Looks like the “powers to be” believe that very very many people suffering from chronic pain – over the this year and next – will be cut off their medically necessary pain medications, die from under/untreated pain compromising their underlying comorbidity issues or just chose a “death of desperation ” (Suicide).  Since our Founding Fathers did not define what the  “pursuit of happiness” encompassed, so our bureaucrats – using their own moral compass – have apparently decided that treatment of chronic pain is not part of our RIGHTS to be engaged into the pursuit of happiness.

To me, the timing of this proposed cuts in quotas is not accidental, starting this weekend all 435 members of the House and 1/3 of the Senate will be in full blown re-election mode.  Not much will get done between now and Jan, 2021 when the new Congress starts.

How many times have members of the community made phone calls, sent emails/letters, signed petitions, responded to proposed changes during public comment period and has anyone seen how any of those actions has impacted a positive change toward those in the community or if all the comments made actually made in changes in the original proposal ?

I remember a bill passed by Congress that would attempt to restrict the availability of opiates to treat pain and ONLY ONE in the Senate and a HANDFUL- or so – in the House VOTED AGAINST IT…  Probably the only time in the last several years that Congress has acted in a nearly unanimously bipartisan manner toward any bill/proposed law.   That would suggest that no matter if your representatives in Congress is a Democrat or a Republican… they could care less about how much you suffering you are dealing with. They obviously DON’T FEEL YOUR PAIN !

Could this be DEA’s reaction to some states trying to pass laws that would try to allow chronic pain pts a better access to pain management meds ?  If there is fewer doses of opiates available at the local pharmacy…  Does it really make any difference how many Rxs for opiates are written ?

Businesses spend 9+million/day on lobbying Congress… because they are successful in getting Congress to change directions in a way that benefits those businesses.  But it would seem that those in the community believe that their votes and their opinions will impact the member of Congress to see things their way..  Since the expiration of the Decade of Pain Law expired in 2009 and was not renewed… nothing has went in the direction that those in the community would like to see it happen.

I refer you to Einstein’s definition of INSANITY 

DEA Submits Proposed Quotas for 2021

https://www.deachronicles.com/2020/09/deas-submits-proposed-quotas-for-2021/

DEA rolled out its proposed aggregate production quotas for 2021 earlier this week, the same day, in fact, that it proposed adjustments to its 2020 quotas. Let’s start off by looking at the Big Five, at least as far as the SUPPORT Act is concerned: fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, and hydromorphone.

Here is a snapshot:

As you can see, with the exception of oxymorphone, the proposed quotas are down significantly for the Big Five, from both the original 2020 quotas and the adjustments we saw both in April and yesterday.

Some of the reduction may be explained by DEA’s April adjustments, which were largely in response to the coronavirus pandemic. DEA increased the quotas for particular substances related to the treatment of the virus, including fentanyl, oxymorphone, and hydromorphone.

Now, under the SUPPORT Act, when arriving at the aggregate production quota, DEA must estimate the amount of diversion of any “covered controlled substance,” (i.e., the Big Five.) So how does DEA arrive at these diversion estimates? Well, under the SUPPORT Act, when analyzing diversion rates, DEA is charged with acting “in consultation” with HHS to determine “rates of overdose deaths and abuse and overall public health impact related to the covered controlled substance…” (DEA may also consult any other source it deems reliable.) DEA did not find most of the consultations particularly helpful apparently, finding both the CDC information on the rates of overdose deaths and the CMS information on rates of overprescribing either incomplete or unreliable for estimating diversion.

DEA fared better with the FDA apparently, but even here there was a wrinkle. FDA is responsible for providing “estimates and predictions of legitimate medical needs” for controlled substances in a calendar year. Quite an estimate it was too. FDA’s predicted level of medical need was “expected to decline on average 36.52 percent for calendar year 2021.” Wow. That said, “FDA’s predicted level of medical need for the United States was calculated by FDA at the beginning of the Coronavirus . . . pandemic and, therefore, did not take into account changes in usage that are necessary to treat patients who require schedule II controlled substances.”

