9 Ways to Beat Your Addiction to Sugar
http://magazine.foxnews.com/food-wellness/too-much-sugar-addiction-tips-eat-less-sugar-infographic
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Big Pharma CEO Says Insurers Will ‘Ultimately Determine How Much Patients Pay’
Posted on February 1, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Big Pharma CEO Says Insurers Will ‘Ultimately Determine How Much Patients Pay’
Along with making U.S. job growth a priority, President Trump has also called on the pharmaceutical industry to rein in drug prices. PhRMA CEO Steve Ubl appeared on the FOX Business Network to discuss a meeting that took place between the President and pharmaceutical industry executives early Tuesday.
“It’s clear the President is laser-focused on jobs. We had a very positive, productive discussion yesterday,” Ubl told the FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto.
According to Ubl, though drug prices are a concern for the company, insurers are ultimately responsible for how much patients pay for their medication.
“We take his concerns with regard to drug prices seriously. I think we want to engage all stakeholders, you know, it’s a complicated system. We understand there are questions.”
Ubl explained that there has been a boost in demand from pharmacy benefit managers for discounts and rebates, but raised concerns over whether those discounts were making their way to patients’ wallets.
Ubl asserted the challenge is finding a balance between responsible drug pricing while still encouraging pharmaceutical companies to innovate.
“I think the President really understands what’s at stake. Yes, we have to be responsible with regard to pricing, but we absolutely have to continue to have incentives for companies to take risk, to hit home runs, to find cures for deadly diseases like Type-1 [diabetes] and others.”
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Medicare/Medicaid/CMS Star Rating System
Posted on February 1, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
https://www.pharmacyowners.com/blog/bid/90673/How-To-Find-and-raise-Your-Star-Rating
CMS (Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services) started a couple of years ago …what they call Star Rating System.. it can/will impact all of those providers in providing healthcare to those pts covered by Medicare/Medicaid/Medicare Advantage.
The Star Rating System will help determine how much or how little a provider gets paid and if a provider fails to attain a THREE STAR rating in at least one out of a three year period.. there ability to participate in the Federal programs.
769 Hospitals Penalized For Patient Safety In 2017: Data Table Here is a article about 769 hospitals getting lower reimbursements in 2017 because pts filled grievances with CMS.
I have been exchanging emails with a pt that after patronizing a particular Walgreens in Florida for several years… there was a change in the Pharmacist/PIC… who decided that she was “not comfortable” with a C-II prescription – continuing of medication – for the pt.
The pt contacted Walgreens corporate and in the past … the normal response from corporate was that they “stood behind their Pharmacist’s decision”… What has changed at Walgreen’s corporate level, this pt this time was told that they would take the pt’s complaint/grievance “higher up the corporate ladder”.
Don’t know if the Star Rating system influenced this change or some other issue within Walgreen’s corporate structure…but… in regards of all healthcare providers (hospitals, prescribers, pharmacies/pharmacists, insurance company, etc… etc…) they are all covered by the Star Rating system… and apparently CMS gives a provider FIVE STARS to start off with and unless unsatisfied/unhappy pts contacts CMS (www.cms.gov) 800-MEDICARE and file a grievance against the provider… they will retain their higher star rating…. and pt care will continue to be poor and/or get poorer because there is no consequences or incentives to improve the level of care.
