New Cannabis Pain Patch for Fibromyalgia and Diabetic Nerve Pain

nationalpainreport.com/new-cannabis-pain-patch-for-fibromyalgia-and-diabetic-nerve-pain-8831899.html

A company specializing in cannabis-based medicines has developed two new medications for people with neuropathy diabetic nerve pain and fibromyalgia.

The new pharmaceutical medications will be in the form of a transdermal patch that is a medicated adhesive patch placed on the skin to deliver a specific dose of medication through the skin and into the bloodstream.

The company behind the patches, Cannabis Science, says the patches:

“Promote healing to an injured area of the body. An advantage of a transdermal drug delivery route over other types of medication delivery such as oral, topical, intravenous, intramuscular, etc. is that the patch provides a controlled release of the medication into the patient, usually through either a porous membrane covering a reservoir of medication or through body heat melting thin layers of medication embedded in the adhesive which will be containing high potency cannabinoid (CBD) extract that slowly enters into the bloodstream and then penetrates the central nervous system of the patient delivering the pain relief sought.”

Cannabis Science’s CEO Mr. Raymond C. Dabney says, “The development of these two new pharmaceutical medicinal applications are just the tip of the iceberg for what we see as the future for Cannabis Science. While we strive to increase our land capacity for growth and facilities to produce our own product to supply our scientists with proprietary materials to make these formulations, we are also busy researching more potential needs for Cannabis related medical applications and developing the methods for delivery of these medications.”

CBD is the second major cannabinoid in marijuana after THC.  It has anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, but without the psychoactive effects THC brings.

“As more states nationwide legislate for the legalization of cannabis and cannabis-derived medications, we here at Cannabis Science are focused on developing pharmaceutical formulations and applications to supply the huge growing demand expected over the coming few years,” concludes, Mr. Dabney.

Fibromyalgia is estimated to affect 2%-8% of the population, while females are about twice as likely to suffer from the condition.  People with fibromyalgia experience chronic widespread pain and a heightened pain response to pressure.

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is damage to, or disease affecting nerves, which may impair sensation, movement, gland or organ function, or other aspects of health, depending on the type of nerves affected.

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PMP helps one state reduce painkiller Rxs

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/pmp-helps-one-state-reduce-painkiller-rxs

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Despite progress, measles kills 400 children a day: WHO

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-measles-who-idUSKBN1352B7

The number of deaths from measles has fallen by 79 percent worldwide since 2000, thanks mainly to mass vaccination campaigns, but nearly 400 children still die from the disease every day, global health experts said on Thursday.

In a report on global efforts to “make measles history”, the United Nations children’s fund, the World Health Organization and other bodies said fight was being hampered not by a lack of tools or knowledge, but a lack of political will to get every child immunized against the highly infectious disease.

“Without this commitment, children will continue to die from a disease that is easy and cheap to prevent,” said Robin Nandy, UNICEF’s head of immunization.

Mass measles vaccination campaigns and a global increase in routine vaccine coverage saved an estimated 20.3 million young lives between 2000 and 2015, the report said.

But coverage is patchy, and in some countries the majority of children are not vaccinated. In 2015, around 20 million babies missed their measles shots and an estimated 134,000 children died from the disease.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan account for half of the unvaccinated babies and 75 percent of the measles deaths.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through direct contact and through the air. It is one of the biggest killers of children worldwide, but can be prevented with two doses of a widely available and inexpensive vaccine.

According to the report, published by UNICEF, the WHO, the GAVI vaccines alliance and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outbreaks of measles in various countries – caused by gaps in immunization – are still a major problem.

Seth Berkley, GAVI’s chief executive, urged governments to recognize the threat of “one of the world’s most deadly vaccine-preventable childhood killers” and act to contain it.

“We need strong commitments from countries and partners to boost routine immunization coverage and to strengthen surveillance systems,” he said.

