Using Watson, IBM and CVS aim to predict when your health is about to decline

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2955054/using-watson-ibm-and-cvs-aim-to-predict-when-your-health-is-about-to-decline.html

What happens when CVS gets more and more personal health information on pts ? Most likely, they are going to pester the hell out of the pt to receive more care. .. of course with CVS Health .. every health is everything… is this more interested in the pt’s health.. or their bottom line health ? …and now if a computer involved with diagnosing… is Watson’s opinions about diagnosing a pt’s health issue and treatments going to override the pt’s prescriber’s .. or will “Dr.Watson” be all that our healthcare system needs ? 

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How your hospital can make you sick

Consumer Reports’ new Ratings of more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals show which do a good job of avoiding MRSA, C.diff, and other deadly infections

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/07/how-your-hospital-can-make-you-sick/index.htm

16K -18K die every year from hospital acquired MRSA and 500,000 in hospitals and nursing homes catch C-DIF and 29,000 die annually (mostly elderly)… because of sloppy housekeeping and staff that won’t properly wash their hands..

 In the ongoing war of humans vs. disease-causing bacteria, the bugs are gaining the upper hand. Deadly and unrelenting, they’re becoming more and more difficult to kill. You might think of hospitals as sterile safety zones in that battle. But in truth, they are ground zero for the invasion.

Though infections are just one measure of a hospital’s safety record, they’re an important one. Every year an estimated 648,000 people in the U.S. develop infections during a hospital stay, and about 75,000 die with them, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s more than twice the number of people who die each year in car crashes. And many of those illnesses and deaths can be traced back to the use of antibiotics, the very drugs that are supposed to fight the infections.

Terry Otey appears to be one casualty in that ongoing battle. Three years ago, a few weeks after an overnight stay for back surgery at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash., he went to the emergency room vomiting, dizzy, and with excruciating back pain. Bacteria known as MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) had taken hold in his surgical incision and quickly spread to his heart. He died in the hospital about three months later, following a cascade of serious health problems. “He just wanted to ease his back pain enough to play golf,” says his sister, Deborah Bussell.

Kellie Pearson, 49, a farmer in northern California, says she encountered a different kind of bug after having heart surgery last April. Her doctors prescribed an antibiotic in the hopes that it would prevent a postsurgical infection. Instead the drug killed off healthy bacteria in her body, and another germ, C. diff (clostridium difficile), swooped in, causing diarrhea so severe that she had to stay in the hospital an additional five days until doctors could rein in the potentially deadly infection.

She recovered but soon realized that she wasn’t the only patient suffering. “When I was able to walk down the hall in the hospital,” she says, “I was horrified to see room after room with C. diff caution signs on their doors warning that the patients inside, like me, had been infected.”

 

Use our Ratings to compare hospitals in your community on infection rates and other measures.

 

In the danger zone

 

“Hospitals can be hot spots for infections and can sometimes amplify spread,” says Tom Frieden, M.D., director of the CDC. “Patients with serious infections are near sick and vulnerable patients—all cared for by the same health care workers sometimes using shared equipment.”

Making the situation even more dangerous is the widespread, inappropriate use of antibiotics that’s common in hospitals, which encourages the growth of “superbugs” that are immune to the drugs and kills off patients’ protective bacteria.

It’s “the perfect storm” for infections to develop and spread, says Arjun Srinivasan, M.D., who oversees the CDC’s efforts to prevent hospital-acquired infections. “We’ve reached the point where patients are dying of infections in hospitals that we have no antibiotics to treat.”

But there’s hopeful news: Some hospitals are taking steps to reduce infections and end inappropriate antibiotic use. “But others have made little effort,” Srinivasan says.

‘Be your own advocate’

Kellie Pearson recovered from a life-threatening case of C. diff caused by antibiotics she got in the hospital. But shortly after, she says, her doctor wanted to prescribe a broad-­spectrum antibiotic to prevent infection in her incision. “I was shocked because that could trigger the C. diff all over again,” she says. Her takeaway: “You have to be your own advocate.”

