Constipation Isn’t a Fitting Punishment for People With Pain

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Constipation Isn't a Fitting Punishment for People With Pain by Lynn R. Webster @LynnRWebsterMDConstipation Isn’t a Fitting Punishment for People With Pain

http://thepainfultruthbook.com/2017/02/constipation-isnt-a-fitting-punishment-for-people-with-pain-opioid-induced-constipation-interferes-with-quality-of-life-and-can-be-fatal

Deb was in a near-fatal car accident. Her arms, legs, and pelvis were severely injured and would require multiple surgeries. She relied on opioids to ease the pain. Along with her other day-to-day medical challenges and constant setbacks, she suffered from constipation which her doctor attributed to her use of painkillers. But he offered no treatment or advice, nor did any other members of the hospital’s medical team. With all of Deb’s serious health problems, constipation wasn’t on the list of issues the team felt obligated to address. The medical team, therefore, allowed Deb to suffer, perhaps needlessly, from a common and potentially treatable side-effect of opioid use: constipation.

According to Deb’s husband, “The docs did recognize the possibility of OIC. They had Deb on over-the-counter medication that they thought would help. However, this actually became their excuse for dismissing our concerns about constipation.  ‘She’s on [the medication]….’ was their response, as if that resolved the reality that nothing was happening. When Deb complained about her constipation, it was not treated in a prompt and appropriate fashion.  In the end, I had to help her expel a large stool the consistency of modeling clay. Imagine, by way of comparison, that an infection gets worse after the healthcare team dismissed it for days with, ‘Well, she’s on an antibiotic.’ No one would stand for that.”

Deb was lucky in a sense because, by the time she experienced OIC, she was able to talk. However, as her husband reminded me, patients with OIC can’t always communicate their constipation.  IV sedation removes the patient’s input.  In those cases, constipation detection is at the mercy of staff who, without more awareness, tend to “let it go for another day to see what happens.” As Deb’s husband said, “Something more needs to be done….and promptly. The medical community needs to know the seriousness of the problem to  remove their safe haven of dismissal about OIC.”

Opioid-Induced Constipation Commercial Airs During Super Bowl 50

There is medication that can help some pain patients, like Deb, with Opioid-Induced Constipation (OIC). Yet when a 60-second commercial for one of those OIC drugs aired during the Super Bowl of 2016, there was an instant backlash. The ad was the object of derision and even anger. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough tweeted, “Next year, how about fewer ads that fuel opioid addiction and more on access to treatment.” Dr. Andrew Kolondy, Executive Director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, was quoted as saying, “It’s very disturbing to see an ad like that.”

Similarly, articles from such media outlets as the Los Angeles Times and USA Today scorned the advertisement and accused the pharmaceutical industry of inappropriate and tasteless advertising. In the minds of many, OIC was either a joke or an appropriate punishment for people who probably shouldn’t be taking opioids, anyway. In their opinion, it was morally wrong to advertise a solution to a side effect created by opioids when we were in the middle of an opioid epidemic.

And the negative response to the “Super Bowl 50” ad still hasn’t ended. As recently as February 4, a story appeared in Inverse titled, “The Shitty Legacy of 2016’s Super Bowl Constipation Ad.” The article criticizes the commercial as a “sheepish attempt to capitalize on a national epidemic” and calls it the most “horrifying ad in the history of American television.”

Super Bowl Commercial Is No Joking Matter, and Neither Is Opioid-Induced Constipation

I strongly disagreed with the complaints about the Super Bowl commercial when it aired, as I said in my blog, This Is the Reason OIC Is No Joking Matter. Deb’s story, and the experiences of so many other people with disabling OIC, convince me that the public has a right to know that treatment exists for opioid-induced constipation (OIC). As I explained in my blog, treating constipation doesn’t exacerbate the opioid crisis. Moreover, it is necessary to treat a serious health problem that can destroy, or even end, a patient’s life.

OIC can cause dyspepsia, GI reflux, aspiration, abdominal distention, urinary tract infections, sepsis, and even death from bowel perforation. Additionally, OIC can interfere with pain management. The Patient Reports of Opioid-related Bothersome Effects (PROBE) survey found that 33% of pain patients “missed doses, decreased the dose, or stopped using their opioid medication to relieve bowel-related side effects.” Subsequently, 92% of those patients experienced increased pain, and 86% of them reported that it reduced their quality of life and ability to engage in activities.  It appears that those who dismiss OIC as an illegitimate medical problem are willing to accept the consequences of increased pain as reported in the PROBE survey.

