Congress plans on saving 220,000 lives

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

IU Hospital Photo 2

Young holds Tobacco 21 Press Conference in Lafayette

https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/photos-young-holds-tobacco-21-press-conference-in-lafayette-

LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Today, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined doctors and public health officials for a press conference at IU Health Arnett Hospital in Lafayette regarding his new Tobacco to 21 Act. The bipartisan legislation would prohibit the sale of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to anyone under the age of 21.

“With smoking and vaping on the rise, we can no longer ignore tobacco’s detrimental side effects. By raising the smoking age to 21, we can save more than 220,000 lives and prevent countless individuals from suffering the damaging side effects of tobacco usage,” said Senator Young.

Senator Young recently introduced the Tobacco to 21 Act along with Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). The bipartisan bill has received widespread support by health organizations and advocates, and recent polling shows that 75 percent of Hoosiers support raising the legal age.

The South Bend Tribune, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Terre Haute Tribune-Star, Indiana Business Journal, and KPC Newspapers in northeast Indiana have all endorsed the Tobacco to 21 Act. Senator Young also penned an op-ed for CNN and issued a video regarding the need for this legislation.

The Tobacco to 21 Act is supported by the Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Pediatric Society, American Public Health Association, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, First Focus Campaign for Children, National African-American Tobacco Prevention Network, Pediatric Policy Council, Society for Pediatric Research, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and Trust for America’s Health.

who believes that changing the age at which a person can smoke moves up BY THREE YEARS COULD SAVE 220,000 lives.. of course they don’t mention a time frame that this will happen over.  If you consider the typical smoker will do so for 40 yrs … so that would break down to 15 lives a day… there is reportedly 450,000/yr deaths from the use of tobacco. On the positive side, maybe Congress has become “smart enough” to understand that prohibition doesn’t work or maybe they just can’t figure how to replace all the “sin tax money” that comes from tobacco ?  Of course we have 22 veteran that commit suicide EVERY DAY, but not much seems to move forward on trying to address this issue.

None of us really know how many people die from illegal opiate OD’s or commit suicide from lack of proper pain management.. but since abt 40% of Congress is attorneys they continue to treat opiate abuse as a CRIME that the judicial has considered it since 1917.   Isn’t it reassuring that the DOJ is still functioning under a 100+ year old opinion ?

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Researchers Are Creating New Vaccine to Target Opioid Addiction

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

Researchers Are Creating New Vaccine to Target Opioid Addiction

https://www.drugtopics.com/vaccination-and-immunization/researchers-are-creating-new-vaccine-target-opioid-addiction?rememberme=1&elq_mid=7310&elq_cid=740438&GUID=9B8F9F37-85BB-43FB-9637-C2C4134B59EC

Researchers are working on a promising new vaccine that could aid in the battle against opioid addiction. With the help of a $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers from the University of New Mexico (UNM) are joining forces with a Northern Arizona University (NAU) researcher to create a vaccine that would block opioids from acting in the brain. Such a vaccine could potentially help those with opioid use disorder overcome their addiction, according to a statement from the UNM Health Sciences.

The vaccine would operate similar to HPV vaccines in that it would trigger a patient’s own immune system to create antibodies that would fight against opioids consumed by a user.

 “The main concept of this vaccine is to treat individuals who are suffering from opioid addiction,” NAU researcher Naomi Lee, PhD, told Arizona public radio station KNAU. “It’s to trick your body into thinking that it’s a foreign or bad molecule, and create antibodies, which is essentially what we do with our current vaccines, and then protect your body against those opioids.”

By blocking opioids from reaching the brain blood barrier, it would prevent the expected high of a drug.

Kathryn Frietze, PhD, an assistant professor in UNM’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, said the vaccine will operate by attaching molecules of different opioid drugs to the protein shell of a virus-like particle ( VLP), that has its genome removed leaving only the outer protein shell.

Frietze said researchers hope that by using this VLP protein shell the particles will not be able to reproduce but will be able to trigger the immune system to attack the invader and create antibodies.

A similar process has been used before to trigger immune responses by attaching opioids to proteins like tetanus toxoid. The, challenge has been that it often requires multiple injections and isn’t a long-lasting solution, the release states.

Researchers, including Bryce Chackerian, PhD, are hopeful their new process may offer more long-lasting results and are currently testing the speed, strength, and duration of the immune response in mice. The hope is that VLPs will produce a fast, high titer, and more long-lasting antibody response to opioids.

“We believe that these are features that are likely required for effective vaccine-based treatment for opioid use disorder,” Lee, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at NAU said in a statement produced by NAU.

If the vaccine is ultimately found to be effective, Frietze says it “would not be a standalone treatment” and would likely be used along with other treatment options, but it could play a valuable role in fighting the opioid epidemic.

According to data from the CDC, opioids were involved in 47,600 deaths in 2017 and represent the largest segment of overdose deaths.

