CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS
AUSA WAYNE PRATT
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WHEN BADGES AND GUNS DICTATE YOUR HEALTHCARE: DEA A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, REFORMED OR BE DISBAND
Posted on January 19, 2024 by Norman Clement
Overdose Death Notices Plus Guidance Sink Opioid Prescribing
Posted on January 18, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
The typical toxicology of a person who OD’d contained 4-7 different substances, one typically being the drug ALCOHOL. When was the last time an opioid was prescribed/filled by a particular person? And did that opioid show up in the OD’s toxicology? According to Wikipedia, there are over 1000 fentanyl analogs and it has been reported that China & Mex cartels are selling Fentanyl acetate on the street, not the Fentanyl citrate that is the FDA-approved analog. Using the descriptive OPIOID is a very broad brush to describe an OD or poisoning while obscuring the details of the OD/poisoning. In reading this article, I get the sense of a lot of “smoke & mirrors” or watching a magician make something appear or disappear. It is like we often see where a “study” is so designed to validate a preconceived conclusion.
Overdose Death Notices Plus Guidance Sink Opioid Prescribing
Doctors who were told about deaths and given planning prompts wrote fewer opioid scripts
https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/opioids/108282
Physicians who received a letter from a medical examiner about a patient’s fatal overdose — along with suggested guidance for future visits for pain — prescribed fewer opioids, according to a cluster randomized controlled trial.
Doctors who received the death notice plus guidance had a drop in weekly morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) pre- to post-intervention (157.81 to 77.05), according to Jason Doctor, PhD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and colleagues.
While physicians who only got a death notice also saw a decline in weekly MMEs (157.70 to 103.16), those with the death notice plus guidance letter had a 12.85% greater decline in opioid prescribing (P<0.001), Doctor and colleagues reported in Nature Communicationsopens in a new tab or window.
“Providing physicians a simple plan that will guide them at a patient visit appears to help temper their use of these drugs,” Doctor said in a press release. “This represents a promising approach to reducing fatal drug overdoses, one that is both affordable and scalable.”
Doctor and colleagues noted that previous workopens in a new tab or window showed that notifying physicians by mail when a patient died of an opioid overdose helped diminish opioid prescribing. But they wanted to know whether adding “planning prompts” — concrete actions that can be triggered by a specific set of circumstances — could reduce this prescribing even further.
“For example, a physician might better use the information in the letter, if the letter guidance urges them to implement steps at the visit, such as discussing alternative pain management strategies or consulting with a pain management or addiction specialist for evaluation and care,” the researchers wrote.
To conduct the trial, Doctor and colleagues randomized 541 clinicians in Los Angeles County to receive either a standard letter about the patient’s death (n=284) or the letter with guidance (n=257).
Participants were included because they prescribed schedule II-IV drugs within the prior year to a patient who died of an overdose where opioids were a primary or contributing cause. Overall, 316 deaths from late October 2018 to late May 2020 were included.
Both physician groups received a letter signed by the examiner-coroner informing them of their patient’s opioid-related overdose death and information about judicious prescription practices. The intervention group additionally received an “if/when-then” plan that explained alternative ways to handle patients who needed pain treatment. The letters were sent monthly between April 4, 2019, and July 8, 2020.
In addition to greater declines in opioid prescribing, doctors who received the additional “if/when-then” plan also had greater declines in benzodiazepine prescribing, with an 8.32% reduction in weekly diazepam milligram equivalents (P<0.001).
The study was limited because it may not be generalizable outside of Los Angeles County, the largest county in the U.S., and by its small sample size. It examined a short-term effect and did not follow up to determine any effects on patient outcomes.
Also, the intervention reached only prescribers with a death in their practice, though the researchers emphasized those clinicians were likely most in need of the intervention.
They called for further research “to confirm the results, examine the long-term effects of the intervention, and explore its potential effects on patient outcomes.”
Doctor added that the study “is part of an evolution toward better understanding how to enact behavior change among physicians whose patients have suffered negative consequences from care by the medical community.”
