This showed up on another chronic pain closed FB page
Heard from attorneys…. all Dr. Tennant’s patients call them now !
Class Action lawsuit
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RUMOR ON THE STREET
Posted on January 13, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
National Pharmacist Day !
Posted on January 12, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
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IMO… you had better start looking over your shoulder
Posted on January 12, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/mass-tort-litigation-class-actions-plaintiffs
https://www.medicare.gov/claims-and-appeals/file-a-complaint/complaint.html
www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/1/12/medicare-takes-big-brother-approach-to-opioid-abuse
https://www.ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm
CMS is suppose to be the guardian of our Medicare/Medicaid healthcare system.. They created a Star Rating System a couple of years ago and they are suppose to be the focal point for pts filing grievances against healthcare providers (hospitals, doctors, pharmacies/pharmacists, Part D, Medicare Advantage Providers) for providing poor/bad care.
Now CMS has put forth edicts for Pharmacists to act as judge/jury/executor for docs that Pharmacist feel MAY BE providing controlled substances in excessive amounts and pts that they BELIEVE are getting excessive amount of controlled substances.
As bad as this edict is.. it is highly concerning to me because Pharmacists are not trained to diagnose diseases and do not have the legal authority – by the various states’ Pharmacy practice act to diagnose or prescribe.. but that is what it seems that the CMS is dictating what Pharmacists do.. but only concerning controlled meds.
It is illegal for a physician to diagnose/prescribe for a pt that they have not done a in person physical exam and yet according to this edict Pharmacists are suppose to perform a similar feat.. without doing a in person physical exam nor having access to the pt’s entire medical records.. they will have to come to “medical conclusion” based just on the pt’s prescription history – which may or may not be complete and MAYBE a couple of ICD10 diagnostic codes.
It also appears that Pharmacists will be left on their own to determine where “the bar” is in regards to a prescriber’s excessive prescribing and/or the pt getting/taking excessive doses. So “the bar” can be – or most likely will be – HIGHLY VARIABLE from Pharmacist to Pharmacist.
The CDC guidelines on opiate dosing may be a “blessing in disguise”…..suggest you read this “The guideline is intended to ensure that clinicians and patients consider safer and more effective treatment, improve patient outcomes such as reduced pain and improved function.”
“Clinicians should consider the circumstances and unique needs of each patient when providing care.”
“Clinical decision making should be based on a relationship between the clinician and patient, and an understanding of the patient’s clinical situation, functioning, and life context.”
“This guideline provides recommendations for primary care clinicians who are prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.”
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/
The above four quotes are directly from the CDC guidelines.. I am not an attorney, I would think that groups of physicians and/or corporate entities (hospitals) who employ prescribers.. if they “adopt” the CDC guidelines and place arbitrary mgs/day limits on ALL PATIENTS… regardless of CYP450 opiate metabolism status, or other extenuating circumstances …regarding pt’s appropriate care… are in violation of the intend of the CDC guidelines… the corporate entities in particular… could be guilty of practicing medicine without a license …using their corporate policies and procedures to dictate “cookie cutter medicine – medicine by the numbers”
According the World Health Organization https://palliative.stanford.edu/
Most/all chronic pain pts could be classified as in need of palliative care. Exempting chronic pain pts from the mgs/day limits… Apparently most bureaucrats believe that palliative care is part of Hospice… when in reality palliative care can be its own care modality .. for those pts who are classified as high acuity and thus palliative care is normally furnished as PART OF HOSPICE CARE, but not exclusive to Hospice.
I would think that those physicians or organizations that profess to be adopting the CDC guidelines but in reality have sliced/diced the guidelines into portion that they wish to adhere to and other portions they wish to ignore could have exceed their legal authority.
I believe that the legal case could be made against these group practices or organizations and their employed prescribers.. that in doing so are failing to meet best practices and standard of care… resulting is pt/senior abuse, guilt of malpractice, ADA violation of (civil rights) discrimination for starters.
Since these decisions are being made by organizations and could be affecting sizeable number of chronic pain pts… and those organizations also represents a lot of “deep pockets”… would seem like the basic ingredients for a class action lawsuit.. I can see the TV commercials now… CALL 1-800- BADDOCS
I have been told many times by pts that they have contacted attorneys about suing prescribers , pharmacies/pharmacists and others for denial of care and/or ADA violation. Our legal system puts little/no value of the life of a person who is handicapped/disabled, elderly or unemployable. So I have not heard of the first attorney to take a case on a contingency basis.. because there is no financial upside for the law firm to take a case on a contingency basis.