I should note here, however, that DEA did “consider FDA’s concerns” over potential shortages in ADHD medications (amphetamine, methylphenidate, and lisdexamfetamine) when calculating its quotas for these controlled substances. But DEA also indicated that it “has grown increasingly concerned over the misuse of prescription stimulants among young adults and the demand for methamphetamine in the U.S.” This concern is leading DEA to “closely” monitor “trends in licit stimulant use.” The numbers indicate DEA largely held steady on the quotas for these stimulants.

Finally, DEA mentions that nine states’ attorneys general submitted PDMP data in response to a DEA request. “The data that DEA received varied in its form and content,” however, “and was ultimately determined to be inapplicable at the national level.”

So, for the most part and as DEA has historically done, DEA used its own internal reports to arrive at its diversion numbers for the Big Five. And, given the FDA’s whopping prediction about the decrease in medical need, the quota decreases may not be so dramatic as they might have been.  The historic and ongoing conflict between DEA’s assessment of the legitimate medical needs of the United States versus FDA’s assessment does not seem to be abating.  It will be interesting to see what, if anything, Congress will have to say about this.

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https://youtu.be/ywuCRVJVDqs

I am not sure about this… color me skeptical… I do know that “they” are experiencing with some different ways of creating vaccines than what has been done in the past.  I am just sharing this.

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Trump’s Executive Orders Will Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/trumps-executive-orders-will-make-prescription-drugs-more-affordable/

This has “it isn’t going to work over the insurance industry’s dead body ” written all over it.  The insurance industry has one of the largest pots of money to hire lobbyists to convince the 535 members of Congress to see things the way the insurance industry wants things to be.  They got Congress to pass the McCarran Ferguson Act during the 1904’s that exempted the entire industry from the Sherman Antitrust Act and there has been numerous entities that has tried to get that law repealed since the late 80’s and as recently as a few years ago when the House passed the repeal with a large majority of the House voting to repeal, but it never got any action in the Senate.

That $30 +/- per month that most Medicare folks are paying for their Part D premiums… they will just increase them 2-3-4-5 times what they are paying now.. because Medicare Part D is private insurance from FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANIES..   the same will most likely happen with everyone on Medicare Advantage programs … the people on those programs can forget about the no premiums and little/no co-pays and other “freebies” that they are currently promising under the Medicare Advantage program.

And purchasing medications from other country may not be a “cake walk”… unlike the USA where the distribution of medications are highly controlled. Other countries medications have to pass across many borders to get where they are going and each time they change hands there is a risk of counterfeit meds being swapped out from the real meds.

The Insurance/PBM industry has spent 50 years putting their very profitable scheme together and they will not let it be torn apart without a fight.

The existing drug system sounds like something out of The Godfather. Now the president is taking it on.

President Trump recently introduced four executive orders aimed at reducing drug prices for all Americans. Affordability in health care is consistently a leading issue on the minds of the people, and the price of prescription drugs is a key component of that. Every president, regardless of party, wants to make medication more affordable. But more times than not, they fail to make much of a difference. President Trump’s orders, however, should. 

Insulin, a drug that has been in existence for nearly a century, continues to be cost prohibitive for many diabetics. We’ve all seen story after story of people having to choose between groceries and lifesaving drugs—even at a time when the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. Over the last 10 years, the price of Humalog, a commonly prescribed insulin, has increased from $75 to $250, with no changes to formula, packaging, or designs.  

Over the same time frame, the list prices established by pharmaceutical companies have skyrocketed, although their profits have remained relatively flat. The middlemen and insurers, however, have seen record growth and rampant consolidation due to the large rebates they command from the manufacturers that benefit from being on the insurers’ drug lists. This is a broken system; it sounds like a business model straight out of The Godfather movies. 

