I reserve the right of editorial censorship

Posted on January 30, 2020 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 of 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 “

Lastly, please do not post anything promoting a particular vendor or any entity or person selling a product/particular service. Because some may perceive/believe that they have my endorsement which may or may not be the case. Anyone posting a link to a professional selling a product/service will be edited out

Filed under: General Problems | 22 Comments »

2019 in review … what killed us

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

…who will not be here tomorrow

 

2016 in review … what killed us

2017 in review … what killed us

2018 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

United States of America
RealTime
CURRENT DEATH TOLL
from Jan 1, 2018 – Dec 31, 2018 (6:27:30 PM)

Someone just died by: Death Box

Just the Data … Raw and Undigested

Abortion *: 1091318
Heart Disease: 613959
Cancer: 591325
Tobacco: 349779
Obesity: 306806
Medical Errors: 251295
Stroke: 133019
Lower Respiratory Disease: 142853
Accident (unintentional): 135967
Hospital Associated Infection: 98937
Alcohol *: 99937
Diabetes: 76440
Alzheimer’s Disease: 93482
Influenza/Pneumonia: 55192
Kidney Failure: 42735
Blood Infection: 33443
Suicide: 42746
Drunk Driving: 33787
Unintentional Poisoning: 31738
All Drug Abuse: 24989
Homicide: 16788
Prescription Drug Overdose: 14991
Murder by gun: 11486
Texting while Driving: 5985
Pedestrian: 4997
Drowning: 3913
Fire Related: 3498
Malnutrition: 2770
Domestic Violence: 1459
Smoking in Bed: 780
Falling out of Bed: 598
Killed by Falling Tree: 149
Lawnmower: 68
Spontaneous Combustion: 0
Your chance of death is 100%. Are you ready?

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.

http://greatamericans.world/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 Örtegrentook 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/

Kris Hardenbrook   Oct 2018   What is the difference between patient abandonment and a FIRING SQUAD ? – NOT MUCH ?

Robert Charles Foster,65 Nov 3, 2018 Chronic pain pt …SUICIDE BY COP https://theworldlink.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-dead-after-officer-involved-shooting-in-bandon/article_182bfafd-5e6d-539f-b366-0f9a00b7dc85.html

Lee Cole 04/23/2018   http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=27825

Peter A. Kaisen  76-year-old veteran committed suicide (Aug. 24, 2016) in the parking lot of the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/nyregion/veteran-kills-himself-in-parking-lot-of-va-hospital-on-long-island.html 

Paul Fitzpatrick, 56 Oct 2018, kills himself blaming 20 years of debilitating pain caused by laser eye surgery  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6445427/Canadian-man-kills-suffering-20-years-pain-laser-eye-surgery.html

Jessica Starr   Dec, 2018 failed Lasik SMILE eye surgery resulting in chronic pain

Paolo Antonio Argenzio:  Passed away on Monday December 10th 2018, from a self inflicted gunshot wound

Rory G. Hosking, age 50, honorable Army Veteran, passed away Feb. 9, 2019 from his struggle with chronic pain

Sonya White has passed away on Thursday March 7, 2019 at 30 years old

Danielle Byron Henry 10th June, 2017

Kelly Catlin, the 23-year-old Olympic cyclist with debilitating migraines committed suicide 16th March, 2019

Dawn Anderson was 53 years old, and a former Registered Nurse died on March 11, 2019 in untreated agonizing pain

Adam Palmer Jan 20,2019    Family says Pleasant Grove man committed suicide after going off pain meds too quickly

Bobbi Fencl April 9, 2019 My wife Bobbi Fencl is one of the recent casualties of the insane Federal, State and Physician response to the Opioid Crisis. She committed suicide this last Tuesday. She is now out of pain and wrapped in His arms.

Post on FB 07/18/2019 – exact suicide date unknown: 

Remember The Fallen Pain Warriors.
Travis Patterson, a Texan, a decorated Staff Sergeant in the Army, combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was injured by a road side mine, and discharged from the army in 2016. He was in daily severe pain. He could not get pain treatment, and tried to commit suicide and was admitted to a Topeka Kansas VA hospital by his 26 year old wife. The VA refused to treat his war wounds with pain medicine and offered instead a stress ball. Two days later he made sure of his own method for treating his intractable pain by killing himself. He had a future with his wife and studying law but it did not matter. He showed no signs of mental illness, just the stress of failure to treat his underlying war injuries with long term daily pain. One other veteran remarked the US Government was finding other ways to “kill us”.

