Pharma lobbying held deep influence over opioid policies

https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/18/20203/pharma-lobbying-held-deep-influence-over-opioid-policies

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Survey Of 6,000 Kratom Users Shows No Evidence Of Epidemic Or Abuse Justifying DEA Push To Ban Coffee-Like Herb

https://www.yahoo.com/news/survey-6-000-kratom-users-shows-no-evidence-173900596.html

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Nine out of 10 respondents in the largest survey conducted to date of kratom users believe that the coffee-like herb is effective for dealing with joint and muscle comfort and related problems, according to the findings released today by the Pain News Network (PNN) at http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/kratom-survey/.

The survey of 6,150 kratom users was conducted between the August 30^th announcement by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of a proposed ban on kratom and the end of last week.  With the support of the American Kratom Association (AKA), PNN promoted participation in the survey to its own readers and the broader public via social media channels.  The poll of kratom users involves a sample that is at least 10 times larger than any previous such survey. PNN maintained full editorial control of the survey questions and the presentation of the findings. 

Other key survey findings include the following:

• The top three reasons kratom user said they use the herb are:  chronic or acute pain (51 percent); anxiety (14 percent); and treatment of opioid addiction or dependence (9 percent). Important note:  AKA and the Botanical Education Alliance (which joined PNN and AKA in releasing the findings) make no medical-related claims for kratom in connection with the survey published today by the Pain News Network.
• For those using kratom to deal with pain, the five most common issues are:  spine or back (38 percent); other (15 percent); an injury (11 percent); fibromyalgia (9 percent); and osteoarthritis (3 percent).
• 66 percent of kratom users said that a ban on kratom would result in them being “more likely to be addicted and overdose on other substances.”
• More than one out of four kratom users (27 percent) said they would still use kratom even if it is banned by the DEA an 43 percent indicated they are unsure what they would do.
• 98 percent of kratom users do not believe that it is a harmful or dangerous substance.
• 75 percent said it is not possible to get “high” from kratom.
• 95 percent said that making kratom illegal would be harmful or society.

Susan Ash, director, American Kratom Association, said: “In declaring war on kratom, the DEA never took the time to actually look at what is happening with this natural herb.  They never took the time to talk to or to survey kratom users.  If they had, they would have learned of the very positive picture that emerges from the Pain News Network survey.  There is no kratom epidemic or crisis. This is a natural herb in the coffee family that people are using in their lives in a variety of positive ways.  The DEA war on kratom is not justified by the facts, it is not based on scientific data, and it needs to stop now.”

Travis Lowin, executive director, Botanical Education Alliance, said: ” We must unite to bring the truth about Kratom to regulators and Congress. We cannot let the DEA get away with scheduling an herb that millions of Americans use safely to support their overall health and wellbeing. The DEA has failed Americans in its efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and targeting Kratom will make the situation worse. Our organization and Americans nationwide are only demanding that we receive due process and sensible regulation.  Veterans, seniors, and other kratom customers in the US should not have to pay the price for the DEA failing to play by the rules.”

Dr. Addie Davis, a resident physician in emergency medicine in California, said: “The CDC has actually recognized the use of prescription narcotics and particularly the number of deaths resulting from their use as a national epidemic causing thousands of deaths every year. In 2014 there were over 14,000 resulting from narcotic abuse. On the flip side, there is kratom. Kratom is an herb that is not very well known but I happen to know plenty of people who use it.  It is not new. It has many uses, some of which include managing fatigue, depression and anxiety. Most pertinent to my career, however, is kratom’s ability to help people manage chronic pain. I have seen many people wean themselves off of opiates successfully with the aid of kratom. In contrast to prescription narcotics, kratom is not dangerous and is non-habit forming. Kratom is not an opiate. Its active alkaloids work on mu-opioid, serotonin and dopaminergic receptors in the brain.  It cannot cause respiratory depression, unlike prescription narcotics.  Kratom has clear health benefits and it is used by thousands of people in this country every day.  If kratom is scheduled as a schedule I substance, many of the people who use it for pain control will likely return to using prescription narcotics. This will result in thousands of deaths annually.”

Pat Anson, founder and editor, Pain News Network, said: “Our survey provides the biggest and clearest overall picture to date of what is actually going on in the world of kratom use. What we see here are people with real issues and concerns who will be in a tough spot if the DEA bans kratom use. The survey findings dispel the myth that kratom is used recreationally like marijuana by people who only want to get high. The vast majority say they use kratom solely to treat and manage their medical conditions.”