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Why My Stepsons’ Father Killed Himself
Posted on January 31, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Why My Stepsons’ Father Killed Himself
The government has made it almost impossible to prescribe desperately needed painkillers. Last week, my two stepsons’ father, a man who loved life, killed himself. I would like to tell you why. Two years ago, a 62-year-old father of three named Bruce Graham was standing on a ladder, inspecting his roof for a leak, when the ladder slipped out from under him. He landed on top of the ladder, on his back, breaking several ribs, puncturing a lung, and tearing his intestine, which wasn’t detected until he went into septic shock. He should have, in retrospect called gutter installation dallas or another company to check his roof. Following surgery, he lapsed into a two-week coma. In retrospect, it’s unfortunate that he awoke from that coma, because for all intents and purposes, his life ended with that fall. Not because his mind was affected; his mind was completely intact until the moment he took his life. His life ended because, while modern medicine was adept enough to keep him alive, it was unable or unwilling to help him deal with the excruciating pain that he experienced over the next two years. And life in constant, excruciating pain, with no hope of ever alleviating it, is not worth living. As a result of the surgery, Bruce developed abdominal scar-tissue structures known as adhesions. Adhesions can be horribly painful, but they are difficult to diagnose because they don’t appear in imaging, and no surgery in America or in Mexico, where out of desperation he also sought treatment, could remove them permanently. Many doctors dismiss adhesions, regarding the patient’s pain as psychosomatic. The pain prevented him from getting adequate sleep. Nor could he eat without causing the pain to spike for hours. By the time of his death, he had lost almost half his body weight Prescription painkillers — opioids — relieved much of his pain, or at least kept it to a tolerable level. But after the initial recuperation period, no doctor would prescribe an opioid despite the fact that this man had a well-documented injury and no record of addiction to any drug, including opioids. Doctors either wouldn’t prescribe them on an ongoing basis, because they feared losing their medical license or being held legally liable for addiction or overdose, or because they deemed Bruce a hypochondriac. The federal government and states such as California have made it extremely difficult for physicians to prescribe painkillers for an extended period of time. The medical establishment and government bureaucrats have decided that it is better to allow people to suffer terrible pain than to risk exposing them to the danger of opioid addiction. They believe it is better to allow any number of innocent people to suffer hideous pain for the rest of their lives than to risk having any patient getting addicted and potentially dying from an overdose. Dr. Stephen Marmer, who teaches psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, told me that when he was an intern, he treated children with terminal cancer — and even they were denied painkillers lest they become addicted. Pain management seems to be the Achilles’ Heel of modern medicine — for philosophical reasons as well as medical reasons. Remarkably, Dr. Thomas Frieden, the head of the Centers for Disease Control, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine last year that “whereas the benefits of opioids for chronic pain remain uncertain, the risks of addiction and overdose are clear.” Isn’t accidental death from overdose, while in the meantime allowing patients to have some level of comfort, preferable to a life of endless severe pain? To most of us, this is cruel. Isn’t accidental death from overdose, while in the meantime allowing patients to have some level of comfort, preferable to a life of endless severe pain? Though I oppose suicide on religious and moral grounds and because of the emotional toll it takes on loved ones, I make an exception for people with unremitting, terrible pain. If that pain could be alleviated by painkilling medicines, and laws or physicians deny them those medicines, it is they, not the suicide, who are morally guilty. Bruce was ultimately treated by the system as an addict, not worthy of compassion or dignity. On the last morning of his life, after what was surely a long, lonely, horrific night of sleeplessness and agony, Bruce made two calls, two final attempts to acquire the painkillers he needed to get through another day. Neither friend could help him. Desperate to end the pain, he picked up a gun, pressed it to his heart, and pulled the trigger. In a final noble act, he did not shoot himself in the head, even though that is the more certain way of dying immediately. He had told a friend some weeks earlier that if he took his life, he didn’t want loved ones to experience the trauma-inducing mess that shooting himself in the head would leave. Instead, he shot himself in the heart. An autopsy confirmed the presence of abdominal adhesions, as well as significant arthritis in his spine. May Bruce Graham rest in peace. Some of us, however, will not live in peace until physicians’ attitudes and the laws change.
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Did #Walgreens’ Rewards Program Cheat You?
Posted on January 31, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Did Walgreens’ Rewards Program Cheat You?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/did-walgreens-rewards-program-cheat-075857629.html
Walgreens misinformed consumers about its loyalty rewards program, potentially swindling them out of millions of dollars in earned benefits, according to a report by ConsumerWorld.org.
ConsumerWorld.org — which describes itself as a “public service consumer resource guide” — recently completed a two-year review of Walgreens’ Balance Rewards program through ConsumerWorld.org’s sister site, MousePrint.org. The latter website aims to expose the strings and catches in advertising fine print.
At issue are the points consumers are supposed to earn on “all” 30- and 90-day prescriptions filled in Walgreens stores or online. The points can be redeemed like cash for future Walgreens purchases.
