on ACA’s premiums… they saw their premiums DOUBLE OR TRIPLE and their annual deductibles being upwards of approaching $10,000/per/yr.  Pts were unlikely to use be able to use their favorite doc or hospital and or other healthcare providers that they had used in the past or prefer to use.  The insurance companies – those who provided care under the ACA just shifted costs to people they insured.

The other option is as contracts with other country’s national insurance programs… the pharma just raise their prices over there … so that the “favored nation price” in other countries will start to rise… So in the end…. people in other countries will end up paying more for the meds and so will Americans… may be less than they were first raised to, but still more than they use to pay…  The for profit insurance/pbm industry will get their monies and profits.

Here’s a peek at the White House’s unreleased drug-pricing order

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/heres-peek-white-houses-unreleased-drug-pricing-order

Partial text of an executive order the White House has refused to make public indicates the White House is using a more aggressive version of a payment demonstration for outpatient drugs to try to pressure drugmakers to the negotiating table.

President Donald Trump signed four drug-pricing executive orders on Friday, but the White House has refused to release the text of the most controversial order that aims to reduce the amount Medicare pays for some high-cost outpatient drugs. Trump said during the White House event that the order would go into effect a month after signing.

“But the fourth order, we’re going to hold that until Aug. 24, hoping that the pharmaceutical companies will come up with something that will substantially reduce drug prices,” Trump said Friday.

Trump held up the order for a photo op after signing it, and the text of two out of the order’s three pages was visible in a photo taken by Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon and reviewed by Modern Healthcare.

The visible text of the order details that presumably the HHS secretary would be directed to “implement his rule making plan to test a payment model pursuant to which Medicare would pay, for certain high-cost prescription drugs and biological products covered by Medicare Part B, no more than the most favored-nation price.”

The text of the order indicates the White House may pursue a more aggressive version of international reference pricing than it first proposed in October 2018.

The 2018 policy would in part tie Medicare Part B payment to the average price of a market basket of developed countries, while a most-favored nation approach could give the United States the lowest price out of a selected marketbasket.

The order text seems to line up with prior comments by HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who said in November 2019 that Trump was “not satisfied” with the average international price approach, and instead wanted the United States to get “the best deal.”

The text said the purpose of the demonstration would be to see if a most favored-nation pricing demonstration would “mitigate poor clinical outcomes and expenditures associated with high drug prices.”

So far, HHS has only proposed an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on its international reference pricing plan, and would have to propose a rule and finalize it before the policy could take effect. The proposed rule has languished under review at the White House budget office since June 2019. The rulemaking timeline makes it highly unlikely that it could be finalized by the end of Trump’s first term.

The visible text does not detail how a “most-favored nation price” would be calculated, and does not indicate any deadline for implementation. It is possible that details or a deadline were listed on the obscured page of the order.

The White House declined to comment on the partial text.

Trump said he planned to meet with drugmakers this week, but a meeting has not occurred. Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla told investors on Tuesday that he was not interested in meeting with the White House to discuss the order.

“I don’t think there is a need for, right now, for White House meetings,” Bourla said.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said the group remains willing to speak with the administration and discuss ways to lower costs for patients at the pharmacy counter.

“However, we remain steadfastly opposed to policies that would allow foreign governments to set prices for medicines in the United States,” said PhRMA spokesperson Nicole Longo.

The drug-pricing orders were released shortly after former Rep. Mark Meadows took over as White House chief of staff. Meadows criticized the Trump administration’s international reference pricing proposal while he was in Congress.

 

All “games” have rules, goals, winner and losers… Some games one side is allowed to change the rules in the middle of the game

I have been a student of our bureaucracies for some 40 yrs.. They very seldom do anything in a “one and done” type approach… particularly when a large part of the population is going to be directly affected.

The included chart clearly demonstrates that OD’s went up dramatically, the line that noted when the CDC posted those guide lines is WRONG… it indicates 2012 when in fact it was 2016 – HOWEVER – 2012 was the peak of opiate Rxs being prescribed and the chart is correct that they dropped every year after 2012.

Apparently there are a few states who have passed so sort of law that is suppose to ensure prescribers that it is safer – less/no recourse for doing so, but I have asked many times that how can a state pass a law that will prevent the DEA from coming into state and use the Federal Controlled Substance Act to raid and shut down a prescriber’s practice and confiscate all his/her assets.  But I can’t remember anyone presenting a valid argument that they can prevent the DEA from coming into a state.

The CDC published their opiate dosing guidelines in 2016 and in hindsight it now seems more like a trial balloon … they knew that they didn’t have the statutory authority to do it, but – what the hell –  both the DEA and the VA wanted these guidelines and if no one challenged their legality in the courts… they could come back in a few years and claim that they had been grossly mis-applied  and so they were going to revise them… at the same time that Congress is taking  up new  bills… that will codify those CDC opiate dosing guidelines… and maybe even just made the new law to will automatically adopt any changes the CDC makes to those guidelines in the future.