The DEA is now seeking to ban kratom, or Mitragyna speciose, a tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. Kratom leaves have been consumed in countries like Thailand and Malaysia for over 500 years. The herb is now available in the U.S. just like other herbal supplements.

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Most overdose deaths in Mass. caused by illegal drugs

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/09/15/most-overdose-deaths-massachusetts-caused-illegal-drugs/gPFUwRrRzSF3qGlXfP3VEK/story.html

Drugs obtained illegally were the main killers of the 2,212 people who died of overdoses in 2013 and 2014 in Massachusetts, according to a report from state health officials issued Thursday.

Only 8.3 percent of those who died had a prescription for an opioid drug, while 85 percent had taken heroin or fentanyl. This finding shows that the drugs that kill usually come from the street.

Fulfilling a legislative mandate, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health analyzed its data along with data from other government agencies to produce the report, available online at http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/stop-addiction/chapter-55-overdose-assessment.html.

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Overdose Deaths Decline In Nearly Two-Thirds of New Mexico’s 33 Counties

http://krwg.org/post/overdose-deaths-decline-nearly-two-thirds-new-mexico-s-33-counties

BAD NEWS:  Heroin and Meth deaths are UP

Commentary: Today, the New Mexico Department of Health announced that nearly two-thirds of New Mexico counties saw a decline in overdose deaths last year. The department released county-by-county data, which shows overdose deaths decreased in 20 of 33 counties. Earlier this year, the Department of Health reported a 9 percent decrease in statewide overdose deaths.

 Credit New Mexico Department of Health

“We’re working hard with law enforcement, health care professionals, and community partners throughout the state to fight the devastating impact of drug abuse,” Governor Susana Martinez said. “While results like these show important progress, we need to continue fighting this issue with coordinated efforts of education, prevention, treatment, and enforcement to help more families protect themselves and their loved ones from the dangers of drug abuse.”

The number of overdose deaths declined by 10 or more deaths in Sandoval, Valencia and Rio Arriba counties in 2015 compared to 2014.

Overdose deaths in Rio Arriba County declined by 30 percent; from 40 deaths in 2015 to 28 deaths in 2015; however, Rio Arriba County has the highest drug overdose death rate in the state. Other counties with high overdose death rates included Quay at 63.1 deaths per 100,000, Grant at 46.1 per 100,000, and Taos at 43.6 per 100,000.

According to 2015 state mortality data previously released by NMDOH, New Mexico’s statewide drug overdose death rate decreased from 2014. The drug overdose death rate fell to 24.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2015, a 7.5 percent decrease from 26.8 in 2014. 

There were 493 total drug overdose deaths of New Mexico residents in 2015 compared to a record high of 540 in 2014. National data for 2015 is not yet available. However, New Mexico’s drug overdose death rate was the second highest in the nation in 2014.

Although the prescription opioid death rate declined in 2015 compared to 2014, the heroin overdose death rate increased over that period. Deaths involving methamphetamine remained at the high levels seen in 2014. While methamphetamine was involved in a smaller percent of deaths than heroin or prescription opioids, deaths involving methamphetamine have tripled since 2006.

“We are working hard to reduce overdose deaths in New Mexico. The recent decrease shows we’re making progress, but we still have a lot more work to do,” said Department of Health Secretary Designate Lynn Gallagher. “The fact is, our state continues to suffer from drug abuse. One overdose death is one too many. And until we have zero fatalities related to drugs, we’re going to continue to do all that we can to address the issue with our partners.”

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez signed two pieces of legislation earlier this year, which take important steps to prevent drug misuse and combat overdose death:

·        SB 263 requires practitioners to check the Prescription Monitoring Program database when prescribing opioids. The database allows prescribers and pharmacists to check the prescription history of their patients.  

·        The Governor also signed legislation which increases the availability of naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses.  Medicaid claims for naloxone among outpatient pharmacies in New Mexico increased 83 percent between the first three months (January-March) and the second three months (April-June) of 2016.