The next EO, the International Pricing Index (also known as the “most favored nation” order), seeks to compel pharmaceutical manufacturers to charge the U.S. no more than the lowest price available among economically advanced countries for Medicare Part B drugs. Clearly, this is rate-setting and not a sustainable solution, but the order is the only one that comes with a trigger mechanism. President Trump has given Big Pharma until noon August 24 to negotiate a substantive plan to lower the cost of drugs for the American people.  

If the manufacturers are unsuccessful in producing a viable plan, it will pull the trigger that initiates most favored nation status. This tactic has given the president necessary leverage to push for a deal that makes sense. 

The importation order achieves the same end, but it will ultimately be up to the states to implement, should they wish to import drugs from nations with which they negotiate. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has been a long-time proponent of this policy and has been leading the charge for his state. 

Another order that focuses on bringing down the cost of insulin and epinephrine was issued within the network of clinics known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). Patients that are seen in these clinics will now be able to take advantage of newly extended purchasing discounts that will allow them to get these life-saving drugs for pennies on the dollar. 

The fourth and perhaps most substantive order makes rebates for Medicare patients available at the pharmacy. Insurers and other middlemen have often kept these rebates and counted them as revenue rather than passing them on to patients. This order makes Medicare patients the beneficiaries of these rebates, which will result in much greater affordability for our seniors who are often on fixed incomes. 

Are the orders perfect? Perhaps not. But the absence of leadership from Congress to get this done has resulted in needed action from President Trump. The physicians and patients who attended the signing applauded this effort and encouraged the administration to press on to make health care even more affordable. We are all patients, and efforts like this are opportunities for us to unite in our effort to fix our broken health care system. 

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CDC: 94% of Covid-19 deaths had underlying medical conditions

It has been reported that TWITTER DELETED this information when President Trump tweeted this information

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/cdc-94percent-of-covid-19-deaths-had-underlying-medical-conditions/ar-BB18wrA7

ATLANTA, Ga. (WEYI) – The Centers for Disease Control released information showing how many people who died from COVID-19 had comorbidities or underlying conditions as they are sometimes referred to by doctors.

According to the CDC, comorbidity is defined as:  ” more than one disease or condition is present in the same person at the same time. Conditions described as comorbidities are often chronic or long-term conditions. Other names to describe comorbid conditions are coexisting or co-occurring conditions and sometimes also “multimorbidity” or “multiple chronic conditions.”

Comorbidity and underlying conditions can both be used to describe conditions that exist in one person at the same time. These can also contribute to a persons death who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Click here to read the entire report from the CDC.

The CDC said: 

Table 3 shows the types of health conditions and contributing causes mentioned in conjunction with deaths involving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death. 

The CDC says people need to always social distance and perform best practices when it comes to staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click here to read best practices on how to stay safe during COVID-19.

The following are the top underlying medical conditions linked with COVID-19 deaths.

* Influenza and pneumonia

* Respiratory failure

* Hypertensive disease

*  Diabetes

* Vascular and unspecified dementia

* Cardiac Arrest

* Heart failure

* Renal failure

* Intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning and other adverse events

* Other medical conditions

Click here for the latest stories on COVID-19 from the Mid-Michigan NOW Newsroom.

According to the CDC 9683 died in the United States with only having COVID-19 listed on their death certificate.

RELATED LINK: Michigan not releasing COVID-19 death underlying health condition data

Mid-Michigan NOW published a story on August 3 about how the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was not able to release the statistics of comorbidities in COVID-19 cases in the State of Michigan.

Here is a statement from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Lynn Stutfin: 

Since the start of the pandemic, older individuals and those with underlying conditions were considered the most vulnerable to this deadly virus and likely to have the most severe outcomes. This recently released CDC data reinforces that information. Michigan is sharing its case and death data with researchers, with appropriate provisions to protect privacy, to learn more about the relationship between comorbidities and COVID-19 among Michiganders.

