2017 in review … what killed us

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

Today is 10/18/2018.. who will not be here tomorrow

2016 in review … what killed us

6775 Americans will die EVERY DAY – from various reasons

2700 people  WILL ATTEMPT SUICIDE

140 will be SUCCESSFUL – including 20 veterans

270 will die from hospital acquired antibiotic resistant “bug” because staff won’t properly wash hands and/or proper infection control.

350 will die from their use/abuse of the drug ALCOHOL

1200 will die from their use/abuse of the drug NICOTINE

1400 will contract C-DIF from Hospital or Nursing home because staff doesn’t properly wash their hands are adhere to infection control  

80 WILL DIE  – mostly elderly.

850 will die from OBESITY

700 will die from medical errors

150 will die from Flu/Pneumonia

80 will die from Homicide

80 will die in car accidents

70 From ALL DRUG ABUSE

 

http://www.romans322.com/daily-death-rate-statistics.php

Here is the list from the end of 2016 if interested in comparing
United States of America
RealTime
CURRENT DEATH TOLL
from Jan 1, 2017 – Dec 31, 2017 (11:36:39 AM)

Abortion*: 1090465
Heart Disease: 613479
Cancer: 590862
Tobacco: 349505
Obesity: 306566
Medical Errors: 251098
Stroke: 132915
Lower Respiratory Disease: 142741
Accident (unintentional): 135861
Hospital Associated Infection: 98860
Alcohol: 99859
Diabetes: 76380
Alzheimer’s Disease: 93409
Influenza/Pneumonia: 55149
Kidney Failure: 42702
Blood Infection: 33417
Suicide: 42713
Drunk Driving: 33760
Unintentional Poisoning: 31713
All Drug Abuse: 24970
Homicide: 16775
Prescription Drug Overdose: 14979
Murder by gun: 11477
Texting while Driving: 5981
Pedestrian: 4993
Drowning: 3909
Fire Related: 3495
Malnutrition: 2768
Domestic Violence: 1458
Smoking in Bed: 779
Falling out of Bed: 598
Killed by Falling Tree: 149
Lawnmower: 68
Spontaneous Combustion: 0

Totals of all categories are based upon past trends documented below.

Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus15.pdf#019
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/graphs/graphs.htm
http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm
http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/m0052833/m0052833.asp
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/Pedestrian_Safety/factsheet.html
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=953
http://www.dvrc-or.org/domestic/violence/resources/C61/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562978,00.html
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/781687/john-james-a-new-evidence-based-estimate-of.pdf
 

I am being completely weaned off my meds, & suspect I will kill myself with the amount of pain I am in, & will be by the time this is over (the wean that is). Already can’t function.

My husband committed suicide after being abandoned by his pain dr.

Please pray for me as I am on the brink of suicide! I don’t want to die but can’t handle the pain anymore! The doctor that I am currently seeing will not give me enough pills to last all month every month… I have to wait until Oct to get in with a pain management doctor whom I already know by others that I know sees this doctor that he will help me, need prayer to hold on until oct… I keep thinking of my family who needs me hear.

“We just lost another intractable member of our support group two nights ago. She committed suicide because her medications were taken away for interstitial cystitis (a horribly painful bladder condition) and pudendal neuralgia, both of which she had battled for years

D D., journalist and prescribed fentanyl patient for a dozen years joined me on air last weekend with her husband and spoke of her suicide plan should the only relief from constant agony be heavily reduced or taken away.

I was told last Friday that my Dr. will be tapering my meds again . When I told him I didn’t think my body could take another lowering he stated ” it wasn’t my
License on the line”, I stated ” no , but it’s my life on the line”!!!!! I can not continue to live this way . I can not continue to suffer in agony when my medications and dose where working just fine before and I was a productive member of society . I can no longer take this. I have a plan in place to end my life myself When I am forced to reduce my Medications again . I just can’t do it anymore .

On Friday at around 9 p.m. U.S. Navy veteran Kevin Keller parked his red pickup truck in the parking lot at the Wytheville Rite-Aid, walked across the grass and stood in front of the U.S. Veterans Community Based Outpatient Clinic next door.

Sick and tired of being in pain, he pulled out a gun, shot a hole in the office door, aimed the gun barrel at his head and ended his hurt once and for all.

As a longterm pain patient with a current unsupportive pain dr, I just thought I’d share the reality of the position I’m in right now…

I’m in very bad pain all the time for very legit and well documented reasons. My pain dr however never gives me enough meds to help me. He just keeps reducing them, which is causing me to be in even more pain and suffer so much more. My quality of life also continues to go downhill at the same time. I was just given a letter by him recently too about some study indicating an increase in deaths if you take opioids and benzos. It stated he’s no longer going to give pain meds to anyone who is taking a benzo. I take one, because I have to, for a seizure disorder, not because I want to. He told me to pick one or the other though, plus went ahead and reduced my pain meds some more. He doesn’t seem to care the least bit. I’ve looked hard and so far I can’t find another one to get in to see near me at this time, but I’m desperately still trying. Unfortunately, they’re few and far between here, in addition to the wait for an appointment being long. I’ve even called hospice for help. So far, they haven’t been of much help either, because I don’t have a dr who will say I have six months or less to live. I told them either choice my pain dr is giving me is very inhumane, so I’d rather just quit eating and drinking, to the point where I pass away from that, while I get some kind of comfort care from them. I don’t really want to though, although I do have a long list of some very bad health problems, including a high probability that I have cancer and it’s spread. Am I suicidal? No. Will I be if my pain and seizure meds are taken away. Highly likely. I never ever saw this coming either. I don’t have a clue what to do and the clock is ticking, but I’m still fighting for an answer. So far, I can’t find not even one dr to help me though. Not one. I know my life depends on it, but at what point will these drs let my suffering become so inhumane that I just can’t take it anymore. I just don’t know right now. It’s a very scary place to be in for sure. That I do know.

The patient was being denied the medicine that had been alleviating his pain and committed suicide because, “he couldn’t live with the pain anymore. He could not see a future. He had no hope. He had no life.”

I am a chronic pain patient who has been on fairly high doses of opiates for about nine years now. My dose has been forcibly reduced since the cdc guidelines. I moved to Oregon from Alaska and can’t find a doctor to prescribe my medication. I pray I have the strength not to take my own life!

Zach Williams of Minnesota  committed suicide at age 35. He was a veteran of Iraq and had experienced back pain and a brain injury from his time in service. He had treated his pain with narcotics until the VA began reducing prescriptions.

Ryan Trunzo committed suicide at the age of 26. He was an army veteran of Iraq. He had experienced fractures in his back for which he tried to get effective painkillers, but failed due to VA policy. His mother stated “I feel like the VA took my son’s life.”