The typical toxicology of a person who OD’d contained 4-7 different substances, one typically being the drug ALCOHOL. When was the last time a opioid prescribed/filled by the particular person? And did that opioid show up in the OD’s toxicology. According to wikipedia there is over 1000 fentanyl analogs and it has been reported that China & Mex cartels are selling Fentanyl acetate on the street, not the Fentanyl citrate that is the FDA approved analog. Using the descriptive OPIOID is a very broad brush to describe a OD or poisoning while obscuring the details of the OD/poisoning. In reading this article, I get the sense of a lot of “smoke & mirrors” or watching a magician make something appear or disappear. It is like we often see where a “study” is so designed to validate a preconceived conclusion.
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Pain Upon Pain
Posted on January 16, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
https://www.daily-remedy.com/pain-upon-pain/#comment-8491
In an era of continuous medical breakthroughs, it’s disheartening to see a significant segment of the population, specifically those enduring severe, chronic, intractable pain, living in fear of the very institutions designed to alleviate their suffering. These patients, living with relentless pain, amidst a myriad of health complications of serious illnesses which cause Intractable Pain Disease, often find themselves trapped in a healthcare paradox.
Person A: “You need to go to the hospital now!”
Person B: “That’s not happening. I can’t and won’t allow them to treat me… rather mistreat me like that again.”
Person A: “This is absolutely ridiculous! You’re peeing blood and your screams are bone-chilling. Are you passing kidney stones again?”
Person B: “Look, I’m sorry; I’m not going to go through that again! I believe I have better chances of survival at home, and without the mistreatment.”
Person A: “So, you’re just going to stay here, endure this pain, risk sepsis, and not even get examined?”
Person B: “And if it is? Who’s going to help me? I’ve done a home urine test. I don’t have a fever. There are no white blood cells or nitrites present; but there’s a lot of blood, severe burning sensation, nausea, and a significant amount of protein in my urine. We know I’ve had a total hysterectomy, so it’s not menstruation. So, who can say for sure?”
Person A: “A medical professional could.”
Person B: “I’m struggling to not puke on your shoes, as these things rip through me, let alone tolerate your nonsense.”
Person A: “My nonsense? I’m just trying to help you!”
Person B: “If there’s no improvement by tomorrow, I’ll consider scheduling an appointment with my gynecologist. But don’t expect to see me in a hospital, ever again. It’s pain upon pain, and from what I’ve observed, endured, and heard, I’m starting to believe it’s deliberate.”
Person A: “It’s unbearable to see you suffering like this! You really should seek immediate medical attention! What’s wrong with that?”
Person B: “You wouldn’t understand.”
Person A: “Well, I’ll try to understand, if you could at least try to explain!”
Person B: “Even if I explain it to you, I doubt you’ll understand, and I’m hurting badly, but okay: I’m scared.”
Person A: “You’re, you’re scared? You? Scared?”
Person B: “Yes, very much so.”
Person A: “What exactly are you scared of? They are there to help you and to treat you, they’re not going to harm you!”
Person B: “I knew you wouldn’t understand, and I’m honestly glad you don’t. Unfortunately, most people don’t get it until they get it. And ‘treat you’ is right… ‘treat you’ like garbage.”
Person A: “Are you sure it’s not something you’ve done or said? Did you give them a reason to treat you the way that they did?”
Person B: “Yes, I’m positive. Wait! I did commit two offenses, now that you ask. When they asked me what my pain level was, I told them the truth, that it was a nine, and that is now used against me. I committed the offenses of being in pain and telling the truth. My chart is forever marred. My back is killing me! It’s on top of the Adhesive Arachnoiditis and Ehler’s Danlo’s and Chiari and CRPS pain. It feels like someone has punched me in my kidneys. It feels like it’s ripping through me, like the last time. I can’t believe all this blood. My God, this is so painful.”
Person A: “Exactly my point. You need to get to the hospital. I’m calling an ambulance.”