Additionally, the Department of Health and the Human Services Department recently secured more than $11 million in various grants to reduce opioid-related deaths, strengthen prevention efforts, and improve opioid surveillance data. Following successful grant applications by the state, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded HSD’s Behavioral Health Services Division $6.8 million over five years in two separate grants to support training on prevention of opioid overdose-related deaths; aid in the purchase and distribution of naloxone to first responders; and bring prescription drug misuse prevention activities and education to schools, communities, parents, prescribers and their patients. DOH’s Epidemiology and Response Division just received two grants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention totaling $3.7 million over three years to aid in preventing prescription drug overdoses and to enhance tracking and reporting of overdoses; this is in addition to $3.4 million received in September 2015 over 4 years for preventing prescription drug overdoses.

For information on prescription opioid safety visit:  http://nmhealth.org/about/erd/ibeb/pos/; for information on the DOH Harm Reduction Program visit: http://nmhealth.org/about/phd/idb/hrp/. You can also find New Mexico substance abuse data and statistics at: http://nmhealth.org/about/erd/ibeb/sap/.

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Obama: I Will Consider It An Insult To My Legacy If You Do Not Vote; Want to Give Me A Good Send Off? Go Vote

http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/obama-urges-black-voters-to-vote-for-clinton-768958531893

Let’s take a look at Obama’s legacy… and its effect on the chronic pain community

The war on drugs took a turn toward a war on prescribers/pts

Hydrocodone products were rescheduled to C-II

Naloxone is now pretty much now a OTC drug and the “catch & release” prgm has been started.

Kratom products were rescheduled to C-I

The CDC published their opiate dosing guidelines

The Surgeon General sent a letter to every prescriber to lower opiate dosing to pts – first time a Surgeon General has done this.

Obama declared the week of Sept 18,2016 as Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week

AG Loretta Lynch is sending a letter to EVERY GOVERNOR to “get on board” with fighting the opiate epidemic

So… if your pain management is as good or better than it was 8 yrs ago… voting for the person that Obama is endorsing… will probably work out for you…  otherwise… you may wish to vote for one of the three alternatives running for President…. or you can just stay home and NOT VOTE … and take your chances… it would appear obvious that the Obama administration does not feel/share your pain… and is probably just considering you another person suffering from a “opiate use disorder”…formerly known as a junkie/addict.

President Obama made a strong sell for a candidate to succeed his legacy at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner Saturday night. The president invoked slavery and the Jim Crow era and preached that if they wanted to give him a good send off then register people to vote because his legacy is at stake.

Although he did not name Hillary Clinton, the president said he would consider it a personal insult from the African-American community if they did not for her.

“My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot,” President Obama said Saturday night. “And there is one candidate who will advance those things. And there is another candidate who’s defining principal, the central theme of his candidacy is opposition to all that we have done.”

“There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter,” Obama said. “It all matters. And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down it’s guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good send off? Go vote!”

Remarks:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Our work’s not done. But if we are going to advance the cause of justice, and equality, and prosperity, and freedom, then we also have to acknowledge that even if we eliminated every restriction on voters, we would still have one of the lowest voting rates among free peoples. That’s not good, that is on us.

And I am reminded of all those folks who had to count bubbles in a bar of soap, beaten trying to register voters in Mississippi. Risked everything so that they could pull that lever. So, if I hear anybody saying their vote does not matter, that it doesn’t matter who we elect, read up on your history. It matters. We’ve got to get people to vote.

In fact, if you want to give Michelle and me a good sendoff, and that was a beautiful video, but don’t just watch us walk off into the sunset now, get people registered to vote. If you care about our legacy, realize everything we stand for is at stake, on the progress we have made is at stake in this election.

My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot. Good schools are on the ballot. Ending mass incarceration, that’s on the ballot right now.

And there is one candidate who will advance those things. And there is another candidate who’s defining principal, the central theme of his candidacy is opposition to all that we have done.

There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter. It all matters. And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down it’s guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good send off? Go vote! And iI’m going to be working as hard as I can these next seven weeks to make sure folks do.

Hope is on the ballot. And fear is on the ballot too. Hope is on the ballot and fear is on the ballot too.

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Prescription painkillers are more widely used than tobacco, new federal study finds

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/20/prescription-painkillers-are-more-widely-used-than-tobacco-new-federal-study-finds/

Imagine this… 35 percent of the adults take a medically necessary medication and it is estimated that there are 116 million chronic pain pts and out current population is about 320 million… and that is compared to 31 percent of adults that are using/abusing a substance (Tobacco/Nicotine) that has no medicinal value and kills 450,000 people annually. Are some reporters getting really desperate to find a connection to the fabricated substance abuse epidemic.