In contradiction to Walgreens’ rewards program claims, not all prescriptions have been earning points, ConsumerWorld.org contends. Mail-in prescriptions haven’t earned consumers any points, according to the nonprofit:
“What the company failed to clearly disclose was that the millions of prescriptions ordered online via their mail order service would not earn points.
Walgreen perpetuated the misimpression that ‘all’ prescriptions earned points by running national television advertising, including this 2017 commercial, and repeated similar claims on its website.”
ConsumerWorld.org says Walgreens admitted to no wrongdoing, although it “quietly amended” the fine print on its website that misrepresented its actual Balance Rewards policy for prescriptions, so now the Balance Rewards information is accurate.
But what about the people who have unknowingly been cheated out of earning rewards points for prescriptions filled through Walgreens? ConsumerWorld.org says:
In fiscal 2016, Walgreens filled 740 million prescriptions in its retail division, which includes mail order. It is unclear what percentage of those prescriptions were in-store versus mail order, but clearly, millions of consumers never got the likely millions of dollars of rewards that Walgreens promised.
Not all stores’ customer rewards programs are created equal. Find out “Which Loyalty Programs Are Worth It.” Also, check out “6 Stores With Awesome Reward Programs.”
Do you shop at Walgreens? Share your thoughts below or on Facebook.
This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as ‘Did Walgreens’ Rewards Program Cheat You?’.
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Controversial Kratom Growing in Popularity
Posted on January 31, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Controversial Kratom Growing in Popularity
http://www.empr.com/features/kratom-extract-opioid-compound-dea-fda/article/634849/
A complex, poorly understood plant product, kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, has recently burst onto the American stage in a big way and gained the attention of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Mitragynine, the dominant alkaloid in the compound, has been found to have some opioid-like activity and some argue that it is useful in assisting patients who are withdrawing from either licit or illicit narcotic use. The debate about potential DEA regulation of this compound is, more than likely, just beginning.
Background
Kratom grows naturally in much of southeast Asia, more specifically, in Malaysia.1 This evergreen tree can reach a height of more than 80 feet with a trunk diameter of 3 feet.1 The large, dark glossy green leaves yield the extract that is the active component of the tree.
Kratom has been used in its native environment for centuries for purposes ranging from religious ceremonies to wound healing. Its action as an opium substitute, however, was reported in 1836.2 Official notation of this plant and its action was first made by Dutch botanist Pieter Korthals in 1839.3 Despite centuries of use in Malaysia, the compound has been relatively slow to develop a following in the United States, but that appears to be changing.
Science
The main mechanism of action of kratom is due largely to one of the more than 25 alkaloids found in its extract.4 Mitragynine, the dominant alkaloid, has been found to exert somewhat selective μ-opioid receptor activity, especially when used in moderation.5 Proponents of this chemical argue that it is useful in assisting patients who are withdrawing from either licit or illicit narcotic use. Those against the use of kratom take the stance that, since its action is basically opioid in nature, nothing is gained.
There are no clinical trials in humans to determine either the safety or efficacy of kratom. However, a growing body of laboratory data shows some very intriguing actions of the extract. One study demonstrated both adrenergic and serotonergic actions, as well as actual opioid antagonistic functions.6 These activities are seen as promising means to ease withdrawal from narcotic dependence.
In the absence of human clinical trials based in the United States, we are forced to depend largely upon pharmacokinetic data and foreign trials. One case report highlights the differing actions of kratom based on total daily dose.7 In this report, a man in his early 40s was using escalating doses of prescribed hydromorphone for a chronic pain condition. Due to a sudden change in his personal life, he was forced to abruptly cease use of this potent drug. In order to manage his intense symptoms of withdrawal, he began ingesting a kratom tea four times a day. He found that the tea greatly alleviated his physical pain without the typical sedation from prescription medication.7
In a survey in Malaysia, researchers sought to determine the demographics and substance use habits of self-treated kratom users.8 Nearly 77% of participants reported histories of prior drug use, often heroin. At the time of the survey, more than 45% of participants were still using at least one other psychoactive substance. However, all participants reported greater productivity, better appetites, and reduced dependence on other drugs before beginning kratom use.8
Safety, interactions, side effects
The safety of this product is definitely in question. Due to its known opioid action, addiction and overdose are easily possible. In August 2016, the DEA published a notice of intent to classify this compound as a schedule I drug.9 Due to a huge public response, however, a formal retraction of that intent was published in October 2016, pending further review.9
Regardless of regulation, kratom should be considered an opioid compound and, as such, possess all of the potential side effects and interactions of the class. Until such studies are conducted that more clearly show safety and efficacy for specific uses, there is no current indication for this compound.