Kevin Keller, a Navy veteran, committed suicide at age 52. He shot v after breaking into the house of his friend, Marty Austin, to take his gun. Austin found a letter left by Keller saying “Marty sorry I broke into your house and took your gun to end the pain!” Keller had experienced a stroke 11 years earlier, and he had worsening pain in the last two years of his life because VA doctors would not give him pain medicine. On the subject of pain medication, Austin said that Keller “was not addicted. He needed it.”

Bob Mason, aged 67, of Montana committed suicide after not having access to drugs to treat his chronic pain for just one week. One doctor who had treated Mason was Mark Ibsen, who shut down his office after the Montana Board of Medical Examiners investigated him for excessive prescription of opioids. According to Mason’s daughter, Mason “didn’t like the drugs, but there were no other options.”

Donald Alan Beyer, living in Idaho, had experienced back pain for years. He suffered from  degenerative disc disease, as well as a job-related injury resulting in a broken back. After his doctor retired, Beyer struggled without pain medicine for months. He shot himself on his 47th birthday. His son, Garrett, said “I guess he felt suicide was his only chance for relief.”

Denny Peck of Washington state was 58 when he ended his life. In 1990, he experienced a severe injury to his vertebrae during a fishing accident. His mother, Lorraine Peck, said “[h]e has been in severe pain ever since,” and his daughter, Amanda Peck, “said she didn’t remember a time when her dad didn’t hurt.” During the last few years of his life, Peck had received opiates for his pain from a Seattle Pain Center, until these clinics closed. After suffering and being unable to find doctors who would help with his pain, Peck called 911. Two days later, Peck was found dead in his home with bullet wounds in his head. A note found near Peck read: “Can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t do anything. And all the whitecoats don’t care at all.”

Doug Hale of Vermont killed himself at the age of 53. He had experienced pain from interstitial cystitis, and decided to end his life six weeks after his doctor suddenly cut off his opiate painkillers. He left a note reading “Can’t take the chronic pain anymore” before he shot himself in the head. His doctor said he “was no longer willing to risk my license by writing you another script for opioids”  (see attachment A for details of the problem as relyed by his wife Tammi who is now 10 months without a husband as a direct result of the CDC guidelines to prevent deaths)Bruce Graham committed suicide after living with severe pain for two years. At age 62, Graham fell from a ladder, suffering several severe injuries. He had surgery and fell into a coma. After surgery, he suffered from painful adhesions which could not be removed. He relied on opioid painkillers to tolerate his pain, but doctors eventually stopped prescribing the medicine he needed. Two years after his fall, Graham shot himself in the heart to end the pain.

Travis Patterson, a young combat veteran, died two days after a suicide attempt at the age of 26. After the attempt to take his own life, Patterson was brought to the VA emergency room. Doctors offered therapy as a solution, but did not offer any relief for his pain. Patterson died two days after his attempted suicide.

54-year-old Bryan Spece of Montana  killed himself about two weeks after he experienced a major reduction in his pain medication. The CDC recommends a slow reduction in pain medicine, such as a 10% decrease per week. Based on information from Spece’s relative, Spece’s dose could have been reduced by around 70% in the weeks before he died.

In Oregon, Sonja Mae Jonsson ended her life when her doctor stopped giving her pain medicine as a result of the CDC guidelines.

United States veterans have been committing suicide after being unable to receive medicine for pain. These veterans include Peter Kaisen,Daniel Somers, Kevin Keller, Ryan Trunzo, Zach Williams, and Travis Patterson

A 40-year-old woman with fibromyalgia, lupus, and back issues appeared to have committed suicide after not being prescribed enough pain medicine. She had talked about her suicidal thoughts with her friends several times before, saying “there is no quality of life in pain.” She had no husband or children to care for, so she ended her life.

Sherri Little was 53 when she committed suicide. She suffered pain from occipital neuralgia, IBS, and fibromyalgia. A friend described Little as having a “shining soul of activism” as she spent time advocating for other chronic pain sufferers. However, Little had other struggles in her life, such as her feeling that her pain kept her from forming meaningful relationships. In her final days, Little was unable to keep down solid food, and she tried to get medical help from a hospital. When she was unable to receive relief, Little ended her life.

Former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle of North Carolina shot himself at age 71. He suffered from long-term pain under his left breast. Although he went through several medical tests to determine the cause of his pain, the results could not provide relief. After Trickle’s suicide, his brother stated that Dick “must have just decided the pain was too high, because he would have never done it for any other reason.”

39-year-old Julia Kelly committed suicide after suffering ongoing pain resulting from two car accidents. Kelly’s pain caused her to quit her job and move in with her parents, unable to start a family of her own. Her family is certain that the physical and emotional effects of her pain are what drove her to end her life. Kelly had founded a charity to help other chronic pain sufferers, an organization now run by her father in order to help others avoid Julia’s fate.

Sarah Kershaw ended her life at age 49. She was a New York Times Reporter who suffered from occipital neuralgia.

Lynn Gates Jackson, speaking for her friend E.C. who committed suicide after her long term opiates were suddenly reduced by 50% against her will, for no reason.  Lynn reports she felt like the doctors were not treating her like a human being (Ed:  a common complaint) and she made the conscious decision to end her life.

E.C. committed suicide quietly one day in Visalia California.  She was 40.  Her friend reported her death.  “She did not leave a note but I know what she did”.  The doctor would only write a prescription for 10 vicodin and she was in so much pain she could not get to the clinic every few days.   We had talked many times about quitting life. Then she left.  She just left.

Jessica, a patient with RSD/CRPS committed suicide when the pain from her disease became too much for her to bear. A friend asserted that Jessica’s death was not the result of an overdose, and that “living with RSD isn’t living.”

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/business/media/sarah-kershaw-former-times-reporter-dies-at-49.html?referer=https://t.co/qcSF8qOBp6?amp=1

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/08/death-investigation-at-groves-rv-park-in-fort-myers/15280035/

http://www.kpaddock.org/

https://m.facebook.com/FibroPrince/posts/948610075216801

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=14073

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=14574

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=15023

http://linkis.com/painnewsnetwork.org/7IoUl

http://linkis.com/whotv.com/2016/11/10/ibRof

https://articles.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/alabama_pain_centers_troubles.amp

https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/12/22/chronic-pain-patient-abandoned-by-doctor-dies#.WFwJ5-Lk6Xg.twitter

http://linkis.com/painnewsnetwork.org/oKRZ5

http://linkis.com/www.seattletimes.com/tgyL7

https://edsinfo.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/%ef%bb%bfpain-and-suicide-the-other-side-of-the-opioid-story/amp/

http://www.bendbulletin.com/topics/5342867-151/opioid-crisis-pain-patients-pushed-to-the-brink

https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/5/26/patient-suicide-blamed-on-montana-pain-clinic

https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/5/27/are-cdcs-opioid-guidelines-causing-more-suicides?rq=suicide

