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Woman’s skin ‘melts off’ after medication error

http://www.11alive.com/news/local/investigations/womans-skin-melts-off-after-medication-error/437871972

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — “I never lost anybody close to me, but that’s what it feels like.”

When 26-year-old Khaliah Shaw looks at pictures of herself from three years ago, she doesn’t recognize that person from before. Before her skin burned from the inside out. Before her sweat glands melted. Before the medically-induced coma. People can click this link here now if they need the best skin care routine. 

Before the mistake.

“I didn’t have to have people staring at me or wondering why I look different,” she said. “Three years ago, my life changed forever.”

In 2014, Shaw went to a doctor’s office because she felt depressed.  She received a prescription for lamotrigine. A pending lawsuit claims Shaw received the wrong dosage, and her pharmacy didn’t catch it.

For the first two weeks, “everything was ok.”

And then it wasn’t.

Blisters broke out all over her body. “I was in excruciating pain. It felt like I was on fire,” she said.

She was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome a rare serious skin disorder. It’s usually caused by reaction to a medication or an incorrect dosage.

PHOTOS | Show progress of Stevens Johnson Syndrome

“It essentially causes your body to burn from the inside out and you pretty much just melt,” said Shaw.

The syndrome has left Shaw’s previously flawless skin burned and scarred. She is slowing losing her vision. Her sweat glands are gone, and her finger nails will never grow back. 

“This did not have to happen. This was not just some sort of fluke in my opinion. This happened as a directly result of somebody’s error,” said Shaw.  

An 11Alive investigation discovered those errors are happening at an alarming rate.

According to the Food and Drug and Drug Administration, errors jumped from 16,689 in 2010 to more than 93,930 in 2016. That’s a 462 percent increase. 

The numbers come from FAERS, or the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), a database that contains information on adverse event and medication error reports submitted to the agency. FAERS is a voluntary reporting system, so the numbers are likely higher.

The FDA says the spike is due to improvements made to its reporting system over the past two years. Pharmacy industry experts believe the numbers also reflect more people filling more prescriptions than ever.

Some experts believe there is something Georgia could do to reduce errors.

Matt Perri is a pharmacy professor at the University of Georgia. “When pharmacists get busier or pressure gets placed on the pharmacist, it makes it harder for them to do their jobs accurately,” he said.

To reduce errors, some states have tried to limit the number of prescriptions a pharmacist can fill to about 150 per shift. Georgia has no limits. Perri isn’t sure what the magic number would be, but he believes there could be benefits in setting limits.

“If you’re filling three or four hundred prescriptions by yourself, that’s clearly way too much for one pharmacist,” said Perri. “The idea of setting limits is unappealing on the business perspective, but on a patient safety perspective, it would be a good thing if we had a general idea of where those limits were.”

Jeff Lurey, with the Georgia Pharmacy Association, disagrees. “Patients come into the pharmacy at different times when they need to get medication filled. To put a restriction, I’m not so sure that’s in the best interest of our patients,” he said. “I’m just not convinced that cuts down on [medication] errors.”

Lurey argues training will have a bigger impact. This year, the association published a six-part training series focused on how pharmacists can reduced medication errors.

Perri’s advice for patients: make sure you’re consulted by a pharmacist. Georgia law mandates a pharmacist offer consultation when you pick a new prescription. Not a pharmacy tech, but an actual pharmacist.

Life after the mistake goes on. 

Shaw spent five weeks in medically induced coma while her skin slowly peeled off. There is no cure for Stevens Johnson Syndrome, and she could relapse.

“They’re telling me this could happen again, and they’re telling me if it did happen again, that it would be worse,” said Shaw.

According to the lawsuit filed on her behalf, medical bills have already reached more than $3.45 million. Extensive and prolonged medical care are expected to continue to add to those bills. 

Shaw is represented by two attorneys, Trent Speckhals and Robert Roll, both specialize in medication error litigation. 