In 2015, large outbreaks were reported in Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, the report said. The epidemics in Germany and Mongolia affected older people, highlighting the need to vaccinate young adults who missed out on measles jabs.

Measles also tends to flare up during conflicts or humanitarian emergencies when vaccination schedules are disrupted. Last year, outbreaks were reported in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan.

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Trump Posts Preliminary Plan to Repeal ACA

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/871816?nlid=110628_3901&

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Failure to stand up

As one of my readers stated in a comment:

“I so wish I could gather all the pain community together to become one united front but how is that done exactly? Especially when there are so many little groups and a few really big organizations that refuse to work together due to their own agenda.”

It has been stated that per our legal system “the value of the life” of a person who is handicapped/disabled, elderly, unemployable.. has little value and thus an attorney will not take on any legal action on a contingency basis because there is little/no financial upside for the attorney

The DEA/DOJ, FDA, CDC are using existing laws and creating “new interpretations” of those laws to change the original intent of the law… to suit the agenda of the specific agency. IMO, until someone challenges the constitutionality of these new interpretations… they will remain on the books and enforced.

There may be some hope with the new Trump administration will take some actions on violations of the Americans with Disability Act. It really can’t be any worse than what has NOT HAPPENED under the Obama Administration.

Could it be that many personal injury attorneys have not considered the possibility of filing claims on:

In a personal injury or wrongful death case, the family members of the injured person — spouse/partner, children and parents — can file a lawsuit for their own loss. A interesting concept

The state limits for such lawsuits is $300,000 – $400,000.  Apparently a lot more than the limits for medical malpractice and the “value” of the life of a handicapped/disabled, elderly, unemployable and could be financially advantageous for a law firm.  If a couple of these cases are successful.. personal injury attorneys would start “circling” …

Likewise, a healthcare professional that denies, reduces a pt’s opiate therapy that is allowing them to keep a job … causing the pt to lose their job.. that is MEASURABLE DAMAGES…  again.. personal injury attorneys should be very interested in such cases.

The way that change is going to happen for those in the chronic pain community may be more of “one step at a time” and waiting for some sort of MASSIVE UNITY ACTION… does not seem to be a near term reality.

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Florida Supreme Court allows husband’s lawsuit against doctor after wife’s suicide

http://flarecord.com/stories/511041274-florida-supreme-court-allows-husband-s-lawsuit-against-doctor-after-wife-s-suicide

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 25 that a Sarasota man, Robert Granicz, may pursue his medical malpractice lawsuit against his late wife’s primary care physician, Dr. Joseph Chirillo, for her 2008 suicide, reported Medscape Medical News in an Aug. 26 article.

“Although the inpatient duty to prevent suicide does not apply here, there still existed a statutory duty … to treat the decedent in accordance with the standard of care,” Justice Patty Quince said in writing the court’s opinion.

Justices unanimously ruled that the case should go to trial, upholding a 2014 decision by the Second District Court of Appeal.

The summary judgement in favor of Chirillo was granted by the First District Court of Appeal, but the decision was later reversed by the Second District Court of Appeal that ruled in favor of Granicz. The Florida Supreme Court ultimately ruled to confirm the decision of the Second District that the case should proceed to trial.

Debra Pinals, M.D., director of the Program in Psychiatry, Law and Ethics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told Medscape Medical News that malpractice cases involving suicides are not new, but they can have a chilling effect on those who treat people with depression.

“Suicide as a cause of action for malpractice is one of the common reasons that physicians are sued,” she said. “The standard of care related to suicide is something that malpractice cases have been hinging on.”

According to court records, Jacqueline Granicz started taking the antidepressant venlafaxine (Effexor, Pfizer) in 2005, but stopped taking it in 2008.

The records say she called Chirillo’s office the day before she died and told his medical assistant that she had stopped taking the drug because she thought it was causing side effects such as poor sleep and mental strain, and also causing her to cry easily and have gastrointestinal distress. She said she had not “felt right” since late June or July.