Person B: “Go ahead, it won’t do any good; I’m not going. Besides, they would take me to one of the two worst hospitals in the area. Then, as always, bumpily transport me to yet another low-rated hospital, while strapped down to a painful wooden stretcher for over 9 hours while being cleared for acute trauma to the brain and neck. “Why”, you ask? The two facilities that the ambulance would take you to will gladly inform you, after charging you an exorbitant fee, that they are not equipped to treat you or manage your conditions. Consequently, you must be transported to a “more advanced” hospital.
If you have any doubts, I suggest you check their many reviews while we wait.
And by waiting, I don’t mean waiting for the ambulance or in the waiting room.
I mean waiting for these kidney stones to pass, right here at home.”
As they pass, the thoughts run wild:
“While we wait for the new generation of healthcare professionals, who have unfortunately been influenced by the PROPagenda/PROPaganda that has spread across the nation (and the world), all in the name of preventing addiction or overdose, to awaken to this harsh reality. I fully support efforts to prevent addiction and overdose, but I have a question for those implementing these policies. Since the production cuts of FDA-approved medications which treat severe pain for not only chronic pain patients but also palliative care patients, cancer patients, children with sickle cell anemia, and patients with painful, chronic, rare diseases, cuts upwards of 85%, to prevent people from becoming addicted or overdosing: how is that working out for you?”
My real question is: How is that working out for the patients that you have left in the lurch?
Also, is it true that the number of people suffering from addiction and overdoses has indeed seen a drastic increase, contrary to the “hoped-for” decline? This increase has occurred even after cuts in the production of certain medicines commonly blamed as the cause for addiction, yes?
Consider the combat veteran grandparent who had been on a stable dose of 10 milligrams of hydrocodone QID for over 20 years. They were able to take care of their grandchildren, bake Christmas cookies, write out their Christmas cards, cook for Thanksgiving, garden, walk, attend church, and enjoy all their generations of grandchildren. Remember this grandmother who had no cardiac complications! And to prevent her from becoming “addicted,” her treatment was quickly halted. Not only was it halted, but it was halted in a way that went against even the CDC’s own guidelines of not tapering at a rate faster than 10% per month. She wasn’t tapered at all. She was forced to discontinue that medication abruptly. Three days later, she went into cardiac arrest and was not able to be resuscitated.
Consider the child born with sickle cell anemia who was able to fully engage in life and be an active part of their lives and the lives of those around them. Yet, their medicines were taken away from them, drastically and quickly, and without regard for the consequences. They were forced to discontinue the very medicine that took the edge off of the pain just enough that they could focus on playing with their friends and enjoying meals with their family. Now, they are bedridden, constantly crying, and in a fetal position. To add insult to injury, these medicines were replaced with NSAIDs, which are now causing bleeding and erosion of the stomach lining and duodenum, and the pain remains uncontrolled and unstable.
Consider the cancer patient who wanted to continue her career, but the bone pain was so severe that she could barely walk. After being slowly titrated up to a level of adequate pain relief, she was finally able to begin a journey of healing and recovery; and also embrace life, enjoy the company of her family members, and was an active member of her community. That is, until the 2016 CDC guidelines, (which were supposed to be rewritten in 2022 and have some type of positive impact on patients, not profiteers), and despite a 9 to zero Supreme Court ruling in favor of Ruan vs. the United States of America, her medicines were still forcefully discontinued.
She died two months later, at the age of 57.
What was her crime?
What did she do to deserve that death sentence?
Turns out she never had so much as a traffic violation.
There’s that word.
Traffic.
Is this the crux of the matter? Our doctors are now supposed to be police and our police are now supposed to be practicing medicine, right?
Certainly – let’s delve deeper into this:
Our empathetic and dedicated doctors are faced with a challenging task, and one they didn’t sign up for: discerning those who might misuse their prescribed medications. This is a complex issue, considering that the vast majority, likely over 99% of patients, would never contemplate misusing their medicines. These patients understand the invaluable role these medications play in their treatment protocols, often serving as a life-preserving component.
However, there’s a more sinister undertone at play.
Have the masses been deceived to the point where they can’t discern the truth? Or have they been so inundated with falsehoods that they continue to accept the lies as truth?