“We continue to see the same errors over and over. [They’re] typically the result of pharmacists being too rushed, too busy, filling too many prescriptions and the use of [pharmacy] techs that really don’t have the training and the ability that a pharmacist would,” Speckhals said. “That’s one of the sad things, shocking things about it. It continues to happen at an alarming rate.”

“I never heard of Steven Johnson Syndrome until I was in the hospital with my skin melting off of my body. That’s when I learned what it was,” Shaw said. It’s a lesson she says no one should have to learn. “It’s important to know what’s in your body.”

“Be an advocate for yourself. Educate before you medicate,” she said. “Know what the side effects are.”

© 2017 WXIA-TV

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REP. JENKINS TO DEA: RE-EVALUATE OPIOID QUOTA SYSTEM

https://evanjenkins.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-jenkins-dea-re-evaluate-opioid-quota-system

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You may be surprised how heroin makes its way into your community

http://www.cleveland19.com/story/35385436/you-may-be-surprised-how-heroin-makes-its-way-into-your-community

Apparently Bob Walling — a drug investigator with the Westshore Enforcement Bureau. – is CLUELESS about fake/false/forged ID’s  floating around out there…since…  In 2013, Walling testified in Columbus in favor of a bill that would require pharmacists to get a name, ID and number from the ID before handing out pills.

So if the person picking up a prescription presents a fake/forged/false ID… that serves what purpose if someone is trying to track down who is getting prescription. Who believes that a person is going to use the same fake/false/forged ID if they are doctor shopping, pharmacy shopping or forging prescriptions

DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) –

Those who think opioids enter their neighborhoods by way of late night drug deals are likely mistaken.

Bob Walling is a drug investigator with the Westshore Enforcement Bureau. He was surprised when he took a friend’s prescription to be filled at a pharmacy. Knowing that drugs are well-tracked from manufacturer to pharmacy, he still got the prescription with no ID asked for.

“Each question they asked of me, I didn’t know and I didn’t know, and I still walked out with a prescription,” he said.

“The one exception is when it leaves the pharmacy. We don’t know exactly who takes the pill out of the pharmacy because anyone can pick up a prescription from a pharmacy for someone else,” he said of the tracking.

In 2013, Walling testified in Columbus in favor of a bill that would require pharmacists to get a name, ID and number from the ID before handing out pills.

Pharmaceutical companies got it shot down, so tracking pills remains nearly impossible. A recent case where the person who wrote a fake prescription to obtain 6,200 pills proved it.

Currently, most prescriptions are written on tamper proof paper — they all have some kind of tampering device on them. In one case there’s an RX on the
back, you can scratch it off and that tells you it’s an actual prescription.

Another challenge are doctors running lucrative pill mills.

“Doctor would ask two questions,” says Greg Mehling with the Lorain County Drug Task Force, describing a recent case. “What’s your name and what do you want, and prescriptions would be $100 each or six for $500. That’s medical prostitution — that’s not good medicine.”

These days Mehling says Percocet 10 is the drug of choice. In effect, it is clinical heroin.

In the case of opioids, the hangover is more and more often death.

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Health|Express Scripts to Offer Cheaper Drugs for Uninsured Customers         

www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/health/express-scripts-drug-prescriptions-prices.html

It is one of the most acute indignities of being uninsured in this country: Those with the least ability to pay are asked to spend the most for their prescription drugs.

That’s because people without health insurance are forced to pay the list price for brand-name drugs, while insurers have access to a lower, negotiated rate for the same products.

On Monday, one of the biggest pharmacy benefit managers in the drug world, Express Scripts, said it would begin offering a lower rate for a select group of frequently used drugs to people without health insurance, or to those who are stuck in plans with such high deductibles they couldn’t otherwise afford their medications.