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/man-who-set-himself-on-fire-at-northfield-veterans-clinic/article_b7a4a712-f04e-11e5-a39b-3f42b9138511.amp.html

Aliff, Charles

Beyer, Donald Alan

Brunner, Robert “Bruin”

Graham, Bruce

Hale, Doug

Hartsgrove, Daniel P

Ingram III, Charles Richard

Kaisen, Peter

Keller, Kevin

Kershaw, Sarah

Kimberly, Allison

Little, Sherri

Mason, Bob

Miles, Richard

Murphy, Thomas

Paddock, Karon

Patterson, Travis “Patt”

Peck, Denny

Peterson, Michael Jay

Reid, Marsha

Somers, Daniel

Son, Randall Lee

Spece, Brian

Tombs, John

Trickle, Richard “Dick”

Trunzo, Ryan

Williams, Zack

Karon Shettler Paddock  committed suicide on August 7, 2013  http://www.kpaddock.org/

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1616190951785852&set=a.395920107146282.94047.100001848876646&type=3&theater 

Jessica Simpson took her life July 2017

Mercedes McGuire took her life on Friday, August 4th. She leaves behind her 4 yr old son. She could no longer endure the physical & emotional pain from Trigeminal Neuralgia.

www.disabledveterans.org/2017/08/16/veteran-commits-suicide-front-amarillo-va-emergency-department/

Another Veteran Suicide In Front Of VA Emergency Department

 Depression and Pain makes me want to kill self. Too much physical and emotional pain to continue on. I seek the bliss fullness of Death. Peace. Live together die alone.

 Dr. Mansureh Irvani  suspected overdose victim  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/08/18/suspended-oral-surgeon-dies-suspected-overdose.html

Katherine Goddard’s Suicide note: Due to the pain we are both in and can’t get help, this is the only way we can see getting out of it. Goodbye to everybody,”   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-man-arrested-after-girlfriend-dies-during-alleged-suicide-pact/  

Steven Lichtenberg: the 32-year-old Dublin man shot himself   http://www.dispatch.com/news/20160904/chronic-pains-emotional-toll-can-lead-to-suicide  

Fred Sinclair  he was hurting very much and was, in effect, saying goodbye to the family.  http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=21743

Robert Markel, 56 – June 2016 – Denied Pain Meds/Heroin OD  http://www.pennlive.com/opioid-crisis/2017/08/heroin_overdose_deaths.html

 Lisa June 2016  https://youtu.be/rBlrSyi_-rQ

Jay Lawrence  March 2017  https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/9/4/how-chronic-pain-killed-my-husband

Celisa Henning: killed herself and her twin daughters...http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Mom-in-Apparent-Joliet-Murder-Suicide-said-Body-Felt-Like-It-was-On-Fire-Grandma-Says-442353713.html?fb_action_ids=10213560297382698&fb_action_types=og.comments

Karen Boje-58  CPP-Deming, NM

Katherine Goddard, 52 –  June 30, 2017 – Palm Coast, FL -Suicide/Denied Opioids  http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20170816/palm-coast-man-charged-with-assisting-self-murder

https://medium.com/@ThomasKlineMD/suicides-associated-with-non-consented-opioid-pain-medication-reductions-356b4ef7e02aPartial List of Suicides, as of 9–10-17

Suicides: Associated with non-consented Opioid Pain Medication Reductions

Lacy Stewart 59, http://healthylivings247.com/daughter-says-untreated-pain-led-to-mothers-suicide/#

Ryan Trunzo of Massachusetts committed suicide at the age of 26  http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/18881/?fullname=trunzo,-ryan-j  

Mercedes McGuire of Indiana ended her life August 4th, 2017 after struggling with agony originally suppressed with opioid pain medicine but reappearing after her pain medicine was cut back in a fashion after the CDC regulations. She was in such discomfort she went to the ER because she could not stand the intractable pain by “learning to live with it” as suggested by CDC consultants. The ER gave her a small prescription. She went to the pharmacy where they refused to fill it “because she had a pain contract”. She went home and killed herself. She was a young mother with a 4 year old son, Bentley. Bentley, will never get over the loss of his mom.

Suicides: Associated with non-consented Opioid Pain Medication Reductions

“Goodbye” Scott Smith: Vet w/PTSD committed murder/suicide. Killed his wife then himself today 11/27/2017

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/crime/article/Ex-California-lawmaker-charged-with-aiding-wife-12405065.php

Pamela Clute had been suffering from agonizing back problems and medical treatment had failed to relieve pain that shot down her legs While California’s assisted suicide law went into effect a couple months before Clute’s death, the law only applies to terminally ill patients who are prescribed life-ending drugs by a physician. Clute wasn’t terminally ill

Kellie Bernsen 12/10/2017 Colorado suicide

Scott Smith: Vet w/PTSD committed murder/suicide. Killed his wife then himself today 11/27/2017

  Michelle Bloem committed suicide due to uncontrolled pain

John Lester shot himself on Jan. 8, 2014.

 Anne Örtegren took her life on Jan. 5  

 Debra Bales, 52 – Civilian – January 10, 2018 – Petaluma, CA – Denied Pain Meds/Suicide

 Aliff, Charles – Could not locate info!
He may be able to help! Charles Aliff – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009343944744…

Brunner, Robert – Could not locate info!

Cagle, Melvin – http://www.objectivezero.org/…/The-Veteran-Spring-Why-a…

Chaney, Rocky – Denise Chaney – I WOULD LIKE YOU TO INCLUDE ROCKY WAYNE CHANEY HE WAS 70 YEARS OLD BORN MARCH 15 1946 DIE MARCH 24 2016 US ARMY VIETNAM. HE HAD PROSTATE CANCER WHICH SPREAD THROUGH OUT HIS BODY AND HE HAD LEWY BODY DEMENTIA HE DIE AT BEAUREGARD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL DERIDDER LOUISIANA OF BRAIN INJURY/DEATH AND CARDIAC ARREST DO TO ABNORMAL EEG BECAUSE OF SEVERE GENERALIZED SLOWING SUGGESTING DIFFUSE CEREBRAL DYSFUNCTION. HE HAD CEREBRAL BRAIN INJURY IT WAS ALL AGENT ORANGE CONNECTED

Harold Hamilton – http://www.dispatch.com/…/chronic-pains-emotional-toll…

Hartgrove, Daniel – http://www.legacy.com/…/name/daniel-hartsgrove-obituary…

Ingram III, Charles – http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/…/article_b7a4a712…

Jarvis, Michael http://www.chicagotribune.com/…/ct-indiana-doctor…

http://www.nydailynews.com/…/indiana-man-kills-doctor…

Kevin Keller, 52 – US Navy – July 30, 2014 – Wytheville, VA
http://www.swvatoday.com/…/article_65866e4c-18f6-11e4…

Kershaw, Sarah – https://mobile.nytimes.com/…/sarah-kershaw-former-times…

Kimberly, Allison http://feldmanmortuary.com/…/Allison…/obituary.html…

Lane, Keith – Timothy Shields
August 8, 2017 · Colon, MI I would like you too include Kieth Lane . US Army , Vietnam in country , combat wounded . He died recovering from ulcers surgery of a stroke and heart attack in Battle Creek VA medical center in Michigan .
http://www.legacy.com/obi…/sturgisjournal/obituary.aspx…

Lichtenberg, Steven – http://www.dispatch.com/…/chronic-pains-emotional-toll…

Markel, Robert – http://www.pennlive.com/…/08/heroin_overdose_deaths.html

Miles, Richard – Could not locate info!

