Walgreens Offers Overdose-Reversing Drug, But Some Aren’t Sure It’s A Good Idea

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/walgreens-offers-overdose-reversing-drug-but-some-arent-sure-its-a-good-idea/vp-BBpIWkH   

VIDEO ON WEBLINK

After 100+ yrs after Congress created the “black drug market” by passing the Harrison Narcotic Act 1914 and then pass The Controlled Substance Act 1970 that created the DEA and declared the war on the “black drug market” that they had created some 50+ years earlier.  Now all of sudden there is a “bum’s rush” to make a opiate reversal drug.. that has been on the market for DECADES.. to be made available as a OTC drug.  I recently made a post about the this rush to sell Naloxone Piling on to the Naloxone “bandwagon”  and how pharmacies are charging up to 187.00 for a two dose kit. Since this medication is now considered a OTC medication… insurance isn’t going to pay for it and so there is no billing problems and/or price controls by the insurance company. Oddly enough most of those “piling on” are major for profit publicly held American corporations… think Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Krogers to mention but a few.

What seems to be odd is that there is no “bum’s rush” to sell clean needles to addicts…  All too many addicts are infected with HIV and HEP B&C and if they can’t get clean needles.. they end up sharing needles and sharing their HIV, HEP B&C infections.

You see, the estimated lifetime therapy costs for a person infected with HIV, HEP B&C is $750,000 EACH.. I am not sure… but I doubt it –  if that cost includes the cost of a liver transplant if needed.

Since the vast majority of these addicts are non-productive members of our society.. guess who is going to pick up this huge cost for medical care for this people… I will give you one guess — MEDICAID — which is funded by TAXPAYERS. Not to mention all the costs to people and property insurers paying for repair/replacement from the crimes these addicts do .. in trying to fund their habit.

Since those who keep records of addicts dying mainly the CDC and others.. don’t distinguish between accidental overdoses and suicides using opiates… or at least they don’t divulge those stats.

In the USA we have 40,000 successful non-drug suicides and ONE MILLION attempts every year.. So how can it be explained that we have no reported suicides using opiates ?

Now back to all of these for-profit American corporations… are they seeking out the “yellow brick road” to find the “pot of gold” at the end if the “addict rainbow” ?  Personally, I question their “good intentions” toward those suffering from the mental health disease of addictive personality disorder.. that have chosen – or force to chose – to self medicate the demons in their heads and/or monkeys on their back and have chosen opiates as their substance of choice.

Remember, when you hear all those shouting about the “tens of thousands” that die of drug overdose deaths.. nearly HALF of those deaths are from OTC medications…but.. you don’t hear any declaration of limiting or banning OTC meds and Naloxone will not save those who have chosen to OD with OTC meds.

Just remember, when they start requiring anyone having a opiate Rx filled to purchase Naloxone… their concern may be more about their bottom line profits than your health !

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Senators Seek to Silence Pain Patients

http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/2/10/by6zy0jfl3gd41mp6zxh2aiex41lh5

In the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and 25 of her colleagues claim that many pain sufferers get opioid pain relievers far too easily in hospitals. To see the letter and the list of senators who signed it, click here.

“For millions of patients who are suffering from illness or injury, prompt delivery of pain control which may or may not include opioid pain relievers is proper and humane,” the letter states. “Yet inappropriate use of opioid pain relievers does not provide any clinical benefit and may actually pose a risk of harm. The evidence suggests that physicians may feel compelled to prescribe opioid pain relievers in order to improve hospital performance on quality measures.”

At issue is a Medicare funding formula that requires hospitals to prove they provide quality care through patient satisfaction surveys. The formula rewards hospitals that provide good care and are rated highly by patients, while penalizing those who do not. 

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http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2016/feb/19/chronicle_am_supreme_court_takes

Asset Forfeiture

Illinois County Sued for Asset Forfeiture “Racketeering.” Three people have filed a federal lawsuit against the Kane County Sheriff’s Office alleging it is running a racketeering enterprise by stopping drivers, falsely arresting and searching them, and seizing their cash and cars for the benefit of the county. The suit also names three deputies, including one—Sgt. Hain—who is also employed by a private company, Desert Snow, that trains police to prolong traffic stops, conduct searches without warrants or consent, and aggressively seize assets. The plaintiffs allege they were stopped, searched, and had several thousand dollars in cash seized, and that they were booked into the county jail overnight, but never charged with a crime. They were released the next day. Police found no drugs or other suspicious items. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

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Minnesota Hospitals’ Medication Errors Resulted in 4 Deaths Last Year

http://kstp.com/news/minnesota-hospital-errors-four-deaths/4052893/

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Head of New Orleans DEA is recalled to Washington amid widening scandal

http://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/14927103-61/head-of-new-orleans-dea-is-recalled-to-washington-amid-widening-scandal

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has recalled the head of its New Orleans field division amid a turbulent stretch for the agency that included the arrest of a task force member last month and a drug raid in the Lower 9th Ward that resulted in the shooting of a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Adding to the turmoil are allegations of misconduct against a local DEA agent made in court papers this month that have been placed under seal.