The move by Express Scripts, which has been widely criticized as one of the major drivers of rising drug costs, is particularly well timed. It comes just days after Republicans passed a health care bill that some estimate could leave millions of Americans without health insurance, and when there is considerable uncertainty among various layers of the nation’s health care industries.

Prices of medicines available from InsideRx, a subsidiary of Express Scripts. Credit Inside Rx

Timothy C. Wentworth, the chief executive of Express Scripts, said about 30 million Americans either have no insurance or high deductible plans. He said the program was not initiated with the changes to the health care law in mind, but rather to help people who are in need. “We launched this with an idea that we can get those 30 million people similar discounts to what good-sized payers get, and provide them relief,” he said in an interview.
Continue reading the main story

The program, InsideRx, is a subsidiary of Express Scripts and will work when consumers sign up for the service, which is free, and present a discount card or a mobile app to pharmacies around the country — including major chains like CVS and Walgreens, and at Kroger supermarkets — to get discounts that average around one-third off the list price. Commonly prescribed drugs, including the cholesterol treatment Crestor and some brands of insulin, are included on the list about 40 products. The program will allow Express Scripts to expand its customer base. A company spokesman said it would take a “small fee” from pharmacies for every transaction.

It is being started in partnership with GoodRx, a technology company that has been offering similar discounts on mostly generic drugs through deals it previously struck with competitors to Express Scripts.

The new program was greeted with skepticism by Ben Wakana, executive director of Patients for Affordable Drugs, a nonprofit that does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs.

“Drug prices are so high that even with a discount, medication will unfortunately be out of reach for many uninsured or underinsured Americans,” Mr. Wakana said, questioning the motives of pharmacy benefit managers such as Express Scripts, which are known as P.B.M.s. “We continue to believe the most effective way to make drugs more affordable is to bring down drug prices, not to give P.B.M.s more leverage and hope for the best.”

InsideRx members would present a card, similar to this one, in order to obtain discounts on medications. Credit Insider Rx

Adam J. Fein, a drug-distribution expert with Pembroke Consulting, noted that some of the drugs on the list, like Nexium, have similar versions that are available as prescription generics or over-the-counter drugs. Still, he said, the program “is a positive development because the system is set up to soak the poor, and this is a way to pass some of the rebates down to the point of sale.”

But the plan comes with important caveats. Patients who are covered by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid will not be able to use it because drug companies, which helped negotiate the rates, could be seen as violating anti-kickback laws. And the payments also may not count toward a consumer’s deductible, which could end up raising costs for them in the long run.

The move could also be a way for Express Scripts to find new business. The company recently announced that its biggest customer, the insurance giant Anthem, would not renew its contract in 2020, news that sent Express Scripts stock down significantly and has raised questions about whether the company needs to change its business model. Express Scripts is the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager — its main business is negotiating with drug companies on behalf of insurers and large employers — but other top players are part of larger companies with other businesses. CVS Health, for example, also has a large pharmacy chain, and OptumRx, the third-largest player, is part of the health insurer UnitedHealth.

The news that Express Scripts was offering a program to help offset the high prices of prescription drugs struck some as odd, given that the company has been criticized for contributing to those high costs in the first place. Express Scripts and other benefit managers design plans that help insurers and employers reduce costs, and in recent years those companies have opted to shift much of that burden to consumers. Critics of pharmacy benefit managers have also noted that Express Scripts and others keep a slice of the rebates that are negotiated with drug companies and are based on a percentage of the list price — meaning that they make more money when drug prices go up.

Mr. Wentworth disputed the idea that Express Scripts contributes to rising drug costs and said the InsideRx plan is evidence that it is acting in consumers’ interests. “From our standpoint, we see the challenges, and that’s why we are trying to do something about it,” he said.

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https://www.securingindustry.com/pharmaceuticals/tracking-opioid-supply-chain-not-enough-to-fight-illicit-trade/s40/a4190/

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TV documentary on pain treatment funded by doctor with industry ties

www.statnews.com/2017/03/24/pain-documentary-public-television/

Public television stations across the country have begun airing a documentary about pain treatment produced by a doctor with significant financial ties to the manufacturers of opioid medications — a fact not disclosed in the program.

