Scientists retract study that found antimalarial drugs dangerous for coronavirus patients

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/scientists-retract-study-that-found-antimalarial-drugs-dangerous-for-coronavirus-patients

Three authors of a large study that last month found antimalarials provided no benefit to treating Covid-19 infections, while increasing the risk of heart problems and death, retracted their findings.

The authors said in a statement Thursday provided by The Lancet, the medical journal that published the study on May 22, that they decided to issue the retraction after Surgisphere Corp., the private company that provided the research data, refused to share the full, detailed data set as part of a review after outside researchers raised concerns.

“We always aspire to perform our research in accordance with the highest ethical and professional guidelines,” said the authors, Mandeep Mehra, Frank Ruschitzka and Amit Patel. “We can never forget the responsibility we have as researchers to scrupulously ensure that we rely on data sources that adhere to our high standards. Based on this development, we can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources.”

The authors also said they apologized for “any embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused.”

The Lancet said in a statement that it “takes issues of scientific integrity extremely seriously, and there are many outstanding questions about Surgisphere and the data that were allegedly included in this study.”

The peer-reviewed study analyzed medical records of 96,000 patients hospitalized across six continents with confirmed coronavirus cases from Dec. 20 to April 14. Of the total, 15,000 patients were treated with the malaria drugs alone or in combination with an antibiotic.

Its findings indicated the antimalaria drugs, which many doctors have used to treat Covid-19 patients, didn’t help and might even hurt patients.

Following the study, the World Health Organization paused enrolling patients in clinical trials testing hydroxychloroquine, although this week the organization said it resumed the trials.

More than 100 researchers have raised questions about the data behind the study and about Surgisphere, which had supplied it.

Surgisphere said it has petabytes of data from more than 100 million patients, culled from some 1,200 hospitals and institutions on six continents. Yet many researchers and some hospitals said they had never heard of Surgisphere.

The founder of Surgisphere, Dr. Sapan Desai, was the other author on the paper. Dr. Desai couldn’t be reached for comment.

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https://abc7news.com/family-owned-pharmacy-already-hurting-during-covid-19-hit-by-looters-in-sj/6228349/

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — Garcia Pharmacy, a family-owned drugstore in Downtown San Jose, was targeted by looters on Sunday night.

The crime was caught on camera. A group of seven people got away with medication meant for hundreds of patients across the Bay Area.
While Garcia Pharmacy works to repair damage and care for its patients, there’s concern about where the prescription drugs might end up.

Just before 9 p.m.on Sunday, vandals are seen throwing a tire iron through the glass storefront of the pharmacy, which is located off East Santa Clara Street.

Surveillance cameras capture seven people running into the local drugstore.

In just two minutes, the group managed to cause almost $300,000 in damage, according to business owner and lead pharmacist, James Wong.

The crooks cleared out roughly 150 deliveries that were meant to go out to patients on Monday. They also damaged equipment and contaminated other medication.

“The window was smashed and everything inside was just a mess,” Wong told ABC7 News. “They shot off the fire extinguisher all over the medication. So, I have to destroy those medications, it’s not sanitary.”

Wong estimates the theft at $50,000. However, more than money, he’s concerned about the patients now going without treatment. He said the pharmacy services mental health patients, clinics, adult residential facilities, and more.

“One guy was actually taking the time to read the label and kind of knew what he wanted. The other individuals just seemed to grab everything they could,” he explained. “But they definitely came prepared. They threw a tire iron through the window, and they had duffel bags ready to take a lot of stuff. They cleared out all of our deliveries for Monday morning.”

Wong said there are thousands of patients who rely on Garcia Pharmacy from across the Bay Area, Sacramento County, and south to Salinas.

“We’re really behind because it was a whole day of cleaning up and the glass was all broken,” pharmacist Christine Tran said. “It was really horrible.”

By Tuesday afternoon, the shop remained closed as Tran and others assessed inventory, documented losses, and tried to make sense of the looting.

“It’s really cumbersome,” Wong added. “And it’s taking away time for us to even take care of our patients. We’ve had to really put a lot of people on hold.”

He continued, “There were medications all over the ground. I’m not going to give that to people. It’s wrong, and it’s not safe for anyone.”

Wong said the pharmacy was already struggling to get medications out on time because of COVID-19. Then protests impacted incoming shipments.

“I really do hope things get better for our community. It hurts everyone, the looting,” he said. “I’m for the protest, but the looting’s got to stop.”
Now, prescriptions meant for people who need them are in the wrong hands.

“It’s very dangerous. Some of these medications are controlled, some are non-controlled. Depending if they take it incorrectly, they’re going to hurt themselves,” he told ABC7 News. “They put it in the water supply, the water filtration can only do so much. It’s really, really dangerous.”

He continued, “There needs to be close supervision to these medications, it’s absolutely critical.”

Wong said it’s taken staff a lot longer to reconcile inventory, as the pharmacy is under strict reporting requirements.

He hopes Garcia Pharmacy will be back in business on Wednesday, with wrap-around boarding. It’s a new look to deter any future looters.

After the incident, Wong took to Reddit to write about the experience. His post attracted hundreds to comment and share their support.

For that post, click here.

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FDA Releases Alert for Amneal and Impax Epinephrine Auto-Injector Device Malfunctions

https://www.drugtopics.com/latest/fda-releases-alert-amneal-and-impax-epinephrine-auto-injector-device-malfunctions

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A week ago I made this op-ed post

Looking at the OPTICS: bureaucrats picking winners and losers

At about the same time or shortly there after, when actions of a police officer that caused the death of George Floyd caused a lot of demonstrations and unfortunately some “bad actors” showing up and started looting and destroying businesses small and large. Mr Floyd death was in the public and of course was videoed from several angles… HIS DEATH WAS VISIBLE TO THE PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA.