I have put a link for the “BIG” legal firms that deal with class action… I am now being told that large medical practices and certain entities (hospitals, insurance companies) are creating policies and procedures that claim that they are implementing and following the CDC guidelines and then only following PORTIONS of the CDC guidelines.. meaning that hundreds or thousands of pts will probably be adversely impacted by these decision because they are deviating from what is called not meeting best practices and standard of care… when they state that they are implementing the CDC guidelines as their policy.. and then not follow the WHOLE POLICY..
IMO… the equation of the value of a large group of people who are disabled/handicapped, elderly or unemployable… has dramatically changed by the actions of these corporate entities. It could also be possible that all the employed prescribers for these entities are equally guilty of not meeting best practices and standard of care.. which is basically MALPRACTICE. It could also document violation of the Americans with Disability Act.. since most/all of the pts effected are covered under the ADA.
This whole thing – as it is evolving – IMO.. IS SO WRONG… in so many ways.
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DEA Tweet Unintentionally Reveals Cannabis Legalization Argument
Posted on January 12, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
DEA Tweet Unintentionally Reveals Cannabis Legalization Argument
ireadculture.com/dea-tweet-unintentionally-reveals-cannabis-legalization-argument/
The DEA has caused a roller coaster of news in the cannabis industry over the past year. The agency always seems to be butting heads with cannabis in some way or another and the truth behind the DEA’s intentions isn’t always widely publicized. Now, newest information on the DEA front is in the form of a tweet from DEA HQ, where it describes a connection between the perception of risk and actual substance use.
On January 9, @DEAHQ posted the following:
The tweet was also accompanied by two charts, both utilizing research conducted between 1975
and 2013 through the eyes of 12th grade students. The first shows “cigarette use and perception of harm,” with a clear increase in risk of harm and decrease in a 1/2 pack of cigarettes or more per day. The second exhibits “marijuana use and perception of harm” and shows the gradual decrease of risk and increase of cannabis use almost meeting in the middle.
According to an article on VOX, there is a much different reading of this post that argues directly against what the post meant to prove. The tobacco industry has been legal since before the chart begins, and its risk is well advertised in our world today.
This is thanks to everything from education campaigns, bans on smoking and increased tobacco taxes. Yet cannabis is still federally illegal, but the overall acceptance of cannabis use has increased tenfold, along with the knowledge that the plant is natural, and there is little to no risk involved in consuming it. VOX notes that ultimately the charts clearly show that the “legal model” works and the legal substance experienced reduced use whereas the illegal substance has not. If you wish to learn more about cannabis or CBD, you can check out sites like cbdluxe.com and others to gain sufficient knowledge.
If cannabis were to be regulated as tobacco, things might drastically change. Even President Barack Obama agreed in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that it could be a beneficial change, “I do believe that treating [substance abuse] as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol, is the much smarter way to deal with it.”
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OMG… CMS… calling out all opiophobic Pharmacists and Technicians… all hands on deck
Posted on January 12, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Medicare Takes Big Brother Approach to Opioid Abuse
www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/1/12/medicare-takes-big-brother-approach-to-opioid-abuse
By Pat Anson, Editor
A new strategy being developed by Medicare to combat the abuse of opioid pain medication will encourage pharmacists to report physicians who may be prescribing opioids inappropriately. Patients that a pharmacist believes are abusing opioids could also be referred for investigation.
The strategy, which has yet to be finalized, was outlined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last week in a 30-page report on the agency’s “Opioid Misuse Strategy.” It has not been widely publicized by CMS or reported in the news media.
“Many Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and their families have experienced opioid use disorder, commonly referred to as addiction,” the agency says in the report’s executive summary.
“Given the growing body of evidence on the risks of misuse… CMS is outlining our agency’s strategy and the array of actions underway to address the national opioid misuse epidemic.”
One strategy CMS will explore is “incentivizing prescribing behavior” by encouraging physicians and pharmacists to consult with prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) to review each patient’s prescription drug history. The use of PDMPs is fairly widespread already, but CMS would take it a step further by encouraging pharmacists to report suspicious activity by prescribers and patients.