Kratom powder is a commonly used form in the United States
How supplied, dose, cost
Kratom is widely available in the United States either online or in most ‘head shops.’ It is available in a variety of forms including extract, powder, or capsule. Due to the lack of any quality control, there is no way to establish a ‘recommended dose.’ Also, the concentration of the active ingredient, mitragynine, varies widely based on the form of the product. Extracts tend to be more concentrated, while powders and capsules are weaker.
Those who report sporadic use for anxiety or other episodic concerns may only use 1 to 2 g at a time, whereas daily users managing chronic pain or intense withdrawal from other opiates report using as much as 15 to 20 g or more per day. The type of product and the amount used dictate cost, with an average cost per ounce of about $30.
Summary
With the abundance of approved medications at the disposal of healthcare providers, the use of an unproven and potentially dangerous product such as kratom is not justified. However, providers must be aware of the growing use of this compound in the United States and, when opioid use is either ongoing or newly initiated, screen for use of this product.
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Another paid “expert opinion” brought to you by another anti-opiate group
Posted on January 30, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Opioid Use Disorder a Solvable Problem
Newer therapy options can really help, says former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/60212
Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives, has long had an interest in brain science mental health issues; in 1996 he worked with then-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) to pass a mental health parity law requiring health insurers to cover mental illnesses to the same degree as other illnesses.
Gingrich recently co-founded an organization — along with former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and CNN commentator Van Jones — to support patients struggling with opioid use disorder. MedPage Today News Editor Joyce Frieden interviewed Gingrich recently about this venture.
JF: What interested you in this subject?
NG: I have had a very long interest in brain science in general and co-chaired with [former] Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) a commission on long term care than ran for 3 years, as well as a second 3-year project on Alzheimer’s disease. Then Patrick Kennedy approached me 2 years ago on a project he was working on involving brain science. When he approached and said, “Could we do something on a bipartisan basis about an epidemic that is killing more people annually than automobile wrecks?”, it seemed like something worth paying attention to.
I am now 2/3 of the way through “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic,” an astonishing book about rise of heroin addiction. It’s a little challenging to read because there is so much material and it is written so well; you find yourself learning so much your brain gets overwhelmed.
JF: What additional treatment options should be available for people struggling with opioid abuse?
NG: Buprenorphine has been around in more traditional forms; one study published in 2002 says it increases the odds of not taking an opioid by 3.5 times. What’s happened in the last 2 years is that they have been introducing an implantable version — you gradually get it over 6 months. That solves the question of compliance, and in addition, it’s not resellable. That’s one of the great concerns out of local law enforcement about buprenorphine — putting something on the market at a time when people should not have access to it.
It also involves less inpatient treatment — in a lot of cases you may need a brief period of detoxing, but in the long run, this involves much more outpatient treatment and much less inpatient.
JF: What else is not well-known about this problem?
NG: One of the points the author of “Dreamland” makes is the degree to which Medicaid was a major enabler of getting the drugs as the addiction process began on the pill side, as opposed to the heroin side. It was fascinating to learn how Medicaid coverage and Medicaid policy led to extraordinary abuse of the whole system. People would “doctor shop;” they would have a $3 copay and all else was paid for by the taxpayer. People were getting treated by five different doctors and the taxpayer was in effect subsidizing their habit, and then they would go out on their own selling the drugs.
Ironically, Medicaid now has very severe restrictions against playing an appropriate role in helping people get off these drugs. I don’t believe the parity bill has been effectively implemented in Medicaid; there is overwhelming evidence of that in state after state. People can’t get to a doctor; the number of people a doctor can [use medication-assisted treatment for] is very limited. If you were implementing the parity bill, you’d never have a cap like that.