Additional information: Travis was denied pain medication for this combat wounds by the VA by law passed without knowledge of most 12–15, deep in a 2000 page budget bill. It is now federal law to forcibly taper wounded veterans with intractable pain to “prevent addiction and heroin overdoses” Traviswas a Texas native).

  Akaiah Nicole Altstock, 14, of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, died Wednesday, September 25, 2019.

Suicides from under/untreated pain – KNOWS NO AGE LIMITS

David Pezzula: this time the pain was too difficult, and he died by suicide on Friday morning, December 6, 2019

02/14/2020  Last night we suffered a major loss. Our beautiful Jessica hung herself. She was only 24 and left behind 2 beautiful little boys, Kyson age 4 and Kaison age 2. People think pain doesn’t kill but I assure you, it absolutely does. Rest in Peace Jess

Jennifer Hill  CRPS SUICIDE  April 1, 2020  HER 53rd  BIRTHDAY

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Kentucky: DEA has relaxed controlled substance laws… BUT…we are business as usual

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

Please contact the Drug Enforcement and Professional Practices Branch of the Kentucky Office of Inspector General in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services at 502-564-7985 with any questions.

APPLICABLE KENTUCKY CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LAWS

This information is current as of April 2, 2020.

Although the DEA has relaxed Federal controlled substances laws, Kentucky Drug Enforcement and Professional Practices Branch of the Kentucky Office of Inspector General in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has not. Therefore, Kentucky laws, since they are more stringent, must be followed. Please reference the attached document for additional guidelines.

So the attorneys within the “Cabinet for Health and Family Services ”  have decided that they are not going to made a temporary relaxing of KY’s laws concerning Controlled Substance Acts… to sync with those the DEA has done at the Federal level.

It isn’t as if KY has made so much progress in fighting the war on drugs over the last 50 yrs that relaxing some portions of their Controlled Substance Act would cause them to loose so much grown in fighting the war on drugs in their state.

Of course, this decision appears to have been made by those who are part of our judicial system and may not take into consideration for the health of anyone that has a valid medical necessity for being prescribed controlled substances.

There was nothing mentioned in the information that I have received that there appears to also no change in how those being treated for  substance abuse/addicts… if so, at least they are consistent… consistently STUPID !

APPLICABLE KENTUCKY CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LAWS 4.2.2020 V 1

As full disclosure, I have been a licensed Pharmacist in the State of KY since July 1970

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Headlines suggests increased controlled substance production quotas – details suggests oral opiates – business as usual.

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

Exclusive: Opioid supply crunch for U.S. coronavirus patients prompts appeal to relax limits

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-opioids-exclus-idUSKBN21K2ZJ

(Reuters) – U.S. doctors running out of narcotics needed for COVID-19 patients on ventilators are asking the federal government to raise production limits for drugmakers, according to a letter seen by Reuters, after national quotas had been tightened to address the opioid addiction crisis.

Health workers in protective gear peer from a tent which was constructed to test people for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly – RC2ESF9VPJJ5

The global coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 5,300 deaths nationwide, with over 227,000 confirmed cases, according to a Reuters tally, and has sent states and the federal government scrambling to obtain enough ventilators to treat patients struggling to get oxygen.

At the same time, hospitals are churning through drugs, including injectable fentanyl, used to safely place patients on ventilators and keep them sedated so their lungs can heal.

The U.S. government sets annual limits on how much tightly regulated narcotics can be produced by pharmaceutical companies, and then allocates portions to various manufacturers. Amid an outcry over opioid abuse, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reduced the overall fentanyl quota by over 30% for 2020. 

In a letter to the DEA on Tuesday, groups including the American Medical Association and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) said supplies of injectable fentanyl, morphine and hydromorphone are already in short supply and asked for increased company allocations. 

“We appreciate DEA’s work to protect against diversion and maintain control over the flow of opioids into our communities,” they wrote. “However, during this unprecedented health crisis, hospitals must have sufficient (drug) supply to treat patients.”

A senior DEA official told Reuters the agency currently believes the existing national quotas are “completely sufficient” to meet the spike in demand,

and there is still room for additional allocations to companies under the cap to make millions more injectable doses that hospitals use.