Treatments for Opioid-Induced Constipation Are Available

Fortunately, there are new and effective treatments for OIC available for people who must use opioids to control pain. I have worked with many pharmaceutical companies to develop these drugs. They can provide an enormous improvement in quality of life. It strikes me as twisted reasoning to refuse to treat OIC just because one opposes the use of opioids.

Of course, it would be better to avoid opioids and not develop OIC, but that is not always possible. For people like Deb, OIC is yet another punishment for the perceived offense of being a person in pain who uses opioids.

Taking opioids can be risky. However, it is also risky not to treat OIC. Regardless of whether one believes pharmaceutical companies should advertise, healthcare professionals are obligated to provide the best care possible, including treatment of constipation whether it is with an over-the-counter therapy or one of the new OIC medications. It is time to set aside our biases towards opioids and focus on what is best for patients.

 

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DEA had violated the CSA by designating hemp stalk, fiber, sterilized seed, and oil as “marijuana.”

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Hemp Industries Association Sues DEA for Regulating Hemp as a Schedule I Drug

https://lawstreetmedia.com/blogs/cannabis-in-america/hemp-industry-sues-dea-lawsuit/

This is an example of a entity suing the actions/interpretations of the CSA by the DEA as UNCONSTITUTIONAL and because this industry is not a licensee of the DEA.. there is less possible of retaliation from the DEA.

The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) has filed a motion against the DEA, challenging the agency’s handling of hemp foods as Schedule I drugs.

On February 6, the HIA filed a motion to find the DEA in contempt of court for failing to comply with a 13-year-old court injunction, prohibiting the agency from regulating hemp food products as Schedule I controlled substances. A 2004 ruling, made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, determined that the DEA had violated the Controlled Substances Act by designating hemp stalk, fiber, sterilized seed, and oil as “marijuana.”

Hemp contains trace amounts of naturally occurring THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The versatile crop be used in a variety of ways, from making rope and fabrics, to food and fuel. In December 2016, the DEA and North Dakota Department of Agriculture halted the export of Healthy Oilseeds’ hemp products grown under the state’s hemp pilot program and Congress’ Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), claiming it was prohibited “because industrial hemp is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Federal Controlled Substances Act.”

“We will not stand idly by while the DEA flouts the will of Congress, violates the Ninth Circuit order, and harasses honest hemp producers trying to make a living with this in-demand crop,” said Colleen Keahey, Executive Director of the HIA, in a press release.

The motion comes nearly two months after the DEA added a new code to its Federal Register that reclassifies CBD oil and other marijuana extracts, like hemp oil, as Schedule 1 drugs. DEA officials argued that the code would allow the agency to track quantities of CBD and other marijuana extracts imported and exported to and from the U.S. separately from quantities of marijuana, but marijuana advocates have labeled the move as federal overreach.

Classifying marijuana–and its derivatives, such as hemp–in the same category as “hard drugs” like heroin and bath salts continues to baffle weed advocates; the drug is praised for its medicinal properties, and no deaths from a marijuana overdose have ever been recorded.

“Hemp is a healthy superfood with vital nutrients such as Omegas 3 and 6, protein, fiber and all 10 essential amino acids that are ideal for today’s family,” said Keahey. “The DEA must stop treating hemp, hempseed and hempseed oil, which is a nutritious ingredient, as something illicit.”

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“Medication middlemen” are in the “cross hairs” of Pres Trump

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

A Lobbying Group Is Freaking Out Over What Trump May Do To Drug Prices

https://www.buzzfeed.com/azeenghorayshi/pharmacists-freak-out-over-trump?utm_term=.cx5PLZ16x#.dw5EGMkAz

“The sense that this President could make any decision, at any time, for any reason, on any issue is rattling industries in the health care sector and beyond,” an internal memo from the CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association says.

The lobbying group for pharmacy benefit managers — the health plan negotiators caught in the cross hairs of the debate over skyrocketing drug prices — are extremely worried about President Trump’s plans for them, an internal memo says.

“The sense that this President could make any decision, at any time, for any reason, on any issue is rattling industries in the health care sector and beyond,” wrote Mark Merritt, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA). The memo was sent to PCMA’s board of directors and was shared with BuzzFeed News by an industry source.