 

Red flags for bad bacteria

Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

We are focusing on C. diff and MRSA for two important reasons.

First, the infections are common and deadly. More than 8,000 patients each year are killed by MRSA; almost 60,000 are sickened by the infections. The bacteria often find their way into patients’ bodies through the lines and tubes that doctors use to deliver medication and nutrition to patients, or via surgical incisions, as happened to Terry Otey.

C. diff is an even bigger concern. Kellie Pearson is one of the 290,000 Americans sickened by the bacteria in a hospital or other health care facility each year. She was lucky: At least 27,000 people in the U.S. die with those infections annually.

Second, poor MRSA or C. diff rates can be a red flag that a hospital isn’t following best practices in preventing infections and prescribing antibiotics. That could not only allow C. diff and MRSA to spread but also turn the hospital into a breeding ground for other resistant infections that are even more difficult to treat.

For example, as dangerous as MRSA is, an infection can be cured if it is treated promptly with vancomycin, long held out as an “antibiotic of last resort.” But, in part because that drug is now so often used in hospitals, another resistant strain of bacteria—vancomycin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or VRSA—is emerging. “VRSA infections pose special challenges; they can be even more difficult to treat than MRSA,” Srinivasan says.

How to say ‘No’ to antibiotics

On any given day in the hospital, half of patients are given an antibiotic and 25 percent get two or more, according to the CDC. But up to half of the time, doctors don’t use the drugs right. “It can feel awkward to talk to your doctor about antibiotics,” says Conan MacDougall, Pharm.D., a team leader for antibiotic stewardship at the University of California at San Francisco. But asking a few simple questions can “encourage physicians to be more thoughtful about prescribing,” MacDougall says.

1. What is this drug for?  

If your doctor suspects a bacterial infection, ask whether you can be tested for it; results can confirm the infection and determine the type of bug, which can dictate the type of antibiotic that works best.

2. What type is it?

If a narrower-spectrum drug such as penicillin will work against your infection, that’s usually a better choice than a broad-spectrum drug.

3. How long should I take it?

Ask your doctor to prescribe the drug for the shortest time possible. (Be sure to take it for that duration.) Ask for the type and dose to be re-evaluated when test results are in. A common error, MacDougall says, is not switching from a broad-spectrum drug to a targeted one once the bug is identified.

4. What about side effects?

Most antibiotics are well tolerated; but in addition to C. diff, antibiotics can trigger serious allergic reactions, including rashes, swelling of the face and throat, and breathing problems. Some antibiotics have been linked to torn tendons and permanent nerve damage.

 

Hospitals that rate well

Clostridium difficile (C. diff)

To earn our very top rating in preventing MRSA or C. diff, a hospital has to report zero infections—an admittedly high bar. Still, 322 hospitals across the country were able to achieve that level in our MRSA ratings, and 357 accomplished it for C. diff, showing that it is possible. (Experts say some hospitals might game the system. Read more about how hospitals fudge the numbers, and help us identify those that might not accurately report infections.)

More hospitals were able to earn either of our two highest ratings—indicating that they reported either zero infections or did much better than predicted compared with similar hospitals: more than 623 hospitals received high marks for MRSA, and 917 did so for C. diff.

Hospitals really begin to distinguish themselves when they earn high ratings against both infections: 105 hospitals succeeded in that. Even better, some hospitals excel against not only MRSA and C. diff but also other infections that the CDC tracks and that are in our hospital Ratings. Those include surgical-site infections and infections linked to urinary catheters or central-line catheters, large tubes that provide medication and nutrition.

“Hospitals that do well against infections across the board have figured something out and deserve special mention,” Peter says. Only 9 hospitals in the country—those featured in the “Highest-Rated in Infection Prevention” chart earned that high honor.

And hospitals that don’t

 

You won’t find any familiar, big-name hospitals on that top-performing list. In fact, several high-profile hospitals got lower ratings against MRSA, C. diff, or both, including the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and Ronald Reagan University of California Los Angeles Medical Center.