The agency is closely monitoring the situation, however, and has begun discussing steps it can take to expedite an overall quota hike if necessary, the official, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

“These are unprecedented times, and the DEA is taking unprecedented actions to make sure we support hospitals on the front lines,” the official said.

In a statement, Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said it adjusted production schedules to prioritize injectable fentanyl in high demand. The DEA raised the company’s quota this week, it said.

U.S. hospitals are currently projected to need about 40,000 intensive care beds to treat patients with COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the virus, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. That could lead to a shortage of nearly 20,000, IHME said.

Nearly 32,000 ventilators may be needed, IHME said, although Governor Andrew Cuomo has said New York alone may need 30,000 to address the expected spike in cases in coming days and weeks at the outbreak’s current epicenter.

Doctors and nurses can use a range of drugs to help patients that need a ventilator. Some, such as anesthesia drug propofol, are not as tightly regulated as opioids like fentanyl. But hospital staff around the country have already begun reporting shortages of many of these drugs, and difficulty filling orders.

Demand for fentanyl, hydromorphone and morphine spiked 67% in March compared to January, according to Vizient, which helps healthcare providers manage their supply chains. At the same time, the fill rate for Vizient members had dropped to 73% by March 25.

‘A VERY SERIOUS ISSUE’

Dr. Michael Ganio, director of pharmacy practice and quality at ASHP, said doctors will be forced to use different and less common combinations of sedatives if shortages continue to mount. That increases the risk of medical errors, he said.

The DEA last week agreed to relax inventory controls for manufacturers, allowing them to produce and store more than 65% of their annual quota throughout the duration of the emergency.

“This exception does not authorize any manufacturer to exceed his previously established annual manufacturing quota,” the DEA wrote.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a request for information from drug manufacturers this week on their ability to rapidly produce the maximum number of ventilator medicines, with various quantity and price scenarios.

“The United States has a critical need to procure priority medicines for ventilated ICU (intensive care unit) patients in response to COVID-19,” it said.

Patients may receive paralyzing drugs, in addition to sedatives, to increase the ventilator’s effectiveness. If the sedatives are not effective, a patient could potentially gain consciousness but be unable to alert medical staff.

“It keeps me up at night,” Ganio said. “This is a very serious issue we’re seeing.”

If you read this article… everything that is being discussed is INJECTABLES POTENTIALLY having a INCREASE in INJECTABLE PRODUCTION QUOTAS. According to the article, NOTHING is being discussed about oral opiates.

And according to this UNNAMED DEA OFFICIAL…. supplies a of injectable controlled substances are COMPLETELY SUFFICIENT !!!

A senior DEA official told Reuters the agency currently believes the existing national quotas are “completely sufficient” to meet the spike in demand

30-45 days ago, there were a handful of words that was not in the vocabulary of the “average joe/jane”… COVID-19, Plaquenil (Hydroxychloroquine), Chloroquine, Ventilator, shelter in place for starters.

Many of us suspected that it would take some sort of catastrophe affected the average  joe/jane to maybe get some change to the way that the war on drugs/pts was being conducted.  Who could have predicted that the catastrophe would only potentially affect a very narrow list of controlled substances ?

How many deaths from complication of a pt’s existing comorbidity issues will be blamed on COVID-19 or if they have a legally prescribed opiate in their toxicology be labeled as a opiate related death and is there going to be a increase in suicides because of shortage of opiates that the DEA will not admit that it exists or take any prompt action to attempt to increase availability of controlled substances – ACROSS THE LINE OF PRODUCTS.

Most all opiate related DEAths …. have a common denominator !!!

 

 

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RIP Jennifer Hill – CRPS Warrior SUICIDE

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

 

RIP Gravestone

Committed Suicide on her 53rd BIRTHDAY April 1, 2020

my money is on that no one involved in her pain management care – or denial of care – will be held responsible for this

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Independent pharmacies are working around the clock to ensure patients receive the medications they need during the pandemic

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

National Community Pharmacists Association CEO Doug Hoey says pharmacies are working around the clock to ensure patients receive the medications they need during the pandemic.

https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6146117001001/?playlist_id=933116627001#sp=show-clips

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Doctor Shares The Biggest Lie About COVID-19 | UK Data