“If this were a conventional Presidency,” Merritt wrote, then the group would wait to present a strategic update once health officials had clearly laid out their policies. Instead, the group has decided to push forward more aggressively, he said, “given the political uncertainty, headline risk, and other unique challenges that come with a President more inclined toward quick, instinctive action than the traditional, deliberative decision-making process.”

PCMA did not respond to a request for comment. Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate drug prices and availability for some 266 million Americans in private and employer health plans, unions, and federal plans.

The issue of drug pricing caught headlines in the last year after “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli raised the price of a drug for HIV patients from $13.50 to $750 a pill, and after Mylan, manufacturer of the life-saving EpiPen, hiked up its prices by about 500%. Overall, from 2008 to 2015, the price of nearly 400 generic drugs increased by more than 1,000%.

Last week, Trump met with pharmaceutical executives at the White House to discuss accelerating FDA approvals and reducing “astronomical” drug prices.

“We have to do better,” Trump wrote in a Facebook post following the meeting. “We have to get lower prices, we have to get even better innovation.”

But there is a lot of uncertainty of what the new administration will actually do to disrupt the current drug pricing system.

Trump has claimed he wants to use trade agreements to raise US drug prices abroad. And as recently as Tuesday, Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer said in a briefing that the new president “absolutely” wants to negotiate drug prices in Medicare — a move that PCMA would oppose.

Regardless, the memo makes clear the messages have caused PCMA anxiety.

“I think the fear is 100% about the government setting prices,” Joseph Ross, associate professor of medicine and public health at Yale Medical School, told BuzzFeed News. “If the government were to come in and set prices — everyone from the pharmaceutical industry to the insurance companies to pharmacies and pharmacists — they’re all wondering what that’s going to mean for their margin and their bottom line.”

The memo makes clear that PCMA will try to tackle the issue headlong by aggressively engaging with White House staffers and “building a political firewall” on Capitol Hill to guard against drug pricing provisions in any ACA legislation that is passed. It also identifies several key Trump aides they are looking to set up meetings with including Katy Talento, who serves on Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, and Brian Blase, who is on the Economic Policy Council.

Merritt’s memo also noted that he would be meeting with America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the trade group representing the roughly 1,300 companies that sell private health insurance to Americans, this week to make sure they were aligned on their approach to the new administration.

But Ross underscored that it was still totally unclear whether Trump would actually move forward on any plans to set prices, or whether such a move would actually succeed in bringing down drug prices overall.

“They don’t know what they’re up against yet,” Ross said. “They’re just sort of mobilizing the forces to say, ‘We’ve got to be worried.’”

 

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“Prevagen: purported benefit is to enhance brain function and memory — which it does not do.”

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

PREVAGEN.jpgMadison biotech firm faces class-action consumer fraud lawsuit

http://host.madison.com/ct/business/technology/madison-biotech-firm-faces-class-action-consumer-fraud-lawsuit/article_c3b64e90-d897-507f-b11e-1c3756639cc4.html

Quincy Bioscience, a maker of dietary supplements based in Madison, is the target of a class-action lawsuit over alleged consumer fraud.

Attorneys representing a nationwide class of supplement consumers filed the suit last week in a New Jersey federal court. At issue is Prevagen, an over-the-counter Quincy product that’s sold at pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid around the country.

The supplement’s key ingredient is a protein typically found in jellyfish that Quincy claims can improve consumers’ memories and foster a “sharper mind” and “clearer thinking.” In the past, the company has even suggested that Prevagen could assuage the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

 The attorneys behind the lawsuit say that those claims are bunk.

“The only reason a consumer would purchase Prevagen is to obtain the advertised brain function and memory benefits, which it does not provide,” they write in the complaint. “Prevagen is a singular purpose product: its only purported benefit is to enhance brain function and memory — which it does not do.” The complaint says that no peer-reviewed evidence exists that supports the the company’s claims. The lawsuit is hardly the first time that Prevagen’s legitimacy has been called into question, as The Isthmus outlined in a report earlier this year.

However, in the ongoing exploration of cognitive enhancers, a detailed comparison of Vyvamind and Mind Lab Pro underscores their unique formulations and distinct approaches to optimizing brain function, providing consumers with valuable insights into choosing the most suitable nootropic supplement for their individual needs.