More than 1 in 3 American adults — 35 percent — were given painkiller prescriptions by medical providers last year. The total rate of painkiller use is even higher — 38 percent — when you factor in the number of adults who obtained painkillers for misuse via other means, from friends or relatives, or via drug dealers.

These numbers come from a recent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report that highlights the stunning ubiquity of prescription painkillers in modern American life. The report indicates that in 2015, more American adults used prescription painkillers than used cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or cigars — combined.

Most painkiller use isn’t misuse, which SAMHSA defines as any use of painkillers in a manner not directed by a doctor. This can include taking painkillers without a prescription for the purpose of getting high, or taking the drugs for a longer period of time or at a higher quantity than recommended by a doctor.

Indeed, part of painkillers’ prevalence owes to how effective they are, and to the difference they can make in the lives of pain sufferers. It’s hard to imagine recovering from an invasive surgery without having something to treat the residual pain, for instance. And for many people afflicted with chronic pain, proper management with prescription painkillers can mean the difference between debilitating illness and daily functioning.

But many prescription painkillers are highly habit-forming, and they can be deadly if taken at high doses, or in conjunction with other drugs such as alcohol. In 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid painkillers killed nearly 19,000 Americans. That’s greater than the total number of Americans (15,809) who were murdered that year.

Those numbers are so high partly because Americans have developed a voracious appetite for painkillers in recent years. A 2008 study estimated that Americans consume about 80 percent of the global opioid supply and 99 percent of the supply of hydrocodone, one of the most popular prescription painkillers.

A recent investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and the Associated Press detailed the intense lobbying efforts pharmaceutical companies have made to keep these drugs lightly regulated and readily available. The investigation found that when it comes to lobbying, pro-painkiller groups outspend groups arguing for tighter restrictions by more than 200 to 1.

There are examples of pharmaceutical companies engaging in unscrupulous or illegal behavior to promote opioid drugs. In 2007 Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, pleaded guilty to charges that it misled regulators and doctors about the abuse potential of the drug.

More recently, employees at Insys Therapeutics, a manufacturer of the powerful painkiller fentanyl, plead guilty to charges involving kickback schemes for fentanyl sales. The company remains the target of numerous state and federal investigations.

Reducing the scope of the opioid epidemic has been a priority for President Obama. Earlier this year the White House requested $1.1 billion from Congress for fighting opioid addiction.

But critics have argued that Drug Enforcement Administration policies — some long-standing, some new — are undercutting federal efforts to curb opioid abuse.

For instance, earlier this year, the DEA refused to reduce restrictions on marijuana use, arguing that there was insufficient evidence of marijuana’s medical benefits. Multiple studies have found that access to medical marijuana is associated with reductions in prescription painkiller abuse and overdose rates.

More recently, the DEA announced a plan to ban the use of kratom, a Southeast Asian plant with opiate-like qualities. Many users of kratom report that the plant has helped them quit using more powerful prescription painkillers. Researchers are worried that without kratom available to them, these users will return to prescription painkillers or move on to heroin.

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FDA warns China facility over ‘persistent’ contamination

http://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/fda-warns-china-facility-over-persistent-contamination

The FDA put a Chinese biologics drugmaker on import alert and followed up with a warning letter after an inspection a year ago that found serious microbial contamination at its plant in Hebei.

The FDA posted the warning letter today for Hebei Yuxing Bio-Engineering, after putting the company on its import alert list on July 8, and so banning its products from entering the U.S.  

It said the company, which bills itself as the world’s largest maker of Vitamin B12, documented 67 microbiological contamination deviations between January 1 and August 20, 2015. But the agency said that microbiological contamination has been “a persistent and unresolved problem” at the facility since 2013.

The FDA said that while the company believes it identified four possible causes, including failing to carefully sterilize tanks used to store supplements. Hebei Yuxing Bio-Engineering has not gotten to the root cause and resolved the issue in three years.

But its problems go deeper, including using “experimental” analyses of samples that were then deleted from the audit trail provided to the FDA if that did not pass. Investigators found more than 2,400 of these tests in a folder on a piece of equipment. “Your management provided different explanations in an attempt to justify the practice, including ‘fear’ that the sample results would not pass,” the FDA said in its letter.