“The Painful Truth” chronicles the plight of several patients struggling to find effective treatment for chronic pain. Throughout the 57-minute-long program, politicians, federal agencies, and others are depicted as having overreacted to the epidemic of opioid-related overdoses; the documentary suggests pain specialists have been discouraged from prescribing opioids to patients who genuinely need them.

The program accuses the US Drug Enforcement Agency of unfairly targeting pain doctors and putting a “bounty” on pain clinics the agency aims to shut down.

“The political culture has declared war against opioids and those who prescribe them,” the narrator of the program says. “The DEA is the army. The pain patients are the civilians caught in the middle.”

The producer, Dr. Lynn Webster of Utah, and several of the experts he quotes in the program, have long-standing and extensive financial relationships with pain medicine makers. When asked why these relationships are not disclosed to viewers, Webster told STAT that he did not receive any drug industry funding for the documentary. He said it was funded entirely by himself and his wife.

“I am cognizant of that issue, but I think I dealt with it as carefully as I could,” he said in an interview. If viewers want to know whether any of the individual doctors associated with the documentary have financial relationships with pharmaceutical makers, Webster said they can search for that information on the web.

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Important:. ESPECIALLY FOR PATIENTS WHO MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY ABSORBING OR METABOLIZING ABUSE DETERRENT OPIOIDS

(CALL TO ACTION ALERT) Hey folks, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review is accepting public comments in order to draft guidelines that will be used for formulating, pricing, and prescribing Opioid Analgesics with Abuse Deterrent Technology. They seem to be fair, and unbiased, and not anti opioid. Please consider commenting and addressing issues such as 1) what if they dont work? 2) what about the stigma around prescribing me an “abuse deterrent’ medicine when I DONT ABUSE? 3) what happens if it simply doesnt work for me, but I am cut off from my standard, common opioid analgesics? 4) what if Insurance companies wont cover it since they now believe Im an addict that needs “ABUSE DETERRENT” formulated medicines? 5) what if , since they are new medicines, are pushed into the higher Tier brackets and the co pays are unaffordable, and IM NOT ALLOWED TO GET ANOTHER CHOICE in opioid analgesics? and so on. Please consider a list of concerns you have with this push to start making ALL PRESCRIPTION ANALGESICS AVAILABLE ONLY WITH ABUSE DETERRENT TECHNOLOGY. We are not addicts. We cannot simply accept this belief that we are, and we ‘need’ these medicines because we ‘abuse so much medicine’. While there SHOULD be ADT medicines available for ADDICTS and those who are ‘at risk’, the average pain patient should not be forced to have to take these UNPROVEN, and EXPENSIVE medicines, which will ADD STIGMA and PERSECUTION to my health care needs. (PLEASE SHARE IN OTHER GROUPS AND PAGES).

www.icer-review.org/topic/abuse-deterrent-opioids/

LINK TO MAKE COMMENTS

https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FDA-2017-N-1094-0001

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There has been a lot of discussion recently about pre-existing conditions focusing on the perceived difference between the existing Obamacare and the perception of what the – yet to be passed by Congress – Trumpcare.

Here is a video of Jonathan Gruber – MIT Professor  that was involved in the development  of Obamacare stating that

Americans “Too Stupid to Understand” Obamacare

Keep in mind that before Obamacare started there was some 50 million Americans without health insurance and at Obamacare peak enrollment there was at least 30 million still without health insurance.  It would appear from the start that the timing of the implementation was pre-planned that any failing of the program would not be until after the 2017 election… but … the 2017 premiums and companies staying or pulling out was announced in Oct 2017… BEFORE THE ELECTION…  Some premiums over DOUBLED and many areas had only a SINGLE INSURANCE COMPANY willing to write policies and deductibles were INCREASED…  Those individuals/families that could afford the premiums, could not afford to get any healthcare.. because they couldn’t  afford to pay the deductibles.