Keith Brown, who served as special agent in charge of DEA operations in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, was quietly transferred to Washington, D.C., where he is working in a leadership role in the agency’s diversion control program, an office that combats prescription drug abuse, authorities confirmed Friday.

A DEA spokeswoman described Brown’s move as lateral and said it occurred earlier this month. DEA brass recently traveled from Washington to New Orleans to discuss the change with local officials.

The spokeswoman, Special Agent Debbie Webber, said Brown’s transfer did not stem from any disciplinary action, but she added that she was not authorized to discuss personnel matters or internal investigations.

“It’s fairly common for our leadership to move around the country, to get relocated at different times, depending on the needs of the agency and to further their own careers,” Webber said.

Veteran DEA agent Susan Nave has assumed the duties of acting special agent in charge, Webber said, while Brown’s permanent replacement, Stephen G. Azzam, will take over in April.

Azzam, who was appointed to the New Orleans post on Feb. 8, most recently was associate special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles Division.

“He has a long and successful record as a leader in DEA,” Webber said. “Beyond that, we do not comment on personnel matters.”

Brown confirmed the shake-up in a brief telephone interview Friday but deferred further questions to his successor before hanging up.

Many questions remain unanswered, but it emerged Friday that the personnel change followed the previously unreported arrest of Johnny Domingue, a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office narcotics deputy who had worked with a DEA task force. Domingue was booked Jan. 26 in St. Tammany Parish by State Police on counts of conspiracy and distributing a controlled dangerous substance.

“We received information that he was involved in narcotics distribution,” State Police spokesman Maj. Doug Cain said.

Webber refused to say whether Domingue was a DEA task force member and referred all questions about him to the State Police. Domingue’s arrest report wasn’t available Friday, and Cain said authorities could not release any further details because of an ongoing investigation.

The government also is having to respond to a series of allegations against Chad Scott, who worked for the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office for eight years before being hired as a DEA agent. Defense attorney Arthur “Buddy” Lemann last week asked a judge to dismiss drug charges against a client of his, Richard Williams, citing “the outrageous misconduct of Agent Chad Scott” in pursuing the case.

Lemann said Friday that he could not elaborate on those allegations because government lawyers successfully petitioned a judge to seal related court filings.

Local DEA agents also were involved in a drug raid in New Orleans last month in which Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Stephen Arnold was shot five times inside a home on Douglas Street. Arnold, 35, remained hospitalized in “critical but stable” condition Friday, said Col. John Fortunato, a JPSO spokesman.

The task force had a warrant for the arrest of Jarvis Hardy, an admitted crack cocaine dealer who, according to the FBI, had been selling drugs out of his house. Agents used a battering ram to break through the door during the pre-dawn raid.

Hardy told authorities he opened fire on the officers because he believed he was being robbed. Arnold was struck multiple times in the neck and torso.

Ashley Rodrigue of WWL-TV contributed to this report.

Follow Faimon A. Roberts III on Twitter, @faimon. Follow Jim Mustian on Twitter, @JimMustian