Murphy, Thomas – http://www.objectivezero.org/…/The-Veteran-Spring-Why-a…

Paddock, Karon http://www.kpaddock.com/

Denny Peck, 58 – Civilian – September 17,2016 – Seattle, Wa https://l.facebook.com/l.php…

http://www.seattletimes.com/…/the-whitecoats-dont…/…

Peterson, Michael – https://l.facebook.com/l.php…

Reid, Marsha – https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/…/daughter-blames…

Simpson, Jessica – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1616190951785852&set=a.395920107146282.94047.100001848876646&type=3&hc_location=ufi

Daniel Somers, 30 – US Army – June 10, 2013 – Denied Pain Meds/Suicide http://gawker.com/i-am-sorry-that-it-has-come-to-this-a…

Son, Randall – http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/…/woman-says-marion-va…/…

Bryan Spece, 54 – USMC – May 3, 2017 – Great Falls, Montana – Denied Meds/Suicide https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/…/patient-suicide…

Tombs, John – http://www.objectivezero.org/…/The-Veteran-Spring-Why-a…

 Jennifer E. Adams age 41 of Helena  December 20, 1976 – April 25, 2018

 https://youtu.be/0ACgV0aLIAk

Jay Lawrence  March 1, 2017  on the same bench in the Hendersonville, Tennessee, park where the Lawrences had recently renewed their wedding vows, the 58-year-old man gripped his wife’s hand and killed himself with a gun.

suicide due to pain video  https://youtu.be/CSkxF1DMQws

Eden Prairie Aug 2018 handwritten note, which stated she “could not endure any more pain and needed to escape it.” http://www.fox9.com/news/charges-eden-prairie-man-helped-wife-commit-suicide

Raymond Arlugo  August 29th 2018   https://hudsonvalleydoctorskilledmybrother.wordpress.com/2018/09/14/suicide-over-pain-telling-my-brothers-story-because-he-cant/amp/

 

Filed under: General Problems | 5 Comments »

I reserve the right of editorial censorship

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

It looks like the political “mud slinging” has already started – IMO – worse than the national election two years ago… I am taking a stand – in particular – against “slanderous name calling”  directed toward specific politicians, particular political parties and/or specific people.  I don’t mind political debate – based on FACTS… when the debate drifts off the road based on FACTOIDS, FAKE NEWS, opinions stated as FACTS.. is where I am going to draw the “line in the sand” and delete comments that go down that path.

While personally, I am not a big fan our our political/bureaucratic system.. IMO.. it is too self serving… Admittedly, politically I tend to lean to the POLITICAL RIGHT but that is because the Libertarian party is seemingly always kept in their place by our dominating “two party system”.

I have belonged to a national pharmacy association for 35 yrs… that promotes the saying “get into politics … or get out of pharmacy ..” If you don’t attempt to influence politicians… someone else will…. and IMO this saying applies to those in the chronic pain community and/or pts who are dealing with subjective diseases.  Legislatures, bureaucrats are doing things that are adversely effecting the quality of life of those pts.  As long as those being affected continue to lack unity and/or a large segment chooses to stand on the sidelines, whoever is successfully “bending the ear” of these politicians … they will continue to do so because they have  little/no concern about the consequences and/or collateral damage that they cause to those suffering and dealing with subjective diseases.

I am sure that the vast majority of my readers will understand and cooperate…those who try to challenge this policy…  It is THREE STRIKES and you are out/banned… and WORDPRESS gives me your IP ADDRESS attached to your comment(s)… Once banned, just posting under a different name – WILL NOT WORK !  Everyone needs to “play nice “

Image result for Play Nice in the Sand Box

 

Filed under: General Problems | 21 Comments »

Teamwork and technology: Facing the opioid epidemic head on

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

Teamwork and technology: Facing the opioid epidemic head on.

https://www.drugstorenews.com/pharmacy/teamwork-and-technology-facing-the-opioid-epidemic-head-on/

The Opioid epidemic paints a grim picture that is impossible to overlook: according to the provisional 2017 data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the U.S. had 49,068 opioid overdose deaths, more than any previous year on record.1 The number of deaths involving a prescription opioid pain reliever climbed to 19,354 in 2016. 1 The economic burden is thought to be $78.5 billion a year, extending from healthcare to the economy to the justice system and beyond.2

On a positive note, the industry has been heeding the frightening call to action: in 2017, the overall national opioid prescribing rate had fallen to the lowest it had been in more than 10 years at 58.7 prescriptions per 100 persons (total of more than 191 million opioid prescriptions). Even so, some counties had rates that were seven times higher than that in 2017.3

As providers are prescribing fewer of these medications, pharmacists are taking new leadership roles in an effort to combat the crisis. For most pharmacies, this battle has brought significant changes to the workflow and workload of its employees, taking its toll. To assist in the identification, mitigation, and management of opioid abuse risk factors, pharmacists can leverage new analytic technologies designed to minimize the epidemic’s toll on both patients and the community at large. New tools use big data to identify social groups and other “teams” of schemers who work together to perpetuate the dangerous cycle of drug availability and abuse.

High-risk entities

Knowledge is power. Today’s available data streams — when applied strategically — highlight previously unknown details about the highest-risk stakeholders in the opioid epidemic.

Patients

Our patients, or healthcare consumers, are the most at-risk group in this dangerous equation. At-risk patients include individuals who are new to taking the opioid prescription type, as well as individuals who are intentionally abusing the drug or using it recreationally. Other consumers, albeit a small subset but the more dangerous type, are those who may acquire medications in order to sell them on the black market or to known contacts.

Patients can also be part of social groups which represent clusters or networks of individuals who work in tandem to drive drug diversion on a widespread level. Social groups can be uncovered by outside data technologies that reveal common links, such as the patient’s friends; family members; colleagues; and associates from various walks of life. Using such public records data sets, technology can pinpoint socialization patterns and layer on the footprint and the network of information associated in order to surface active entities and/or clusters of potential abusers or traffickers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug diversion, the transference of legally controlled and prescribed substances from one individual to another, is the number one avenue for opioid abuse. It’s critical for pharmacies to hone in on the largest source of potential risk: the social ties that remain present in the complex web of opioid interactions. Using analytics, technology goes outside the realm of health data and into traditional, non-medical sources of information to help identify unknown circumstances, risks, and questionable behaviors that contribute to the proliferation of opioids within the industry.