“Pharmacies would be able to identify prescribers with potentially illicit prescribing practices or beneficiaries (patients) who may be overusing opioids. This information can be referred to health plans to investigate provider and beneficiary behaviors that may be indicative of fraud or abuse.”
Investigations of abuse or inappropriate prescribing would be shared with insurers enrolled in the giant Medicare/Medicaid system, even if the allegations are never proven. CMS contracts with dozens of private insurance companies to provide health insurance to about 54 million Americans through Medicare and nearly 70 million in Medicaid.
“Part D plans can use CMS’s information sharing platform to identify leads for their own internal investigations and can report actions they have taken. For example, if one plan sponsor suspects a provider of inappropriate prescribing behavior, it can alert other plans to that possibility so that those plans can conduct their own evaluations and take coordinated action if warranted.
“The results of these projects are provided to plan sponsors so that additional actions can be taken, including initiating new investigations, conducting audits, or terminating physicians and pharmacies from their network.”
“It looks like ‘Big Brother’ is going to watch everyone,” says Rick Martin, a retired Las Vegas pharmacist who suffers from chronic back pain. “Pharmacists are going to be even more paranoid than they already are.
“Retail pharmacists don’t have time for this. They aren’t the police. Nevada has a PDMP. It already shows a significant decrease in prescribing patterns over the last several years, so it is working. With the CMS, just who decides what are appropriate quantities and proper prescribing habits?”
CMS Using CDC’s Prescribing Guidelines
In developing its strategy, CMS is relying heavily on prescribing guidelines released in 2016 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which discourage doctors from prescribing opioids for chronic pain. CMS says it will use the “evidence-based guidelines” to determine what constitutes inappropriate prescribing. The guidelines include a recommendation that opioids be limited to no more than 90 mg of morphine equivalent milligrams a day, a dose that many patients in severe chronic pain consider inadequate.
The CDC maintains the guidelines are “voluntary” and intended only for primary care physicians. However, under the CMS strategy, the guidelines would apply to all prescribers, except those treating cancer or patients in palliative care.
“I just hate to see something that CDC itself said was voluntary, was a recommendation, and really isn’t all that specific if you really read it, get turned into something that creates bright red lines. And if you step across the line, you’re going to get yourself in trouble. I don’t think that’s right,” said Bob Twillman, PhD, Executive Director of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, the nation’s largest pain management organization.
CMS says the additional scrutiny of doctors and patients is needed because “the Medicare population has among the highest and fastest-growing rates of diagnosed opioid use disorder,” which the agency estimates at 6 out of every 1,000 beneficiaries. Addiction rates are higher among Medicaid beneficiaries, at 8.7 patients for every 1,000, a figure 10 times higher than patients covered by private insurance plans.
“Because there is no systematic policy of screening for opioid use disorder and patients are unlikely to volunteer that they are misusing their medication or are using opioids like heroin because of discrimination and stigma, these rates are likely underestimates,” CMS says.
Rick Martin believes the Medicare policies will make physicians even less likely to prescribe opioids and pharmacists less likely to fill legitimate prescriptions.
“Pharmacists, like the docs, are just plain scared. If they don’t know you, many are reluctant to fill,” Martin wrote in an email to PNN. “One pharmacy I went to refused to fill my bona fide legitimate prescription because it exceeded an arbitrary amount. The manager didn’t want any extra scrutiny from DEA, the home office, the PDMP, the board of pharmacy, or the (drug) wholesaler. Even though I was in the system for over 2 years and had previously had even higher amounts filled.
“One of the pain docs I am working with told me he has gotten numerous letters from Humana and one other (insurer) because he is in the upper 1% of dispensing opioids. Well, duh! He is an exclusive pain management doctor. They didn’t compare him with other pain doctors, just ALL doctors. Stupid. What will the CMS do on top of what goes on already?”
Bob Twillman worries the CMS strategy will create distrust between physicians and pharmacists.
“We’ve been trying to make efforts over the last few years to get pharmacists and physicians to work more closely together. I’m concerned this could increase suspicion between the two and be counter to that effort,” said Twillman. “Getting prescribers and pharmacists to work together is an important thing in enhancing patient safety and if we do something like this and short circuit that effort we’re doing more harm than we are good.”
