APS

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Most all of us have heard Einstein’s opinion of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

My blog is getting ready to close out its fifth year and as I look at the stats on my blog.. I find that while the number of page views have remained virtually unchanged over last year… the vast majority of people finding their way to my blog is done so via a web search… I can count on one hand the number of people that routinely post comments.

Over the five years, I have made over 5000 posts and each posts have had a AVERAGE of 2+ comments. In the last 12 months ONE SINGLE POST … that I made last Aug, has viewed almost 50% of total number of page views.

I have seen all too many chronic painers and advocates that professed their intent to CAUSE CHANGE.. IMO, there has been no positive change and many of those advocating are no longer around.

Optimistically, five years ago maybe up to 20% of chronic pain pts were getting adequate pain management, today that number is probably in the single digits and decreasing.

Bureaucrats at both the Federal and State levels are taking tax money from the chronic pain community to sue manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies in an attempt to deny those in the chronic pain community of their medically necessary pain management medications.

One Senator (Manchin D-WV) has discussed imposing a tax on prescription opiates to help pay for treating people who are self medicating the demons in their heads and/or monkeys on their back with various opiates – a increasing majority using illegal opiates being imported from Mexico, China and India and because they are mixing potent illegal fentanyl analogs with Heroin…more and more are dying of a overdose, while the number of prescribed opiates have fallen up to 35% over the past four years… while opiate OD’s continue to dramatically increase.

Many of us have been discussing the lack of unity among those in the chronic pain community – if possible – is getting worse… At some point – if we are not already there – it is going to be every person for themselves.

I just wonder how many family members of those who OD’s, joins some anti-opiate group… and those family members whose chronic pain family member dies from removed pain therapy and/or commits suicides … just comes away from the funeral saying “At least, they are not suffering any more…” and they go on with their lives.

Weekly, I get numerous emails and phone calls about pts being denied their medically necessary medication… I am going to devote my blog to publishing these and my suggestions in how they can deal with it. So that hopefully that others with similar situations may develop some strategy that can help them.

I am leaving all 5000+ posts and existing comments on the blog for reference purposes… In the future, I don’t see me making more than one “educational posts” per day… as I have in the past.

Filed under: General Problems | 18 Comments »

The top 5 reasons for malpractice lawsuits against doctors

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

The top 5 reasons for malpractice lawsuits against doctors

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/top-five-reasons-for-malpractice-lawsuits-against-docs

A malpractice lawsuit is something physicians dread, but one that most will experience over the course of their career.

Facing a malpractice trial it can be an emotional ordeal—and one that lasts, as FierceHealthcare previously reported.

Insider Monkey, with help from a Medscape survey and statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, put together a list of the most common causes of malpractice lawsuits brought against physicians.

The top five reasons for malpractice suits were:

1. Failure to diagnose a patient’s medical condition. Some 31% of physicians surveyed by Medscape said this was the reason for a malpractice lawsuit brought against them, the publication said. As FierceHealthcare advised, doctors should follow professional guidelines for screening and diagnostic testing, where protocols call for confirmation of initial diagnoses.

2. A patient injury during treatment, often resulting in disability or death. Again, 31% of physicians indicated they had been sued for injuring a patient.

3. Failure to treat a patient’s condition. This includes the occurrence of healthcare-associated infections, which a study last year suggested may be a bigger burden than diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

4. Poor documentation. Physicians must aim for accurate and complete documentation of patient care.

5. Medication errors. Medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure roughly 1.3 million people each year in the United States alone, as FierceHealthcare previously reported. Errors can vary from the initial prescription to administration of the drug, but often include dosage problems. Medication errors are such a problem, the World Health Organization is taking action to reduce these preventable adverse events worldwide.

While doctors may think there is little they can do after making a medical mistake, hospital leaders and clinicians who own up to mistakes and work with patients after medical errors occur may actually avoid lawsuits. Empowering patients in the decision-making process is also a way to reduce medical errors.

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More BLACK/WHITE medical care from chain pharmacists

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

My name is Sxxxx Cxxxx and after the 2 issues I had in one week with two different prescriptions and one pharmacist I would love some guidance/feedback on how to proceed. I have never experienced anything like it and would like to do something about it.

On May 24th 2017, after a 13 hour hospital stay due to pre-term labor at 32 weeks pregnant, I stopped into a CVS pharmacy to fill the script Procardia.