Prescribers

Providers play a key role in minimizing the number of prescriptions written and identifying the types of patients most at risk for fraud and abuse. Many errant provider behaviors are seemingly innocuous and simply require re-education. Inadvertently, physicians may write scripts for high-risk patients and even to family members of such patients. Other times, perilous actions are more intentional, such as writing opioids for friends and family members, or writing excessive quantities of certain drug types. Analytics, such as real-time prescriber verification, provider-patient socialization and patient record matching, can help capture these data points and flag specific situations to surface and demonstrate provider risk.

Pill Mills

Pill mills are truly a “team effort” of multiple high-risk entities, including patients, providers, and pharmacies who work to dispense drugs inappropriately or for non-medical reasons. It’s a collaborative and complicated operation that requires intense visibility of numerous factors, players, and environments. It’s a perfect scenario for application of data analytics, which can search across both provider claims and outside data sources to determine:

  • prescribers who are treating high percentages of patients receiving high-risk drugs;
  • pharmacies that are filling excessive numbers of scripts for these medications; and
  • prescribers and pharmacies that may be unknowingly participating in a pill mill operation by providing care to a large, specific social network who have organized to obtain large quantities of drugs for misuse.

 

Prevention tools

Pill mills often rely on “frequent fliers” or “doctor shoppers” who go to providers and pharmacies in close succession to divert drugs for resale and abuse. Other times, these individuals engage in risky behaviors to support a drug habit or to divert drugs to family or relatives in their social circle. The key here is that a social group can be identified through mutual history, joint employment or ownership, shared organizations and others. These insights can reveal a large-scale operation in high-risk patient and provider networks. By analyzing the data, technology identifies the risk represented by the entire network, revealing that seemingly “innocent” players are actually participants in a larger scheme.

By looking across drugs to determine net unsafe MEDs calculations, pharmacies can offer transparency about the other drugs a patient is being prescribed and indicate potential situations of diversion, abuse, or health risk. These figures can and should be tracked through technology — as should the MEDs totals of others within a patient’s social network—to identify the potential for abuse.

In addition to uses we have been discussing, analytics can play an important, proactive role during healthcare benefits enrollment, at point-of-service interactions, and through claims analysis – after care has been provided.  Understanding what occurred, when it occurred, and why gives all stakeholders information that may prevent an adverse event in the future.

Through industry-wide collaboration and availability of disparately sourced health and public records, we have an opportunity to learn more about the patterns of opioid abuse and to potentially help stop it in its tracks. The benefits of data sharing far outweigh the risks, so what are we waiting for?

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Life: quality or quantity… One.. Both… Neither… decided by someone else ?

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

I have a chronic illness and suffer from non stop pain. Last March, when my father was dying and I was flying back and forth to Montana I spoke to my pain management people about the 15 plus hour flights. I explained the increased strain, pain, and stress I was under. (One flight actually got way laid till the next day and I was in Salt Lake for a day. I was super bruised in both hips and on each side of my back and spine from the seats. ) I had asked my PM to help me temporarily with something to ease the pain as I was getting ready to go back up to Montana. My dad was now in hospice. They said no. Not gonna help me. Told me that if I didn’t like it then don’t fly. My chart was flagged. I was labeled a risk because I asked. Then I changed to medicaid insurance and they dropped me without a second thought. Hung up on me when I called and asked about the insurance. So I was cold turkey off all my pain meds. Now all this being said….
I understand someone going though with “END OF LIFE” proceedings. It is not, NOT suicide so don’t even think that. Suicide is for people who are self haters.
We are not self haters. We love life, our families and, friends, but when your body is so wracked with pain that you just can’t move anymore, and the slightest movement can make you puke. When you have to have help to the bathroom because your legs or feet are in so much pain you can’t stand. THEN TO HAVE THEN ONLY RELIEF FROM THIS CONSTANT NEVER ENDING SUFFERING RIPPED FROM YOU and to labeled a drug addict by the very dr who has been treating you for years? There comes a point where there is no quality of life, no end in sight, and we have to make a decision to what’s right for ourselves and our families.
I personally have thought about turning to street drugs to ease my pain because it’s cheaper than the medical marijuana that I have been prescribed here in FL. I just can’t bring myself to do.
I can’t go back on opioids.
I do have an END OF LIFE EXIT PLAN.

The above comment was made on this post on my blog  Ray left us this morning. He decided he couldn’t live with the Pain anymore

Somewhere I remember is some class that:

we Americans were entitled to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”

We are innocent until proven guilty and we are entitled to a “speedy trial”

The 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure

The 8th Amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments.

Most of the time in dealing with the enforcement of many laws.. is that those who create our laws and those that are in charge of enforcing our laws are the same ones who are breaking the laws and/or have decided not to enforce the laws or only enforce certain laws at certain times and/or against certain individual(s) or groups.

When the DEA raids and closes a practice… are the chronic pain pts of that practice being exposed to cruel and unusual punishment … because generally no other prescriber will take them on as a pt because generally the DEA has seized the pt’s medical records and put up road blocks for the pt to get them and/or a copy of them….  Unless one does not consider a cold turkey withdrawal as “cruel and unusual punishment” particularly for someone who is innocent until proven guilty.

How many pts suffering with a chronic disease would chose quantity of life without any quality of life and how many of those same pts would chose a good quality of life even if it could compromise their quantity of life ?

How much longer is the chronic pain community continue to whine, bitch and moan about being the “innocent victims” of the war on drugs..  why is most of the healthcare system not fighting to protect themselves and their pts ?

Maybe it is time for the chronic pain community to get to funding a legal defense fund and start suing those parts of the healthcare system that are responsible for denial of care and torturing the innocent chronic pain pts…  These entities will react to whoever they fear the most… right now it is the DEA… but .. it’s just as easy to be chronic pain pts… which could force them to stand up to the DEA and other bureaucratic entities that are violating the laws they are in charge of enforcing.

Others should not be the ones who are deciding if chronic pain pts should have a quality of life or a quantity of life nor have NEITHER !

 

 

 

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Revolutionary new blood test can instantly identify chronic pain

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

A new blood test that can identify chronic pain could revolutionize diagnoses for humans and animals

Revolutionary new blood test can instantly identify chronic pain

https://newatlas.com/blood-test-chronic-pain/54507/

A world-first blood test that can objectively identify chronic pain has been developed by a team of Australian researchers. The test can reportedly identify color changes in immune cells affected by chronic pain and hopefully give doctors a new way to diagnose the severity of pain in patients unable to adequately communicate it.

“This gives us a brand new window into patients’ pain because we have created a new tool that not only allows for greater certainty of diagnosis but also can guide better drug treatment options,” explains lead on the new research, neuroscientist Mark Hutchinson, who is Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics at the University of Adelaide.