Those are all large teaching hospitals in urban areas, which in our analysis did not do as well as nonteaching hospitals of similar sizes in similar settings. That could be because teaching hospitals may do a better job of reporting infections. Or, as a representative for Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center told us, they may see sicker patients or have more patients undergoing complex procedures.

Although the CDC adjusts the data to account for some of those factors, teaching hospitals tend to perform worse. For example, only 6 percent of teaching hospitals received one of our two top scores against C. diff, compared with 14 percent of similar nonteaching hospitals.

“Yes, teaching hospitals face special challenges. But they are also supposed to be places where we identify best practices and put them to work,” says Lisa McGiffert, director of the Consumer Reports Safe Patient Project. “Obviously, that is not happening as well as it should.”

Larger hospitals also tended to do worse in our Ratings. That could be because patients in smaller hospitals are less likely to be exposed to infections. But some larger hospitals managed to do a good job avoiding infections. Case in point: Harlem Hospital Center in New York City earned high ratings against MRSA and C. diff. Or consider Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo, Texas. It made it onto our list of top hospitals in the prevention of all of the infections included in our Ratings.

 

What safe hospitals do

 

Good hospitals focus on the basics:

Use antibiotics wisely

Almost half of hospital patients are prescribed at least one antibiotic, Srinivasan says, but “up to half the time the drug is inappropriate.” To combat antibiotic misuse, many good hospitals have “antibiotic stewardship” programs, often headed by a pharmacist trained in infectious disease, to make sure that patients get the right drug, at the right time, in the right dose.

Such programs often monitor the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Doctors at some hospitals use three times more of those all-purpose bug killers than others. Reducing broad-spectrum prescriptions by 30 percent would “cut hospital rates of C. diff by more than 25 percent, plus reduce antibiotic resistance,” says Clifford McDonald, M.D., a CDC epidemiologist.

Keep it clean

C. diff and MRSA can live on surfaces for days and can be passed from person to person on hospital equipment or the hands of health care workers. To prevent that, hospitals must be kept scrupulously clean. “Infection control is all about the basics, starting with hand hygiene,” says Christine Candio, president and CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., which earned higher Ratings against both MRSA and C. diff.

She reminds patients, “it’s your right to ask” staff to wash up. In fact, fastidious hand washing slashes rates of C. diff, MRSA, and other infections. St. Luke’s also “prioritizes cleanliness,” in some cases exceeding infection-control guidelines—cleaning the rooms of C. diff patients twice daily, for example, and replacing curtains between patients.

Barbara Thom developed an infection after brain surgery that couldn’t be treated with multiple antibiotics.

‘I’m a fighter’

Barbara Thom, 61, says it was plenty scary undergoing surgery for a benign brain tumor at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wis., in 2010. But the worst was still to come. Two different bacteria invaded her incision site and wreaked havoc despite treatment with multiple antibiotics. Ultimately, to control the infections, doctors had to replace part of her skull with surgical mesh and put her on high doses of antibiotics that, five years later, she still must take every day. “I’m a fighter, so I’m going to keep doing whatever it takes,” Thom says, though she worries that the drugs will eventually stop working. “It’s the unknown that scares me.”

 

What more needs to be done

 

Steps such as those, plus federal mandates for some public reporting of infections data, have already led to reduced rates of certain infections. Still, McGiffert says hospitals need to do more:

• Consistently follow the established protocols for managing superbug infections, such as using protections including gowns, masks, and gloves by all staff.
• Be held financially accountable. Already, hospitals in the bottom 25 percent of the government’s data at preventing certain complications now have Medicare payments docked 1 percent. But they should also have to cover all costs of treating infections patients pick up during their stay.
• Have an antibiotic stewardship program. That should include mandatory reporting of antibiotic use to the CDC.
• Accurately report how many infections patients get in the hospital. And the government should validate those reports.
• Be transparent about infection rates. For instance, Cleveland Clinic acknowledges its below-average performance in C. diff prevention on its website. “That’s refreshingly candid,” Peter says.
• Promptly report outbreaks to patients, as well as to state and federal health authorities. Those agencies should inform the public so that patients can know the risks before they check into the hospital.