The CDC research does show Michigan’s comorbidities. Click here to read the comorbidities of COVID-19 cases in Michigan from the CDC.

As of August 28th, the CDC reports 5928 total deaths in Michigan from COVID-19.

The number from the CDC is different from the MDHHS numbers because it takes the CDC two weeks to update death certificates from Michigan.

The following chart from the CDC shows a breakdown of the deaths by age.

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A couple of “readers” have challenged the facts that I have put forward about this Presidential race.  One of the people asking is the FIRST TIME they have ever made a comment and the other person has posted comments a total of TWO TIMES..

Here we have two people… one who this is his THIRD TIME to run for President and the first two times never got any traction and Harris dropped out of this presidential run BEFORE the first primary –  IOWA caucus …

I am going to make this post “sticky” at the top of the first page of my blog and update it as “all things Biden” evolve and develop

Joe Biden finally raised an objection to the riots, arson, murder and looting tearing apart American cities. To be sure, his wasn’t a strong voice, but at least he finally broke his silence.  https://nypost.com/2020/08/27/joe-biden-finally-breaks-silence-on-urban-violence-too-late-goodwin/

These riots have been going on around the country in various cities for around THREE MONTHS

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abcs-david-muir-presses-joe-biden-win-presidential/story?id=72554802

“Guess what? I have left my basement,” Biden said with a laugh. “[In] the meantime, 500 million people have watched what I’ve done out of my basement. 

Our country only has some 330 million people and it is estimated that 254 million are of voting age  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/10/04/2019-21663/estimates-of-the-voting-age-population-for-2018

Here is a video where Biden claims that if we elect him YOUR TAXES WILL BE RAISED !

Harris has accused Biden as being a racist during the presidential primary debates and stated that she believed some women that accused Biden of “inappropriate touching” and now she is apparently okay with that… it is just “history” ?

and here is  Sky News Australia  opinion of Biden

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A leaked CVS email told staff to not inform patients that their prescriptions were filled by someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

The Georgia CVS technician who shared the email with Business Insider said the company threatened to discipline or fire staff if they told customers about confirmed COVID-19 cases.

At least 14 CVS employees across the US have told Business Insider that CVS has a pattern of bullying staff and flagrantly disregarding the safety of customers.

CVS spokesperson Michael DeAngelis told Business Insider, “Generally speaking, our priority during this pandemic is the safety of our employees, patients, and customers.”

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Wow! Florida Democrat suggests it’s ‘open season’ on killing Republicans and President – shares hit list? (Op-ed)

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/florida-democrat-suggests-its-open-season-on-killing-republicans/

FLORIDA – Politics is hardly ever pretty when it comes for folks racing toward an election, and thus that means the election for Florida’s 18th congressional district is not immune from the likes of nasty rhetoric from people trying to get a seat at the table.

But when you have people calling for an “open season” for killing your political opponents, then that is where a line has been crossed.

DCCC-Backed Congressional Candidate Asked ‘Is It Open Season?’ on Killing Trump Admin. Officials | https://t.co/MIkMPKZJmr pic.twitter.com/dIiSS9aWyN

— National Review News Wire (@NRWire) August 28, 2020

The person who crafted a hypothetical call for murdering the likes of President Trump, Roger Stone and AG Bill Barr is Pam Keith. This Democrat is vying to land Florida’s congressional seat for the 18^th district, but a Twitter post dating back to June 10^th  of this year puts her disturbing mindset on full display:

“GOP: Yeah he’s dead. But it’s not a big deal because he was a “bad guy.” Is that REALLY the new rule they want? Killing is OK if it’s a “bad guy?” Is it now open season on: Flynn, Manafort, Stone, Gates, Cohen, Trump, Barr, Kavanaugh, Lewandowski, Bolton, Pompeo, Papadopolous, Parscale.”

GOP: Yeah he’s dead. But it’s not a big deal because he was a “bad guy.”

Is that REALLY the new rule they want? Killing is OK if it’s a “bad guy?”