Let’s just imagine that they are successful in creating a anti-opiate addiction vaccine. Could we reach a point where anyone ODing on a opiate be forced by our judicial system to receive this vaccination ?  After all in 1917 the judicial system declared that opiate addiction was a CRIME and not a DISEASE and Congress in 1970 gave the judicial system the charge of fighting the war on drugs with the Controlled Substance Act.  Since only prisoners are covered by the 8th Amendment of “cruel and unusual punishment” … could prisoner be free to reject being given the vaccination ?

Then you have someone who has received this vaccination and at some point in time requires surgery, in a vehicle accident or other such causes of acute or ending up in chronic pain..  Some meds used in surgery are or related to opiates..  will these people be forced to undergo surgery via a local anesthesia and not be able to have any pain management post surgery – or – if the pt evolves into chronic pain … little/no pain management – EVER ?

Talk about your unintended consequences !

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Veteran totally off hydrocodone.

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

https://www.facebook.com/markmusheribsen/videos/10218388775846116/?notif_id=1560792857146105&notif_t=live_video_explicit

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AK has a STRONG OPINION – about opiate crisis – not based on FACTS ?

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

https://kfor.com/2019/06/13/defense-questions-key-witness-for-state-in-opioid-trial/

NORMAN, Okla. — A key witness in the ongoing trial against the nation’s largest drugmaker described the company as the “kingpin” in the state’s opioid crisis.

Dr. Andrew Kolodny, co-director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University, testified Thursday he believed Johnson & Johnson was a “major cause” of the epidemic. The company is being sued by the state of Oklahoma, accused of fueling the opioid epidemic through deceptive marketing and downplaying the risks of addiction.

“In 2007, when Purdue Pharma was convicted criminally of claiming that OxyContin was less addictive because of its extended release formulation, Johnson & Johnson continued to sell opium and oxycodone to Purdue Pharma and continued to do exactly what Purdue Pharma was convicted criminally of doing,” Kolodny said. “It was Johnson & Johnson’s opium that flooded into the United States.”

He added the company then continued to promote their own products as having “lower abuse potential.”

Kolodny first took the stand on Tuesday after the state presented him as an expert witness, but defense attorneys objected to him being considered an expert on the subject. They argued Kolodny was not qualified to testify on the cause of the epidemic because his research primarily relies on correlation, not causation.

“Those are different things,” attorney Michael Yoder stated.

On Thursday, the defense continued to build their argument that Kolodny has not provided any evidence showing addiction or deaths in Oklahoma were actually caused by a doctor misled into prescribing their drugs.

Yoder: “You have some strongly held personal opinions. I’m not asking what they are right now. I’m just asking you if you agree that there are strongly held opinions.”

Dr. Kolodny: “Yes, I would imagine I would have some strongly held opinions.”

The trial continues on Friday.

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Don’t Punish Pain Rally Montage

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

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When local officers work with federal agents on joint task forces, they are prohibited from wearing body cameras

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

In this image, the Atlanta police chief speaks into a microphone from behind a podium.

Local police increasingly clash with federal law enforcement on body cameras

https://www.axios.com/local-police-federal-agents-body-cameras-e798279c-aecb-4303-84ef-cf46dbd2f320.html

Local police are increasing their use of body cameras, which often puts them at odds with the federal agents they work with — who “never wear body cameras,” the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: A 2018 Justice Department survey found that 47% general-purpose law enforcement agencies had acquired body cameras by 2016. 80% of the largest local police departments, which employ 500 or more full-time sworn officers, had acquired body cameras by that time.

What’s happening: Local police departments tell the Post the DOJ “has helped fund and train local police departments in body-camera use while ignoring federal use.” When local officers work with federal agents on joint task forces, they are prohibited from wearing body cameras.

What they’re saying:

  • “I believe they have an obligation to join us in 21st-century policing,” Todd Axtell, the St. Paul, Minnesota police chief, told the Post about federal agencies.“This is what they’ve been preaching. It’s ironic they aren’t complying with what they preach to be so important in policing.”
  • The Justice Department’s lack of camera use is due to “safety and security concerns, such as protecting sensitive or tactical methods used in arresting violent fugitives or conducting covert investigations,” a DOJ official told the Post.
  • “If you’re policing and you’re policing properly,” Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields told the Post, “you have nothing to fear” from wearing a body camera.

What to watch: Shields pulled Atlanta’s officers from federal joint task forces with the DEA, the FBI and others after federal agents refused to wear body cameras — and chiefs in Houston and Austin are considering the same if a compromise isn’t reached with federal agencies.

Go deeper: The police technology revolution no one is hearing about

 

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Chronic Pain Patients To “Assemble” at the CDC on June 21st

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

Chronic Pain Patients To “Assemble” at the CDC on June 21st

Chronic Pain Patients To “Assemble” at the CDC on June 21st

www.nationalpainreport.com/chronic-pain-patients-to-assemble-at-the-cdc-on-june-21st-8840092.html

An Indianapolis woman is leading a group of chronic pain patient for a two-hour event in front of the Centers for Disease Control Office in Atlanta on Friday June 21st.