This drug was prescribed by my OBGYN to stop contractions if they were to start up again. The pharmacist inquired if I knew how bad this medication was for me to take, advised it was a class C drug that was harmful to my unborn baby and would not fill it without speaking with the doctor but was unable to reach the office since it was after hours. I assumed if my doctor prescribed the medication the pros outweighed the cons, that it would be more of a risk to deliver this early then take the medication to try to stop early labor (again… if need be). The pharmacist stated she had the right to protect her license, rather than raise my stress level and argue with the pharmacist any further I let it go until I had to follow up with my OB the following day and at that time I was able to get the RX after my OB spoke with the pharmacist…

On May 30, 2017 after my next follow up OB appointment I was prescribed Nicotine patches (unfortunately I have not been successful in completely quitting smoking cigarettes this pregnancy). I was under the impression the patch is better since it only contains Nicotine and not all of the other harmful chemicals in cigarettes such as carbon monoxide and cyanide, and if I were to have this baby pre-term the patch would prevent my newborn from being exposed to second hand smoke while his lungs continued to develop outside the womb. I returned to the same CVS pharmacy, and again was refused my RX. The pharmacist again inquired if I knew how bad it was for me to take while pregnant, that it was a class D drug and advised the dr could not be reached since they were on lunch and she would not fill without speaking to the doctor. At this point I became very frustrated, currently on bed rest I should not have tried to get my scripts or expose myself to the risk of this stress, already embarrassed by the fact that I smoke while pregnant and felt like I was being judged and had to defend myself, I stated I did not feel like I had to explain myself, that my personal situation is none of her business and why did she need authorization from my medical provider.. isn’t that what a prescription is? I told her to forget about the script, I wanted to pay for my other RX (hemorrhoid cream) and leave and that I would never come back… If you too are suffering from hemorrhoids, make sure to check out this natural Venapro hemorrhoid treatment system.

As a nice apologetic cashier rang me out for my other items , this lovely pharmacist back at her station turned to a coworker and said “remember her?” I almost completely lost it, I could not believe she went back to her coworkers to gossip about me while I was standing right there. I am still beside myself and baffled out how unprofessional this pharmacist behaved and want to do everything I can to prevent it from happening to someone else! Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you for your time!

Let me guess this female pharmacist was VERY YOUNG… IMO.. it takes a pharmacist about 10 yrs of practice to get “ their chops”.. before that they are working on a whole lot of books smarts and have little clinical experience which they will eventually figure out is more important to temper what the book says.

Category C is based on ANIMAL STUDIES and there has no no HUMAN STUDIES… and animal studies cannot always directly apply to human expectations. Given that you were 32 weeks along and using this only if you were having preterm labor… Personally, if I was in that Pharmacist’s position… I would have advised you of what Cat C means/says and if you had any further questions to contact your doctor… I would have document what I told the pt and filled the prescription..

In regards to the Nicotine patches… Given that it was a Category D.. I would have suggest that you try the Nicotine gum.. instead of the patches..so that you could deal with your Nicotine withdrawal as it happens and not having a constant flow of Nicotine as in using the patches. In the end, the fetus should have been exposed to less overall Nicotine. I agree with you that this is a better alternative than continuing to smoke.

My common recommendation is to find you a independent pharmacy http://www.ncpanet.org/home/find-your-local-pharmacy … dump the chains … you will be dealing with the Pharmacist/owner and someone who is generally older and has some book smarts mixed with some clinical experience and common sense that has evolved over the years. Everything is not always black/white .. there is a lot of gray area and conversations are had with the pt.. not a dictatorial stance.

find a independent pharmacy … I very seldom hear anything but PRAISE from pts that go to a independent pharmacy.. I understand the mindset.. because I had my own independent pharmacy for 20 yrs.

IF you wish to file a complaint with the Board of Pharmacy here is a website to find the state in which you are in and should be able to find a page to file a complaint. https://nabp.pharmacy/boards-of-pharmacy/

But I would not expect any real concern from them… most board are not much interested in doing their primary charge.. which is protecting the public’s health and safety.

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

BEGGING AT THE PRESCRIPTION DEPT ?

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Hello Steve

I am being denied my medication I have been on for years and go to the same pharmacy for years all because I have a new doctor. What can I do about this?

Because I switched doctors they said they didn’t fell comfortable doing it I’ve been on same medication for cpl years and have always used there pharmacy and here I am days later with no meds bc they are denying me my medication.