Is it now open season on:

Flynn
Manafort
Stone
Gates
Cohen
TRUMP
Barr
Kavanaugh
Lewandowski
Bolton
Pompeo
Papadopolous
Parscale

— Pam Keith (@PamKeithFL) June 10, 2020

While many were reasonably outraged over the disgusting tweet that has recently gained newfound attention, others are also poking fun at it for the blatant stupidity of putting something like this online while trying to run for office.

One Twitter exchange in response to Keith’s tweet resulted in the following:

“Publishing a hit list. Hillary would be proud.”

The responding tweet to said sarcastic response went as follows:

“Hillary would be annoyed someone is stepping on her turf haha.”

Hillary would be annoyed someone is stepping on her turf haha

— -insertcleverhandle- (@SLYon33) August 28, 2020

The seat Keith is gunning for is currently held by Republican Brian Mast and the district in question has been relatively red since 2016. However, this upcoming election for the district is currently being touted as a possible toss-up when predicting the results.

Mast happens to be a veteran who served in Afghanistan that had lost both of his legs due to a bomb that detonated underneath him while serving overseas.

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WATCH NOW: ‘Recovery is hard, and the pandemic has made it more difficult:’ Overdose calls up 65% in Richmond

https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/watch-now-recovery-is-hard-and-the-pandemic-has-made-it-more-difficult-overdose-calls/article_629d53b4-07c8-5646-9856-5239c2a45603.html

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This is a New Mexico police officer – Ryan Holets – that was a presenter Wednesday night at RNC convention. Relaying a story of him interacting with a pregnant woman who was in the process of “shooting up”…  During his presentation … he had to emphasis that in 2018 drug OD’s have declined for the first time in 30 yrs..  which is TRUE… but in 2019 … drug OD’s – according to CDC number count – set a new all time record.

Below is the post that I made on his FB page… and there was some 65 other comments on his FB page and one day after I made my post – copy listed below – did not get the first emoji or comment,  even though there was hundreds of comments on his posts.  I even put a hyperlink to the article about a 14 y/o committing suicide because of lack of adequate pain management.  I don’t know if the fact of 2018 being the first time the OD count was down was his idea as being part of law enforcement, or it was suggested or influenced by the Trump administration.

It is almost as if the community is trying to get themselves and their abuse noticed with a whisper and the anti-opiate groups are using bull horns to get their point across as to all the harm that opiates cause to some people.

your two y/o daughter Hope is truly lucky and Crystal should be congratulated on her 3 yrs into recovery. Unfortunately, you quote convoluted numbers that the CDC & DEA put out about the “deadly numbers” https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html 67,367 is deaths for ALL DRUG OVERDOSES… which will include abt 15,000 from NSAID (Motrin, Aleve, Aspirin). 46,802 involved all opiates – with and 67% were illegal synthetic (31,357) not counting Methadone. That leaves 15,444 that died from Methadone, cocaine, crack cocaine and pharma grade opiates that were legally and illegally obtained. We do not know if the CDC has a breakdown on these deaths or not.. I have not seen them. It is great that 2018 broke a 30 yr record of increases every year but this report indicates that 2019 set a new all time record of OD’s https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/health/drug-overdose-deaths-2019/index.html Those 35% fewer prescriptions written include those that are not provided with many of the 100 million people suffering from chronic pain .. including some 25-35 million that are dealing with intractable chronic pain – in need of some sort of pain management therapy 24/7. Here is just one story of a 14 y/o that committed suicide because she could not get relief from chronic migraines. https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/obituaries/akaiah-nicole-altstock/article_3d10ddab-b53b-53b3-9cbb-ea56a726ed5c.html

