Could this be a “cure” for COVID-19 ? IMO – no harm – no foul exercise !

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

https://youtu.be/_JSsd-TYqOA

Dr. Dan Lee Dimke PHD,& author poses a theory that this outbreak of Covid-19 can be treated using the Cold Arrest procedure to speed up the recovery process for those contracting it. He details his methods,& explains why they should work from a point of medical fact. Watch for yourselves,& make your own judgements. If he’s right,one thing those of you with sense know is Big Pharma is damn sure NOT going to tell you about it! Dr. Dimke holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of the State of New York as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Information Technology and a Doctoral Degree in Education with a specialization in Psycholinguistics from Southwest University. #Covid19 #HealthInformation Future World Source Article: https://future-world.com/mcatalog/sto…

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issues stay-at-home order for nearly all of state’s 9M residents.. Is Martial Law next ?

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

See the source image

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issues stay-at-home order for nearly all of state’s 9M residents

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-jersey-gov-phil-murphy-issues-stay-home-order-nearly-n1165661

“We must flatten the curve and ensure residents are practicing social distancing,” the governor said in announcing the sweeping mandate.

The governor of New Jersey on Saturday issued a stay-at-home order for nearly all of the state’s 9 million residents in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

Similar sweeping mandates have been made in California, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania.

“We must flatten the curve and ensure residents are practicing social distancing,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in announcing the new restrictions. But, he added, “Even with this order in effect … life in New Jersey does not have to come to a complete standstill.”

The governor told residents not to panic, but, he said, “We’re at war.”

Starting at 9 p.m. Saturday, New Jersey residents must stay home and all nonessential businesses have to close indefinitely. All gatherings including weddings, in-person services and parties, are canceled until further notice, Murphy said.

Businesses considered essential that can remain open include grocery stores and pharmacies, gas stations, banks and other financial institutions and laundromats.

Employees who must report to work are encouraged to get a letter from their job indicating that they work in an “industry permitted to continue operations,” according to the state’s newly launched coronavirus website.

New Jersey had 1,327 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Saturday with 442 new positive test results since Friday. The state has had 16 deaths.

“We mourn the tragic loss of life,” the governor said.

But, he said, “The increase in the positive test results is completely expected” due to the state’s aggressive testing.

The more information the state has the better able it is to “break the back of this virus,” Murphy said.

New Jersey’s announcement comes after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday ordered his state’s nearly 13 million residents to stay home. He said at a press conference that he did not come to the decision easily.

“I fully recognize that in some cases, I am choosing between saving people’s lives and saving people’s livelihood,” he said. “But ultimately you can’t have a livelihood if you don’t have your life.”

Pritzker said residents will be able to leave their homes to buy food, or pick up a prescription at the pharmacy and can go out for a walk.

He said the goal of the stay-at-home order is for people to maintain social distancing and for those who have already taken precautions their lives “will not change very much.” The order is expected to become effective Saturday evening and will remain in place until April 7 but could go longer, Pritzker said.

Also on Friday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all nonessential businesses to cease operating outside the home and put new requirements in place for people over 70 or with underlying health conditions to avoid public transportation and stay home except for solitary exercise.

The requirements also urge New Yorkers to practice social distancing and to stay in their homes as much as possible.

“Your actions can affect my health, that is where we are,” Cuomo said at a press conference.

Coronavirus cases in New York surged to more than 10,000 with 6,211 cases in New York City alone, Cuomo said Saturday. According to the governor, cases are slowing in Westchester County but are growing on Long Island.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also issued such an order, which went into effect Thursday night and will remain in place until further notice. It says residents should leave their homes only when necessary.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered that all businesses that are not “life-sustaining” close.

Image: Minyvonne BurkeMinyvonne Burke

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Study Suggests Digestive Symptoms May Be Associated with COVID-19

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

Study Suggests Digestive Symptoms May Be Associated with COVID-19

https://www.drugtopics.com/latest/study-suggests-digestive-symptoms-may-be-associated-covid-19

A recent study from China found that diarrhea was a prominent symptom among up to half of patients with COVID-19 during the outbreak in Wuhan.

The study, which was published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, was conducted by researchers from the Wuhan Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVID-19.1

Although patients with COVID-19 most commonly present with respiratory symptoms, approximately half of patients in the Wuhan outbreak presented with digestive symptoms as their chief complaint, according to the findings.

Patients involved in the study presented to 3 hospitals from January 18 to February 28, 2020. All patients were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and were analyzed for clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and treatment. Data were followed up until March 5, 2020.

Overall, data from 204 patients were analyzed for the current study. The average age was 54.9 years old. In total, 48.5% presented to the hospital with digestive symptoms as their chief complaint.