After reading the assistant’s note, Chirillo changed her prescription from venlafaxine to a different antidepressant, escitalopram (Lexapro, Forest Laboratories). He didn’t schedule an appointment, but said she could pick up a sample of the drug and a prescription at his office.

Jacqueline Granicz picked up those items that day, but hanged herself the following day.

“The decedent in this case was an outpatient of Dr. Chirillo’s. Therefore, under Florida law, there was no duty to prevent her suicide,” the ruling said. “However, the nonexistence of one specific type of duty does not mean that Dr. Chirillo owed the decedent no duty at all. … Although the inpatient duty to prevent suicide does not apply here, there still existed a statutory duty … to treat the decedent in accordance with the standard of care. We find that the Second District (Court of Appeal) properly evaluated the … case based on the statutory duty owed to the decedent and also properly classified the foreseeability of the decedent’s suicide as a matter of fact for the jury to decide in determining proximate cause.”

Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston agreed with the result, but did not sign on to the opinion, which sent the case back to circuit court with instructions to move forward with a trial.

According to court documents, allegations of breach of duty included failing to recognize she was experiencing a change in symptoms, was depressed and was seeking medical intervention. They were also concerned that Chirillo didn’t speak with her directly and that he didn’t refer her to a clinician trained in management of depression. They also said he failed to properly evaluate escitalopram, an antidepressant known to cause suicidal tendencies in some patients.

“Dr. Chirillo owed no duty to prevent the defendant from committing an unforeseeable suicide while she was not in his control,” the doctor’s medical group said.

Although the American Psychiatric Association declined comment, there are individual doctor’s opinions that address concerns for the court’s decision.

“There’s a fine line between how you balance the standard of care with people’s free will on an outpatient basis,” Carolyn Stimel, Ph.D., executive director of the Florida Psychological Association, said in an interview with Medscape Medical News. “Presumably, if this person had been in therapy there would have been somebody monitoring what was going on with their mental state and also dealing with the issue that she had stopped taking her medications.”

She said doctors have a legitimate question in asking what one can do when a patient won’t take medications.

“Ultimately you can’t shove pills down someone’s throat,” Dr. Stimel said. “The thought of doctors being responsible for whether patients kill themselves or not — that’s pretty chilling.”

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Failure … let me count the ways !

Yesterday I posted the above opinion piece… and it did not make everyone happy..  I didn’t expect it to make everyone happy !

This is my FIFTH YEAR in posting on this blog and I have watched “advocates” come and go… They apparently came looking for answers and/or solutions and LEFT because they found NEITHER and realized that there is no/little unity within the chronic pain community.

Every week, I get emails, phone calls… from pts that are asking how to solve their pain medication denials from prescribers, pharmacists, insurance companies.

Often I have few suggestions that may help… because typically an individual pt has nearly ZERO POWER .. because the prescribers… pharmacists… insurance companies operate under the “GOLDEN RULE”

AND… they can do so…  because the chronic pain community continues to

fail to UNITE…. and take a stand… and that

means both POLITICALLY and LEGALLY.

If there is 116 million chronic pain pts.. they have the “numbers” to basically have “THE GOLD” and be able to write the rules.

The THEORETICAL “death panels” are becoming more and more a REALITY. They are being created by the CDC, FDA, DEA, Insurance companies for starters.

No one person … no small group…. no number of Face Book … nor … dozens of petitions to the White House, Congress or anyone else is going to change the path that the bureaucracy is on.  IMO… they are going to “steam roll” over those in the chronic pain community… THOUSANDS at a time… shutting down prescriber practices under the PRETENSE of a practice being a “PILL MILL”… and tossing untold thousands of pts out into the street.

Just another STATISTIC of the WAR ON DRUGS ? how many suicides goes unreported ?

Just like this practice in Seattle… 8000 chronic pain pts thrown to the curb… did anyone see about this SUICIDE outside of the Seattle, WA media market ?  Was this or will this be the only SUICIDE from the actions of the DEA on this particular practice… how many more SUICIDES will happen out of this practice and will they be labeled as just an “opiate related death” ?

