Doctor pleads guilty to giving misbranded drugs

Doctor pleads guilty to giving misbranded drugs

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/01/30/doctor-pleads-guilty-giving-misbranded-drugs/22578939/

A Louisville doctor has pleaded guilty to treating patients with misbranded medications and was sentenced to one year’s probation and ordered to pay $176,915 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Dr. Mark Heinicke admitted Tuesday to purchasing medication from foreign drug distributors that were never approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for introduction into the United States, Acting U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr. said in a news release.

The infusion and injectable medications —Rituxan, Actemra, Remicaid, Aclasta, Prolia and Synvisc, among others — are used to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, the statement said.

In a separate civil agreement, Heinicke agreed to pay $338,493 to settle claims that he falsely billed Medicare for the medications as if they had been FDA-approved.

Heinicke, a rheumotologist who practices at 332 West Broadway, is licensed and in good standing, according to the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure website.

More realignment of WAGS/Boots business model ?

Walgreens2

 

Walgreens to lay off 250+ workers in Orlando

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2015/02/02/walgreens-to-lay-off-250-workers-in-orlando.html

http://www.news965.com/news/news/local/walgreens-layoff-250-employees-orlando/nj3M6/

Walgreens announced on Monday that it will cut 252 jobs from its Central Pharmacy Operations facility in Orlando.

The Orlando Sentinel Reports those cuts will affect pharmacists, data processing and technicians in addition to general support staff.

The fulfillment center is in the South Orlando area on John Young Parkway and Sand Lake Road.

The pharmaceutical chain filed a release through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Nearly 350 Walgreens employees will also be laid off as part of job cuts in Arizona.

The Orlando fulfillment center supports roughly 20 percent of Walgreens’ 8,200 stores in the US including roughly 100 locations in Central Florida.

A couple of weeks ago.. I published this  about rumors on certain cut-backs at WAGS/Boots

Rumor on the street 01/05/2015

This article got 84 comments from calling me an idiot … to some saying it could happen… to some saying it was right on the mark. You can add to this information that they sold a majority interest in their specialty/homecare division…

It would appear that the people in control of the E-suite at WAGS/Boots is definitely doing some sort of re-alignment.

Once again.. you focus on the few and suggest that it is the many

Imagine this.. the reporter goes to an addiction rehab center.. talks to some one who “experimented” with substance abuse in college and got a medical reason (cancer) that would suggest that he would actually have a medical necessity for some serious pain management.. and this person thinks ” I’m going to get access to SERIOUS opiates” and he becomes addicted..  SURPRISE !!!

Isn’t Arizona like Florida and has a large senior/retiree population.. and they wonder why they are in the top ten of opiate use ? And do you notice that all the reporters in this report do not appear to be close to being included in that age population and thus may not have a good first hand experience with anything other than acute pain.

Also notice that these new prescribing guidelines are VOLUNTARILY ..but.. guess what.. in a few years.. and those with addictive personalities do not get their “lives together” then these guide lines will be MANDATORY.. because healthcare professionals are not complying with these voluntary guidelines.

 

This is the nominee to replace AG Holder…

Is it just me.. or does Ms Lynch doesn’t seem to know the difference between operation CHOKE POINT and  the DOJ’s ASSET FORFEITURE program.

 

During testifying before the Senate hearing on her confirmation has week. Ms. Lynch expressed her finding that both civil and criminal asset forfeitures is a excellent “tool” in fighting crime.. listening to the pod cast from the CATO institute.. many law enforcement agencies are DEPENDENT on the seizures of these funds.. and this DEPENDENCY has cause them to ABUSE this law.  It would appear that law enforcement and our entire judicial system is very familiar with ADDICTION ABUSE and DEPENDENCE… except in their case it would appear to be POWER and MONEY..

Apparently Ms. Lynch has no problems with the judicial system seizing a person’s assets… before they have been charged and found guilty of any crime.. and 85% of the time.. the person is never even charged.. let alone convicted of a crime…. and the person seldom gets all their assets back and/or get back pennies on the dollar seized..

Let’s talk law !

If you get a DEA agent to admit this.. the charge of the DEA is not to prevent diversion.. it is to arrest those that divert.. the fear of being arrested is suppose to prevent diversion. If someone threatens to kill you… you call the cops.. and the cops tell you what… we can’t do anything until the person who threatened to kill you does something..  Once they kill you.. the person will get arrested thrown into our large judicial complex because everyone knows that the threat of being executed for killing someone.. has always stopped everyone from committing murder. If convicted of murder and sentenced to death.. they are automatically granted an appeal and possible retrial.. and after 15-25 yrs of all this legal back and forth.. if the murder has not died of old age.. they will be executed. The bottom line is.. our judicial system is more focused on prosecution and punishment than the prevention of crime.