BLAME GAME
It’s no secret that we have a drug overdose epidemic, particularly lately is an Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl and Heroin/Methamphetamine – epidemic in this world. Are the true origins and reasons for this epidemic known, or is there a blame game being played? Is there a misinformation epidemic, as well? Are members of opposite “sides” sleeping in the same bed together?
Let’s discuss Fentanyl for a moment. It’s considered Public Enemy #1, correct?
If we’re referring to *illicitly* manufactured Fentanyl, often laced with “who knows what”, and oftentimes carfentanyl, then yes, it alongside other killers like methamphetamines are (partially) Public Enemy #1. Or should it be termed Public Enemy #1.5, considering the other enemies are those distributing it on our streets, inundating our nations with it, and killing our loved ones? If I were to tell you it’s a war on people, not a war on drugs, you’d likely not believe me. If I told you addiction isn’t caused by drugs, you’d not believe me, again. We’ll save that subject for the experts and for another time.
Situations become particularly frightening and complex when patients can’t articulate their pain, waking up only to vomit and lose consciousness again due to the excruciating pain, especially after a motor-vehicle accident – and they’re assumed to have overdosed, and often medically treated for overdose, without confirmation or evidence of such. Assumptions can be fatal.
In a medical context, Fentanyl and other medicines like it can be lifesavers. It’s used in many situations and circumstances, such as: cancer, severe car accidents, surgeries, and is particularly beneficial for patients requiring intubation, to name a few. Yet, when illicitly manufactured and distributed, it becomes a menace, flooding our streets and causing untold harm, ILLICIT fentanyl is indeed killing more than any of us really know, factually.
This brings us back to the crux of the matter, highlighting the complexity and multi-faceted nature of this issue. It’s not just about medical protocols or patient behavior, but also about larger systemic issues that need to be addressed, and by the appropriate people.
While we acknowledge the invaluable role of medications like Fentanyl in medical treatments and medical facilities, we must also realize and confront the darker aspects of its misuse and illicit distribution. There are agencies for that. And if medicine needs to be practiced, that is supposed to be done by qualified health care professionals…yet there’s a hazy gray line that seems to be between the two.
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Mostly peaceful demonstrators
Posted on January 15, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
HOW THE DEA FABRICATED THEIR GRAND OPIOID PANDEMIC AND PILL MILL SCAM: WHY BOTH DIRECTOR ANN MILGRAM AND AG MERRICK GARLAND MUST STEP DOWN
Posted on January 14, 2024 by Norman Clement
DEA DIRECTOR ANNE MILGRAM: The concept of “pre-crime,” once relegated to science fiction, has taken on a chilling reality in contemporary law enforcement practices. In a thought-provoking article titled “Pre-Crime” and the Danger of “Risk Assessments” authored by Paul J. Hetznecker, the issue of “pre-crime” and the utilization of “risk assessments” by law enforcement is brought to the forefront.
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“OPIOIDGATE:” U.S. DEA TARGETING BASED ON FAULTY SOFTWARE GLITCHES RESEMBLING BRITIAIN’S POSTAL SCANDAL: MILGRAM MUST STEP DOWN
Posted on January 14, 2024 by Norman Clement
BRITAIN’S POSTAL SCANDAL BASED ON FLAWED PROGRAMING RESULTED IN A MAJOR MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE TO POST OFFICE WORKERS
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Here’s Why Drug Stores Are Closing In Minority Neighborhoods: Walgreens, CVS, And Rite Aid Shutter More Than 1,000
Posted on January 14, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
This report is a SORT OF MISS LEADING! The two highest-scoring pharmacies ( Good Neighbor Pharmacy & Health Mart) are not chains, in the truest sense. They are both Franchisees and are owned/operated by local pharmacists. Many are independent Pharmacists who converted their independent pharmacy into a franchisee of these pharmacy franchisors corporations. This is just another validation of why I always recommend that pts patronize an independent pharmacy.
The two largest pharmacy chains showed up 4th & 5th on the list with scores that were even LOWER than the average score for all chain pharmacies. In third place is Rite Aid, who is/has filed for BANKRUPTCY. In 2017 they sold off about half of their stores to Walgreens. In 2019 they had a 20:1 REVERSE STOCK SPLIT, to keep from their stock (RAD) from being taken off ( delisted) the NYSE and their stock price grew to $32.48 in late 2020. Their stock closed Friday (01/12/2024) at $0.46/share, and the DEA is “going after” Rite Aid over a handful of their Pharmacists claiming that their stores were https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/united-states-files-complaint-alleging-rite-aid-dispensed-controlled-substances and yet has a higher customer/pt satisfaction score than the two largest chain pharmacies ( Walgreens & CVS).
The satisfaction score of the two largest chain pharmacies fell below the AVERAGE SCORE for the entire category of Brick & Mortar – chain drug stores. Walgreens used to claim: 
I guess it is no longer correct if you are 4th in a satisfaction survey. Here is a link to find an independent pharmacy by zip code and radius https://ncpa.org/pharmacy-locator
Here’s Why Drug Stores Are Closing In Minority Neighborhoods: Walgreens, CVS, And Rite Aid Shutter More Than 1,000
A spate of pharmacy closings in Boston have drawn protests as more than 1,000 drug store chain locations across the country have closed, reigniting long standing concerns that low-income, Black and Latino Americans are bearing the brunt as pharmacies continue to disappear amid increased competition and other factors.
Key Facts
Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS have, over the last two years, said they’ll close more than 1,500 stores, the Washington Post reported, and experts say minority communities will likely be the first to lose pharmacy access.
The large chains have struggled in recent years—Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October, Walgreens stock plunged last week after the company cut its quarterly dividend and CVS has cut more than 1,100 stores since 2018—amid greater competition from Amazon and WalMart, and staffing shortages, according to the Washington Post.
Thousands of independent pharmacies have also been forced out of the market in the last decade.
Research conducted in 2022 by Cornell and Yale University scientists found of the 670 pharmacy deserts in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston, all but three were found in predominantly minority neighborhoods.
Crucial Quote
“In Chicago, almost a third to a quarter of the population lives in a pharmacy desert and, if you look at people who live in predominantly Black neighborhoods, that’s more than half of the people living in those neighborhoods,” Xiaohan Ying, lead author of the 2022 paper, told Fobres.
News Peg
Walgreens has postponed the closure of a location in the city’s Roxbury neighborhood, where Black and Latino residents make up 85.4% of the population, until Jan. 31 following protests from residents, the Boston Globe reported Friday. The closure comes months after the company closed stores in Mattapan, Hyde Park and Lower Roxbury—also majority non-white neighborhoods. There are 18 Walgreens stores in Boston, according to the Globe, but only those in minority neighborhoods have closed in the last few years.
Key Background
In the last few years, all of the country’s major pharmacy chains have announced store closures. CVS will complete the closure of 1,124 stores by the end of this year, Walgreens in June said it would close 450 of its locations across the country by August and Rite Aid’s bankruptcy filing came with announcements of almost 200 store closures. Rite Aid said the stores that were closing are those that have underperformed, and Walgreens said in a statement to Forbes that factors like “existing footprint of stores, dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers” are why some locations close. CVS, which plans to close 300 stores this year, similarly said in a statement locations are chosen based on “local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.” In some cases, “rampant” theft has been blamed for the store’s closures. In October of 2021, Walgreens announced it would close five San Francisco stores, including one in the historically Latino Mission District. But Walgreens’ chief financial officer last Janruary admitted that the company exaggerated the claims of retail theft when it relied on the excuse to close the San Francisco stores. The claims fueled rightwing anger over a rise in crime before Kehoe said on an earnings call that the company maybe “cried too much” about retail shrinkage.
Contra
Jenny Guadamuz, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, said the stores that close are almost always in Black or Latino communities. Because minority communities are more likely to have residents on public healthcare programs like Medicaid, which sees a lower medication reimbursement rate than many private insurers, it’s likely true those stores are often a cost burden when compared to others, Guadamuz said. “What they care about is maximizing profits for their shareholders,” she said. “They’ll make any excuse to close lower-profit stores, which are in these Black and Latino communities.”