Never mind that those MME conversion programs was developed using SINGLE DOSES on acute pain pts and really little/no application to properly dosing intractable chronic pain pts…  Never mind that there is such a thing as CYP-450 enzyme opiate metabolism and it is a proven fact that there is about 5-6 levels of speed of opiate metabolism in the body from poor to ultra fast. For century treating pts has been called the “practice of medicine”, but now we have the “cookbook formula” of treating pain.

Like all criminals, crooks, thieves and liars… they first some minor crimes at first and if they get by with it … they keep trying something BOLDER… they typically get to the point where after repeatedly getting by with criminal activity.. they try things that are more and more brazen…with bigger payoffs…  the vast majority end up getting caught.  But close to 50% of crimes remain unsolved and end up being cold cases…

Right now in the small town of Bardstown, KY there are three unsolved murders – one being a state trooper – after abt 5 yrs.

The DEA started 5 yrs ago reducing the pharma industry’s production quota that they are now producing abt 50% less now and they are already putting out press releases that they are going to reduce it farther in 2021.  maybe they will ignore these state laws because at the rate they are going in reducing pharma production quota by 2025-2026 there is going to be very little legal opiate produced.

The DEA won’t have to raid any more prescribers’ practices or pharmacies… the prescribers can write all the opiates that they wish… because there were be little/no opiates in the pharma distribution system. When the Pharmacist tells a pt that they are “out of stock” … he/she will probably being telling you the truth.

The DEA won’t have to worry about the drug wholesalers shipping suspiciously large orders of opiates to pharmacies.. after all we have some 60,000 pharmacies… that is a lot for the DEA to stay on top of…

DEA  has already lost their “cash cow” of Marijuana and if they can just move on to declaring Kratom has no valid medical value and will reclassified it as a C-I – which the control substance act only give that authority to our Surgeon General… and they will then be able to start chasing the diversion/abuse of Suboxone type products…. After all it is a C-III controlled substance so all the data as to the products are sold to via a wholesaler, the pharmacy that dispenses it and the doc who prescribed it … via the state’s PDMP. They will just have to create a new category of prescribers and vendors to go after…  and it doing so they will be meeting the primary goal/function of all bureaucracies … to perpetuate and grow the bureaucracy.

The CDC reports drug OD deaths..  they don’t bother delineating between legally prescribed meds, illegal meds and use/abuse of NSAID’s that it is claimed kill 15,000/yr… and we may never know how many of those deaths labeled at a DRUG OD… is in fact a SUICIDE – or as they would rather have it referred to as “death of despair”.

Besides, most of those who die from something… are most likely “high cost medical care”… treating their mental health of addiction with medications, or putting them in jail/prison, or chronic painers are believed that they will never be part of a productive manner of our society – pays taxes –  so they have been classified as a “taker” and will never again be a “maker” in our society.

RPh to pt: your penalty for filling your opiates 2 days early every month – 9 days of cold turkey withdrawal

Hey Steve, 
I want to say thank you for you feed back. It was greatly appreciated l, but also was quite helpful! 🙂 
I did take your suggestion. I’ve reached out the VP of Publix, Dain Rusk. I wrote a lengthy email. (I even wrote that I’ve contacted the National Pain Report; a former Reputable pharmacist (you)  and to intimidate them a bit. 
So, I emailed them last night. 
This morning before my husband was about to start his work shift, he got a call from Robert Mark (I think hes a supervisor of Publix pharmacy) located in Lakeland, Fl. 
He spoke to my husband and said she had have asked you if you were out of your meds. I had a talk to with her. And he was apologetic. My husband went to tell him about his medical issues (previous motor cycle accidents)  ultimately, he said they should be working on it, and will have it ready for you. 
I cant thank you enough for your feedback and moral support on this matter. It changes lives for the greater good. People shouldnt abuse power. Clearly, that’s what that female pharmacist was trying to do.
So thank you again, Steve. 🙂 you are making the difference 
Warmest Regards,

This has got to be one of more bizarre emails that I have received over the years…  I am not going to call out this fairly large  (1250 stores) privately owned grocery store chain that is almost exclusively in the south eastern part of our country. I would think that if the VP of pharmacy services for this chain knew what this female pharmacist is doing to pts… 

This is a chronic pain pts that has been able to continue to work, but now since this pharmacist decided to “correct” the “extra” doses that this pt had filled at another one of their pharmacies and has told the pt that he needs to be in COLD TURKEY WITHDRAWAL FOR AT LEAST 9 DAYS.

Even if/when he gets his opiates back.. it is probably going to take several days for him to regain his pain management and stability back to  his life. Ignore the physical issues that he may go thru … up to and including death… here is about 10 working days that he is probably going to lose  not going to work… THAT IS FINANCIAL DAMAGE.  If he doesn’t get fired for not being at work for two weeks or being there and not really getting much work done.  FINANCIAL DAMAGES is what law firms focus on… when suing someone.

I am sure that this pharmacist will defend her position that NO ONE CAN FORCE A PHARMACIST TO FILL A PRESCRIPTION… which I will defend… however… we have a very serious and growing pharmacist surplus and I am not sure if the state that this pharmacy is in a “right to work” state which basically means that you can be fired for just about any reason.. included to the boss doesn’t like the color of your hair or eyes and many other very nebulous reasons.