 

 

Germ warfare: Protect yourself against superbugs

First step: Check our Ratings to see how hospitals in your community compare in preventing infections and other measures of hospital safety. 
But bad things can happen even in good hospitals. For example, Terry Otey developed his infection after a 2012 surgery in a hospital that now gets one of our higher ratings against MRSA. Our experts say there are several things you can do when you’re in the hospital and after you’re discharged to minimize your risk and spot symptoms of possible infection early:

In the hospital

Consider MRSA testing. A nasal swab can detect low levels of MRSA and allow medical staff to take precautions, such as having you wash with a special soap before your procedure.
Insist on cleanliness. Ask to have your room cleaned if it looks dirty.
Take bleach wipes for bed rails, doorknobs, and the TV remote. Insist that everyone who enters your room wash his or her hands.
Keep your own hands clean, washing regularly with soap and water.
Question antibiotics. Make sure that any anti­biotics prescribed to you in the hospital are needed and appropriate for your infection.
Watch out for heartburn drugs. Medications such as Nexium and Prilosec increase the risk of developing C. diff symptoms by reducing stomach acid that appears to help keep the bug in check. So ask whether the drug is needed and request the lowest dose for the shortest possible time.
Ask every day whether ‘tubes’ can be removed. The risk of infection increases the longer items such as catheters and ventilators are left in place. If you’re not able to ask, be sure a friend or family member does.
Say no to razors. If you need to be shaved, use an electric hair remover, not a razor, because any nick can provide an opening for infection.

At home
If you’ve been in the hospital, “assume you’ve been exposed to potentially dangerous bacteria,” says Lisa McGiffert, director of the Consumer Reports Safe Patient Project. Here’s what to do when you get home to keep yourself and your family safe:

Watch for warning signs. They include fever, diarrhea, worsening pain, or an incision site that becomes warm, red, and swollen. People at particular risk include adults older than 65 as well as infants, anyone on antibiotics, and people with a compromised immune system.
Practice good hygiene. If you or someone you live with receives a diagnosis of a hospital-acquired infection after being discharged from the hospital, take extra precautions to make sure that it doesn’t spread. Steps you should consider take include cleaning frequently touched surfaces with 1 part bleach mixed with 10 parts water and reserving a bathroom for the infected person. If that’s not possible, use the bleach solution to disinfect surfaces between uses. And don’t share toiletries or towels; use paper towels rather than cloth hand towels.

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Back  in 1965… the cost of Medicare was THREE BILLION DOLLARS

At that time it was projected that by 1990 the cost of Medicare would be TWELVE BILLION   – reality for 1990 – 110 Billion

2014… Medicare expenditures 511 Billion…

Right now the fund is projected to be BANKRUPT by 2030..

In 1965.. I had just graduated from high school.. and in 2030.. I will have reached my expectant life expectancy of 83.. now here is the really scary point.. is that there is 17 yrs of baby boomers behind me.. and Generation “X”… the baby boomer’s kids.. will just be reaching Medicare age.. in 2030

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The Baltimore Looting Has Led to a Problem That Is Very Unusual for the DEA

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/30/the-baltimore-looting-has-led-to-a-problem-that-is-very-unusual-for-the-dea/

NEW YORK — The Drug Enforcement Administration is working through a backlog of Baltimore pharmacy robberies to identify and arrest looters who authorities say stole more than 300,000 doses of prescription pills.

During the civil unrest following the death of Freddie Gray after his fatal spinal injury in police custody, rioters broke into no less than 27 pharmacies across Baltimore, raiding safes and smashing storage cabinets to get their hands on Percocet, oxycodone and other controlled pharmaceuticals.

This case of mass-drug theft is unusual for the DEA, Special Agent Todd Edwards told TheBlaze.