Personally, I REFUSE to patronize any business that wants me to jump thru hoops and hurdles or BEG THEM… in order to give them my money…

While pts have told me that when they call corporate HQ to file a complaint they typically get ” we cannot force a pharmacist to fill a prescription”.. which is true because the corporation does not have a pharmacist’s license just a permit to operate a prescription dept.

I have been told by some of these chain pharmacists that the chains put policies and procedures in place that actually discourages them from filling controlled prescriptions. The Pharmacists get paid weekly… doesn’t matter if they fill your controlled prescriptions or not.

Going to a independent pharmacy and you will be dealing with the Pharmacist/owner who is in business to fill legit/on time/medically necessary prescriptions… That is how they get PAID.. they don’t start looking for a reason not to fill a prescription presented to them. Believe me, if a Pharmacist starts looking for a reason not to fill a prescription they will find one.

I suspect in the above case, the Pharmacist looked at the PMP (Prescription Monitoring Program) and it showed that this pt had received controlled medications from TWO DIFFERENT PRESCRIBERS… didn’t make any difference that she was in the process of changing doctors, nor were getting them at the same time. So this very common circumstance, pts changing doctors… was “enough evidence” for this Pharmacist to “see a RED FLAG” and become “uncomfortable”… and deny care… throwing a pt into cold turkey withdrawal… I bet that the pt ended up being more UNCOMFORTABLE – being in cold turkey withdrawal – than the Pharmacist did.

Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »

Chronic pain victims share ‘other side’ of prescription drug abuse epidemic

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Chronic pain victims share ‘other side’ of prescription drug abuse epidemic

http://www.abc15.com/news/state/chronic-pain-victims-share-other-side-of-prescription-drug-abuse-epidemic

They are people who feel shut out from their pharmacies, by emergency rooms, and their doctors. Already struggling with chronic pain they feel “abandoned” by a system that is now focusing on a prescription drug epidemic that’s gripped the country.

Chronic pain patients have started forming their own support groups and are pleading for their voices to be heard.

“Everything is about addiction. Opioid overdoses, CDC statistics – but nobody is telling our side of the story and how this is affecting over 100 million patients in the United States,” said Barby Ingle, President of iPain Foundation, and a chronic pain patient herself.

For many of these people life literally changed overnight. Whether it was an accident, a fall, a ruptured back disc, or medical malpractice – they now live gripped with pain everyday, not knowing when the “flare up” may hit.

If you ask them to describe the pain, the responses seem unbelievable.

“The pain in my back feels like, a banana clip that women wear in their hair,” Ingle said. “Only, make it out of heavy gauge steel, sharpen it even more, clamp it on my spine then tighten it up. Then add a 10 pound weight to it,” said Lauri Nickel, who suffers from chronic pain.

“My pain is a burning fire pain,” Ingle said. “As if someone put burning lighter fluid on me, lit me on fire, and I can’t put it out.”

They are people who have learned to live life and function – despite the suffering.

“When my back problems first started, my baby was 1 year old,” Nickel said. “I ended up toilet training him from lying down in hallway with my head in bathroom, to supervise him because I couldn’t sit up.”

Ingle said there were days she thought she wouldn’t survive the pain.

“There’s been days where I was bed bound I would think, ‘I’m going to die today,’ Ingle said. “My husband’s going to come home and he will find me dead.”

Part of the struggle for them, is also having to justify this pain to doctors and pharmacists, try to prove to them that they are not just another addict looking for pain pills.

“I do not understand how someone would take these pills for fun,” Ingle said.

For them, she added there was no “high.” There was just temporary relief.

Ingle said the iPain Foundation heard many stories from pain patients who said they were turned away from pharmacies who were unable to fill their prescriptions.

Some said they felt “criminalized” from the moment they walked into a pharmacy, and felt like they had to “prove their pain.”

“You have to prove so much even though you have medical records five inches deep,” said Nickel.

ABC15 took these concerns to the state pharmacy board.

Executive Director Kamlesh Gandhi said pharmacists were the front line in this war on prescription drugs. They had a huge responsibility and are constantly being trained to recognize prescription drug abusers.

Gandhi said law required pharmacists to check the “prescription monitoring program” database before filling prescriptions, and pharmacists were becoming more aware of the problem. He added that patients needed to maintain a good relationship with the pharmacy.

Rightway Pharmacy owner Ken Patel said pharmacies were also under scrutiny by many agencies, and had to be accountable for the number of opioids they prescribed to patients.

“Every pharmacist is quite cautious in filling opioid medication, it’s not that they don’t want to,” said Patel.