It is reported that 24 veterans commit suicide EVERY DAY… mostly because of untreated pain from their service related injuries. For every substance abuser/addict like Crystal – there are 25-50 people suffering from chronic pain more each day are having their meds cut or discontinued. Unfortunately, no one really seems to care about the two drugs that kill 550,000/yr – those drugs would be Nicotine and Alcohol and they have no medicinal use, but provides the Fed/State bureaucracies with a lot of tax revenue. Addiction/substance abuse is a mental health disease and <1% of chronic pain pts when treated with opiates will become addicted. Thanks for being one of the “good guys” in the “thin blue line”

https://www.facebook.com/ryan.holets.188

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Kamala Harris: National Mask Mandate A Top Priority If Elected

https://conspatriots.com/kamala-harris-national-mask-mandate-a-topa-priority-if-elected/

Speaking on NBC’s “Today” show on Friday, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris asserted that one of the first actions she and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would take if elected would be to implement a national mandate to wear masks.

Today’s Craig Melvin queried, “You talked about the national mask mandate. It sounds like that would be one of the first orders of business.”

Harris answered, “Yes.”

Melvin then asked, “How would you enforce that?”

Harris elaborated, “It’s really—it’s a standard. I mean, nobody’s going to be punished. C’mon. Nobody likes to wear a mask. This is a universal feeling, right? So that’s not the point. ‘Hey, let’s enjoy wearing masks.’ No. The point is this is what we, as responsible people who love our neighbor, we have to just do that right now. God willing, it won’t be forever. But this is a sacrifice we have to make.”

On August 13, Biden called for an immediate national mask mandate, saying, “I hope we learned a lesson. Hope the president has learned the lesson. But again, this is not about Democrat, Republican, or independent. This is about saving Americans’ lives. So let’s just institute a mass mandate nationwide starting immediately. And we will save — the estimates are that we will save 40,000 lives in the next three months once that is done,” as the New York Post reported.

“Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens. Step up,” he continued. “Do the right thing. There’s overwhelming evidence, overwhelming evidence, that the mask and depending on the type of mask you wear, increases exponentially the prospect that you, if you are a carrier and you don’t even know it, you will not affect anyone when you cough, sneeze, sing, shout.”

President Trump responded at a White House briefing, saying “Americans must have their freedoms”:

We have urged Americans to wear masks and I emphasized this is a patriotic thing to do. Maybe they’re great and maybe they’re just good. Maybe they’re not so good, but frankly, what do you have to lose? You have nothing to lose … And we’ve been saying wear them when it’s appropriate, especially in terms of social distancing. If you can’t distance enough, and what do you have to lose? But again, it’s up to the governors, and we want to have a certain freedom, we want to have a certain freedom. That’s what we’re about.

At the same time, we also understand that each state is different and is facing unique circumstances. You have very, very different states facing very unique differences and circumstances. We’ve entrusted the governors of each state, elected by the people, to develop and enforce their own mask policies and other policies following guidance from the federal government and CDC.

We’re working with each state to implement a plan based on the facts and science. We will continue to urge Americans to wear masks when they cannot socially distance, but we do not need to bring the full weight of the federal government down on law-abiding Americans to accomplish this goal. Americans must have their freedoms, and I trust the American people and their governors very much.

How much does a STANDARD differ from a GUIDELINE ?  Like the CDC opiate dosing GUIDELINES… and we all know how those guidelines have turned out.

Doesn’t it sound like another reason to create a NEW BUREAUCRACY  – the “mask police” ?  The MEA (Mask Enforcement Agency) After all the primary function of a bureaucracy is to perpetuate and grow the bureaucracy !  What about just creating a new bureaucratic agency.  It will take a lot of more Law enforcement bodies to “supervise” the 320 million people in this country to make sure that everyone is wearing their mask.  Maybe they will just facial recognition software at the entrance of every business… you walk into a business without a mask… you automatically get a fine/ticket… as databases get large and more intrusive … forget the ticket in the mail or email… just do an electronic debt to your bank account… no back account… do it to your debit or credit card… do not have neither one of those…  your employer gets a notice to debit if from your paycheck.  There are a multitude of ways to collect the money from you.

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