Demonstrations have been going on for over a week in mostly very large cities coast to coast and border to border… some of the cable channels have been reporting on these demonstration/looting wall to wall … 24/7.

There is/was some very large protests in London England in Hyde Park. Estimates of the number of people demonstrating has been upwards of tens of thousands in each city.

When the chronic pain community – of an estimated 100 million people – has a rally/protest… and only a few dozen – at most – shows up… how many media outlets report on these rally/protest ?

When a chronic pain pt has their pain therapy reduced or eliminated and they commit suicide or die because their comorbidity issues worsens and they die from “natural causes” or ends up living being house/bed/chair confined… They are INVISIBLE to the public and the media…  Apparently those lost lives have little/no social value or importance to only their immediate family

How many chronic painers have written/called their representatives in Congress about how they are unable to get treatment from a doctor or have been dropped/discharged from a practice only to get a letter back how their member of Congress is really concerned about the OPIATE CRISIS…

The 100 million chronic pain pts are not collectively visible enough that the members of Congress have taken time to create generic paragraphs that their staff can cut/paste into a letter about pts suffering from chronic pain and not able to get adequate treatment.  The community is not even on their radar.

Apparently the community having thousands of FB pages is not getting the attention of anyone that is not in the community.  How many of the estimated 100 million chronic painers are just totally not involved ?

I just wonder when we look back at the end of this year or this time next year. If all of these demonstrations will really make a difference in some police officers using excessive force during arrests ?

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Find independent pharmacy near you click here

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https://youtu.be/Z_aTP-G2wMk

Walgreens Pharmacist Fired For Doing Comedy

I was wrongfully and unjustifiably terminated from Walgreens for doing comedy. Although my new District Manager stated my comedy was gross misconduct, my previous District Managers had no issues with my comedy and members of Walgreen corporate attended my show and loved it. I do not believe I was terminated for comedy!

https://ncpa.org/pharmacy-locator

Find a local independent pharmacy with link above

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Blues plans sue CVS, saying it overcharged them for generic drugs

https://medcitynews.com/2020/05/blues-plans-sue-cvs-saying-it-overcharged-them-for-generic-drugs/

Blues plans in six states filed a lawsuit against CVS, alleging the company inflated the cash prices of its generic drugs. They said CVS sold the drugs to consumers at a lower price using its cash discount program, while charging insurers a higher price.

Six Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurers sued CVS Health on Wednesday, claiming the pharmacy overcharged them for generic drugs. The plaintiffs — which include Blues plans in Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota and Kansas City — said CVS charged them a higher price for generic prescriptions than customers paid in cash.

Pharmacies are supposed to charge insurers the “usual and customary” price for generic medications, determined in a previous lawsuit against Kmart to be the standard cash price paid by customers. The Blues plans would pay the price negotiated by their pharmacy benefit managers for drugs, unless the usual and customary price is lower than that negotiated rate.

The plaintiffs alleged that CVS misrepresented the usual and customary rate for these drugs by offering a much lower price to customers that participated in its cash discount programs. The company began offering its Health Savings Pass program in 2008, which was later transitioned to its Value Prescription Savings Card program.

By paying a $15 membership fee, customers that paid in cash would have access to more than 400 generics at the price of $12 for a three-month supply. According to the complaint, CVS frequently offered the same cash price to customers who were not enrolled in one of these programs.

The prices that the Blues plans were charged for these same medications was “significantly higher” than the cash prices paid by customers, the plaintiffs said. For example, multiple Blues plans reported overpaying for Nadolol, a generic to treat high blood pressure. BCBS of North Carolina reported paying $257 for the drug, while cash-paying customers in the savings program paid $12, according to court documents.

“Third-party payors then reimbursed CVS based on those higher, inflated prices—instead of the actual, lower, prices CVS offered to the general public, including through its Cash Discount Programs,” the complaint stated.

The Blues plans said this not only caused them to overpay for prescription claims, but it also prevented them from getting better drug prices for their members.

In an emailed statement, CVS Health denied the allegations, saying they were “completely without merit.”

“The CVS Pharmacy Health Savings Pass was a membership program intended for customers who either did not have insurance or chose not to use insurance. The Value Prescription Savings Card Program is a prescription drug card offered and administered by a third-party,” the company stated. “Generic drug prices available through these programs were not the usual and customary price charged by CVS Pharmacy, nor the price available to the general public. Neither of these programs were in any way concealed, nor fraudulent.”

The plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief, damages, and an award of twice the amount they were overcharged.

Other pharmacy chains have recently faced similar lawsuits. In 2018, Rite Aid was hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly charging insurers more than it charged customers under its cash membership plans. Walgreens faced a class action lawsuit for similar allegations that year.

Yesterday I picked up a Rx for one of Barb’s meds – 90 day supply – and the copay was $0.00. This year our part D is with Humana… Looking back to last year when we had Silver Scripts/Caremark – owned by CVS Health – the copay on this particular med ranged from $3 to $9 – depending if we had it filled in Indiana or in Florida – when we were at our condo.

Maybe this can explain how CVS reported a 8% increase in gross revenue and a 48% increase in net profits for 1st quarter 2020 vs 2019.  I don’t have a MBA but I owned/ran several of my own business for 20+yrs and have been buying stocks for twenty years and it highly unusual for a mature company – CVS has been in business for 60 yrs – to be able to increase their bottom line – as a percent -about FIVE TIMES what their gross revenue increased.

I also find it interesting that the three largest chain pharmacies have all been accused and sued for similar “bad behaviors” now and in the past.

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