The research team found that there are identifiable molecular changes in immune cells when a person is suffering from chronic pain. Using hyperspectral imaging analysis these pain biomarkers can be instantly identified, meaning a clinician could determine a patient’s pain tolerance or sensitivity and immediately adjust the dosage of a painkilling medication.

“We are literally quantifying the color of pain,” says Hutchinson. “We’ve now discovered that we can use the natural color of biology to predict the severity of pain. What we’ve found is that persistent chronic pain has a different natural color in immune cells than in a situation where there isn’t persistent pain.”

As well as offering a new biomarker for the presence of pain, Hutchinson’s research suggests that these immune cells actually play a significant role in modulating the sensation of chronic pain. This means that instead of concentrating on developing pain-killing drugs that simply target the nervous system, new drugs may be investigated that suppress this immune pain response.

“We now know there is a peripheral cell signal so we could start designing new types of drugs for new types of cellular therapies that target the peripheral immune system to tackle central nervous system pain,” says Hutchinson.

The test, called “painHS”, could potentially be ready to roll out into broad clinical use within 18 months, but the broader implications of this kind of objective blood test for pain is where things get really interesting. Hutchinson hopes this test could assist in diagnosing pain in subjects that cannot communicate their discomfort, from babies to older sufferers of dementia. The test may also be applicable to animals, which Hutchinson suggests could revolutionize the entire field of veterinary treatment.

“Animals can’t tell us if they’re in pain but here we have a Dr Dolittle type test that enables us to ‘talk’ to the animals so we can find out if they are experiencing pain and then we can help them,” says Hutchinson.

The new test was revealed at the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) conference in Sydney over the weekend.

 

 

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Fear of Addiction Phobia – Tuesday, October 16, 2018 8pm est www.cawnation.com

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

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THE DOCTOR’S CORNER
w/ DR. KLINE & JONELLE ELGAWAY

Topic: Fear Of Addiction Phobia

Call in with questions at
(415) 915-2291

Tune in at
www.cawnation.com OR
YT Channel: The Doctor’s Corner

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

San Francisco to Vote on Taxing Rich Businesses for Homeless

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

San Francisco to Vote on Taxing Rich Businesses for Homeless

https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2018-10-15/san-francisco-to-vote-on-taxing-rich-businesses-for-homeless

San Francisco voters have a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that would tax hundreds of the city’s wealthiest companies to help thousands of homeless and mentally ill.

The Associated Press

In this Oct. 1, 2018 photo, Stormy Nichole Day, left, sits on a sidewalk on Haight Street with Nord (last name not given) and his dog Hobo while interviewed about being homeless in San Francisco. A measure on San Francisco’s Nov. 6 ballot would levy an extra tax on hundreds of the city’s wealthiest companies to raise $300 million for homelessness and mental health services. It’s the latest battle between big business and social services advocates who say that companies such as Amazon, Google and Salesforce can afford to help solve severe inequities caused by business success

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco has come to be known around the world as a place for aggressive panhandling, open-air drug use and sprawling tent camps, the dirt and despair all the more remarkable for the city’s immense wealth.

Some streets are so filthy that officials launched a special “poop patrol,” and a young tech worker created “Snapcrap” — an app to report the filth. Morning commuters walk briskly past homeless people huddled against subway walls. In the city’s squalid downtown sector, the frail and sick shuffle along in wheelchairs or stumble around, sometimes half-clothed.

The situation has become so dire that a coalition of activists collected enough signatures to put a measure on the city’s Nov. 6 ballot. Proposition C would tax hundreds of San Francisco’s wealthiest companies to help thousands of homeless and mentally ill residents, an effort that failed earlier this year in Seattle. San Francisco’s measure is expected to raise $300 million a year, nearly doubling what the city already spends.

“This is the worst it’s ever been,” says Marc Benioff, founder of cloud-computing giant Salesforce and a fourth-generation San Franciscan, who is supporting the measure even though his company would pay an additional $10 million a year if it passes. “Nobody should have to live like this. They don’t need to live like this. We can get this under control.”

“We have to do it. We have to try something,” said Sunshine Powers, who owns a tie-dye boutique, Love on Haight, in the city’s historic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. “If my community is bad, nobody is going to want to come here.”

The proposition is the latest battle between big business and social services advocates who demand that corporate America pay to solve inequities exacerbated by its success. In San Francisco, it’s also become an intriguing fight between recently elected Mayor London Breed, who is siding with the city’s Chamber of Commerce in urging a no vote, and philanthropist Benioff, whose company is San Francisco’s largest private employer with 8,400 workers.

Breed came out hard against the measure, saying it lacked collaboration, could attract homeless people from neighboring counties, and could cost middle-class jobs in retail and service. The city has already dramatically increased spending on homelessness, she said, with no noticeable improvement.

San Francisco spent $380 million of its $10 billion budget last year on services related to homelessness.

“I have to make decisions with my head, not just my heart,” Breed said. “I do not believe doubling what we spend on homelessness without new accountability, when we don’t even spend what we have now efficiently, is good government.”

Cities along the West Coast are grappling with rampant homelessness, driven in part by growing numbers of well-paying tech jobs that price lower-income residents out of tight housing markets. A family of four in San Francisco earning $117,000 is considered low-income.

Business prevailed in Seattle, when leaders in June repealed a per-employee tax that would have raised $50 million a year, after Amazon and Starbucks pushed back. In July, the city council of Cupertino in Silicon Valley scuttled a similar head tax after opposition from its largest employer, Apple Inc.

Mountain View residents, however, will vote this fall on a per-employee tax expected to raise $6 million a year, largely from Google, for transit projects.

The San Francisco measure is different in that it would levy the tax mostly by revenue rather than by number of employees — an average half-percent tax increase on companies’ revenue above $50 million each year. It was also put on the ballot by citizens, not elected officials.

Online payment processing company Stripe has voiced opposition and contributed $120,000 to the campaign against Proposition C, but other companies have stayed quiet. The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, whose board includes representatives of Microsoft, LinkedIn and Oracle, is leading the fight.

Up to 400 businesses would be affected, with internet and financial services sectors bearing nearly half the cost.

The city says confidentiality precludes revealing tax information, but some of the companies expected to pay the most are big names across major industries. Wells Fargo & Co., retailer Gap Inc. and ride-hailing platform Uber declined to comment.

Pharmaceutical distributor McKesson Corp. referred questions to a private-sector trade association, the Committee on Jobs, which called the measure flawed. Utility Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. said it has not taken a position. Twitter declined to comment, but chief executive Jack Dorsey said via tweet last week that he trusts Breed to fix the problem.

“Anyone can take a look at the status quo and understand it’s not working, but more money alone is not the sole answer,” says Jess Montejano, spokesman for the “No on C” campaign.

Where Tech Employment Is Booming

Benioff disagrees. A $37 million two-year initiative he helped start with the city and to which he contributed more than $11 million has housed nearly 400 families through rent subsidies, he said.

Benioff has pledged at least $2 million from company and personal resources for the November tax campaign. He said he was ultimately swayed by a report from the city’s chief economist, which found the measure would likely reduce homelessness while resulting in a net loss of 900 jobs at most, or 0.1 percent of all jobs.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m the largest employer in the city, and the city is in decline from homelessness and cleanliness. We have to take action now,’ ” he said.

At least half of the new revenue would go toward permanent housing, and at least a quarter to services for people with severe behavioral issues. A 2017 one-night count found an estimated 7,500 people without permanent shelter in San Francisco. More than half had lived in the city for at least a decade.

Tracey Mixon and her daughter, Maliya, 8, are among the hidden homeless.

Mixon, 47, a San Francisco native, lives and works in the notoriously dangerous and drug-infested Tenderloin neighborhood. They were forced out of their rental this summer, partly because the company that managed her property lost its federal accreditation, she said on a recent afternoon while working a crossing guard shift.

One of the hardest parts was finding a place to go for the day when mother and daughter were kicked out of an overnight-only emergency shelter.

“I have to shield her from people that are using drugs,” she said. “I have to shield her from people who might be fighting.”

Hanging out on Haight, the street that played a central role in the “Summer of Love,” Stormy Nichole Day, 22, says she would love a place to live. Currently, Day is sleeping in a doorway. She could thrive if her basic needs were met, she said.

“And that includes a house, and a place to cook food and a place to take a shower.”

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

There seems to be NO END to the categories that bureaucrats tries to tax to pay for some sort of “social war” ..

Some bureaucrats have implemented a “soda/sugar tax” and they even tax DIET SODA .. don’t remember what they were going to use this money on

Some bureaucrats have proposed a “opiate Rx tax” to help pay for the treatment of those substance abusers/addicts

San Francisco is proposing that they tax “rich businesses” to pay for the upkeep of the homeless in San Francisco.

what service(s) or products will they come up with next to tax to help solve some “social evil”

 

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Palliative Care Clinical Practice Guidelines (2018)

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

Palliative Care Clinical Practice Guidelines (2018)

http://reference.medscape.com/viewarticle/902333

The fourth edition of palliative care clinical practice guidelines from the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care are scheduled to be published on October 31, 2018.[1]

Structure and Processes of Care

Being holistic in nature, palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, nurses, social workers, and chaplains.

A comprehensive interdisciplinary assessment of the patient and family forms the basis for the development of an individualized patient and family palliative care plan.

In collaboration with the patient and family, the interdisciplinary team (IDT) develops, implements, and updates the care plan to anticipate, prevent, and treat physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.

Palliative care is provided in any care setting, including private residences, assisted living facilities, rehabilitation settings, skilled and intermediate care facilities, acute and long-term care hospitals, clinics, hospice residences, correctional facilities, and homeless shelters.

Physical Aspects of Care

The IDT assesses physical symptoms and their impact on well-being, quality of life, and functional status.

Interdisciplinary care plans are developed in the context of the patient’s care goals, disease, prognosis, functional limitations, culture, and care setting.

Essential components of palliative care are ongoing management of physical symptoms, anticipation of health status changes, and monitoring of potential risk factors associated with the disease and with side effects resulting from treatment regimens.

The palliative care team provides written and verbal recommendations for monitoring and managing physical symptoms.

Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Care

The IDT includes a social worker with the ability and skill set to assess and support mental health issues, provide emotional support, and address emotional distress and quality of life for patients and families experiencing the expected responses to serious illness.

The IDT screens for and assesses psychological and psychiatric aspects of care based on the best available evidence, to maximize patient and family coping and quality of life.

The IDT manages and/or supports psychological and psychiatric aspects of patient and family care, including emotional or existential distress, related to the experience of serious illness, as well as identified mental health disorders.

Social Aspects of Care

The IDT screens for and assesses patient and family social supports, social relationships, resources, and care environment based on the best available evidence, to maximize coping and quality of life.

A palliative care plan addresses the ongoing social aspects of patient and family care in alignment with the goals of the patient and family and provides recommendations to all clinicians involved in ongoing care.

Spiritual, Religious, and Existential Aspects of Care

Patient and family spiritual beliefs and practices are assessed and respected. Palliative care professionals acknowledge their own spirituality as part of their professional role and are provided with education and support to address each patient’s and family’s spirituality.

The spiritual assessment process has three distinct components—spiritual screening, spiritual history, and a full spiritual assessment. Symptoms, such as spiritual distress, as well as spiritual strengths and resources, are identified and documented.

Patient and family spiritual care needs can change as the goals of care change or patients move across settings of care.

Cultural Aspects of Care

The IDT delivers care that respects patient and family cultural beliefs, values, traditional practices, language, and communication preferences and builds on the unique strengths of the patient and family.

The IDT ensures that the patient’s and family’s preferred language and style of communication are supported and facilitated in all interactions.

The IDT uses evidence-based practices when screening and assessing patient and family cultural preferences regarding healthcare practices, customs, beliefs and values, level of health literacy, and preferred language.

A culturally sensitive plan of care is developed and discussed with the patient and/or family. This plan reflects the degree to which patients and families wish to be included as partners in decision-making regarding their care.

Care of the Patient Nearing the End of Life

The IDT includes professionals with training in end-of-life care, including assessment and management of symptoms, communication with patients and families about signs and symptoms of approaching death, transitions of care, and grief and bereavement.

The IDT assesses physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs as well as patient and family preferences regarding setting of care, treatment decisions, and wishes during and immediately following death.

In collaboration with the patient and family and other clinicians, the IDT develops, implements, and updates as needed a care plan to anticipate, prevent, and treat physical, psychological, social, and spiritual symptoms. All treatments are provided in a culturally and developmentally appropriate manner.

During the dying process, patient and family needs are respected and supported. Postdeath care is delivered in a manner that honors the patient’s and family’s cultural and spiritual beliefs, values, and practices.

Prepared in advance of the patient’s death, a bereavement care plan for the family and care team is activated after the death of the patient and addresses immediate and longer-term needs.

Ethical and Legal Aspects of Care

The core ethical principles of autonomy, substituted judgment, beneficence, justice, and nonmaleficence underpin the provision of palliative care.

The provision of palliative care occurs in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and laws, as well as with current accepted standards of care and professional practice.

The patient’s preferences and goals for medical care are elicited using core ethical principles and are documented.

Within the limits of applicable state and federal laws, current accepted standards of medical care, and professional standards of practice, person-centered goals form the basis for the plan of care and decisions related to providing, forgoing, and discontinuing treatments.

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A couple months ago our sister Michelle Bloem committed suicide due to uncontrolled pain- a GENOCIDE ?