He added that all pharmacies have ordering limits imposed on them by drug companies, if they go over, they were also in fear of shutting down.

Patel said his first priorities were his loyal customers, and he usually knew what they needed every month, so knew how much to order.

In this age of addiction and abuse, establishing that trust was crucial.

“We want to take care of their health needs. That trust is very important. We want to understand what they’re going through so we can work with the doctor,” said Patel.

As for those living with chronic pain, all they wanted was to be understood, and treated with some dignity.

“We know we’re never going to be pain free. We just want to be able to function. We want to get out of bed. Take a shower more than twice a week,” said Nickel.

The Drug Enforcement sent us this statement in response to this story:

Prescription opioids undoubtedly have an important role in our society when used properly and under a doctor’s supervision. What we are dealing with as a society now involves balancing this legitimate need with preventing the diversion of these powerful substances outside of this doctor-patient relationship. The DEA has been and will continue to educate medical practitioners and pharmaceutical manufacturers about the regulatory system and ways to prevent this dangerous diversion. As our country is faced with an epidemic of overdose deaths from these substances, the American people would expect nothing less from the DEA.

EVERYONE suggests that a chronic pain pt “gets to know their Pharmacist”.. But nearly 100% of the complaints that I hear about pts being refused their medications is from chain pharmacies… Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, WalMart IS NOT YOUR PHARMACIST !

I have been told that some/most/all of the chains have policies and procedures in place that actually DISCOURAGES their Pharmacists from filling controlled prescriptions. The chain Pharmacist(s) get paid every week … regardless if they fill your controlled prescriptions or not. In fact, the administrative paperwork involved in filling a C-II will take as much as TWICE THE TIME… to fill a C-II over other prescriptions.

Chain pharmacies have a nasty habit of either moving their Pharmacists around and/or using Pharmacists from a “floater pool” In most stores, the only “regular Pharmacist” is the PIC ( Pharmacist in Charge).. because each store must have a Pharmacist that has agreed to be responsible to the Board of Pharmacy for the legal operation of the Rx dept.

Unfortunately, the PIC often has to do “double duty” since the floater pharmacist(s) may or may not do other administrative functions that must be done and typically a second Pharmacist that regularly works a store would be doing.

I routinely recommend pts patronize a independent pharmacy … because typically you will be dealing with the Pharmacist/owner who gets to know their pts, less likely to have Pharmacist staff rotating. The Pharmacist/owner only gets paid, if he/she fills legit/on time/medically necessary prescriptions. They don’t have a reason to start looking for reason NOT TO FILL a controlled substance presented to them… I can assure you that any Pharmacist that starts looking for a reason NOT TO FILL a prescription… they will find one.. Many use the EXCUSE – which is not a valid reason – I’m not comfortable.

Here is a website to help pts locate a locally owned independent pharmacy http://www.ncpanet.org/home/find-your-local-pharmacy Take all your prescriptions to that pharmacy – a pt only filling controls at a pharmacy is a RED FLAG … and why would you give any of your money to a chain store, when they don’t want to fill all your prescriptions ?

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

Remembering how we got/keep our FREEDOM

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Image result for graphic memorial day

Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »

Addictions … are not a genetic mental health disease ?

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Family members of those who died of opioid overdoses

Four of Eight children in the same family becomes addicted to Heroin ?

NURTURE… NATURE… GENETICS ?

Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »

OxyContin users await compensation from Canadian lawsuits

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

OxyContin users await compensation from Canadian lawsuits

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/oxycontin-users-await-compensation-from-canadian-lawsuits-1.3432273

VIDEO ON ABOVE LINK

Lawyers are looking for Canadians who became addicted to opioids after receiving legal prescriptions for the painkillers Oxycontin and OxyNeo.

The maker of the painkillers, Purdue Pharma, recently agreed to settle several class-action lawsuits in Canada and will pay out $20 million to anyone who can prove they were harmed after using the drug.

Anyone who took the drug legally between January, 1996, and February, 2017, may be entitled to compensation for injuries.

As part of the settlement, the company “denies all allegations made in the lawsuits, makes no admission as to the truth of these allegations and denies any wrongdoing.”

The lawsuit was launched in part by Stephen MacGillivray, a 53-year-old resident of Sydney, N.S. who asked his doctor for help easing pain from a workplace injury. After he was prescribed two Oxycontin pills a day, MacGillivray became addicted to the drug.