CMS did not say when it planned to implement its Opioid Misuse Strategy or if public hearings would ever be held on them. The agency only said in coming weeks it would release “statements reflecting the agency’s Medicare and Medicaid goals.” A phone call and emailed request to CMS for clarification went unanswered.
Also unclear is why CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services would take a major step affecting the healthcare of tens of millions of patients and their doctors in the final days of the Obama administration.
“The fact that this is coming out a couple of weeks before the new administration comes in does make it a little bit odd. It makes me wonder how many legs it has or whether it will carry over into the next administration,” said Twillman.
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How to Appeal a Health Insurance Denial
Posted on January 12, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
How to Appeal a Health Insurance Denial
http://guides.wsj.com/health/health-costs/how-to-appeal-a-health-insurance-denial/
Battling a health insurer when it refuses to cover certain treatments can be aggravating and time-consuming. But if you choose to appeal a coverage denial, there are several strategies that can bolster your case.
Some health-coverage problems — such as when your doctor enters a wrong code on a claim form — can be resolved with a phone call. But other issues can be more difficult, because they center on complex medical questions like whether a certain cancer treatment is appropriate for you.
First, figure out what led to the denial of coverage and learn your insurer’s procedure for appeals. When you call your health plan to get the information, take notes and get names. If the problem can’t be readily resolved, you should ask the insurer for some key documents to reconstruct what led to the rejection.
You will need the denial letter. You should also get a copy of your plan’s full benefits language, sometimes called the “Evidence of Coverage,” as well as the detailed guidelines that explain what the company considers medically necessary. Some companies, such as Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc., post their medical policies online.
After you gather the facts, set a strategy. You may want to start by seeking help from one of the array of nonprofit and for-profit entities that offer advice. Many states have health insurance consumer advocates. The advocacy group Families USA offers a list of state resources.
Another key resource is the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation, which handles health-insurance appeals for free. Other organizations and companies can be found at the following Web sites:
Claims.org
Hospitalbillreview.com
Healthproponent.com
Billadvocates.com
Healthchampion.net
Patientcare4u.com.
Your appeal may hinge on proving that your treatment qualifies for coverage under your plan’s benefits and rules. In that case, you will want to zero in on the plan’s language, and figure out why the procedure you are seeking fits into a category of care that the insurer has promised to pay for.
Many appeals hinge on a different issue: whether a treatment is scientifically proven and medically necessary. Your doctor should be able to write a detailed letter on your behalf. You also may be able to bolster your case by researching the scientific evidence online on sites like pubmed.gov, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. You are seeking studies that may demonstrate that the treatment you want has worked in cases similar to yours. The strongest evidence comes from large, randomized, controlled trials, but anything published in a reputable medical journal might help. You should show your findings to your doctor, so he or she can explain anything you don’t understand, as well as integrate anything important into his or her letter to the insurer.
You may also want to seek help from researchers who worked on the cutting-edge studies you find – sometimes, these doctors are willing to help a patient with an urgent case. They might even review your medical records and submit a backup letter on your behalf, which can add weight to your own doctor’s views.
Even if your insurer rejects your appeal, you still have other options. If your employer has a self-funded health plan, which might be administered by a private insurer but is backed by the employer, your next step is often to sue in federal court, a tough and expensive proposition.
But if your coverage is with an insurance company, either through your employer or an individual policy, you can opt for your state’s appeals process. Often, these are handled through the state’s insurance regulator, but if not, this agency should at least be able to tell you where to go. Make sure you check with the agency, because the 44 states that offer independent reviews won’t handle all kinds of issues, and each has its own rules. For Medicare beneficiaries, there is a separate, federal appeals-review process that you can learn about at Medicare.gov.
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HookedRx: From Prescription to Addiction
Posted on January 11, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
7,400-8,000 veterans are committing suicide annually.
Posted on January 10, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
VA cover-up is morally indefensible
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/3/americas-veterans-affairs-cover-morally-indefensib/
The U.S. government is guilty of a cover-up reminiscent of the tobacco industry’s longstanding denial of a nexus between smoking and disease.
The government conceals from its soldiers the risk of suicide or self-destructive behavior connected with fighting in our nine ongoing presidential wars not in self-defense that entail grisly killings of women and children: Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, al Qaeda and ISIS.