The study also showed that those with digestive symptoms had a significantly longer time from onset to admission than patients without digestive symptoms (9 days versus 7.3 days, respectively).

“Clinicians should recognize that digestive symptoms, such as diarrhea, may be a presenting feature of COVID-19, and that the index of suspicion may need to be raised earlier in at-risk patients presenting with digestive symptoms rather than waiting for respiratory symptoms to emerge.” the researchers wrote in the study.1

Patients who experienced digestive symptoms had a variety of manifestations, including anorexia (83.8%), diarrhea (29.3%), vomiting (.08%), and abdominal pain (0.4%). As the severity of the disease increased, digestive symptoms became more pronounced. Seven patients from the study with COVID-19 presented with digestive symptoms, but no respiratory symptoms.

Additionally, patients without digestive symptoms were more likely to be cured and discharged than patients with digestive symptoms (60% versus 34.3%), according to the data. Overall, laboratory data demonstrated no significant liver injury, although other studies have indicated signs of liver involvement. The researchers noted that more research is needed to understand the effect of COVID-19 on liver function.

“In this study, COVID-19 patients with digestive symptoms have a worse clinical outcome and higher risk of mortality compared to those without digestive symptoms, emphasizing the importance of including symptoms like diarrhea to suspect COVID-19 early in the disease course before respiratory symptoms develop,” Brennan MR Spiegel, MD, MSHS, FACG, co-editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Gastroenterology, said in a press release about the study.2 “This may lead to earlier diagnosis of COVID-19, which can lead to earlier treatment and more expeditious quarantine to minimize transmission from people who otherwise remain undiagnosed.”

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CDC overdose death reports continue to “muddy the results” because the “truthful numbers” doesn’t support the opiate crisis agenda ?

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

CDC: Opioid Overdose Deaths Fall

https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/opioids/85523

Overdose deaths involving all opioids, prescription opioids, and heroin dropped in 2018 from the previous year, new CDC data showed.

Deaths that involved synthetic opioids, however, continued to climb and accounted for two-thirds of opioid-related deaths in 2018, reported Nana Wilson, PhD, of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in Atlanta, and co-authors.

“Decreases in overdose deaths involving prescription opioids and heroin reflect the effectiveness of public health efforts to protect Americans and their families,” CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, said in a statement.

“While we continue work to improve those outcomes, we are also addressing the increase in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids,” he added.

The findings come from an analysis of the latest available drug overdose death data and were published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The analysis showed that 67,367 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2018 — a 4.1% decline from 2017 — and 46,802 of these deaths involved an opioid.

From 2017 to 2018, overdose deaths involving prescription opioids fell 13.5%. Heroin overdose deaths fell 4.1%, and deaths involving all opioids fell 2%.

“Efforts to reduce high-dose opioid prescribing have increased and have contributed to decreases in prescription opioid-involved deaths,” Wilson and co-authors noted.

Deaths involving synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased 10% from 2017 to 2018. Synthetic opioids were involved in 31,335 deaths, or nearly half of all overdose deaths in 2018.

“Increases in synthetic opioid-involved deaths are likely driven by proliferation of illicitly manufactured fentanyl or fentanyl analogs in the illicit drug supply,” the researchers wrote. DEA data show that fentanyl was the most identified synthetic opioid in drug seizures in the first half of 2017 and fentanyl reports in all regions increased from 2014 to 2018, they noted.

Synthetic opioid-involved death rates rose in the Northeast, South, and West and remained stable in the Midwest, the investigators added.

“Changing substance use patterns, including the resurgence of methamphetamine use, particularly among persons using opioids and the mixing of opioids with methamphetamine and cocaine in the illicit drug supply, have continued to make the drug overdose landscape more complicated and surveillance and prevention efforts more challenging,” Wilson and co-authors wrote.

The researchers identified drug overdose deaths using the National Vital Statistics System. The analysis showed that overall, overdose death rates increased among blacks, Hispanics, and people 65 and older in 2018.

The findings have several limitations, Wilson and co-authors said. Postmortem toxicology testing varied by jurisdiction, and testing improvements may have accounted for some reported increases. In addition, the percentage of 2017 and 2018 death certificates with at least one drug specified varied among states and over time.

by Judy George, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today March 19, 2020

This author wrote this report and jumped back and forth in both numbers and percentages

The analysis showed that 67,367 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2018 — a 4.1% decline from 2017 — and 46,802 of these deaths involved an opioid.

So there was 20,565 overdose deaths of NON OPIATE MEDS/DRUGS it is claimed that 15,000/yr people die from the use/abuse of NSAIDS.. from GI bleeds

Synthetic opioids were involved in 31,335 deaths… so 15,467 deaths from Heroin and pharmaceutical grade opiates. The has to be asked… how many of those 15,467 deaths were from ILLEGAL HEROIN ?