JF: What is the goal of your foundation, Advocates for Opioid Recovery?
NG: Our biggest goal is to get people to understand that this is a physiological challenge that can be met with a medication response that statistically has a very high likelihood of being effective. We’re raising awareness; we have been commissioning research and hope to have a series of reports coming out.
JF: How do you respond to concerns about patients on buprenorphine possibly having to take it for the rest of their lives?
NG: If you have a substantial population of people who are addicted, you want to find an appropriate medical response to the addiction. Otherwise, you are advocating something that’s medically obsolete — you’d never tolerate that for breast cancer, for example, or kidney disease. As for lifelong treatment, you want to discuss insulin? Or statins? It’s the nature of how we’re learning to respond to certain challenges; you can keep people alive a lot longer, but it does involve intervention.
JF: What are some of the barriers to helping people understand this problem?
NG: I think people are more aware of the problem than they are of the solution. One barrier is that there are a lot more people who are capable of being saved than we understand. Another part of the problem is that people are looking at 1-year budgets, and you don’t have kind of organized effort you have for AIDS, for example. More people are dying of opioid overdoses than from car wrecks, and yet the response from the public has not been as aggressive in demanding that we change behaviors.
JF: Do you have any misgivings about advocating that the government spend more money on this issue?
NG: When I was the Speaker of the House, we balanced the federal budget while doubling the size of the National Institutes of Health. I am very willing to spend money where appropriate, which doesn’t necessarily mean I’m for big government or for waste. This is something that is in the public interest.
Newt Gingrich, PhD, served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1994-1998. A former Republican Congressman from Georgia, he was the founder of the Center for Health Transformation, and is a co-founder of Advocates for Opioid Recovery, a non-partisan organization. Gingrich is a Fox News contributor and the author of 27 books.
Gingrich and all of the foundation’s advisers are paid a consulting fee by the Advocates for Opioid Recovery, a 501(c)4 organization with multiple funding sources that are not disclosed.
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Pain Medication: Are You Addicted?
Posted on January 30, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Pain Medication: Are You Addicted?
What to know about becoming addicted to pain medications.
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/pain-medication-addiction#1
Some people do become addicted, and the results can be devastating. But there are ways to limit your risk.
Candy Pitcher of Cary, N.C., knows all about the fear of addiction. One summer day in 2003, a tree cutter working at Pitcher’s home started to topple from his ladder. “If he hits the ground, he’ll break his back. I have to catch him!” she thought.
Pitcher broke the man’s fall, which crushed a vertebra in her upper back. Ever since then, she’s had chronic pain. To manage it, she’s had a prescription for a drug that’s widely feared and often misunderstood: morphine.
“I’ve never been ‘high’ from morphine,” she says, nor has she ever been tempted to take more than the prescribed amount. But she says she’s wary of becoming addicted.
She’s not the only one with that fear. “Addiction” is a widely used word. But many people don’t use it accurately.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/ss/slideshow-surprising-addictions
slideshow
Surprising Addictions
What Addiction Is … and Isn’t
Addiction is far more than a craving. It also means there are troubling consequences that can often disrupt someone’s personal life or job.
“Addiction means the individual has lost control over the use of the drug. They’re using it compulsively, there are consequences to using the drug, and they continue to use it anyway,” says Gary Reisfield, MD. He’s a chronic pain and addiction specialist at the University of Florida.
Tolerance and dependence are not the same as addiction.
Tolerance is common in people using opioids (such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine) for chronic pain. It means the body has become used to the drug, and it has less effect at a given dose, Reisfield says.
Dependence means that there are unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if a person abruptly stops taking a drug.
People who aren’t addicted can develop drug tolerance or dependence. And both can be absent in people who are addicted to certain drugs.
Potential for Addiction
Opioid pain medications are some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs. However, the risk that well-screened people will become addicted to opioid drugs when they’re taking them for chronic pain is actually low, Reisfield says.
A 2008 study that compiled previous research found that about 3% of people with chronic non-cancer pain using opioid drugs abused them or became addicted. The risk was less than 1% in people who had never abused drugs or been addicted.