Statistics are a starting point. But they are misleading or worse when divorced from the human element.
Touring Vietnam early in his tenure, then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara cheerfully assured a reporter that “every quantitative measure we have shows that we are winning this war.” Echoes of McNamara are heard today from the Pentagon and the intelligence community testifying to Congress in effect that by every quantitative measure we have we are destroying ISIS.
According to estimates of the National Alliance to End Veteran Suicide and the Department of Veterans Affairs, 7,400-8,000 veterans are committing suicide annually. Their risk is said by the VA to be 21 percent higher than among the civilian population.
VA estimates place the annual risk of PTSD among veterans at between 10 percent and 20 percent depending on the war.
These naked statistics are given flesh and blood by studying the anatomy of the days of 20-year-old Sam Siatta during his service in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan as reported in The New York Times Magazine (Jan. 1, 2017, “The Fighter” by C.J. Chivers).
Soon after he was deployed, Mr. Siatta was shaken by the sight of a child in a wheelbarrow with a bullet that had penetrated above his left eyebrow and severed the back of his head. The young Marine told the NYT Magazine reporter, “During all of our work-up, shooting targets, throwing grenades, doing all that, you never once saw kids mangled.”
Mr. Siatta participated in a festival of killings in the ensuing weeks. He wrote in his diary in the manner of Anne Frank:
“I go to sleep every night knowing I have the blood of so many on my hands and no amount of soap could ever wash these stains away.”
At about the 100-day mark of his service in Afghanistan, Mr. Siatta continued in the same vein in a companion diary entry:
“Sitting on post and not in firefights is really starting to f*** with me. Its making me rethink all the [decisions] I’ve made here and making me question if they were the right ones to begin with. The men I’ve killed well 15-year-old boys with Guns is more like it but did I deserve to kill them did they deserve to die.
“I mean I’m 20 years old I know damn well the risks of [joining] the Marine Corps in time of war. But did these young boys, Boys that I’ve killed know what the f*** there were [doing] or even fighting for, these are questions I ask myself.”
When Mr. Siatta returned to civilian life, he turned to self-ruinous conduct— including drinking and a guilty plea to a charge of attempted home invasion.
He is the soldier’s Everyman.
No human can avoid traumas or nightmares caused by participation in gratuitous wars that turn children into orphans, wives into widows, and have fathers bury sons rather than sons bury fathers.
Every recruiting poster or presentation featuring Uncle Sam’s “I Want You For U.S. Army” or otherwise should thus be required to include a prominent warning: “Participation in wars not in self-defense will implicate you in the killings of women, children, and youths and heighten your risk of suicide or self-destructive behaviors.”
For the U.S. government to lure men and women into the armed forces without full disclosure of the hazards of service is morally indefensible.
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Gov. Walker calls special session on opioid bills: “This isn’t somebody else’s problem”
Posted on January 10, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Gov. Walker calls special session on opioid bills: “This isn’t somebody else’s problem”
fox6now.com/2017/01/05/governor-scott-walker-calls-special-legislative-session-on-opioid-bills/
MADISON— Governor Scott Walker is calling a special legislative session to pass a package of bills designed to curb heroin and opioid abuse. Walker has a long list of plans, but one idea — drug testing high school athletes — isn’t on it.
As the Legislature returned to Madison, top Republicans couldn’t name what would become their top priority legislation.
With this executive order, Governor Walker is essentially saying “I’ve got some ideas for you.”
“There`s a lot of time for members in general to focus on a legislative agenda. This is a legislative agenda,” Governor Walker said.
Governor Walker’s 11 requests came from a new report from a task force.
The Governor’s Task Force on Opioid Abuse made a number of recommendations to lawmakers. The task force wants school nurses to be able to give the heroin-fighting drug Naloxone to students who are overdosing in school. The task force has called for more funding for “recovery coaches” in hospital emergency rooms. Walker would also require prescriptions for medicines containing codeine, and he backs limited immunity for people who overdose, to encourage friends and family to call 911.
Governor Scott Walker
Governor Walker said opiate prescriptions have fallen 10 percent in a year’s time — crediting lawmakers’ previous efforts to fight addiction.
“Treatment works. It’s not 100 percent, but it works,” Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette said.