“I lost my job of 20 years. A great job,” he told CTV News. “The next thing I lost? I lost my family.”

He said, when he started taking the drug, he hoped it would take some pain away.

Soon he was taking three pills a day. A month later, he was taking four a day.

When his doctor stopped giving him prescriptions, he began spending his earnings and his family savings, then resorting to stealing to get money to buy the drug wherever he could.

“My morals just went down the drain,” he said.

After some four years, and with much family support, MacGillivray got off the drug and onto methadone.

Back in 2007, he helped to launch a class action lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, alleging that the company used deceit in marketing the drug, and failed to warn doctors, pharmacists and patients about the risks of addiction.

Late last month — nearly 10 years after that legal action began — Purdue agreed to settle for $20 million. The settlement pleases Ray Wagner, of Wagners law firm in Halifax, which was one of four firms that led the lawsuits.

“We are happy with the results that we have, we’re happy that we could provide some comfort,” he told CTV News. “The alternative could have been zero. It’s not perfect by far and we’ll never be able to replace the losses that people have suffered.”

So far, more than 4,000 people who claim they were affected have come forward to ask to be included in the settlement. That number will likely go up as more people who were affected by the drug become aware of the settlement.

But injured patients would be seeing all that money. Provincial health care providers are entitled to $2 million of the $20 million in exchange of releasing any further claims against Purdue. Then there are lawyer fees.

The remainder will be divided among patients, meaning the payout could be less than $4,000 per person.

Dr. David Juurlink, the head of pharmacology and toxicology and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, says $20 million isn’t much.

“This is a drug company getting off lightly,” he said.

“Companies, not just Purdue but others, will continue to do things that are questionable and maybe even in some instances illegal because there really aren’t substantive penalties for doing so,” he said.

As for MacGillivary, he calls the settlement a vindication that his addiction wasn’t his fault.

In order for the settlement to become effective, it must be approved by the courts who will decide if the settlement is fair, reasonable and in the best interest of those in the class action.

With a report from CTV medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip

In the video Stephen MacGillivray ADMITTED that he started taking more Oxycontin than was prescribed. A pt that takes MORE or LESS medication than they are told/instructed to do.. is called NON-COMPLIANCE.

Pts can be harmed- or die – if they are NON_COMPLIANT and they don’t take their prescribed medications as directed.

It would appear that some attorneys – and the media – believes that no one is responsible for anything that they do to themselves.

Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »

Finally… someone finally looking at the REAL REASON… YOUR RX IS SO EXPENSIVE

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Legislature

Roberson presents bill mandating transparency from middlemen in drug pricing process

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/roberson-presents-bill-mandating-transparency-from-middlemen-in-drug-pricing-process

Republican Senate Leader Michael Roberson’s bill to put transparency mandates on the middlemen in the drug pricing process known as pharmacy benefit managers received a tepid but not entirely unwelcome reception from Democrats during its first hearing Friday afternoon.

Roberson and co-sponsor Republican Sen. Heidi Gansert presented SB539 to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee as complementary legislation to a Democrat-sponsored bill placing transparency mandates on pharmaceutical manufacturers, which passed out of the Legislature Thursday. The Republican senators argued that the bill would help shed light on the “most opaque part” of the drug pricing process overseen by the third party administrators responsible for administering prescription drug programs for health plans known as PBMs,

The legislation would require PBMs to post on their website the rate at which they reimburse each pharmacy for a diabetes drug covered by a plan and submit a report to the state including the total amount of all rebates that the PBM negotiated with manufacturers in the preceding calendar year for diabetes drugs and the total amount of the rebates that were retained by PBMs, among other information. The bill also exempts that information from Nevada’s trade secret law, making it publicly disclosable.

“We’re proposing a very simple thing today. It’s more transparency,” Roberson said. “We just want to know when it comes to rebates, when you’re a PBM, how much do you get from a drug manufacturer and what do you do when you get those rebates?”

Democratic senators probed Roberson and Gansert about why the bill primarily targets pharmacy benefit managers instead of including language requiring transparency from insurance companies — paralleling a line of questioning from lukewarm Senate Republicans during a hearing on Democratic Sen. Yvanna Cancela’s manufacturer-focused legislation, SB265, about why her bill didn’t include PBMs.

“Your video that you presented suggested that insurance companies were also a significant part of the challenge,” Ratti said. “Why PBMs and why not insurance companies?”