Physician .. heal thyself ?

Medscape Physician Lifestyle Report 2015

Slide 11.

http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/lifestyle/2015/public/overview?src=wnl_edit_specol&uac=217470CG#10

Is our healthcare system… harming/killing those of us who are working in healthcare … or being “worked over” by the healthcare system.

 

highest priority to protect the most vulnerable among us from crime and abuse

Loretta Lynch.. nominee to replace AG Holder .. “highest priority to protect the most vulnerable among us from crime and abuse ”

If confirmed.. be interested who will be defined the “most vulnerable”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2014/11/25/loretta-lynch-has-no-problem-with-civil-asset-forfeiture-and-thats-a-problem/

In an editorial published November 22, “Loretta Lynch’s Money Pot,” the Wall Street Journal revealed that during her tenure as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ms. Lynch has used civil asset forfeiture in more than 120 cases, raking in some $113 million for federal and local coffers. The trouble with civil asset forfeiture cases is that they frequently inflict severe losses on people who have only the most tenuous connection with a crime – or even no connection at all. (For some very distressing examples, see my September 12 Forbes article.)

 

Obama AG nominee Loretta Lynch quietly dropped $450,000 civil forfeiture case a week before hearings

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/loretta-lynch-civil-forfeiture-hirsch/

When Long Island businessman Jeff Hirsch stepped up to the bank window to make a deposit one morning in May, 2012, the teller shot him a worried look. “You know, your account has been frozen,” she told Hirsch. “I’m not sure you want to put any money in there this morning.”

In fact, the disbelieving Hirsch soon learned, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York had, without warning, seized the entire working capital — $447,000 — of Bi-County Distributors in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., the business Hirsch co-owns with his two brothers.

For Hirsch, it was one of those petrifying moments that could only elicit an incredulous, “This can’t be true!”

But it was true. Hirsch and his brothers, like thousands of other Americans in the past 10 years, had been targeted by law enforcement authorities on suspicion of a crime he had never heard of. His money had been seized as part of a federally sanctioned wave of “civil asset forfeitures,” with citizens losing homes and automobiles and life savings merely because they were suspected of some crime. The subject is likely to come up at U.S. Senate hearings this week to review President Obama’s nomination of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee say. It was Lynch’s office that inflicted the nightmare of disappearing funds on the Hirsches and refused to release the money even after overwhelming evidence that the brothers were innocent of wrongdoing.  Last week, Lynch’s office finally gave the brothers their money back, two years and nine months after it had been seized and exactly a week before Lynch was scheduled to be grilled by members of the Judiciary Committee.

 

Memo to DEA – don’t use profiling on innocent ATTORNEYS

steppinginit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audit puts heat on DEA’s use of ‘cold consent encounters’

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/01/29/254818/audit-puts-heat-on-deas-use-of.html

— The Drug Enforcement Administration needs to do a better job with the potentially sensitive ‘cold consent’ stops made at mass transit locations, auditors warn in a new report.

Noting the potential for “civil rights concerns,” including racial profiling, the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General called for more data and better training. One problem, auditors say, is that DEA agents haven’t been collecting demographic information on the people they stop.

“Without this information the DEA cannot assess whether they are conducted in an unbiased manner,” the OIG auditors noted.

Prompted by complaints by two African-American women resulting from separate DEA-initiated encounters at an airport, the auditors examined the general practice of cold consent encounters. These can occur when an agent approaches an individual based on no particular behavior, or based on the officer’s perception that the person is exhibiting characteristics indicative of drug trafficking. The officer asks for consent to speak with the individual and, if the agent thinks it warranted, seeks consent to search their belongings.

In one case, a Defense Department lawyer who was traveling on government business complained that, as she was on the jetway preparing to board her flight, she was approached by DEA agents, told that she was being stopped for “secondary screening,” and then subjected to “aggressive and humiliating questioning” by the agents.

“No funds were found or seized during the incident,” auditors noted.

While auditors said they were “unable to assess whether cold consent encounters are an effective means of interdiction,” they cited DEA information to cast some doubt. Data from 2000-2002 showed the encounters had a “substantially lower success rate” than other methods, and auditors said supervisors and managers “questioned the effectiveness of these encounters.”

In the agency’s formal response, the DEA agreed to a number of recommendations, including better training and taking a look at better data collection.

We’re not comfortable talking about our denial of pt care.