“This isn`t somebody else`s problem. This is an issue that at some point or another will affect all of us or the loved ones that we have in our own circle of friends or family,” Walker said.
Rep. John Nygren
Additionally, Walker said he wants the University of Wisconsin System starting a recovery school; to allocate money for the rural hospital graduate medical training program; more state drug agents; and a consultation service to connect medical professionals with addiction medicine specialists.
Walker said he expects people to wean themselves off painkillers. He said his adult son used Advil instead of prescription drugs after getting his wisdom teeth out recently.
“As patients, we need to take on some of the responsibility of that as well and not just put the pressure on health care professionals to prescribe, prescribe, prescribe,” Walker said.
The task force did not recommend high schools drug test their athletes as a Republican state lawmaker proposed before pulling back when Walker and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said they didn’t support the idea.
The Legislature is already in session, but a special session order allows lawmakers to operate under different rules that make passing bills easier.
The governor also typically uses a special session call to draw attention to issues.
Heroin
According to a spokesman, Vos expects to have Assembly committees taking up Walker’s bills by the end of January.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos
Below is a statement from Vos’ spokeswoman, Kit Beyer:
“A special session puts a priority on the proposed legislation by allowing for a more expeditious legislative process. It also draws more attention to an important problem that has become a health crisis in the state.
The Speaker looks forward to continuing to pass legislation to fight the opioid epidemic and hopes to have bills taken up in committee by the end of the month.
As you may recall, the HOPE Agenda produced 17 bills in the past two sessions, which received widespread support and have made an impact.”
Peter Barca
Top Assembly Democrat Peter Barca said the special session was “warranted” — issuing this statement to FOX6 News:
“The opioid epidemic in our state is a very serious issue that requires a very aggressive response. I hope the committees will collect input from those who know this issue firsthand—from law enforcement, to educators, to medical professionals—as this will help us address this crisis in the most comprehensive manner possible.
The urgency of this special session is warranted, and I hope Gov. Walker takes the same approach to other incredibly significant issues facing Wisconsin families right now, including rebuilding the most diminished middle class in the country. As elected officials, we need to do everything we can to address those who are hurting.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said it could take some time before they get voted on.
Below is a statement from Fitzgerald’s spokeswoman, Myranda Tanck:
“We look forward to working with the Governor to expand on the HOPE legislation passed over the last two legislative sessions to continue to fight to address Wisconsin’s growing heroin and opiate epidemic.
As far as timeline: we had a Senator call the Senate into special session today and adjourn until January 10 as the call began today at 11:00. The procedure will be relatively unchanged going forward; each of the enumerated bills appears to still be in LRB form and will need to be introduced, assigned bill numbers, circulated for cosponsors, and referred to committee. As that process continues we will have a better idea of when these bills will be on the floor. As of right now we have not scheduled any additional floor days but the special session does allow us to come in any business day until the special session is closed.”
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Memory pill maker (PREVAGEN) sued on grounds no proof it works
Posted on January 10, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Memory pill maker sued on grounds no proof it works
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-quincybioscience-ftc-memorypills-idUSKBN14T1Y6
Quincy Bioscience LLC, which makes the memory supplement Prevagen, was hit with a lawsuit on Monday filed by the Federal Trade Commission and New York attorney general’s office, which alleged that there is no proof the supplement works.
The medicine, which costs $24 to $68 for 30 pills, is advertised on cable and broadcast television, according to the FTC, which is seeking refunds for customers who bought Prevagen.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said that Quincy Bioscience had sold some $165 million worth of Prevagen between 2007 and mid-2015, according to court filings.
The lawsuit says that Quincy Bioscience based much of its advertising for Prevagen on a single study, called the Madison Memory Study, which gave the drug or a placebo to 218 people and then had them perform certain tasks on a computer.
“The Madison Memory Study failed to show a statistically
significant improvement in the treatment group over the placebo group on any of the nine computerized cognitive tasks,” the lawsuit said.
Quincy Bioscience said that it vehemently disagreed with the complaint, which it called overreach. “Quincy Bioscience will vigorously defend ourselves,” the company said in a statement that called into question how the government analyzed data from its study.
The two Democrats on the FTC voted to approve the complaint. The single Republican did not participate and two of the five commission seats are vacant.
Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »
