“The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick and the needy, and the handicapped.” – Hubert Humphrey
passionate pachyderms
Pharmacist Steve steve@steveariens.com 502.938.2414
I perceive that battlefield medicine improved so much after WW-2 and from between the Korean and Vietnam wars that battlefield medicine improved so much that more injured soldiers survived their wounds. So neither did Congress nor the Veterans Admin ever prepared for an increasing number of soldiers coming home with broken bodies. Instead of being brought home in a body bag.
Accepting 16-18 soldiers suicides each day, is this just a covert genocide? That is abt 6,500 fewer veterans to take care of every year. I wonder how millions of dollars that is saving Uncle Sam for not having to fund proper treatment for all those veterans who VOLUNTEERED to protect our freedom and ended up coming home with “broken bodies”, PTSD or many other expensive health issues.
Average Number of Veteran Suicides Per Day
In recent years, the most authoritative data indicates that an average of 17.6 veterans die by suicide each day in the United States123. This number has varied slightly each year, but recent government reports and analyses agree on figures between 16 and 18 daily.
The Role of Inadequate Health Care and Pain Management
It is well established that inadequate access to health care, particularly mental health and pain management, is a significant factor among veterans who die by suicide45.
Key Findings
Mental Health Access:Veterans who experience delays or gaps in mental health services have a higher risk of suicide. Barriers to quality care, long wait times, and an overburdened VA system are repeatedly cited as contributing to the crisis45.
Chronic Pain and Suicide:Chronic pain is strongly linked with increased suicide risk in veterans. Pain that is poorly managed or untreated can lead to severe psychological distress, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts6.
Pain and Mental Health Comorbidity:
Veterans with both chronic pain and conditions like PTSD or depression are at especially high risk56.
Pain-related sleep disturbances and daily function interference were also frequently reported among veterans who died by suicide7.
Specific Numbers Related to Pain and Health Care
While the reports do not attribute a specific number of daily veteran suicides solely to “inadequate health care” or “pain management,” public health research and VA documents show:
Pain (physical, emotional, or both) was identified as a factor in over 50% of veteran suicides reviewed by VA Behavioral Health Autopsy teams7.
The majority of veterans who die by suicide have at least one chronic medical or mental health condition—chronic pain and untreated PTSD being particularly prominent6.
Proper pain management has been shown to reduce suicidal thoughts and self-harm behaviors, but access to such care remains inconsistent6.
Conclusion
Theaverage daily veteran suicide rate is 17.6, with inadequate health care—including poor access to or management of pain—playing a documented, significant role in many of these deaths12456.
However, there is no official daily statistic that isolates veteran suicides caused purely by inadequate health care or pain management. Instead, these issues are recognized as key risk factors contributing to the larger crisis.
If you or any veteran is struggling, reaching out to local mental health resources or the VA crisis line is strongly encouraged.
She has just been told that all the chemo that she has been dealing with is not working and there is nothing else to try. She was also told that what little pain management she has been getting is ALL THEY CAN GIVE HER.
Over the last few weeks, she has become more and more lethargic. She has went thru so much with all the Chemo and its side effects – nausea & vomiting. You have done your research and you know that her pain will most likely get worse toward the end, and her practitioner says that they can’t give her any more pain management – don’t want her to become addicted!
If you caused your Daughter to have as much pain as you anticipate she is going to have to deal with – Child Protective Services would be at your front door.
“The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick and the needy, and the handicapped.” – Hubert Humphrey, Pharmacist, VP
Biden pardoned ONLY ONE PHYSICIAN -Dr. Anthony Fauci
Joe Biden’s Presidential Pardons and Physicians
Total Number of People Pardoned by Joe Biden
Joe Biden’s Presidential Pardons and Physicians
Total Number of People Pardoned by Joe Biden
80 to 158 official pardons: During his presidency, Joe Biden issued between 80 and 158 official pardons, according to different official records and media tallies. The U.S. Department of Justice lists 80, while other sources note that Biden’s total may be higher when accounting for individual and categorical pardons12.
Clemency acts: Biden granted a total of more than 4,200 acts of clemency—including commutations and pardons—marking the most by any president in U.S. history12.
Notable Types of Pardons
Preemptive and high-profile pardons: A significant number included high-profile or preemptive pardons, including to Dr. Anthony Fauci (former Chief Medical Advisor), General Mark Milley, several members of Congress, police officers, Biden’s own family, and his son Hunter Biden2345.