Pre-existing conditions and insurance companies declining to provide coverage is common practice in many areas.

If you have numerous vehicle wrecks and tickets… Would you expect any/all insurance companies to write a policy and/or charge you rates that many can’t afford … with all those pre-existing conditions ?

You live along  the Gulf coast, eastern seaboard and you don’t have flood insurance or home owners insurance on your home… there is a hurricaine predicted to hit your area within a few days… you call an insurance agent to get home owners/flood insurance.. they will be happy to sell it to you BUT.. it will not be valid for 30 days.. because of the pre-existing condition of a eminent hurricane.

You are getting ready to apply for SS/Medicare disability and you call an insurance agent to buy DISABILITY INSURANCE…  the company insist on you having a medical exam before they will issue a policy and once you have the medical exam… they decline to issue the policy.. because of pre-existing conditions.

You are just diagnosed with terminal cancer .. and you decide to apply for a life insurance policy… if you are able to “hide” your terminal disease and you get a policy issued… if you die within the first couple of years after the policy was issues.. most likely there would be a search of your medical records and if they found out that you got the policy after being diagnosed with a terminal cancer… you will be lucky if they just give back the premiums that you paid in.

If a person goes on Medicare/Medicaid there is no preexisting exemptions.. because NO FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANY is involved.  Healthcare is a FOR PROFIT BUSINESS… they are not going to write a policy if they believe that doing so will cost them more money than they will collect in premiums.

Until those that are trying to put together something to replace the failing Obamacare .. that if they want everyone to have health care insurance.. then EVERYONE is going to have to pay into the system… or the bureaucracy is going to have to supply supplemental financing …

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Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen several videos … concerning how the flying public is being mis-treated on various airlines…  American, United, Delta have made the news…

We have seen a person dragged off a plane… experiencing a concussion, broken nose and losing two teeth

A female with a baby in her arms was confronted by a flight attendant over a baby stroller

A male was tossed from a flight because after telling the flight attendant that he had to use the restroom and told him he would have to wait… after a 30+ minute wait .. he got up and quickly used the bathroom… 

The above video sort of reminds you of civil forfeitures… telling a father that he must relinquish a seat that he had PAID FOR.. and just one of the FOUR SEATS that he had paid for… one that a infant was sitting in – in a legal car seat..

He was lied to that it was a FAA rule that infants < 2 y/o could not fly in a car seat… Was threatened with him and his wife being thrown in jail and kids put in foster care unless he forfeited the four seats he had paid for.

When are we going to start see such audio/video of healthcare providers denying care, lying to pts, technically abusing pts ?

I have had pts tell me that they have been threatened by Pharmacists – normally chain store employees – have threatened to have pts ARRESTED because they asked for reason why their legal/on time/medically necessary prescriptions were being denied.

What are they wanting… pts getting down on their knees and BEGGING them to DO THEIR JOB ?

YouTube is a powerful platform for engagement, and uploading videos about protecting your rights can help to engage viewers and start a conversation about the topic. This can lead to increased awareness, advocacy, and action around protecting one’s rights. Visit this site to start your campaign from here and gain more youtube likes.

Corporations do not want BAD PRESS… and employees that cause them to get BAD PRESS .. may get suspended, fired or at least given a final warning…

Corporations typically don’t really care what their employees do.. as long as they don’t steal from the company, allow others to steal from the company and as long as HQ doesn’t get any complaints. The only time they will care and come looking for a problem is when revenues fall because pt/customers have taken their business elsewhere … where they are treated better.

IMO, many employees in healthcare neither respect nor fear pts nor care about their rights, and until they are taken to task to change how pts are treated… it will not improve and will probably get worse.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss

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