Tangent
Rite Aid in late 2022 debuted the first of its small-format stores it says exist to combat pharmacy deserts in communities. The chain has opened several stores so far—which take up about 3,000 square feet instead of the usual 11,000 to 15,000—in rural Virginia.”They are strategically placed in areas that don’t have nearby access to pharmacy-related health care services,” Rite Aid said in a statement to Forbes.
Surprising Fact
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that those without easy access to pharmacies are more likely to fall behind on taking medications and see more medical problems than they likely would have with equitable access, “adding costs to the already overwhelmed health care system.” Those without access to medications join the estimated 9 million Americans who aren’t taking their prescription drugs as prescribed for a number of reasons, including a lack of health insurance and overall cost of medicine. Non-adherence to recommended medication schedules is estimated to cost the United States between $100 billion and $290 billion per year.
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Missing organ mystery: Alabama inmates’ remains returned without a heart | Banfield
Posted on January 13, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
The bodies of two men who died while incarcerated in Alabama’s prison system were returned to their families missing their hearts and other organs, according to a federal lawsuit. Joseph Scott Morgan, a professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, joins “Banfield” to discuss.
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When healthcare providers end up really being healthcare deniers
Posted on January 13, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
I got the email below on Jan 1, 2024. This pt’s story is not a unique issue. Another example of bureaucrats and politicians attempting to “solve” our fabricated opioid crisis by creating a “one size fits all” on pain management.
After having this blog for 12-13 yrs, I have developed a fairly sizeable network of chronic pain pts, chronic pain advocates, and numerous healthcare practitioners. I shared this woman’s email with a couple of select people that I believed might be able to STEP UP. And one did:
When a pt’s long term medical records mean nothing when seeing a new practitioner
When everything seemed to start to fall into place for this young lady. This young lady’s pharmacist and the mid-level practitioner who was forcing her to reduce her pain meds had to step in to make sure that things were not going to change the way that this mid-level practitioner wanted things to happen. Here is a video this young lady sent that she personally explains what has happened.
Hi Steve,
I have sent you my story before. I am a single disabled palliative care sick patient in Maine. In September of 2021, my doctor and I were targeted by the assistant attorney general, Michael Miller. We think it was for 2 reasons-he was very effective at getting patients disability, testings, procedures, equipment, etc and because I require a high dose of opiates to physically and mentally function. Dr. Lommler believes Michael Miller made a deal with the insurance companies and profited somehow for taking him out. Michael Miller used at least 2 agencies to target, harass, and destroy us. They suspended Dr. Lommler’s license for going over the 100 MME limit on my prescription. However, Maine has a palliative care exemption that allows people (like me) to have access to opiates for pain control and disease treatment options. It also allows us to go over the 100 MME limit. They refused to lift the suspension unless he transferred to a “board approved” facility. He chose to retire because he wanted to stay at his independent office with his 200 complicated and unique patients. They gave neither one of us any due-process! They used backdoor methods and I believe they were illegal! There was a covering LNP seeing me for a year. We tried to find a doctor everywhere in Maine to see me but because of the Opiate Task Force and doctors getting red-flagged for going over the 100 MME limit and being dragged in front of the board, no one would see me. I was forced to transition to the hospital where all of my specialists are. You see, Maine and New Hampshire were the 2 states prescribing the most Opiates so they created a New England Opiate Task Force and sent them to work with the Governor Mill’s administration to red-flag doctors prescribing over the 100 MME limit and drag them in front of the board of medicine! They have forced independent providers to either retire or transfer to a “board approved” facility. These “board approved” facilities all have anti-opiate one-size-fits-all policies. The hospital that I am at has an anti-opiate provider masquerading as a “pain specialist.” She believes Opiates are life threatening and dangerous to everyone. She is force tapering me off all my pain medication! I am complicated and unique-I have multiple health conditions. I had an original medical nightmare that left me with life altering physical deformities and severe debilitating pain. I have Crohn’s disease, vitamin and bone deficiencies, and neuropathy-all of these cause malabsorption so I have to take double doses of all of my medication! I cannot have the conventional pain management treatments because I am allergic to everything and sensitive to anything and I have a prosthetic heart valve. I have Scoliosis and severe Osteoporosis with dangerously low Scores. I am 46 in an 86 year old’s body.