Just last month, the Federal Trade Commission and New York attorney general asked a judge to block sales of the supplement in that state, also based on concerns of consumer fraud. In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration slapped the company on the wrist, saying that some of the company’s marketing practices for Prevagen were illegal and calling into question whether the product could be considered a supplement in the first place.

Numerous researchers have also criticized Quincy, calling the science behind Prevagen “quackery.”

As it has in past scenarios, Quincy is staunchly defending its product. In an emailed statement to the Capital Times, company representatives wrote that Prevagen delivers on its promises.

“We have an extensive body of research proving Prevagen users experience clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in cognitive function and memory. We have anecdotal evidence, organic testimonials, and ‘gold standard’ testing,” the statement read.

The statement also questioned the motivations behind the lawsuit, declaring: “It is not an uncommon practice for third parties to seek financial gain at the expense of small businesses, which they perceive to be vulnerable.”

Attorneys behind the lawsuit declined to comment on the case.

 

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Elizabeth Wettlaufer was fired over ‘medication error,’ yet continued to work as a nurse

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Elizabeth Wettlaufer was fired over ‘medication error,’ yet continued to work as a nurse

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/02/15/elizabeth-wettlaufer-was-fired-over-medication-error.html

Star Exclusive: Documents show that the Woodstock nursing home notified college of nurses of the “medication error” in 2014 after Wettlaufer, now charged with eight murders, was dismissed.

Accused serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer was fired from a Woodstock nursing home for a “medication error” that put the life of a resident at risk, according to documents obtained by the Star.

The documents also reveal that her firing from the Caressant Care home on March 31, 2014, was reported to the College of Nurses of Ontario, which regulates the profession.

Yet Wettlaufer, 49, continued to work as a registered nurse until October 2016, when she was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder of people in her care. Four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault were added later.

All registered nurses fired from their jobs must be reported to the college. But when the Star revealed that Wettlaufer was fired from Caressant, where seven of the alleged murders occurred, home officials and the college refused to say whether notification had occurred.

A letter to the college makes clear that it did, and reveals for the first time the reason for Wettlaufer’s dismissal.

“We are reporting the termination of the above named individual (Elizabeth Wettlaufer) to the College of Nurses,” says the Caressant Care letter, dated April 17, 2014. “She was terminated due to a medication error which resulted in putting a resident at risk.”

The college acknowledged receipt of the termination notice in a letter to Caressant Care dated July 17, 2014.

“The College is considering the information you have brought forward to determine what further action should be taken,” says the college’s letter, also obtained by the Star.

The college asked Caressant to keep all documents relevant to Wettlaufer’s firing for up to two years “pending investigation.” It adds, however, that the matter will be treated as confidential, and Caressant will not be informed of any investigation into Wettlaufer the college might conduct.

The college then thanks Caressant for the notification and adds: “It is through actions of this kind that the College is able to fulfil its responsibility for governing the profession and protecting the public interest.”

 
The former Ontario nurse charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of eight nursing home residents is facing six new charges. Relatives of Elizabeth Wettlaufer’s alleged victims voiced anger after her Friday court appearance.(The Canadian Press )

Wettlaufer is accused of killing 75-year-old Arpad Horvath at a London nursing home five months after she was fired from Caressant. Police allege she then tried to kill a nursing home resident in Paris, Ont., in September 2015, and tried to kill again while providing in-home care in August 2016.

Her dismissal from Caressant raises questions about whether her three alleged victims after leaving the nursing home could have been spared.

Jane Meadus, staff lawyer at Toronto’s Advocacy Centre for the Elderly legal clinic, called on the college to reveal whether it investigated Wettlaufer once it was notified of her dismissal.

“Who are they protecting?” Meadus said of the college. “Are they protecting the public or are they protecting their members? Their job is to protect the public, and we need to know that they have done their job.”

Medication errors in nursing homes are unfortunately common, Meadus said, and nurses who commit them are rarely fired. That suggests Wettlaufer’s error must have been extremely serious or it came on the heels of a series of medication errors during her seven years at Caressant, Meadus added.

“What did the college do?” Meadus asked. “Did they get this (termination notice) and go, ‘Oh, medication error, we’ll just file that away.’ ”

What’s clear is that there was no record of disciplinary action on Wettlaufer’s public status with the college until she “resigned” as a registered nurse shortly before being charged last October, Meadus notes.