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

https://youtu.be/0ts8X3HDtPE

Doctor Shares The Biggest Lie About COVID-19 | UK Data

There has been a particularly harmful misconception which has led many to believe coronavirus is a trivial problem that won’t affect them. These are results from the first 775 patients admitted to intensive care in the UK, with COVID-19. Time to put the misconception that this disease only preys on the elderly and those with significant medical conditions, to rest. Erratum: Thanks to a couple of friends who pointed out that I should’ve been clearer with the deaths statistic – when saying around half have died, that refers to those with outcomes recorded, ie patients who have either left ICU alive or dead. Many of these patients are still in ICU right now, so the rate may change *however* if you click the link below you can see a steady state emerging between discharge alive and dead, suggesting the 52:48 ratio is probably about right. Link to ICNARC report: https://www.icnarc.org/About/Latest-N… Next video is ready to go and is non-COVID, promise! ETA: soon.

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CDC has lied about the need to wear a mask in public

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

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chain pharmacies failed in lawsuit blaming physicians being responsible for the opiate crisis.

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

Judge Dismisses Pharmacies’ Lawsuit Against Physicians

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/01/business/bc-us-opioid-crisis-lawsuits.html

CLEVELAND —

A federal judge in Cleveland has dismissed an effort by pharmacy companies to shift their liability for the opioid crisis to physicians and practitioners in the two Ohio counties suing them, alleging they created a public nuisance.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster ruled Tuesday that lawsuits filed by Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, and Summit County, which includes Akron, are not tied to prescribing practices, but to the failure of the companies to implement systems and policies to prevent the illegal diversion of painkillers.

“Plaintiffs’ theory and intended proof do not rely on whether prescribers made negligent or fraudulent representations,” Polster wrote.

Adding claims against prescribers would cause a significant delay in the trial of the counties’ lawsuits against Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Discount Drug Mart and HBC, scheduled to begin in November, Polster said.

The two counties reached a $250 million settlement with three drug distributors and a generic drug manufacturer before the start of a trial last October.

Attorneys for the pharmacy chains argued in a filing in January that Polster should reject the counties’ claims because pharmacies can fill only prescriptions written by prescribers authorized by the state of Ohio and registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

“While pharmacists are highly trained and licensed professionals, they did not attend medical school and are not trained as physicians,” the attorneys wrote.

The executive committee for plaintiff attorneys in the multi-district opioid litigation issued a statement Wednesday applauding Polster’s ruling.

“The dismissal of defendants’ third-party claims reaffirms that pharmacies must be held accountable for years of sidestepping their obligations under the law to protect the American people from controlled substances,” the statement said.

Polster is overseeing more than 2,000 opioid-related lawsuits filed by cities, counties, tribal governments and hospitals against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies seeking to hold them accountable for the opioid crisis, which has been linked to more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000.

Those deaths include fatal overdoses from both prescription opioids and illegal ones such as heroin and illicitly made fentanyl.

Attorneys for the pharmacy chains argued in a filing in January, pharmacists are highly trained and licensed professionals, they did not attend medical school and are not trained as physicians.

The question has to be asked… if the chain pharmacies’ attorney are claiming that pharmacists do not have the educational background of a physician. Why aren’t the chains challenging the DEA in making the interpretation of the Controlled Substance Act .. in particular the phrase “corresponding responsibility” that Pharmacists have the legal responsibility to basically provide a SECOND MEDICAL OPINION on the appropriateness of prescription for a pt.. when the pharmacist – generally – doesn’t have access to the pt’s medical records, have no training nor legal right to do a in person physical exam of the pt and in general we are talking about subjective diseases. Where only the pt really has a idea of the intensity of their health issues and symptoms.

With all the monies that these chains put into political election campaigns and lobbying Congress and instead of trying to help their pts dealing with subjective diseases… they file lawsuits against prescribers who have been trying to help improve the quality of life of those suffering from subjective diseases. Can anyone really even think that these chain pharmacies have the any interest in the quality of life of those pts suffering from subjective diseases by actions such as filing these lawsuits against prescribers ?

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COVID-19 policy recommendations for OUD, pain, harm reduction

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

COVID-19 policy recommendations for OUD, pain, harm reduction

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/covid-19-policy-recommendations-oud-pain-harm-reduction

Updated March 26, 2020

The AMA is providing the following policy recommendations to help states and others with specific policy recommendations amid the COVID-19 global outbreak. These recommendations are to help guide policymakers reduce the stress being experienced by patients with an opioid use disorder (OUD) and pain as well as support efforts to continue harm reduction efforts in communities across the United States.