Special report: Pharmacies denying legitimate prescriptions

Pharmacist says patients can be harmed by pain killer restrictions

There are several excellent videos on the webpage.. and I could not get to embed them into this post

http://www.wesh.com/health/pharmacies-denying-legitimate-prescriptions/30986442

These responses from these entities… what a bunch of BULLSHIT.. they are all trying to do their best to make sure that legit pts get their meds… they are seeking new ways to accomplish that… the DEA is concerned…

The CSA states the scripts must be written by a practitioner like a doctor, dentist, or veterinarian for a “legitimate medical purpose…in the usual course of his or her professional practice.  DEA does not decide what that is—state boards do.   I haven’t stopped after reading this the first time..  I don’t know how many times that I seen statements from a DEA spokespersons stating that they have determined that a prescriber is prescribing EXCESSIVE amounts of controls.

WESH 2 News Investigates asked the DEA for an on-camera interview, but the agency denied, instead issuing this statement:

“The DEA is aware of legitimate patients not being able to get their prescription for pain medications filled at large retail pharmacies.  We too are very concerned about this issue. The DEA does not interfere between a valid doctor and legitimate patient relationship.  The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) that we enforce does not focus on patient traits but rather on prescriptions.  The CSA states the scripts must be written by a practitioner like a doctor, dentist, or veterinarian for a “legitimate medical purpose…in the usual course of his or her professional practice.  DEA does not decide what that is—state boards do.  If a pharmacy chooses not to fill a prescription for someone, that is their decision, not the DEA’s. Pharmacists should use their professional judgment based on their training and experience, and relationship with their patients and doctors. Pharmacists are a part of the healthcare team and the last line of defense against diversion of prescription medication. Any pharmacist filling legitimate prescriptions do not need to be afraid of DEA in any way.”

 

Statement from Walgreens:

“With the sharp rise in abuse of painkillers in recent years, health care professionals in all practices are continuously striving to find better ways of ensuring those medications are used only for legitimate medical purposes. We firmly believe that addressing prescription drug abuse will require all parties –including leaders in the community, physicians, distributors and regulators — to play a role in findings solutions to combatting abuse while balancing patient access to critical care.”

 

Statement from CVS:

“CVS/pharmacy recognizes the need for patients to have access to appropriate and effective pain relief. At the same time, prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in the health care industry. As health care providers on the front lines of health care delivery, our pharmacists use their professional judgment and consider a variety of factors when determining whether a prescription for a controlled substance was issued for a legitimate purpose, which is part of their professional responsibility under state and federal law.”

Statement from the Florida Department of Health:

“As you may know, in recent years, the Florida Legislature has made a number of changes in regard to the treatment of chronic, non-malignant pain. These changes were made as an effort to prevent the growing abuse of pain medications. When making these changes, the Legislature sought to balance the needs of patients with medical conditions and the safety of Florida’s general population. The Department remains committed to ensuring that the practice of pharmacy in Florida is conducted in compliance with Florida law. While pharmacists are encouraged to use their professional judgment when filling a prescription, the Florida Board of Pharmacy has urged them to always fill what they consider a valid prescription representing a legitimate patient-physician relationship. The Board remains in contact with the DEA’s Division Office of Diversion Control in its continuing effort to ensure that Florida pharmacists can practice their profession with confidence and compassion. Patients who do find it difficult to access their medications may find it beneficial to contact their physician and request that he/she reach out to their local pharmacist on their behalf to assist with getting prescriptions filled.”

So are they admitting that the Florida Legislature passed laws that interferes with the practice of medicine and how those with chronic non-malignant pain … Is to be treated DIFFERENTLY…  isn’t that discrimination ? Those familiar with medical science .. I think can state that there is main two components to pain.. source and intensity..  So if the Florida Legislature is discriminating among pts covered under the ADA… wouldn’t that make any such law UNCONSTITUTIONAL ?

The American Heart Association fund raiser

Sort of off  – way off – topic… but.. ONLY GRANDSON’S grade school – Durham, NC – is having a jump rope fund raiser for The American Heart Association. In case you haven’t guessed.. he is sort of infatuated with HARRY POTTER’S WORLD.. The American Heart Association is a good cause.. cause all of us – except for those in the DEA and some healthcare professionals – have a heart 🙂

This link takes you to a donation page.. and use your charge/debit card… if you are so inclined…

http://jumphoops2015maa.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1116302&supId=417916200

Aaron Sharkey Personal Image

Aaron Sharkey  8 y/o

Join me in my efforts to support Jump Rope For Heart or Hoops For Heart!

I’m joining millions of others to help save lives with the American Heart Association!

At my school, I’m learning how I can help make a difference by raising lifesaving donations to help kids with heart disease. I’m also learning about my own heart, and how to keep it healthy. And I’m getting active!

I’m excited about raising money for other kids – kids with hearts that don’t exactly work right and to help fund new medicines and treatments to be discovered.

Please help me make a difference! Thank you!