“We usually deal with dismantling and disrupting drug trafficking organizations,” Edwards explained, “a lot of the looting is targets of opportunity.”

Edwards said that if a select few gangs or large dealers were holding all of the stolen pills and selling from one location, the street price would likely drop. Yet the price of prescription opiates has remained steady at about $30 for one 30-milligram pill — enough to get a less-hardened user high several times — raising the question: Where did the drugs go?

A steady price means the supply of pills likely spread throughout the city to small-time dealers as well as different gangs and distributors. More than two months have passed, during which Edwards said the city has managed to recover a small amount of the pills while executing a warrant – but no arrests have been made in connection with the stolen prescriptions. Alleged drug deals have been occurring in the open and an illegal prescription trade has blossomed in the Lexington Market area, CNN reported last month. Dealers are aware of DEA presence, posting lookouts and operating with confidence.

That means that criminals are making money and when they cash out, they’re likely to spend it in different places.

“They just might go blow it, they might spend it on a car, they might spend it going to Vegas,” Edwards said. But he also warned that gangs involved with the pharmacy theft would be more frugal and re-invest their profit, mainly in heroin.

“They’re gonna use that money to get more drugs and just keep the cycle going. Because that’s their business,” he said.

The stolen pharmaceuticals are acting as a criminal stimulus package in a city already plagued by serious heroin problems. Roughly 60,000 people – or 1 in 10 – are addicted to the drug, according to the Baltimore Department of Health. With that many users living in the city, there is already a lucrative market for opiates.

Edwards explained the path of painkiller abuse that breeds heroin addiction.

“They try and buy them on the street because their doctor won’t give them to them anymore, or they doctor shop and they can’t find a doctor who’s going to fill a prescription,” he said. “When they can’t get the money to do that, they turn around and they switch to heroin, because heroin is cheaper.”

One dose of heroin is roughly one-third the price of one dose of prescription opiates. More pharmaceutical drug abusers now can lead to more heroin addicts feeding gang drug trade in the future.

Beyond just increasing the addicted population, the influx of pills into the drug market is inflaming tensions between gangs and leading to violence. New territory has opened up in the wake of April’s civil unrest: with more than 200 businesses destroyed and other structures abandoned, drug dealers have new places to set up shop without worrying about residents or business owners getting in the way. This has set the stage for aggressive gang expansion and turf wars.

Baltimore’s murder rate shot up, making May the deadliest month in 40 years, with 43 reported homicides. Police say that this flood of prescription drugs onto the market is partly to blame. The rest can be attributed to a diminished police presence, according to Baltimore community leaders.

As the violent crime rate went up, the arrest rate dropped. In early May, when six police officers were indicted in Gray’s death, commanders made a significant change in policy: The number of officers required in each cruiser was doubled – effectively halving police visibility – according to Baltimore City Councilman Nick J. Mosby. Officers also worry about being prosecuted for what they do on the job and are stepping back, police union officials said.

Despite the difficulty of this unique situation, the DEA says it is making progress. Owners of the ransacked pharmacies saved security video, pictures, and evidence left behind by the looters, the Baltimore Sun reported. Reclaiming the stolen goods may seem to be just a matter of combing through the evidence, but the process is far more difficult.

“Once we identify the people that went in, then you have to try and figure out who they are and build a case against them,” Edwards said.

The DEA says it has identified some of the suspected thieves and is working with the public to track them down. Authorities have released photos of the alleged looters in the hopes that they will be recognized.

According to Edwards, Baltimore residents have been helpful with providing tips and information so far and it will take a community effort to restore the peace: “We live in a different time now and we all have to work together and we have to realize that we’re all in this together. Hopefully they can help us out.”

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Patients having trouble getting pain medication

http://www.news4jax.com/news/patients-having-trouble-getting-pain-medication/34424832

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –

Florida’s crackdown on pill mills in 2011 has made a dent in prescription painkiller abuse, but the “Pill Mill Bill” is also having unintended consequences. Many people with legitimate pain are having a tough time getting their medications. Whether it was for pain or ADHD, many people tell News4Jax they had to wait weeks or drive all over town to get their prescriptions filled. Not only is it making the patients mad, it’s also frustrating the doctors who feel like they’ve been turned into law enforcement agents.