MORE PEOPLE DIED FROM NON-OPIATE MEDS/DRUGS than ILLEGAL HEROIN AND PHARMACEUTICAL GRADE OPIATES !

So abt 67 percent of all opiate involved deaths was from ILLEGAL FENTANYL DRUG  not the author’s conclusion … nearly half of all overdose deaths in 2018.

Then there is this little jewel  toxicology testing varied by jurisdiction, and testing improvements may have accounted for some reported increases.

 

 

 

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Abt 3 million work for the federal government – fewer and fewer are interested in enforcing Federal Law.

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

Most everyone knows that when it comes to enforcing the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and the Civil Rights Act.. you can cross https://www.ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm off the list well as those who have reached out to the ACLU https://www.aclu.org/  no matter what there excuse – inadequate funding or staffing the bottom line is a NO.

There is another federal entity that can find just another excuse to say  NO   https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/complaint-process/index.html   I filed a complaint about how Barb was treated – or mis-treated – by a hoispitalists and when I called to check on it.. I was told that the case was CLOSED… no communication from them about it being closed.. I had to literately had to PRY the excuse out of the person I had on the phone.  They basically said that it was the provider’s professional discretion in how they treat pts…  I guess that the hospitalist was “not comfortable”

You know that everyone wants to write or email their member of Congress so I did one better a called mine’s office  https://hollingsworth.house.gov/  Talk to one the staff who talked to another office staff member more familiar with HHS/OIG.. The final conclusion is that our issue with the hospitalist is a CIVIL MATTER – hire an attorney/lawfirm.

Then there is the complaint that I filed with the QIO Quality Improvement Organizations https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/QualityImprovementOrgs  they are there to make sure the Medicare pts get proper care.  Got back a review from their physician/reviewer that was rather “damning” of the hospitalist’s care – or lack of care – that was provided Barb during her < 24 hr stay in the hospital.

But I did not read EVERY WORD of their response said that they MAY referred the complaint to the Quality Innovation Network.. https://www.lsqin.org/medicare-quality-innovation-network/   The only obligation that the hospital that this hospitalist worked for after the report from the QIO was to “retrain” the hospitalist in his short comings and the QIO had no obligation to forward the complaint on to the QIN.

So I called the QIN to see if the complaint had been forwarded to the QIN…  I found a nurse who worked there that was very understanding of how badly Barb had been treated..  She made an internal inquiry about if the complaint had to received by the QIN and as of yet … that would be a NO…

So I forwarded to her – via email – the initial complaint and the QIO’s response… She got the “excuse” that the QIN staff was “swamped” because of COVID-19 so it would take a couple of weeks, so the nurse has put a note on her calendar for April 3rd to do a follow up.

So for those of you have written your member of Congress about not getting your pain meds and you get back a letter – MAYBE – talking about the opiate crisis… that is probably because some intern in the office cut/paste some sentences/paragraphs that has the word opiate in it… Otherwise, they have no answers and they are not about to hold anyone within the Federal government accountable for not doing their job.

I have said before… and will again … one more time… anyone in the pain community wants a solution… that will come about using law firms, PR firms, and Lobbyists…  Otherwise, that leaky boat that the chronic pain community is in… the community cannot bail quick enough – keep on doing what they have been doing – it is going to sink… everyone has a life preserver – RIGHT ?

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Dr. Thomas Kline, MD, PhD: Medical Myths Myth 16: The FDA approved a 90 mg dose in 2013

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

They did not. It was submitted by “Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescription” (PROP) was asking the FDA to limit all doses of opioids to 90 mg. The FDA in 2013 said that the evidence was too little and to approve. and still today, the regulation agency for all prescription drugs. No one can contravention the FDA regulation opioid pain medicine or pain medicine doses, not the CDC and not the medicare admission, who believes reducing FDA doses will stop the opioid crisis. This is not true, and hasn’t been true for one thousand years.

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Dr. Thomas Kline, MD, PhD: Medical Myths Revealed Myth 15: Many people die from respiratory depression taking their opioid medicines

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

Based on our research, it maybe almost no-one. Officially the figures from the six citations in the CDC guidelines indicate the rate is 0.02%, which is a tiny number. which is about 500 to 1000 a year taking prescription drugs in the US. this number is so small, that it makes it very rare. Probably as rare as a fatal reaction to aspirin. In order to prevent an overdose from prescribed opioids, You would have to reduce or eliminate pain prescriptions, and the other 5,000 people who will not be listed as opioid overdose. almost all overdoses CDC listed were Heroin addicts not getting treatment.