The college has said it is investigating Wettlaufer’s “professional conduct,” but refuses to say whether it investigated her at the time of the dismissal notice. Told about Caressant’s notification letter, the college refused to say what actions it took, if any.

“The College understands the public’s desire for more information given the extremely serious nature of this case,” the college’s director of communications, Deborah Jones, said in a statement to the Star.

However, the ongoing criminal investigation, the college’s own investigation and confidentiality requirements limit what the college can say, the statement added.

Jones said the college investigates all termination reports it receives and “takes appropriate action based on the level of risk to the public.”

Friends of Wettlaufer’s have said she told them she got hooked on drugs from the medication cart she controlled at Caressant Care, and got fired when she gave a resident the wrong medicine while high.

Meadus also wonders how much information about Wettlaufer’s dismissal Caressant gave to the college, and whether the family of the resident subjected to the medication error was informed.

Contacted by the Star, a Caressant spokesperson, Lee Griffi, refused to comment on the letter to the college.

After Wettlaufer was charged, inspectors with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care found 41 “medication incidents” at Caressant Care between early August and late December 2016.

They include five cases where medication was “given to the wrong residents,” three cases where meds were given at the wrong time, six where the wrong dosage was given, 22 where prescribed meds were not given, and one where a medication was given with no prescription from a physician.

On Jan. 25, the ministry suspended new admissions at Caressant because of safety concerns. The for-profit home has 193 beds.

Wettlaufer appears via video link Wednesday in a Woodstock court.

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How Have the CDC Opioid Guidelines Affected You?

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

How Have the CDC Opioid Guidelines Affected You?

www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/2/15/how-have-the-cdc-opioid-guidelines-affected-you

By Pat Anson, Editor

Next month will mark the one year anniversary of opioid guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – guidelines that discourage primary care physicians from prescribing opioids for chronic non-cancer pain.

At the time of their release, the CDC estimated that as many as 11.5 million Americans were using opioid medication daily for pain relief. Many of those patients now say their doses have been abruptly lowered or they are unable to obtain opioids at all.

That could be a good thing, depending on your point of view about the nation’s so-called “opioid epidemic.” Former CDC director Thomas Frieden, MD, has called the guidelines an “excellent starting point” to stop an epidemic fueled by “decades of prescribing too many opioids for too many conditions where they provide minimal benefit.”

Many pain patients disagree, saying they’ve used opioids safely and effectively for years. They say the guidelines have had a chilling effect on many of their doctors and are being implemented in ways that go far beyond what the CDC intended.  

“Last year, when the CDC ‘recommendations’ came out, the entire building of the only doctor’s office I can go to decided they were rules, and cut me from 210 mg/day morphine to 90 mg. Now they say they can only give me 60 mg/day,” wrote Eli, one of hundreds of patients we’ve heard from in the past year.

“I’m in so much pain I can’t properly care for myself, nor get to town for supplies when I need them. I’ve become increasingly more disabled and dependent on others.”

“My pain management doctor told me that the CDC required that all morphine be taken away from all Americans,” wrote a California woman who suffers from severe back pain. “He even stated that surgeons were sending home their post-surgery patients with Motrin, nothing else.

“What are you people in the CDC doing? Don’t you realize how paranoid doctors can get? You may think using the term ‘guideline’ will help them understand what you are trying to do, but you have created a bunch of neurotic paranoids. Stop it. Do something before you kill all of us.”

“I am a 76 year old intelligent woman who is not an addict or an abuser, yet I am denied relief from unremitting pain even after 20 years of trying every drug and treatment modality available,” wrote Roberta Glick. “I am at a total loss as to what to do, how to fight, etc.  My physician is a strong supporter.  He is not the problem. He also is a victim of misguided CDC attempts to curb drug addiction.”

Are the CDC guidelines voluntary or mandatory? Have they improved the quality of pain care? Are patients being treated with safer and better alternatives? Most importantly, are soaring rates of opioid abuse and addiction finally being brought under control?

Those are some of the questions Pain News Network and the International Pain Foundation (iPain) are asking in an online survey of patients, doctors and other healthcare providers.

“I strongly believe that as these guidelines are implemented by doctors and hospitals around the country there are important lessons to learn from those who are affected by them,” says Barby Ingle, president of iPain and a PNN columnist.