I gave this pt a link to find a independent pharmacy as well as a link to all the pharmacy boards…since I don’t know which state they are talking about and I was able to find a new article with the name of the VP of pharmacy services for this privately owned grocery store chain.

 

Hi Steve, 

I read some of your blogs and see you’re a seasoned retired pharmacist. I have a question for you that you may be able to answer: 
My husband has been on pain meds that manage his broken back for several years. He also has a total left hip replacement . He has been going to the same doctor, along with the same pharmacist for a length of time. He is prescribed a opiate . Has been on the same med for years,  no changes. 
We recently purchased a home to be closer to work. Were both work as small business bankers.
He filled his rx last month to the new pharmacy that’s closer to home( same corporation to previous) our local  grocery store.  
FF to this month…
He filled his Rx this month. 2 days early, to implement his schedule, as his schedule can vary. By the time he dropped off his rx,  he came home to get a phone call from the pharmacist saying, ‘She cant fill his rx 2 days soon because the “State wont permit.” That he fills his rx 2 days early every month, and because of that….he “has to wait until the 17th of the month to fill it. (9 days out) and after that, he can then fill it 2 days early, going forward.”
That means my husband would be out of his prescription for over a week?!
That’s so bizarre!!
 Is this legal? 
 My husband is not confrontational, so he   agreed, clearly. Pharmacist said she’ll put   it in the system to be filled on the 17th.
 I find there to be some unusual behavior, as I’ve done alot of digging, and research, and never in my years have I heard anyone say that to me, him, or anyone! I cant even find anything relative on the interwebs  stating a pharmacist can delay your rx over a week out from the actual due date, due to previous early fills. (2 days) which is perfectly valid, other wise, no pharmacist would have ever filled it! Or they would have at least expressed that to him!
Please let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your feedback. 
Warm Regards 

McGill pain scale

have your prescriptions been transferred to a pharmacy other than your preferred pharmacy without your knowledge or consent ?

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Problems With Implanted Spinal Cord Stimulators Prompt FDA Action

Problems With Implanted Spinal Cord Stimulators Prompt FDA Action

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/936869

Between July 27, 2016, and July 27, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received a total of 107,728 medical device reports (MDRs) related to implanted spinal cord stimulators (SCSs), including 497 associated with patients’ deaths, 77,937 with patients’ injuries, and 29,294 with device malfunction. If you want to know more about injuries and treatments associated with spinal cord, read here.

As a result, the FDA has sent a letter to healthcare providers reminding them of the importance of conducting a trial stimulation period with patients to confirm adequate pain relief before implanting the device.

Implanted SCSs are used for the management of chronic, intractable pain of the trunk and/or limbs associated with a variety of conditions.

The most frequently reported patient problem ― failure to achieve or maintain adequate pain control (28%) ― highlights the need for patients to undergo and demonstrate an adequate trial stimulation prior to implantation, the FDA says. Other common patient problems included pain (15%), unexpected therapeutic effects (11%), infection (7.5%), and discomfort (6%).

The most frequently reported device problems ― charging problems (11%), impedance (high, low, and/or unspecified, 11%), migration (7%), battery problems (6%), and premature discharge of battery (4%) ― are consistent with those expected with battery-powered stimulation devices intended for longer-term implantation and therapy, the agency notes.

The 497 MDRs coded as a patient death represent 428 unique events reported during the 2016–2020 review period. These events were associated with devices implanted between November 2005 and July 2020.

The patients who died were 69 years old on average and had comorbid conditions, including cancer; chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, dementia, and heart disease; and acute illness or injury, including influenza, infection, suicide, and substance abuse.

In roughly 30% of the deaths for which times to event were available, the death occurred within 30 days of implantation. “However, none of the reports provide enough information to conclude that the device caused or contributed to the death,” the FDA says.

On the basis of the MDRs, the FDA recommends that healthcare providers take the following actions:

  • Conduct the trial stimulation as described in the device labeling to identify and confirm satisfactory pain relief before permanent SCS implantation.
  • Only implant permanent SCSs in patients who have undergone and passed a stimulation trial. A stimulation trial usually lasts 3 to 7 days; success is usually defined as a 50% reduction in pain symptoms. Patients should be informed about the risks for serious side effects and what to expect during the trial stimulation.
  • Before implantation of any SCS, discuss with the patient the benefits and risks of the different types of implants and other treatment options; provide the patient with the manufacturer’s patient labeling and any other educational materials for the device that will be implanted; and inform the patient of the risks, benefits, and what to expect during the use of the SCS they will receive.
  • Develop an individualized programming, treatment, and follow-up plan for SCS therapy delivery with each patient.
  • Provide the patient with the name of the device manufacturer, the model, and the unique device identifier of the implant they received.

Healthcare professionals and consumers can report adverse reactions or quality problems they experience using the devices to the FDA’s MedWatch program.