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Dr. Thomas Kline, MD, PhD: Medical Myths Revealed: 3-15-20 FILL MY PRESCRIPTION PLEASE.

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

It is your job. No more excuses. More than half of us are ADA disabled, We are a protected class. Sounds like the days of WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE remember that? Ok you take your valid pain prescription in “we are uncomfortable” or “out of state” or more than 40 miles, a discriminating pharmacy in Raleigh. Raw ADA discrimination. File with ACLU, Civil rights, ADA right to have pain treated. A fill law is needed nationally Fill all , if not file report as to why not.

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non profit spends 3+ million per year in PENN on opiate crisis.. while chronic painers write, phone call politicians – who do you think is winning ?

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

AllOne Foundation Combats the Opioid Crisis

https://www.news-line.com/PH_news30200_enews

In 2018 alone, more than 4,400 people died from drug overdoses in Pennsylvania. While this number represents an 18 percent decrease from 2017, the number of drug-related deaths that occur each year is an issue we are still facing in our communities.

AllOne Foundation is working to save lives and reduce the economic, social, and criminal justice costs of the opioid epidemic. After extensive research and countless town hall meetings, AllOne Foundation developed and is executing a successful, scalable, and sustainable philanthropic strategy on this issue.

“AllOne Foundation is providing leadership on a strategy that includes the distribution of over $6,000,000 in funding to various organizations that service our community members in targeted areas that include education from elementary through college, addicted moms and infant recovery, alternative enforcement, prevention and improved access to treatment.” Stated Atty. John P. Moses, Chairman, AllOne Foundation.

On October 2, 2019, AllOne Foundation held the Opioid Crisis Solutions Symposium unveiling strategic plans with keynote speaker Attorney General Josh Shapiro:

“The opioid epidemic is the number-one killer in Pennsylvania. Every day, 15 Pennsylvanians die from an opioid overdose, and this health crisis doesn’t discriminate. We have to recognize the path between the pills doctors prescribe and the cheap bag of fentanyl found in the streets. And we have to be vigilant as we act to tackle this problem. I am grateful for the partnership with the AllOne Foundation to help stop this serious problem,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro delivering the keynote address at AllOne Foundation’s Opioid Crisis Solutions Symposium

The Opioid Solutions Symposium addressed key strategic target areas including: Addicted Women & Infant Recovery; Alternative Enforcement; Education & Prevention; and Improved Access to Treatment. The businesses and organizations within Northeastern Pennsylvania that have taken a lead in fighting the opioid crisis and coming together in a unified effort are The Wright Center, Treatment Court Advocacy Center (TCAC), Luzerne County Community College (LCCC), and the Children’s Service Center (CSC). A unified collaboration between so many organizations involved in this effort is uncommon, but necessary. “We have all come together to develop solutions to this horrible crisis that we are all facing.” States John W. Cosgrove, the Executive Director at AllOne Foundation.

The Wright Center developed the Healthy Moms program providing intensive intervention for addicted mothers. Judge Michael Barrasse is the immediate past Chairman of National Association of Drug Court Professionals and spearheads Treatment Court throughout the region and in particular rural areas. LCCC launched the first Institute for students in recovery because data evidences that students maintaining an educational tract have the greatest sustained recovery rates. CSC places drug specialists into elementary schools identifying high risk students and implementing wrap around services for the child and their families.

AllOne Foundation is a private foundation whose mission is to enhance the present healthcare delivery in Northeastern and North Central Pennsylvania. The Foundation crafts new ways of improving the health and welfare of people. Over $16,000,000 has been distributed since the inception of the Foundation five years ago. Each year, an impact area is identified with a goal to unite organizations in a collaborative effort to create measurable, innovative and highly effective programs. The impact areas have been Behavioral Health, Women & Children, Autism, and Opioid Solutions. The impact area identified for 2020 will be Food Security as well as providing new funding and resources to the other impact areas.

For more information, contact Mary Carroll Donahoe, AllOne Foundation & Charities, at 570-208-1203, or via email at mcdonahoe@allonefoundations.org

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Dr. Thomas Kline, MD, PhD: Medical Myths Revealed

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

https://youtu.be/c_8dnCiztcY

We have uncovered a serious problem explaining why disabled rare disease patients are being denied their pain medicines, Fear of addiction phobia strikes again – now drug distributors are not allowing pharmacies to go over their averages or more deaths more addicts – nope flawed policy by the US government trying to cure the problem of opiate crisis by sacrificing voters with just terrible terrible disease. Call your federal senators and reps the distributors are strangling my patients! and all you out there – ask you pharmacists if wholesalers are choking their business and your necks!

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