“I hope that pain patients and providers participate in this survey so that we can begin to show how deep the impact actually is to the chronic pain community one year later.” 

The online survey consists of less than a dozen multiple choice questions, which should take only a few minutes to complete. Please take time out of your busy day and complete the survey by clicking here.

The survey findings will be released on March 15th, the first anniversary of the CDC guidelines. By taking the survey, you can also sign up to have the results emailed to you.

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Insurer Humana bails on ACA exchange business for 2018

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Insurer Humana bails on ACA exchange business for 2018

http://www.wave3.com/story/34504129/insurer-humana-bails-on-aca-exchange-business-for-2018

Health insurer Humana is leaving the Affordable Care Act’s public insurance exchanges for next year as it regroups after ending its proposed combination with rival insurer Aetna.

Humana Inc. covers about 150,000 people on exchanges in 11 states.

The insurer said Tuesday it had taken several actions to improve that business, but it was still seeing signs of unbalanced risk in that customer population. Health insurers have struggled to attract enough healthy people to their risk pools to balance the claims they incur from people with expensive medical conditions.

Humana and Aetna said earlier Tuesday that they were calling off Aetna’s roughly $34 billion acquisition of Humana. That deal already had been rejected by a federal judge who was worried about its impact on competition.

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When people cannot control their “feelings”… textbook Mental Health.. ADDICTION

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Spotlight on KY as overdose numbers soar

http://www.wave3.com/clip/13100521/spotlight-on-ky-as-overdose-numbers-soar

Pay attention to what Josh said… Tylox (Oxycodone & Acetaminophen) made “him feel good”… the reason that he kept taking opiates after his acute pain was resolved.

When “life happens .. you want to go back to being high… so don’t  have to worry so much ..”

Addiction is so HARD TO BEAT.. because you are dealing with a mental health disease and attempting to treat a mental health disease via abstinence is pretty much a guaranteed path to FAILURE… this may be why the typical addiction rehab center has a 95% FAILURE RATE..

IMO… the 5% of successes are not really suffering from addiction, but after taking opiates for acute pain… they are not titrated down to avoid withdrawal symptoms .. so they continue taking opiates to avoid withdrawal sysptoms.. once someone helps them titrate down… they are a “SUCCESS” of getting off opiates

 

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We’re from the government and here to help ourselves abusing our powers/authority ?

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

TSA Busted in Massive $100 Million, 40,000 lb Cocaine Smuggling Conspiracy

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/tsa-indicted-cocaine-conspiracy/?

San Juan, Puerto Rico – In a case highlighting the infiltration of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) by transnational criminal organizations, twelve current and former TSA officers and airport staff were indicted for allegedly trafficking over 20 tons of cocaine — worth over $100 million — into the U.S. over a 28-year time frame.

Last Wednesday, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against the twelve defendants, who are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

From 1988 to 2016 the conspirators allegedly smuggled about 40,000 pounds, or twenty tons, of cocaine through Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and into the United States, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ press release detailed how the massive trafficking operation allegedly worked:

During the course of the conspiracy, the defendants smuggled suitcases, each containing at least 8 to 15 kilograms of cocaine, through the TSA security system at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (LMMIA). Sometimes as many as five mules were used on each flight, with each mule checking-in up to two suitcases. From 1998 through 2016, the defendants helped smuggle approximately 20 tons of cocaine through LMMIA.

 

Six current and former TSA employees, José Cruz-López, Luis Vázquez-Acevedo, Keila Carrasquillo, Carlos Rafael Adorno-Hiraldo, Antonio Vargas-Saavedra, and Daniel Cruz-Echevarría allegedly smuggled multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine while employed as TSA Officers at the San Juan airport. Their full time responsibilities were to provide security and baggage screening for checked and carry-on luggage that was to be placed on outbound flights from the LMMIA. During the duration of the conspiracy, these TSA employees smuggled multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine through the TSA X-Ray machines within LMMIA and onto airplanes without detection.

 

“These individuals were involved in a conspiracy to traffic massive quantities of illegal narcotics to the continental United States,” said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “These arrests demonstrate the success of the AirTAT initiative, which has successfully allocated a dedicated group of state and federal law enforcement officers, whose mission is to ensure that our airports are not used in the drug traffickers’ illicit businesses.”