Jeannie of Jacksonville, w ho News4Jax is only identifying by her first name, has trouble getting her pain medication.  Nine years ago, she was in a terrible car crash that left her with a shattered disc and her life ever since has been miserable.  The woman who used to ride horses and ski black diamond trails now mostly stays in her home because of her terrible pain.

“There’s times when I’m literally screaming in pain,” Jeannie said.

As a result of changes to federal and state laws, in order to get her medications, Jeannie now has to metaphorically jump through hoops. To get her prescription refilled, she is required to see her doctor every 30 days. Before it was every 90 days.

Jeannie also has to submit to testing that’s raised the ire of privacy advocates. She’s tested to not only make sure she’s taking the correct dosage prescribed, but also illegal drugs.

“Marijuana, methamphetamine, the other stuff we sometimes see that goes with use and abuse.,” said Dr. Christopher Roberts, an Interventional Pain doctor who treats Jeannie.

Roberts understands why the laws became more strict but says it’s dis concerting now to see doctors, in essence, become an extension of the law.

“I wasn’t expecting to be deputized, if you will, by the state to investigate people’s behaviors. I was always taught to respect the patient, respect their history and be aware we can have problems but not actively make it a focus of what I do in medicine now,” added Roberts.

But the problems getting legitimate pain medication or cough medicine with codeine or even ADHD medicine, don’t stop with the doctor’s office. Many people are finding a big barrier at their local pharmacy.

“In one day I went to four pharmacists. I left the last one crying. I said I can’t do this. I cannot do this,” said Sharon, who also has diff iculty getting her prescriptions filled.

Sharon, who News4Jax is only identifying be her first name, has been on the narcotic Lortab for years, after breaking her neck in 1981. Just last year, when the feds tightened control of the drug, she had a much tougher time getting it. One time Sharon went without it for 2 weeks, in pain and getting withdrawal symptoms, going from pharmacy to pharmacy.

“They make you feel dirty, they make you feel like you’re a drug addict, like you’re pill shopping. It’s awful,” Sharon said.

Pharmacist Gilbert Weise believes the Drug Enforcement Agency has scared doctors, drug suppliers, and pharmacies by leveling multi-million dollar fines .

“I think that’s fear of the DEA. F-E-A-R,” said Weise.

CVS paid a $22 million fine for filling pain medication prescriptions far in excess of the average pharmacy. Walgreens paid $80 million for its alleged negligence in allowing prescription pain killers to hit the black market.

As a result, Instead of giving pharmacies the narcotics they need to serve all their customers, Drug suppliers are holding back, so they don’t raise red flags with the DEA. Out of a pharmacy’s total order for the month, Weise believes only about 25 percent of it can be narcotics.

“Really it’s a fear we have that if we go over that percentage that it might cause repercussions for us, punishment from the DEA or fines that we have to pay or a full scale DEA raid or investigation for our pharmacy, even if we’re filling for 100% valid patients,” Weise explained.

Mia Ro, spokeswoman for the DEA told News4Jax, “I understand the DEA has been a convenient excuse for pharmacists to not fill prescriptions but we do not set a quota for what wholesalers or pharmacists can purchase or distribute.”

The DEA will be speaking in front of the Florida Board of Pharmacy meeting next month to let them know if they have to order more narcotics because they happen to have more cancer patients, they will work with them.

According to the Attorney General’s office, before the law went into effect, 7 people a day died in the state from black market prescription drugs. Now those deaths have dropped nearly 30 percent.

Both Jeannie and Sharon are on board with cutting out prescription pill abuse and deaths, but say the system has got to change for people like them.

“They’re trying to get the drugs off the street and that’s wonderful, but don’t harm the people that need them,” said Sharon.