The FDA acknowledged the company was taking steps to fix some of the problems, including acquiring some new equipment for testing. The FDA was not satisfied, saying none of those actions will fix the problems until the company establishes procedures that “ensure that your quality unit reviews all production and control data and associated audit trails as part of the batch release process.”

In fact, the FDA laid out a long list of steps the drugmaker must take before it can regain FDA approval for the facility.

The FDA has significantly stepped up its oversight of manufacturing facilities in China, issuing warning letters in recent weeks to a growing number of companies there. Earlier this month, the FDA issued a warning letter for a facility of one of China’s largest manufacturers, Zhejiang Hisoar Pharmaceutical, in Taizhou City. It said the company routinely failed to do microbial testing on APIs shipped to the U.S. while repeatedly deleting test results when batches failed the tests did perform. Zhejiang Hisoar was put on the FDA import alert list in January.

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School Nurse Delays Teen From Using EpiPen After Major Allergic Reaction To Peanuts

http://www.scarymommy.com/nurse-delayed-teen-from-using-epipen

Nurse delayed teen from using EpiPen in favor of other medicine

A teen girl experienced a horrific event when her school nurse delayed her access to an EpiPen in the middle of a life-threatening allergic reaction. A trained medical professional elongated a terrifying experience for a child, and what’s worse is that no one can say why the nightmare happened.

Lia Sommer ate a turkey sandwich with pesto from the cafeteria at John Hersey High School in Illinois last month. The 15-year-old has a severe allergy to peanuts. Lia has dealt with a peanut allergy her entire life, and had already asked the cafeteria staff if their food had peanuts in it. They told her no, but when the teen grabbed her lunch that day the staff had substituted pine nuts in the pesto for peanuts. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, when someone with Lia’s allergy is exposed they need epinephrine to avoid “a sudden and severe allergic reaction that may cause death.”

The teen knew immediately she had been exposed to peanuts and went straight to the nurse’s office. It was there that the person most in charge of our kids’ health while they’re at school completely failed. In a letter she wrote then read aloud to the Township High School District 214 Board of Education, Lia’s mom, Lonnie Joy Sommer, said: “the nurse on staff allegedly advised Lia to take an antihistamine, Benadryl. Lia refused, knowing from previous experience that her symptoms would be masked by the antihistamine, though the anaphylactic reaction would not be halted, and would continue to silently and dangerously escalate undetected,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

If you’ve never met one, kids who have severe allergies almost always 1. know that they have them and 2. exactly what to do during an allergic reaction. The nurse should have absolutely listened to the girl that stood in her office that day. What makes this situation even more terrible is that the school had a file on Lia’s allergy. “Instead of following Lia’s Allergy and Anaphylaxis Plan on file in the health office, which clearly states, ‘Give EpiPen First!’ the nurse opted to have her call me to confirm before administering epinephrine, with my daughter’s life held in the balance,” Sommer told the school district.

Once on the phone with the nurse, her mom asked if her daughter had been given the EpiPen and if 911 had been called. The nurse had done neither. “I was shocked that a trained medical professional was either unaware of the most up-to-date protocol for anaphylaxis, or unwilling to follow it,” the mom explained. “I told her administer the EpiPen and call 911 immediately.” Sadly, even after the school called 911 the stress compiled when school officials sent Lia to the hospital alone.

“It is ludicrous that a minor would be sent alone to a hospital during school hours with no personnel to represent her,” her mom shared. “I am horrified and saddened by the complete lack of common sense and compassion that predicated this decision.” It’s unclear what responsibility school administrators have when a student needs to go to the emergency room, but in such a life-threatening situation wouldn’t we all want someone to be with our child?

We were in middle school when we learned how to use an EpiPen. My brother and I don’t have any allergies, but our best friend’s allergy to milk and peanuts was so severe that her mom taught us how to use the medical device in case we needed to inject the critical medicine. Thankfully we never had to use it, but if we, as a society, can train our kids to know the value of an EpiPen then surely our medical professionals should be held to the same standard.

“The district sincerely apologizes for our mistakes. Student safety is always of the utmost importance, and we are working with the family to remedy the situation,” school district spokeswoman Jennifer Delgado told reporters. The school district agreed to cover Lia’s medical bills from the incident. The nurse who delayed Lia’s access to the EpiPen is still employed with the school district.