Featured updates: COVID-19

Track the evolving situation with the AMA’s library of the most up-to-date resources from JAMA, CDC and WHO.

Read the Latest

1. Ensuring access to care for patients with an opioid use disorder

  • Designate medications to treat addiction (buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone) and medications to reverse opioid-related overdose (naloxone) as “essential services” to reduce barriers to access during “shelter-in-place” orders. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has already waived federal requirements for in-person visits before controlled substance prescribing; we encourage states to take similar action for their controlled substance regulations.
  • Prohibit cost-sharing and prior authorization for medications used to treat addiction, including buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone; allow for a 90-day prescription for patients receiving buprenorphine; payers should suspend all day limits on residential and intensive out-patient therapy.
  • States should request a blanket exception to SAMHSA for Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP) to receive Take-Home doses of a patient’s medication for opioid use disorder.
  • Remove any restrictions on the Medicaid preferred drug lists to help avoid medication shortages. This includes ensuring coverage for methadone for patients receiving care in an OTP.
  • Correctional and justice settings should temporarily waive strict requirements for submitting drug tests, in-person counseling and “check-ins” and similar requirements; suspend consequences for failure to meet strict reporting, counseling and testing requirements, including removal from public housing, loss of public benefits, and return to jail or prison. Additional efforts must be made to ensure people receiving MAT in criminal justice settings receive help in transitioning to care after release.

2. Protecting patients with pain

  • Waive limits and restrictions on prescriptions for controlled substances, waive for the period of state and national emergency the restrictions on dose and/or quantity as well as refills.
  • Waive requirements for electronic prescribing of controlled substances, including requirements for an in-person evaluation for patients requiring a refill; provide liability protections for physicians who prescribe controlled substances for current patients the physician believes in good faith is stable and compliant with taking his or her medications.
  • For patients with chronic pain, waive testing requirements and in-person counseling requirements for refills; allow for telephonic counseling to fulfill state prescribing and treatment requirements.
  • Enhance home-delivery medication options for patients with chronic pain.

3. Harm reduction to help prevent overdose and spread of infectious disease

  • Designate supplies provided by harm reduction organizations as “essential services” to reduce barriers to access during “shelter-in-place” orders.
  • Provide assistance to harm reduction organizations to help ensure adequate supplies of naloxone to continue community-based naloxone distribution efforts.
  • Ensure continuity of syringe services programs, including provision of PPE. Expand PPE priority to include harm reduction organizations and other community-based organizations that provide services to people who inject drugs to help protect against the spread of infectious disease.

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Indiana COVID-19 Data as of March 31st, 11:59PM

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

https://coronavirus.in.gov/2393.htm

 

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FDA Wants All Ranitidine Products Off the Market

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Pharmaciststeve

FDA Wants All Ranitidine Products Off the Market

— Finds levels of probable carcinogen increase during storage

https://www.medpagetoday.com/gastroenterology/generalgastroenterology/85740

WASHINGTON — All ranitidine products should be pulled from shelves immediately, the FDA said Wednesday, including brand-name Zantac as well as generic versions of the prescription and over-the-counter antacid.

Notably, this was not because of direct evidence of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a probable human carcinogen, being present in particularly high concentrations in the drug itself.

“We didn’t observe unacceptable levels of NDMA in many of the samples that we tested. However, since we don’t know how or for how long the product might have been stored, we decided that it should not be available to consumers and patients unless its quality can be assured,” Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.

“The agency has determined that the impurity in some ranitidine products increases over time and when stored at higher than room temperatures may result in consumer exposure to unacceptable levels of this impurity,” according to the FDA announcement.

Reports of NDMA impurities in ranitidine began in the summer of 2019, following similar discoveries in generic angiotensin receptor blockers.

Now, the FDA is sending letters to all manufacturers of ranitidine requesting they withdraw their products from the market. The agency is also advising consumers to stop buying and taking over-the-counter ranitidine. Those who wish to continue treatment to relieve gastroesophageal reflux and for gastric and intestinal ulcer prevention should consider using other approved products, the FDA said.

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