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, text

A couple months ago our sister Michelle Bloem committed suicide due to uncontrolled pain. Before she was murdered for the sake of ‘preventing addiction’, Michelle wrote this:

To whom it may concern,

I have CRPS/RSD and am currently seeing a doctor that monitors my progress and medications. I was diagnosed in June of 2010. After trying every treatment modality including physical therapy, anti-seizure medications, biofeedback, etc. I was put on OxyContin. After having 8 brachial plexus nerve blocks and 5 lumbar nerve blocks, my neurologist/ pain management doctor kept upping the dosage of it because I was getting no relief and we could not figure out why. He ended up upping the dosage so much I was only experiencing side effects, no pain relief. I decided to leave my pain management doctor at UCLA and seek out another doctor that could find out why I wasn’t getting any pain relief. I finally found a doctor that did many tests on me including: Neuroinflamation blood tests, Genetic malabsorption blood work-up. My doctor was able to figure out that I cannot absorb oral opioids due to a genetic malabsorption defect. He put me on a trial of subcutaneous dilaudid. I had experienced instant pain relief and received my quality of life back. I have been on this medication for two years with no side effects. This medication has to be compounded, which my new insurance will not pay for. Dr. Tennant has saved my life and given me my life back. You must understand that we chronic pain patients cannot be punished for the people that use opioids illegally. None of us “want” to be on these medications, but have no choice. After trying everything, we just want quality of life. The restrictions that are already put in place are making it harder and harder for the legitimate chronic pain patients to get their medications that give them quality of life. Please consider that we are carefully monitored by our doctors and take our medications as prescribed only. We should not be punished for the street abusers that only want a “high”. I have never experienced a “high” from my pain medicine. There are studies in the process that have to do with different medications to help us, but it takes an extremely long time to get them FDA approved. In closing, I hope you will kindly consider our circumstances, that we have families, and only want to be able to participate in daily activities without suffering inhumanly.

Thank you,

Michelle Bloem

Michelle died directly because of the policies and practices of people like @AndrewKolodny, The CDC, Organizations like #PROP, and the policies of people like Chris Christie and the #POTUS @realDonaldTrump. Chronic pain patients are dying because of the policies our government imposes to curb the illegal use of opiates. Just because we suffer from chronic, debilitating pain does not make us criminals. We take medications, under the supervision of multiple doctors, to improve our quality of life. Chronic pain patients are being forced to take their lives as their only means of pain management. Please stop the genocide of chronic pain patients!!

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A 3-year-old’s accidental opiate overdose has family warning the public

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

A 3-year-old’s accidental opiate overdose has family warning the public

 

 

WATCH: A family from Shawnigan Lake is speaking out after their toddler was accidentally given a fatal dose of morphine. All because the pharmacist printed the wrong dosage – five times what the doctor ordered. As Kori Sidaway tells us, the family is hoping that this never happens again. 

Charlie Cherriere is three, but he’s lucky to be.

“My husband picked him up and his head flopped right back. It’s something you’ll never get out of your head,” said Charlie’s mom Kate.

Charlie had tonsil surgery this past May, and was prescribed morphine for his pain over the next 48 hours.

But when the family got to the London Drugs at Tillicum Mall, it was overly busy and the family was given the prescription without a consultation.

“We thought it was odd, we talked about it that night that it was strange to get given a bag of narcotics for a toddler and nobody talked to us about it. But we’re capable people and read through all the instructions and administered like the bottle said,” said Kate.

What happened the next morning, was something the family couldn’t even imagine in their worst nightmares.

Kate and her husband Cory found Charlie unresponsive and breathing strangely the next morning.

“Initially we maybe thought he had an allergy to morphine and that he was having a reaction, but I never thought he was overdosing,” said Kate.

“I have Narcan in the house just because I’ve done training through work for it. I would have never thought to grab it and give it to my three-year-old,” said Kate.

He was rushed to Victoria General Hospital where doctors realized Charlie was in fact in the midst of an opiate overdose.

He was administered Narcan and his condition stabilized, but doctors said that had his parents not caught this in the early stages, it could have been fatal.

“I asked if I had made an error and they checked, and no, I gave him exactly what I was supposed to,” said Kate

And she had, according to what was on the bottle, but it was not at all what the doctor had ordered.

In fact, the dosage printed by the pharmacists was five times what the doctor had suggested. Since then, London Drugs has admitted they are at fault for the incorrect dose, citing human error.

“Something like this makes our hearts stop. We’ve definitely taken a learning. We are moving forward so this doesn’t happen again,” said London Drug’s pharmacy general manager Chris Chiew.

In addition to an internal review of their processes and retraining, London Drugs has apologized to the family and intends to pay for the family’s medical expenses.

B.C.’s College of Pharmacists also conducted an investigation, the results of which are anticipated soon.

And while Charlie has since recovered, the Cherriere family will be checking, and double checking each prescription from now on and suggests other families do the same.

 

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Sen Mike Lee (R-UT) only Senator to vote against in the opiate law recently passed

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Pharmaciststeve

Sen. Mike Lee’s Solutions Summit educates students

https://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/utah-s-apparent-solution-to-opioid-crisis-going-national/1520433936

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (News4Utah) Utah appears to be winning the fight against the opioid crisis. Deaths rates dropped three years in a row, while nationally they continue to climb. 

State and federal leaders try to keep the momentum going with a Solutions Summit at the Vivint Smart Home Arena Friday.

Five thousand high school students filled the arena, coming together to solve the opioid crisis. It’s part of a multi-prong approach getting national attention.

At 17, Dane Olsen was seriously hurt in an ATV crash in Utah County. For two years, he couldn’t walk, becoming addicted to the pain medicine prescribed by doctors. After a trip to rehab, he died from an accidental opioid overdose at the age of 25.

” It was absolutely gut-wrenching to go through that with him,” Terry Ann Olsen said, of her son.

Terry Ann spoke at the Solutions Summit with others who lost loved ones to opioid addiction. 

“I was watching my son disappear in front of my eyes and watching him crying out for help, begging for a way to stop this,” Terry Ann said. 

While opioid deaths rose ten percent nationwide last year, they fell by almost 20 percent in Utah. It was at the same time policy makers, law enforcement, treatment providers and others formed the Utah Opioid Task Force. 

“This is one of the most successful programs we have in the country. We are going to take what we’ve learned here back to Washington. We are going to put this program throughout the entire country,” DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon said. 

To keep the momentum going in the state, the task force plans to introduce new legislation while reaching out to schools, churches, and businesses. 

“We have to get rid of the judgment, shame and embarrassment, because far too many of our families have suffered in silence and in darkness,” Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said. 

“If it can happen to our family, it can happen to any body’s family,” Terry Ann said. 

To find resources on opioid addiction, go to utahsolutionssummit.com/resources

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