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Second federal report critical of DEA actions with pharmacies

http://www.wesh.com/news/second-federal-report-critical-of-dea-actions-with-pharmacies/34427170

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DEA: Government reaches civil settlement with Carver CVS

http://halifax.wickedlocal.com/article/20150729/NEWS/150726364

BOSTON – The United States has reached a civil settlement with CVS Health in connection with allegations that the CVS pharmacy in Carver violated federal regulations related to the sale of prescription drugs.Twice in the spring of 2014 (March 14 and May 27), armed robbers stole large quantities of Schedule II prescription drugs from the CVS pharmacy at 100D North Main St. in Carver. Federal law required CVS to report those thefts immediately to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). While CVS did report the May theft immediately, the company waited three weeks to report the theft that occurred in March.A year ago this week, DEA investigators visited the Carver pharmacy to audit its controlled substances, using inventory and purchase and sale records that were not impacted by the robberies.

The investigators found record-keeping discrepancies effecting hundreds of Schedule II pills.The government contended that CVS had failed to keep complete and accurate records of its controlled substances, in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

The settlement requires CVS to pay the government a fine of $50,000.“Prescription drugs handled by pharmacies are subject to strict requirements because of the potential for harm and abuse,” U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said. “This office will continue to ensure that pharmacies meet federal record-keeping requirements, which are the primary way that the government regulates controlled substances.”The agreement was signed late last week and Ortiz and Michael J. Ferguson, special agent in charge of the DEA’s New England Field Division, announced the settlement Monday (July 27). The investigation was conducted by diversion investigators with the DEA’s New England Division. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Ortiz’s Civil Division.

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Fulton Co. Group Works to Curb Meth

http://www.pharostribune.com/news/local_news/article_cfa680d1-5178-5237-b732-e63d66e17473.html?mode=story

 It is reported that 80% of the meth in this country comes from south of our border.. it would appear that Indiana Hoosiers are just DO-IT-YOUR-SELFERS  when it comes to getting their hands on meth…

Local pharmacies will start consulting with customers about purchasing drugs with pseudoephedrine

ROCHESTER – Several Fulton County leaders are advocating for pharmacies to limit the sales of medicines containing pseudoephedrine – the critical component in one-pot methamphetamine labs.

In order to do that, the committee wants local pharmacists to consult with customers and determine their reasons for purchasing pseudoephedrine-based cold medicines, such as Sudafed, said Harry Webb, owner of Webb’s Family Pharmacy.

Lawmakers, businesspersons, law enforcement and educators joined Webb to create the Fulton County Citizen Action Committee. The group presented their ideas to curb meth production Friday, July 17, to the Indiana Abuse and Child Safety Task Force, chaired by State Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport.

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Bridgeport council agrees to seek special DEA unit for Northern W.Va.

http://www.theet.com/news/local/bridgeport-council-agrees-to-seek-special-dea-unit-for-northern/article_320aca77-cacb-53a0-9009-d884988254e0.html

Apparently this small town (pop 8500) feels that they need to create their own little “DEA fiefdom”… after looking at the success of the DEA since its inception in 1970… WHY?.. as I have stated before… there is no educational requirements, credentialing or prerequisites to be an elected politician..

Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »

This video was shot in California… which is a state with a two party recording law..

Last night on a “talk head news show” .. there was two attorneys discussing the legality of this recording because planned parenthood or someone was going to sue the person/group that shot the video…

At first each attorney was on each side of the issue… one said the video was illegal and one said that the video was legal…

The final consensus was that the two party law and the legality of such video being legal or illegal.. depends on the surrounding/place where the video was taken… back to referring to what I have said before.. the law talks about PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS.. this video was shot in a restaurant … so.. how PRIVATE or the expectation of privacy of a conversation taking place in such public setting.. much like standing at the pharmacy counter ?

And I recently blogged about

when in Rome… do as the Romans 

about how videoing is so pervasive… that if you don’t personally video some interactions… you may be giving up some of your rights and/or not be able to defend yourself against illegal actions against you.. like refusing to fill a legit/on time/medically necessary Rx.

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