What defines the DEA’s mission, apparently, are two parts marijuana, one part cocaine ?

What I Learned at the DEA Museum http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-barcott/what-i-learned-at-the-dea-museum_b_7100156.html As Americans celebrate 4/20, pot culture’s answer to Octoberfest, I’m getting pelted with questions about the growing legalization movement. What’s the new pot like? What are you telling your kids? Right. I get those questions. But mainly I hear this one: Why is legalization happening now?  Until […]

DEA’S payments to informants, which totaled $146 million over five years

Justice officials launch another investigation of DEA payments to informants http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2015/04/20/Telling-for-Dollars-Justice-officials-launch-another-investigation-of-DEA-payments-to-informants/201504190057 The Drug Enforcement Administration’s spending on informants, which topped $33 million last year, is the subject of a new probe by inspectors who ripped the federal agency’s accounting a decade ago. The Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating how the […]

Is this why some refer to FLORIDA as “god’s waiting room ” ?

For two years, Florida legislators have refused to expand Medicaid as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act. Their decision left an estimated 850,000 Floridians without healthcare insurance in the “coverage gap.” Those caught in the gap earn too much to receive Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for subsidies to buy a plan through the […]

Should the word “ADDICT” have the same derogatory meaning as the “N-word” ?

Race lesson in the pharmacy The Americans with Disability Act and the Civil Rights Act are parallel laws.. covering different subsections of our population. Discrimination under both laws is considered a civil rights violation. In this story, the Pharmacist took offense at being told by the customers that she should “go back to Africa”.. and […]

Brace for record-breaking HIPAA violation fines

Healthcare providers: Brace for record-breaking HIPAA violation fines Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has pipeline of “unprecedented” settlements, says attorney Adam Greene http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/healthcare-large-hipaa-violation-fines-settlements/2015-04-17 OCR could hand down some whopping fines for HIPAA violations later this year, privacy attorney Adam Greene told govinfosecurity.com in an interview. “We’ve heard anecdotally that [OCR] has a significant pipeline of […]

Local veteran dying of cancer can’t get pain meds from VA

http://m.wftv.com/news/news/local/local-veteran-dying-cancer-cant-get-pain-meds-va/nkt7y/  VIDEO ON WEBSITE An Orange County veteran diagnosed with terminal colon cancer said he was given just months to live. But after serving for more than 30 years, he said Veterans Affairs denied him pain medication that he needs to make it through the day. Channel 9 found out the denial is being blamed […]

Three US Senators they don’t feel your pain ?

US Senate Bill will Pressure FDA on Slowing Opioid Approvals http://nationalpainreport.com/us-senate-bill-will-pressure-fda-on-opioid-approvals-8825956.html While chronic pain patients continue to worry about what they believe is a decreasing access to certain narcotic pain medications, two U.S. Senators are introducing a bill that would make it more difficult for new and generic opioid drugs to be approved by the […]

To protect and serve ?

Denied Medication by NYPD, Epileptic Man Has Two Seizures in Custody: Lawsuit http://www.newsweek.com/epileptic-man-denied-medication-nypd-has-seizures-custody-lawsuit-322827 New York Police Department officers repeatedly denied an epileptic man his medication while detaining him in a holding cell, resulting in two seizures and hospitalizations before he could be taken to Brooklyn central booking more than a day later, a new federal […]

Retired Cops Call For Drug Policy

DEA Prostitution Scandal: Retired Cops Call For Drug Policy Changes http://www.latintimes.com/dea-prostitution-scandal-retired-cops-call-drug-policy-changes-310210 The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) came under intense criticism this week in the wake of Congressional hearings highlighting reports that agents in Colombia attended sex parties with prostitutes paid for by criminal gangs, among other allegations. A House Oversight Committee hearing this week […]

CVS Robberies: Some suspects caught, some still operating at pharmacies

CVS Robberies: Some suspects caught, some still operating at pharmacies If you need prescriptions filled and CVS is the pharmacy you normally use, you might want to re-think that after a rash of robberies have plagued the retail chain and some of the thieves are armed and dangerous–and still operating, like the one who held […]