Johnna Magers says that patients—some of whom who will be in wheelchairs– from Texas, Indiana, Kentucky and Colorado are already planning to go.

The group is called Chronic Pain Warriors Unite for Our Right to Pain Management.

The idea she said is “we want to educate the CDC” about the impact its Guideline for Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain has had on patients.

In April, CDC issued a statement that stated that some policies, practices attributed to the Guideline are inconsistent with its recommendations. Here’s the media statement.

But for many pain patients that moderation was too little too late.

Magers has been promoting the event thanks to number of Facebook pain groups and others and says there’s understandably lots of enthusiasm for the getting more visibility for the chronic pain patient point of view.

The Facebook page for the event is CDC Protest for Pain Patients. As the Facebook page says, “We will have an assembly peacefully to show our dissatisfaction of the CDC 2016 guidelines that have affected millions of lives.”

In addition, she has what she described as a 40-page list of chronic pain patients who have taken their lives in the last several years and will have some cut-outs to commemorate them in their line of protestors in Atlanta Saturday.

Magers is a 50-year old woman who has battled chronic pain for 15 years—at times the pain was so debilitating she could barely work. “I know that I’m going to need pain medicine for the rest of my life.”

The group—which has already secured an assembly permit–will gather at Clifton Road and CDC Parkway in Atlanta. The event will also be live streamed on social media.

Magers wanted to give credit to a number of groups that have been supporting this effort including Pain is Pain, Chronic Pain Voices, CCP News Source, Chronic Pain Support-Pain Doctor.com, International Support Fibromyalgia Network, Adele Faba Foundation for CRPS/PAIN, Refugees of the Opioid Crisis, Don’t Punish Pain Rally Organization, Chronic Pain Patients Lives Matter, United in Pain, Pain in the USA, Pain Patients United Community, Chronic Pain Management Forum, The National Pain Report, PAW Pain Advocate Warriors, Richard A. “Red” Lawhern Ph.D., Steve Ariens P.D.R.Ph., Leah Houston, M.D., and Arnold Feldman, M.D.

Magers is looking for more people. If you want to find out more about the event or contact her directly, email her chronicpainpatients@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page

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UPDATED: As seen on the web 06/10/2019 – share with all

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

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Mexican poppy production INCREASED 300% this decade

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

Mexico’s poppy and heroin production down slightly but still at record highs

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/poppy-and-heroin-production-remain-at-record-highs/

Poppy cultivation and heroin production remain at record-high levels in Mexico, according to the United States government.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) said in a statement yesterday that an annual U.S. government estimate found that the area of land dedicated to poppy cultivation decreased by 5% from 44,100 hectares in 2017 to 41,800 hectares last year.

But the size of the area was the second highest recorded this decade and 298% above the low of 10,500 hectares estimated in 2012.

The ONDCP said that the potential for pure heroin production declined by 4% from 111 tonnes in 2017 to 106 tonnes last year. They were the only years in the last decade in which heroin production estimates have exceeded 100 tonnes.

Production last year was 31% higher than in 2016 and 308% above the lowest level estimated this decade – 26 tonnes in both 2012 and 2013.

Mexico continues to be the primary supplier of heroin to the United States, the ONDCP said, explaining that 91% of heroin seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2017 was determined to have originated in Mexico.

Six Mexican criminal organizations – the Jalisco New Generation, Sinaloa, Juárez, Gulf, Los Zetas and Beltrán Leyva cartels – have the greatest drug trafficking impact on the United States, according to the DEA.

“Poppy cultivation and heroin production in Mexico continue to threaten the United States,” the ONDCP said.

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 47,600 Americans died from overdoses involving opioids and that 15,482 of those deaths involved heroin.

“President Donald J. Trump is focused on stopping the trafficking of heroin and other dangerous drugs coming from Mexico.  He declared a national emergency on our southern border in part to ensure the safety of the American people from these deadly drugs,” the ONDCP said.

According to the Mexican government, cartels also ship fentanyl to the United States from 13 states.

The rising demand for the powerful synthetic opioid among U.S. drug users has been identified as the cause of plummeting opium gum prices in Mexico.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told senators Tuesday that during the migration tariff negotiations between U.S. and Mexican authorities last week there were also discussions about measures to stop the production and transit of illicit drugs.

“The joint declaration we signed was mostly focused on migration, but a good deal of the conversation was . . . about the traffickers’ desire to move whatever product will bring a market price that causes them to have an incentive to continue to do the things that disrupt so many lives here in the United States,” he said.

“We’ll try and take down these criminal enterprises between all of the elements of the U.S. government. We’ve donated equipment to the Mexican law enforcement, security forces; we’ve trained their officers to eradicate poppy and interdict drugs; we’ve provided them sniffing dogs. And yet, as you can see from the data today, many challenges remain.”

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The VA Killed Me Russell Ervin Video

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Pharmaciststeve

https://youtu.be/IMFVov8dtL8

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