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Mother says 7-year-old son overdosed on prescription painkillers

http://www.wbrc.com/story/33132110/mother-says-7-year-old-son-overdosed-on-prescription-painkillers

Liquid Oxycodone comes into two strengths 1 mg/ml and 20mg/ml .. and the latter is normally reserved for end of life cancer/pain pts and it is administered under the tongue… which causes it to “kick-in” quicker. With the Pharmacist’s statement  “Because typically it is a medication that was reserved for a hospice-type treatment.”  Which would suggest that the prescriber wrote for the 20mg/ml strength which would probably be lethal for a opiate naive pediatric pt.   It was also stated that the prescribed dose was 50mg – which would also suggest that the dose was 2.5 ml and using the appropriate strength of Oxycodone… would have given this kid a 2.5mg dose… which depending on the child’s weight… could be an appropriate dose.  IMO… especially with the Pharmacist making that statement… SCREWED UP and didn’t do her job.

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) –

One mother said her son accidentally overdosed after he was over-prescribed an opioid pain medication.

Shelley Slater expected her son would be given medicine at the hospital. She never anticipated her then 7-year-old son would overdose.

“I was so scared I was numb,” Slater said, recalling the episode from 2012.

Slater’s son, Ethan, went to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt for a tonsillectomy. When he had an allergic reaction to hydrocodone, doctors wrote him another prescription.

Slater said she’ll never forget when she handed the script to a pharmacist at Walgreens.

“She told me that it was somewhat uncommon to have this even in stock,” Slater said. “Because typically it is a medication that was reserved for a hospice-type treatment.”

The prescription was for liquid oxycodone. The Channel 4 I-Team obtained a copy of the script, which displays a warning.

The message states the dose prescribed to Ethan—300 mg/day—exceeded the higher range of recommended dosage by nearly 3.5 times.

The recommended range on Ethan’s script fell between 2.655 mg/day and 84.96 mg/day.

Slater was instructed to administer 50mg to Ethan every four hours.

She said by the time Ethan took his second dose, something had gone terribly wrong.

Ethan was again rushed to Vanderbilt.

What happened next is detailed in her lawsuit against the hospital and Walgreens.

Documents state Ethan was suffering from respiratory depression and cardiac arrest.

Slater said her son had to be treated with Narcan, a drug that addicts are sometimes given, to reverse the overdose.

Ethan regained consciousness the next day.

“It is not a feeling I wish upon anyone,” Slater said. “It’s devastating, and I was fortunate I was able to have my child back.”

“Why in this world wasn’t this prescription checked?” asked Ed Gross, an attorney representing Slater. “Why wasn’t something done?”

For this specific drug, the manufacturer issued a warning stating errors in dosing could result in overdose or even death.

Sheila McMorrow is a doctor who specializes in pediatric emergency medicine at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville. She said warnings that monitor dosages are to be heeded.

“It’s very important,” McMorrow said. “I think anyone can make a quick mistake if they’re putting something in the computer and that’s what the safeguards are kind of built for.”

Slater said over time, she noticed changes in Ethan.

She claims Ethan now suffers from fatty liver disease, gastrointestinal problems and assorted behavioral issues.

In court filings, attorneys for Vanderbilt denied their acts caused Ethan’s problems, even though they acknowledge, “Ethan Slater apparently suffered some short-term consequences of having received too much oxycodone.”

Walgreens also rebuked the allegations, denying they filled a “prescription of a lethal dose,” and were negligent in providing reasonable medical care.

But Slater said she plans to continue fighting for her son.

“I just want him to be happy and healthy and we’re doing everything we can every day to do that,” she said.

Attorneys for Vanderbilt and Walgreens declined to comment on this story, citing ongoing legal matters.

Gross said he believes a mediation is scheduled for November.

They are asking for $750,000 from each defendant.        

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Nexium Lawsuit Filed By Bernstein Liebhard LLP On Behalf of Illinois Man Who Developed Chronic Kidney Disease Allegedly Related to Use of the Proton Pump Inhibitor

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nexium-lawsuit-filed-by-bernstein-liebhard-llp-on-behalf-of-illinois-man-who-developed-chronic-kidney-disease-allegedly-related-to-use-of-the-proton-pump-inhibitor-300330185.html

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