Categorical pardons: Biden also issued proclamations pardoning thousands convicted of certain federal marijuana offenses and former military members convicted under past discriminatory policies1.
How Many Pardoned Were Physicians?
Physician pardons—Known recipients: The best documented physician pardon is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who received a preemptive pardon from Biden at the end of his term345.
No public data on additional physicians: There is no available comprehensive list indicating other individuals pardoned who are licensed physicians617. Most recipients of individual pardons had convictions for non-violent offenses, as well as activists, educators, veterans, and community advocates. Official clemency lists published by the Department of Justice and the White House do not consistently specify profession; thus, apart from high-profile figures like Dr. Fauci, the number of physicians among those pardoned by Biden is unknown and likely very small617.
Biden set records for acts of clemency, but the number of official presidential pardons ranged from 80 to 15812.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is the only widely documented physician known to have received a pardon from Biden345.
There is no evidence that large numbers of physicians were pardoned, and data for ordinary recipients does not typically include details about professional background617.
Your question is an excellent one and reflects what many constituents wonder about communication with their members of Congress.
How constituent emails are actually processed:
1. Automated Sorting & Keyword Scanning
Most Congressional offices receive thousands (often tens of thousands) of emails, letters, and phone calls every month.
To cope with the sheer volume, they use constituent management software (examples: Intranet Quorum, IQ; Congress Plus) that can:
Automatically “read” messages using optical character recognition (OCR) if needed.
Scan for keywords (like “Social Security,” “Medicare,” “abortion,” “Ukraine,” etc.) or issue categories.
Group similar messages together (called “batching”).
2. Staff Review
Most offices have a team of constituent services staffers (or interns) who are responsible for handling communications.
These staffers read a sample from each batch and may individually review some messages, especially those that are unique, personal, or complex.
If your message stands out—such as including a compelling personal story or being written in your own words—it’s more likely to be read by a human.
3. Template Responses
The software or staff then generates a template (form) letter based on the identified topic.
These responses are often personalized with your name and may reference your town or the specifics you mentioned but are largely pre-written and not individually crafted.
4. Exceptions
Personal, hand-written, or unique stories are FAR more likely to be read by a real staffer and potentially passed to the member of Congress.
Messages from constituents (i.e., people who actually live and vote in the district/state) are prioritized over messages from outside.
5. Direct Member Involvement
Members of Congress rarely read constituent emails themselves, unless flagged as especially significant. They may get weekly or daily briefings about the volume and topics of constituent communications.
Summary/Table: What Happens with Your Email?
Type of Email
Likelihood of Human Review
Response
Form email (pre-written, mass)
Low; mostly scanned for keywords
Template reply
Unique, personal story
Higher; more likely to be read by staff
More personalized
Hand-written letter
Highest chance of personal attention
Personalized
How to Get Noticed
Write in your own words
Include personal stories
Specify your connection to the district/state
Avoid sending only form letters from advocacy groups
In short: Most congressional emails are initially processed automatically for key words and topic, which trigger a template reply. However, unique or heartfelt messages do get more attention from staffers, and all messages contribute to how the office measures constituent opinion.
If you want to maximize the chance of your message being read—write a personal, concise, and heartfelt message and mention your background and connection to the local area.
If you patronize a Walgreens store, you might want to consider some other pharmacies in your market place. I got this – below – email solicitation from Walgreens last week and sent me out another one today. It looks like a fair number of their existing Pharmacists have left or have turned in their notice, because they are seeing “the writing on the wall” and what is probably going to happen afterSycamore Partners acquires Walgreen’s stores. Many will be sold or closed. If two Walgreens stores are merged, the staff from one store will be laid off and will be closed and all the Rx business will be transferred to the store that remains open and if Walgreen follows their previous procedures, no additional staff will be added to the store that remains open. Resulting in longer waits for pts and overall poorer service.