Roberson said that insurance companies were initially a part of the legislation but that they are already mandated by law to provide more transparency than drug manufacturers or PBMs do today. He said that health plans and manufacturers don’t even know what PBMs are paying for various drugs and what kind of rebates they receive from manufacturers.

“I would encourage all of you to spend 10 minutes on Google and find source after source after source that talks about the rebates that are received by PBMs and what they do with them,” Roberson said.

Republican Sen. Scott Hammond repeated concerns he expressed during the hearings on SB265 about providing transparency throughout the drug pricing process, asking where the consumer would be left should SB539 not pass.

“Clearly nothing will change with regard to PBMs and what they do and what they don’t do,” Roberson said. “It’s not a complete solution without looking at transparency on PBMs.”

Roberson asked the committee to, at the very least, move forward the portion of his bill barring PBMs, insurers and others from putting gag orders on pharmacists preventing them from providing information to patients about the costs of copayments or coinsurance on their drugs and suggesting cheaper alternatives. He said it didn’t matter to him whether they move that provision forward in his bill or include it in another bill.

“At the very least we can prevent PBMs from continuing to put a gag order on pharmacists in our state,” Roberson said. “That would be a big, simple thing we can do in the waning days here.”

But a representative from the trade association representing PBMs told the committee that he had never seen or been privy to any contracts between a PBM and a pharmacy that included a gag order in his 20 years in the industry. He suggested that people who have raised complaints about that are parties in the contracts concerned about their reimbursement rate and attempting to find fault.

“I have not personally had a contract where it says you can’t talk to the patient about their therapy,” said John Jones, a health care policy consultant with the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. “That is just not the case.”

The legislation also requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to annually report the list price of their diabetes drugs to the Department of Health and Human Services, which would then be responsible for compiling a list of drugs that are used to treat diabetes and have been subject to a price increase in the immediately preceding two calendar years. Those companies would then be required to submit to the department a report explaining why the price of the drugs increased.

An amendment to the bill presented to the committee on Friday removes a requirement that PBMs pass along to insurance companies at least 80 percent of the amount of any rebate obtained from a manufacturer related to the sale of a drug used to treat diabetes.

“If nothing is done in the net 10 days one of you on this committee will become more informed on this issue and probably champion this issue in 2019,” Roberson said. “And if Congress hasn’t addressed this issue by then I’m sure you will.”

Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »

ADVOCACY : CLUELESS until it is IN YOUR FACE ?

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Like everything else revolving around the “war on drugs”, I suspect that there are no statics kept – or divulged – on how many families are NOT VOCAL ADVOCATES until someone in their family has died/OD’d. It doesn’t make any difference if the family member OD’d on illegal drugs or killed driving drunk or killed by a drunken driver.

How many times have we read where a person had gone thru numerous rehab programs and the family is doesn’t starts being a vocal advocate until the family member once again returns to using/abusing opiates and OD’s -or commits suicide… which … according to reports… people that are using/abuse various substances .. .never seems to be reported as committing suicide when they die from a multi-substance overdose.

The family members comes out declaring that they “don’t want this to happen to any other family”

Of course, the chronic pain community also has many pts/families that are sitting on their hands with tape over their mouths until the pt’s prescriber, insurance, legislatures and others..causes the pt’s pain medication(s) to be reduced or eliminated all together.

A successful advocate program takes people with many talents and areas of knowledge/expertise. It needs people who are organizers, fund raisers, motivators, educators, strategists and all those affected being active in advocating to the best of their ability.

I am closing in on my FIFTH YEAR of blogging and trying to be a advocate for the chronic pain community. I have seen many people try to advocate and organize the chronic pain community… all too many have come and gone… because it would seem that the chronic pain community is divided into several areas…. those that have their meds cut back to where the pt is has little/no quality of life, the spouse and their family has abandoned them, and those who believe that if they keep their head down and their mouth shut…they will be alright… otherwise they are in the state of denial.

Image result for graphic I have seen the enemy is us

Filed under: General Problems | 5 Comments »

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Will Pill Control “Fix” Our Problem?: The Allure of Simple Solutions to the Opioid Crisis

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The top 5 reasons for malpractice lawsuits against doctors

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Chronic pain victims share ‘other side’ of prescription drug abuse epidemic

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Four of Eight children in the same family becomes addicted to Heroin ?

NURTURE… NATURE… GENETICS ?

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OxyContin users await compensation from Canadian lawsuits

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Legislature

Roberson presents bill mandating transparency from middlemen in drug pricing process

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