Other common drugs with the potential for addiction are benzodiazepines, especially when they’re prescribed along with opioids, Reisfield tells WebMD. Some benzodiazepines include Ativan, Klonopin, Valium, and Xanax.
Risk of Uncontrolled Pain
Some people don’t want to use pain medicines because they fear becoming addicted. That can lead to a different set of problems that stem from poorly controlled pain.
“If pain is inadequately treated, we see poor functional level, a diminished quality of life, we often see mood disorders such as depression, and we see an increased risk of suicide,” Reisfield says.
slideshow
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/ss/slideshow-commonly-abused-drugs
Commonly Abused Drugs
These six steps can help ensure that you use pain-relieving drugs properly:
1. Weigh Your Risk Factors
Before he prescribes opioid drugs for chronic pain, Reisfield talks to patients about issues that could make them more likely to become addicted. These include:
- A history of addiction to prescription medicine or illicit drugs.
- Addiction to alcohol or tobacco.
- Family history of addiction.
- A history of mood disorders (such as depression or bipolar disorder), anxiety disorders (including PTSD), thought disorders (such as schizophrenia), and personality disorders (such as borderline personality disorder).
2. Look at Other Options
People with a higher risk of addiction may want to try other pain control strategies first, Reisfield says. These can include:
- Physical therapy.
- Working with a psychologist to learn how to change your pain-related thoughts and behaviors.
- Alternative approaches such as acupuncture and tai chi.
Those methods aren’t just for people who are at high risk for addiction. They’re part of an overall pain management strategy that may include, but is not limited to, medications.
3. Use the Medication for Its Proper Purpose
“People need to be vigilant that the medication doesn’t become a coping mechanism for other issues,” says Karen Miotto, MD, an addiction psychiatrist at UCLA.
If your doctor writes you a prescription that makes your pain more tolerable, and you’re using it as directed, that’s OK. But if you’re using it for some other reason that your doctor doesn’t know about, that’s a red flag. For example, if you hate your job and you’re taking the drug because you find it takes the edge off, that’s a sign that you could develop a problem, Miotto says.
4. Watch for Early Signs of Trouble
Here are four warning signs that you may be misusing your prescription painkiller:
- You’re not taking the drug as prescribed.
- You’re taking the medicine for reasons other than why the doctor prescribed it.
- Your use of the drug has made you miss work or school, neglect your children, or suffer other harmful consequences.
- You haven’t been honest (with your doctor, loved ones, or yourself) about your use of the drug.
Your doctor should work with you to limit addiction risk. She may ask you about how you’re doing, give you a urine test to check for medication, and ask you to bring in all your medications so she can check how many are left and where the prescriptions came from.
5. Ask for Help
If you feel like you’re losing control over your pain medicine use, or if you have questions about whether you’re becoming addicted to it, you may want to consult a doctor who specializes in pain medicine. He or she should listen to your concerns without judgment and take a reasoned approach.
For instance, if she thinks you need to get off a certain drug, she might look into switching you to another drug with less potential for misuse. If your doctor isn’t comfortable handling your situation, consider getting a second opinion from a psychiatrist or addiction specialist, Miotto says.
6. Take Precautions
Pain-relieving drugs can lead to problems other than addiction, Miotto says. Keep opiates locked away so kids, teens, and others in your home can’t take them.
And be extra-cautious using other prescription and over-the-counter drugs along with opiates. Certain combinations could cause you to become unconscious, stop breathing, and even die.
When Candy Pitcher, now 56, makes her monthly visits to the pain clinic, the staff gives her random drug tests and counts her morphine pills. She doesn’t mind the attention. “Because of the benefits the opioid has given me, I’m willing to do it,” she says.
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Now the term “Cheeseheads” makes much more sense
Posted on January 30, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Wisconsin’s opioid response anemic, critics say
http://www.startribune.com/wisconsin-s-opioid-response-anemic-critics-say/412083963/
MADISON, Wis. — Opioids are still killing people by the hundreds in Wisconsin even though legislators have passed nearly 20 bills to curb addiction over the last three years, prompting critics to demand lawmakers think bigger and pump more money into the fight.