They are stereotyping anyone on opiates as addicts and forcing them off pain medication. The only option they give you is Suboxone-I cannot take this because the side effects would be catastrophic to my body. I had nothing but recovery and progress with my 8 1/2 year stable pain regimen. I was able to semi function independently with a decent quality of life. Since this provider has been force tapering me, I can no longer function independently at all and I have zero quality of life! According to Maine’s own definition and standards, what this facility and provider are doing to me is disability abuse! I tried to contact patient services for an advocate but was told there wasn’t one. The woman I spoke with for 2 minutes, asked me what my concerns were. I explained to her what was happening to me. 2 days later I received a letter stating my concerns were forwarded to the Medical Director and Operations Manager and they agree with the provider force tapering me. They also said there was no medical justification for my pain medication. I filed a public accommodation discrimination complaint with the Maine’s Human Rights Commission but haven’t heard a word since intake months ago! The letter gave an 800 number to call if you disagreed with their decision. It was the board of licensure telling you to submit a complaint. I already filed a complaint with the board of medicine and nurses months ago. So, you have to go to the same people that are red-flagging and harassing doctors going over the 100 MME limit. I won’t hold my breath! These are the same people that asked Dr. Lommler how he didn’t know that I was taking half of my pain medication and selling the other half! Dr. Lommler provided them with 7 1/2 years worth of passed urine screens and passed frequent random pill counts! I wasn’t even allowed to attend or participate into the investigation into my opiate use-I could’ve answered that question myself-I have never misused my pain medication! In fact, I did everything that I was supposed to do! How in the world can I trust they will help me!
Since this provider has been forcing me off my pain medication, I have had sky high blood pressures-202/129, severe bloody noses, I have been discharged from aquatic therapy-which I needed to get into my Crow Walker boot, I am completely dependent on my sons, I have had to quit tutoring for supplemental income, I can no longer walk on my crutches so I am trapped in my wheelchair, and I cannot mentally or physically function! My counselor and former providers have tried talking with this provider but she refuses to listen because she knows best. I had to spend my Christmas in the ER and I am now watching my right leg and foot do exactly what my left leg and foot did in my original medical nightmare. When my body is in severe stress, my multiple conditions play off of one another and wreak havoc on my body. Last time, the severe stress was an allergic reaction to hardware (we didn’t know why at the time, it took years to figure it out). This time, it is force tapering my pain medication! This time, it’s the providers choice to force taper me because of her personal feelings about a medication! Medical providers are supposed to do what is in the best interest of the patient, not what is in the best interest of their personal feelings! I have cellulitis in my right leg and foot with ulcers everywhere! I maintain my left leg and foot with Cuban for compression. I tried to wrap my right leg and foot but it’s not used to being wrapped, and I get continuous Charley Horses. They are intolerable with all of my pain medication being taken away! I have severe PTSD and zero trust in doctors from my original medical nightmare! I never ever wanted to go back to that sick person trapped in a wheelchair, I thought I left it behind for ever! This time, I don’t have a heart valve to lose! I am petrified and profoundly devastated because I worked so hard for 8 1/2 years to recover and progress and now that has been destroyed! I see people helping doctors that have been arrested but what about people, like me, who have been targeted, harassed, discriminated against, and literally going through disability abuse-who tells our story and helps us?