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I hope this finds its way to your eyes quickly as this situation comes with clear public safety concerns and knowing law violations by pharmacy personnel; whether it goes beyond that is perhaps something you may have heard about. My regular pharmacy fills my monthly meds for chronic pain; there have been a couple of past incidents where the script is not filled until the next day but luckily I am usually prepared for that event and thus did not give it much consideration. On February 17, 2016 I dropped off two scripts, one for Tramadol and one for Hydrocodone5/325. I was told by the tech, Hasan, that they were having trouble getting the Vicodin that day but, ” Not to worry; it would be filled after 12:30″. I asked him if he was sure because of  the other techs stopped and threw him an incredulous look. Hasan assured me it wouldn’t be a problem. After 3 PM I had received their text that my Tramadol but still hadn’t heard about the hydro so I called and Ty answered. He told me that it would Not be ALLOWED to be filled until the next day because they ran it thru my insurance and it was denied. Ty said the script was essentially useless unless kept at their pharmacy and held until the next day- they hijacked my legal prescription! But wait, the story gets better, I should mention at this point that my pain chronicles a history of an accident 5 years ago, two surgeries, trials of of these and other medications some of which have made me violently ill, an entire rearrangement of my life in a manner I would not wish on anyone and now set to begin physical therapy round 5- pain meds are a necessity not a band aid. The next morning, February 18, I called The pharmacy as Ty directed me to do to get them started early on filling my order. I spoke to Hasan who said it could now be filled. I asked him what caused the hold up and he spun a web of lies in one minute that I couldn’t even keep track of- the one that really got under my skin was when he said the pharmacist on duty did not WANT to fill it. When I asked why I was told that because I was a ” regular” and I took a lot of medications the pharmacist did not want to risk losing his license over my order/ it was too early too fill/ there was a problem with the Dr./ etc) After hearing his litany of complete fabrications, insulting to the integrity of my doctors and myself, I called the AZ Pharmacy Board, my Dr. And my insurance all of whom helped me decode Hasan’s lies and essentially catch him with all of the evidence collected on my phone. The previous day, according to my insurance, they did not get the opportunity to approve or deny( they would have approved it) my hydro because someone at the pharmacy entered it to my insurance and then reversed it 5 minutes later. They put it in and yanked it back out and afterwards ( I know because I have a timeline thanks to my iPhone) deliberately told me my script was denied and was rendered useless because of the denial. I could have and should have been given it back if they could not fill it. My question is, do you think there is more to this scam than what I have told you? Might they have filled my order the day before during that 5 minutes ( they had a ” floating pharmacist on duty and there is obviously no oversight or management there. They do not know anyone’s name or know who the store managers are, etc)? I have a call in to the DEA but is this something you have heard about?
Thank you for any assistance,

If any one is interested.. this particular situation is involving a Rx dept within the LARGEST BIG BOX chain in the country… based in Arkansas

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I-Team: Report Suggests Trend In Prescription Drug Errors Filled By Pharmacists

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/02/13/i-team-report-suggests-trend-in-prescription-drug-errors-filled-by-pharmacists/

BOSTON (CBS) — Anyone who has waited in a drug store for a prescription knows a pharmacy counter can be a busy place.

“It’s a high-pace, high-stress environment,” a former CVS pharmacy technician told the I-Team.

She did not want to be identified, but she believes that stress leads to mistakes.

“Somebody gets the wrong strength of medication, somebody gets the wrong number of pills,” she said.

The I-Team obtained documents detailing prescription drug errors reported to the State Department of Public Health.  Since 2010, pharmacies reported 194 serious drug errors.  In one case, an allergy drug was given to a patient instead of a high blood pressure medication.  In another case, a patient got something for acid reflux instead of an anti-depressant, and an arthritis drug was given to someone who needed a medicine for seizures.

The pharmacy technician believes a growing trend in pharmacies is behind all that stress and the errors.  It is called performance metrics, a system used to measure how many prescriptions a pharmacist fills and how fast.  It also counts flu shots and phone calls pharmacists make to patients urging them to fill prescriptions. If the pharmacist falls behind, she says, they’ll hear about. “You didn’t make all of your 50 phone calls. I want you to write an action plan to tell me how tomorrow you are going to get all of your prescriptions filled, get  your phone calls made plus give out x number of flu shots,” she said describing what pharmacists she worked with were told.

In a written statement the company said: “The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority and we have comprehensive policies and procedures in place to ensure prescription safety.”

In spite of those assurances, pharmacists are starting to speak out against metrics. Susan Holden is the president of the Massachusetts Association of Pharmacists. She worked under a metrics system at a different drug store chain. “It was very nerve-wracking, very stressful, sometimes tearful,” she recalled.  Holden now works as a hospital pharmacist and she says metrics puts too much stress on pharmacists. “Ultimately, I was afraid of harming a patient,” she said.

A survey of nearly 700 pharmacists conducted by the institute for safe medication practices found that more than 83 percent believed performance metrics contributed to dispensing errors.

Susan Holden believes if something doesn’t change, the problem could get worse. “The worst case scenario, it could be a very dangerous prescription error. I think anybody could draw a conclusion about what could happen,” she said.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy is urging states to restrict the use of metrics that are proven to compromise safety.  The Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy has taken no action.