Gov. Scott Walker has called a special legislative session to pass nearly a dozen additional bills designed to combat opioid addiction. Social justice groups and civil rights advocates say the package nibbles around the edges of the problem, threatens personal liberties and doesn’t invest nearly enough in prevention. Legislators have repeatedly said there’s no magic solution to stopping opioid abuse. Still, rumblings that the state needs to do more are growing louder.
Attorney General Brad Schimel, who is spearheading an awareness campaign called “Dose of Reality,” says people haven’t paid enough attention to the opioid issue and now it’s threatening to overwhelm the state.
“I get what the critics are saying,” Schimel said. “If we saw car crashes at the rate of opioid abuse, we would do crazy things. Build roundabouts every two miles, raise the driving age, lower speed limits. As a nation we’ve taken too long to take this epidemic seriously.”
The National Conference of State Legislatures says it tracked more than 500 state bills dealing with prescription drug abuse in 2016. Karmen Hanson, a program director at NCSL, says a similar number is expected this year.
Walker has signed 17 bills — all from state Rep. John Nygren, whose daughter has struggled with a heroin addiction — since 2013 to address opioids. Dubbed the HOPE Agenda, the bills include measures that require identification to pick up opioid prescriptions, provide immunity for people who report overdoses, create rural treatment programs, allow first responders to carry overdose antidotes and allocate $2 million annually toward treatment programs.
But people keep dying.
According to state data, 1,524 people died of opioid-related overdoses between 2013 and 2015 compared with 1,381 people over the previous three-year period. The data shows 622 people died in 2014 and 614 in 2015, the two highest annual death totals since 2003.
It looks like 2016 was no better. According to the most recent figures, 540 people died of opioid-related overdoses over the first nine months of last year alone. That’s almost 100 more people than during the first three quarters of 2015.
Walker this month declared opioid addiction a health crisis and called a special legislative session to enact 11 more bills.
The legislation would grant immunity to addicts who overdose; allow school nurses to administer overdose antidotes; allocate $420,000 annually for four more state Justice Department drug agents; lay out $200,000 over the next two years to expand a pilot drug screening program in high schools; and allow addicts to be civilly committed.
Critics aren’t impressed.
“The special session is a step in the right direction but falls far short of what is needed to make a significant dent in the opioid problem,” said Jon Peacock, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families research director.
Julie Whelan Capell runs the high school drug screening program in six school districts. The program could make a huge difference, she said, if Walker took it statewide. Legislative fiscal analysts project that would cost $1.8 million, but Capell said prevention is Wisconsin’s best hope. Robert Kraig, executive director of health advocacy group Wisconsin Citizen Action, complained the new bills spend more on drug agents than screening.
“This is an epidemic,” Kraig said. “We’re beyond pilot programs.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, contends the civil commitment bill would deprive opioid users of personal liberty without due process.
Nygren’s office didn’t respond to a message. Schimel said fighting opioids is difficult because they’re so pervasive. He cited statistics from the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health that show about 163,300 Wisconsin adults and 68,600 young adults used heroin or another opiate between July 2013 and July 2014.
“Our treatment capacity can come nowhere near to addressing that,” he said.
Still, Walker’s call for a special session shows top government officials now understand the depth of the problem, Schimel said.
He said he wasn’t sure if expanding high school drug screening would be appropriate or effective. He noted that beginning April 1 doctors and dentists will have to consult a statewide prescriptions database to ensure patients aren’t shopping around for opioids, a Hope Agenda mandate. Schimel predicted the state will see a decline in opioid prescriptions after the requirement takes effect.
As for concerns about civil commitment for addicts, Schimel said a mental health facility would be a more humane place to go through withdrawal than jail. He promised addicts would still receive due process.
“There are things in (the special session legislation) that people don’t see as significant, but I do,” Schimel said. “We’ve got to keep beating this drum. This is the worst public safety and public health crisis we’ve seen in this state in many, many decades. Possibly ever.”
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Illinois pushes stricter rules on pharmacy consultations
Posted on January 29, 2017 by Pharmaciststeve
Illinois pushes stricter rules on pharmacy consultations
http://www.wsiltv.com/story/34338052/illinois-pushes-stricter-rules-on-pharmacy-consultations
Mandatory Pharmacist consultation has been the law of the land since 1990 !
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