My counselor gave me a brochure for adult protective services and she told me to call because what they are doing to me is discrimination and disability abuse. I called and the lady said there is no process for this situation. She told me that it does qualify but the only thing I can do is file a complaint with the board of medicine and nurses because they are the only entities that have authority and jurisdiction over medical providers. I told her that I already filed complaints but it will take months because they only meet one day a month! I told her my body won’t make it that long and I asked her, “what if I die in the meantime?” She said, “let’s hope it doesn’t come to that but good luck!” WHAT? It’s like a nightmare that I cannot wake up from! I have contacted every politician in Maine and asked for their help. Crickets…I requested assistance from Governor Mills but she doesn’t even think she has to answer to her constituents. I have reached out to every volunteer lawyer’s projects and disability rights groups but they all claim no to have the resources to help me. I have documented, taken pictures, recorded videos, screenshot messages from my portal between her and I, audio recorded my video appointments exposing her discrimination and disability abuse! I cannot find an attorney in Maine to help me. This provider only saw me one time in person! She never looked at any areas causing my pain, she’s not monitoring my vitals or everything that is happening to me, she doesn’t even have the correct MRI’s-she’s going by a 2008 one when I was a normal person and could walk on my own, and she’s retaliating against me for filing a complaint! I need help and I don’t know where or who to go to! I even have an appointment with cancer care, January 23rd. I have MGUS and the blood work markers and symptoms all point to it turning into Multiple Myeloma. I asked her to please pause the force taper until I can get into my appointment. She said, “Oxycodone will not cure Multiple Myeloma so the force taper will continue!” How cruel is that!
I was hoping that you may have some direction or advice to help me. If I knew how to file a civil lawsuit against the hospital and provider, I would do it myself. Since September of 2021, I have had to be my own advocate, case manager, and attorney!
I already missed about 6 years of my sons’ lives because of my original medical nightmare! I can do no physical activity without my pain medication! I really don’t think my body will make it through this force taper! Opiates are literally life saving for me! They knew that I wouldn’t be able to find another doctor to see me and Michael Miller and the board of medicine took 2 doctors from me! The provider force tapering me filed a complaint against the LNP that saw me for a year. In it, she said that she felt compelled because Kaye endangered my life by prescribing these life threatening and dangerous medications. She also accused me of bribing Kaye in her complaint. That is ludicrous-I have never bribed anyone! Kaye made it very clear in her response that no one forced or bribed her. She also made it clear that I was the only patient she ever prescribed narcotics for in her entire medical career! I have been accused of selling half of my pain medication and bribing doctors! I am a law abiding Mainer and American just trying to live my life!
Thank you for taking your time to read my email. You can reach me any time at xxx.xxx.xxxx
Filed under: General Problems | 4 Comments »
When a pt’s long term medical records mean nothing when seeing a new practitioner
Posted on January 13, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve
This is a very sad story about a 46 y/o female whose practitioner of 8 yrs who retired apparently because of his employer deciding how he was to practice medicine and treat pts. Eventually, she was “passed off ” to a mid-level practitioner who started her on a forced reduction of her opioids, and of course, her overall QOL started deteriorating.
Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »
“He told me they were going to m-rder my family while I was at work.”
2021. I was in Portland, Oregon working alongside those desperately trying to hold the #thinblueline – having flown out with a camera crew to show what was REALLY happening.
I was speaking with one of the officers who had worked nearly 100 nights straight on the front line of the riots.
I asked him if it was really as bad as we’d been reporting on.
“No,” he said.
“REALLY!?!?!” I asked.
“It’s so much worse than you can ever imagine,” he told me.
He then shared with me the story about how while he was standing there in the middle of a riot one night, one of these (mostly peaceful?) protestors came up to him, smiling and laughing.
The officer asked what was so funny.
That’s why the guy pulled out a picture of that officer’s wife and kids – on the front lawn of the family’s house.
“One day when you’re at work, we’re going to r-pe and m-rder your wife and kids” he told the officer, before disappearing back into the crowd.”
These are the stories you’ll never hear in the media. These are the reasons why we do at Law Enforcement Today.
And so when trolls on here tell me what we shouldn’t talk about policing or crime or law and order or #lawenforcement on here, my response is simple: we will continue to give them a voice – because if ANYONE deserves it as much as a “sales associate” or a “consultant” – it’s those who protect our country every single day.
REPOST for awareness and so that people can see the TRUTH about what’s happening in this world.