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Lawsuit targets Medicaid policy that limits spendy hepatitis C drugs

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/lawsuit-targets-medicaid-policy-that-limits-spendy-hep-c-drugs/

A new lawsuit seeks to force state Medicaid officials to revoke a policy limiting high-priced drugs to treat hepatitis C to only the sickest patients. After a similar suit last month, a private insurer changed its policy.
By JoNel Aleccia
Seattle Times health reporter

Two weeks after suing private insurers for improperly denying costly drugs to patients with hepatitis C infections, Seattle lawyers have expanded the fight to Washington state’s Medicaid provider.

A class-action lawsuit filed this week on behalf of two Apple Health clients — and nearly 28,000 others with the liver-damaging disease — seeks to force the Health Care Authority (HCA) to change a policy that limits the spendy drugs to only the sickest patients.

Two Medicaid patients, a 53-year-old Seattle woman and a 47-year-old Lakewood man, were prescribed the drug Harvoni to cure their hepatitis C infections. However, the prescriptions were denied because the drug is too expensive, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Western Washington.

The plaintiffs were not identified by name in the lawsuit.

“It is unlawful to withhold prescription drugs that cure a disease from Medicaid beneficiaries based on the cost of those drugs,” the complaint filed by the firm Sirianni, Youtz, Spoonemore and Hamburger states. Co-filers include Columbia Legal Services and the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School.

The HCA denied the lawyers’ written demand to remove the policy restricting access to the hepatitis C drugs.

“This is a complex situation and my client would like more time,” Angela Coats McCarthy, an assistant attorney general representing the HCA, wrote in a Feb. 12 response. “As you know, this is a national issue which many state and insurers are struggling with — my client is no different.”

An HCA spokeswoman said the agency hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment on pending or active litigation.

Harvoni is among the newest highly effective drugs that can halt the hepatitis C virus (HCV). It has a cure rate of 90 percent — but comes with a retail price tag of about $95,000 for a 12-week course of therapy.

Like dozens of state Medicaid programs across the nation, the HCA plan limits treatment with Harvoni and other direct-acting anti-viral drugs to patients with the most severe fibrosis, or liver scarring. Fibrosis is measured on a scale of F0 to F4, with the highest level indicating cirrhosis. Patients with high scores can develop liver cancer or require liver transplants.

In a letter sent to the U.S. Senate in September, Washington Medicaid Director MaryAnne Lindeblad estimated it would cost $242 million just to provide drugs for high-risk hepatitis C patients in fiscal 2016.

“If HCA were to pay for hepatitis C treatment for all Medicaid clients infected with hepatitis C, the cost would be three times the current total pharmacy budget,” she wrote. That budget is $1 billion a year.

Medical guidelines previously supported limiting the drugs to the sickest patients, but that changed last year. Experts with the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) updated their guidelines, saying that drugs such as Harvoni should be used to treat all patients with HCV, “including mild liver disease.”

Limits based on severity of illness are no longer supported by best medical practice, the lawsuit claims.

Two similar class-action lawsuits were filed late last month against private insurers Group Health Cooperative and Bridge­Span, a subsidiary of Regence BlueShield, for imposing similar limits. BridgeSpan last week updated its policy to provide the direct-acting anti-viral drugs to all hepatitis C patients, regardless of liver-fibrosis stage, a spokeswoman said.

Group Health has changed its policy to allow consideration of treatment for patients with fibrosis scores of F2 and higher rather than F3 and higher, a spokesman said.

In supplemental budget documents, HCA officials initially requested $77.7 million to expand treatment to patients with less severe liver disease, but later submitted an adjustment that would give back $44 million. The agency originally projected treating 3,600 Medicaid clients with HCV by June 2015, but actually treated about 1,200 clients.
JoNel Aleccia: 206-464-2906 or jaleccia@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @JoNel_Aleccia

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Troubleshooters Investigate Pharmacy Prescription Errors

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/troubleshooters/Troubleshooters-Investigates-Pharmacy-Prescription-Errors-369213581.html

If you fill prescriptions at your local pharmacy, listen up. The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters are looking into prescription- and pharmacy-related medical mistakes investigated by the state.

Hundreds of thousands of prescription medications are filled at pharmacies all across Connecticut every week, but what happens when there is something wrong with the pills prescribed to you?

There are roughly 3,500 practicing pharmacists statewide and the Troubleshooters have learned less than three dozen pharmacists have reached settlement agreements with the Department of Consumer Protection in recent years.