I am just an observer… a messenger… but there are many days that I can relate to Don Quijote…

To those in the chronic pain community.. there is no “george” that is going to come and fix it… neither is there any KNIGHT on a WHITE HORSE  coming from over the horizon to SAVE YOUR ASS.

To those in the chronic pain community…if .. individually .. you don’t become a active participant in creating a solution with others in the chronic pain community… then you are part of the PROBLEM.

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Blame the pharmacist for giving accused Agawam robber so many pills, defense lawyer says

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/11/dont_blame_the_pharmacist_for.html

SPRINGFIELD — A defense lawyer for a man accused of trafficking in a prescription painkiller argued Monday her client never should have been accused of having “trafficking weight” of the drug he is alleged to have stolen from an Agawam pharmacy.

Ralph Damico, 63, of Agawam, faces charges of armed robbery, larceny of a drug and trafficking a Class A drug (oxycodone) in the amount of 200 grams or more.

Susan E. Hamilton, Damico’s lawyer, argued to Hampden Superior Court Judge Edward J. McDonough that it is clear from the minutes of grand jury testimony there was no evidence her client wanted anything more than pills for personal use. She said her client shouldn’t be charged with trafficking just “because the pharmacist handed over a tremendous amount.”

“So you’re saying it’s the pharmacist who chose the amount?” McDonough said. Hamilton said that was what she was saying. She also said there was no weapon used or shown in the robbery so her client should only be charged with unarmed robbery.

McDonough on Tuesday denied Hamilton’s motion to get the indictments reduced or dismissed.

He did say Hamilton had a “novel argument” in saying her client didn’t have the intent to sell the pills but the pharmacist was responsible for the large number of pills, for a weight of 257 grams. But, the judge said, there was no support in the law for that argument.

The robbery occurred about 3:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2015, at the Springfield Street Walgreens. “He got away with 10 or 11 bottles with 100 pills in each,” Agawam Police Lt. Edward McGovern said at the time.

Assistant District Attorney Janine Simonian said she thinks it’s unfair to blame the clerk at the pharmacy for the amount of oxycodone stolen by Damico. She alleged Damico said he had a gun and needed oxycodone.

Surveillance video and witness reports gave officers a description of the suspect and his van. Police located a matching van in a mobile home park adjacent to the Walgreens, Simonian said.

Police found 80 oxycodone pills in a dresser in his trailer, Simonian said. Damico told police he thought he could sell the pills around the trailer park, she said.

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Louisville gray market for diabetic strips has pharmacists concerned

http://www.wdrb.com/story/33674071/louisville-gray-market-for-diabetic-strips-has-pharmacists-concerned

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A secondhand market for medical supplies has local pharmacists concerned about the risks to patients.

Buyers have been advertising on telephone poles throughout Louisville, trying to resell diabetic testing strips online at discounted prices.

The practice is not necessarily illegal, as long as people do not commit Medicare, Medicaid or insurance fraud with the transaction.

“Test strips can be sensitive to light, humidity and temperature so … if anything were ever to affect the integrity of the product, there definitely could be a safety concern,” said Maggie Mangino, an assistant pharmacist with Norton Healthcare.

Pharmacists warn expired testing strips can also lead to inaccurate results.

“You wouldn’t know exactly what your glucose level was at,” said Bradley Hall, a diabetic patient. “It could be dangerous. You could take too much medicine or not enough.”

Hall tests his blood sugar levels three times a day and says it can get very expensive, especially when he is without insurance.

Prices vary depending on brand. Some medical supply companies sell strips for more than $160 without insurance for 100 strips. As a result, many people switch to a more affordable brand when cost is an issue. But even that can be expensive.

“There are places online that you can sell your strips for a substantial amount less,” Hal. said. 

If cost is still a concern, patients can learn about

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