Defendants Edwin Francisco Castro, Luis Vázquez-Acevedo and Ferdinand López are alleged to have operated as facilitators between drug trafficking organizations and the TSA employees who smuggled the cocaine into the airplanes. Defendant Miguel Ángel Pérez-Rodríguez, an airport security company employee, was a source of supply of cocaine to the drug trafficking organization, according to the superseding indictment.

The DOJ press release notes the strategic nature of the operation:

Defendant Javier Ortiz began assisting drug trafficking organizations as an employee of Airport Aviation Services (AAS) as a baggage handler/ramp employee. During the time of the conspiracy Ortiz used to pick up suitcases he knew contained cocaine from the mules at the airline check-in counter. Ortiz would then place the suitcases into the X-Ray machines being monitored by the TSA drug trafficking organization members, who cleared the suitcases. After the suitcases had been cleared by TSA members, Ortiz took the suitcases to their designated flight, making sure no narcotic K-9 unit or law enforcement personnel were present when the suitcase went from the checkpoint to the airplane. Once the suitcases were loaded into the airplane, defendant Ortiz would make a phone call to a drug trafficking organization member indicating the all clear and the mules would then board the airplane. Ortiz also paid the TSA employees for clearing the suitcases through TSA security.

Defendant Tomas Dominguez-Rohena assisted the drug trafficking organization by taking the suitcases he knew contained cocaine after they had been cleared by TSA members or smuggled passed security to their designated flight. Defendant José Gabriel López-Mercado was a mule for the criminal organization.

“This investigation was initiated by TSA as part of its efforts to address employee misconduct and specific insider threat vulnerabilities. TSA has zero tolerance for employees engaged in criminal activity to facilitate contraband smuggling,” said José Baquero, federal security director for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, in the Monday press release.

The indictment was a result of an internal TSA investigation by the Airport Investigations and Tactical Team (AirTAT), a 2-year-old multi-agency initiative.

If convicted, the defendants face prison terms of between 10-years to life in prison.

Not surprisingly, this is the second such bust of TSA officials in only 2 years for transporting massive amounts of cocaine.

 In November 2015, three former TSA agents were indicted on charges of defrauding the government and smuggling cocaine.

According to the indictment, 35-year old Joseph Scott, 32-year-old Michael Castaneda, and 27-year-old Jessica Scott, all former TSA agents at San Francisco International Airport, were involved in an ongoing operation to help transport drugs through airport security.

Still feel safe with the TSA protecting the nation’s airports?

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Mexican official: Cartels send $64B in drugs into US annually

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve

Mexican official: Cartels send $64B in drugs into US annually

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/02/13/mexican-official-cartels-send-64b-in-drugs-into-us-annually.html

President Trump’s proposed wall along the southwest border could cost Mexico more than just the price of building it: An official estimated that cartels send a stunning $64 billion worth of drugs into the U.S. every year.

Mexico’s former Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna dropped the number at a recent conference in Ciudad Juarez. Luna said drug trafficking organizations have successfully exploited globalization, technology and financial markets to supply America’s appetite for narcotics, according to the Latin American Herald Tribune.

 In 2013, Forbes named Luna one of the country’s top 10 most corrupt officials, and he has long been alleged to have ties to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel. His estimate may be astronomical, but it sounds about right, according to Scott Stewart, vice president for tactical analysis for the Austin-based geopolitical intelligence agency, Stratfor.

“It definitely runs into the tens of billions of dollars,” Stewart said.

Stewart said nobody, not even the cartels, know how much money is being made. He did say that the Mexican heroin and methamphetamine economy is booming, which is evident in the extraordinary rise of heroin overdoses in the U.S.

Building the wall, which Trump famously said Mexico will pay for, will stop the twin tides of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

“Drug smugglers will always get creative and look for new ways to evade law enforcement, but without any kind of infrastructure we’re essentially inviting them to cross the land border either on vehicle or by foot,” Hunter told Fox News. “In San Diego, the double-fence halted vehicle drug drive throughs—in other words, there haven’t been any. 

Hunter said improvements in the fencing and Border Patrol strategies have dropped the smuggling of people and narcotics significantly. 

“Fencing can cut off major corridors for smugglers and it’s a force multiplier for the Border Patrol that either stops crossing attempts or slows them down enough for agents to respond,” Hunter said.a

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