Prescription errors impact families and pharmacies and West Hartford Attorney Kerry Wisser has worked with a number of affected individuals in his 30-year career.

“This one relates to a newborn baby. Newborn babies often suffer from something called thrush, which is just an infection in their mouth, It’s a yeast type of infection from breast feeding,” Wisser said.

Wisser said his client wasn’t given the prescribed liquid steroid needed to make her baby healthy.

“In this instance, the pharmacy gave the medication to the mother of a liquid Phenobarbital. Phenobarbital is utilized for epilepsy or other seizure disorders, so the baby was given that for, I think a period of seven days, twice a day. The baby was very lethargic; the baby had constipation and other issues like that,” he said.

Fortunately, the child is OK.

Another client ended up at the hospital after being instructed to take a pill twice a day instead of once.

“Over the years, the meds for that changed and in the last incident, when he was prescribed 100 mg/pl by mouth, which is once a day, unfortunately there was a pharmacy error where unfortunately the prescription saying 100/mg/2 pills per day by mouth, so over a period of a month or more, the effects of that were in addition to the removal of excess water and salt. He also had complete depletion of potassium in his body. So, emergently, he ended up in the emergency room because he had cardiac arrhythmias, meaning irregular heart rate. He had respiratory issues; he had muscle issues all as a result of lack of potassium,” Wisser s

Prescription errors can lead to additional health problems, hospital stays and even death, Wisser said.

Getting specific details about potential pharmaceutical errors are not easily accessible.

“You can tell if they’ve had some disciplinary action that was taken against them in the past. You know, there is information available, but not every single detail, to protect the consumer,” Jonathan Harris, the Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection, said.

The Troubleshooters requested the actions taken against pharmacists in Connecticut over the past two years from the DCP.

The Drug Control Division of the DCP investigates complaints about prescription errors and pharmacies for the Commission of Pharmacy to review.

Issues including wrong drugs, strengths, directions, patients, quantity, expired or mixed medications as well.

According to state records, at least three pharmacists surrendered or had their licenses revoked based on allegations of drug or alcohol abuse. A dozen other disciplinary cases involve prescription errors, but finding out specific details is next to impossible.

“You can get the minutes from the pharmacy commission and you can get the results of the investigation and what disciplinary action was taken, you know what the reason for it, but what you can’t get is just the investigative files of all the details of what happened and that is for protection of confidentiality and we’re not just saying that, it’s what is required under law,” Commissioner Harris said.

In April 2015, the state accepted a $20,000 settlement from pharmacist Ajay Desai, who was accused of selling and billing for the brand name drug Lipitor while dispensing a generic drug to patients for part of 2012.

We reached the pharmacist by phone, and he said he had no comment.

The license of pharmacist Jane Beeba is no longer active in Connecticut.  From August 2009 to August 2014, the DCP alleges Beeba “forged and filled drug prescriptions for tramadol,” which is an Opioid paid reliever, in violation of the law.

Beeba never got back to us for a comment.

Margie Giuliano, the executive vice president of the Connecticut Pharmacists Association, said these findings are not unusual.

“I think they’re very typical and I think it is important to say that pharmacists don’t get up every day thinking that they are going to go in and have a prescription error,” Giuliano said.

Most, Giuliano said, have systems in place to prevent prescription errors, but even still, they do happen and she added her pharmacists are very concerned about the so-called workload issue.

In late 2014, Giuliano wrote a letter to the Commission of Pharmacy, partly stating, “filling prescriptions is becoming unsafe due to the inadequate staffing levels that are currently being maintained.”

The letter also likened pharmacy operations as no different as a “fast food establishment.”

“So we formally sent the commission asking them to address the issue, I know in the process of doing this, first step is to commission the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy to develop a survey that they could ask pharmacists about workload, metrics and the impact on public safety,” Giuliano said.

More than 600 pharmacists were surveyed and the conclusion reads in part, “Pharmacists have noticed an impact on patient safety related to them due to the push for increased speed or increased services.”

For now, the commissioner, lawyer and pharmacist all have the same recommendations for the consumer and that is to be your own best advocate.

Get to know your pharmacists like you do your doctor, research the drugs you’re being prescribed, and if you can’t read the doctor’s handwriting, ask for a print-out instead.

Double and triple check your medications before you leave the pharmacy and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

If you have a general complaint related to a pharmaceutical concern, you can email it to dcp.frauds@ct.gov and if you have a specific question, email dcp.drugcontrol@dcp.gov

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