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Sycamore Partners a private equity firm based in New York that specializes in retail, consumer, and distribution-related investments. Founded in 2011 by Stefan Kaluzny and Peter Morrow—both former executives at Golden Gate Capital—the firm has grown to manage approximately $10 billion to $11.2 billion in assets under management. Its investment philosophy centers on partnering with management teams to improve the profitability and strategic value of portfolio companies, offering flexible capital structures tailored to individual business needs
.Sycamore Partners has made a series of high-profile acquisitions, especially in the retail sector. Its portfolio has included or currently includes brands such as Staples, Belk, Hot Topic, Torrid, Talbots, The Limited, Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, LOFT, and Rona Inc.
. The firm is also active in acquiring distressed or undervalued assets, often taking public companies private and working to restructure or revitalize their operations
.As of 2025, Sycamore Partners is in the process of acquiring Walgreens Boots Alliance for about $10 billion, marking one of the largest recent transactions by the firm
.The firm is privately held, employs between 51-200 people, and is headquartered at 9 West 57th Street, New York, NY
how many stores did they have before Sycamore invested into them and how many stores does each have today?
Below is an overview of approximate store numbers for key brands before Sycamore Partners invested and their current counts as of 2025. For some chains, historical figures are reported either nationally or for key regions, based on available data.
Brand
Stores Before Sycamore Investment
Stores in 2025
Notes
1,559 (US + Canada, 2017)
933 (US, 2025)
Significant store reduction after Sycamore’s acquisition in 201712.
The PBM’s share a number of things that another entity seem to do.. except they didn’t want to generate more revenue, other than increasing their operating budget, but they (DEA) are seriously involved in denying care.
It would appear that law enforcement in Florida has GONE BAT-SHIT-CRAZY.
In one high-profile case, undercover officers purchased fentanyl laced with xylazine from a dealer in a Publix parking lot, leading to felony trafficking charges.
That substance mentioned above was ILLEGAL FENTANYL ANALOG ADULTERATED WITH THE VET MED XYLAZINE.
I am not an attorney, but I have owned commercial rental property once upon a time and unless Publix owns the shopping center – which I doubt – any problem in the parking lot will fall back on the property owner.
“I live in Palm Beach County and have been filling my pain medications at Publix for 15 years.
I was told today that my doctor is on an internal list of doctors being “investigated” for “over prescribing.”
I was told this was because Publix recently got in trouble with the DEA.
Does this mean my doctor is under DEA investigation? Can Publix refuse to fill for me even if my doctor has an active medical license in good standing?
I couldn’t get a straight answer from the pharmacist on if this was a list Publix made or if the DEA was somehow involved…apparently there are at least 10 other doctors on this list…”
: Publix has been named in federal lawsuits related to opioid dispensing practices. Records indicate that Publix was one of the largest sellers of oxycodone in Florida by 2019, and some lawsuits allege the company failed to properly monitor suspicious opioid prescribing and dispensing patterns within its pharmacies. However, as of early 2024, the DEA has not undertaken public enforcement actions specifically targeting Publix for criminal wrongdoing. These matters appear to be part of broader civil litigation over national opioid distribution, rather than a targeted DOJ/DEA investigation exclusively into Publix in Palm Beach County1.
Drug Trafficking Intersections (Not Direct Publix Investigations): Law enforcement agencies, including the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, have conducted major multi-agency investigations into retail theft and drug trafficking that at times intersected with Publix locations—such as illicit transactions occurring in Publix parking lots. In one high-profile case, undercover officers purchased fentanyl laced with xylazine from a dealer in a Publix parking lot, leading to felony trafficking charges. These operations targeted criminal networks and drug dealers operating in the area, not Publix or its corporate practices directly2.
: Publix has participated as a partner with law enforcement in investigations and press conferences related to major retail theft rings. These theft rings targeted Publix and other large retailers, leading to the arrest of multiple suspects. Again, the focus was on criminal organizations stealing from Publix, not on Publix being under investigation itself34.
There have been lawsuits and allegations around labor practices and personal injury claims at Publix locations in Palm Beach County, but these do not involve DOJ/DEA criminal investigations56.
: There is no evidence as of July 2025 of Publix in or around Palm Beach County, FL being the subject of a federal Department of Justice (DOJ) or Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) criminal investigation. The most relevant connections to DOJ/DEA interests involve Publix’s historical role as an opioid pharmacy (primarily scrutinized in broader civil litigation) and instances where Publix premises were used by outside individuals for criminal activities. The DEA has declined to comment on Publix’s opioid sales history, and no enforcement actions are publicly listed against Publix by the DOJ or DEA for activities in this region123.
