Have you ever noticed ?

overdosedeath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a estimated 40,000 people commit suicide in our country every year… and there is a estimated 16,000 die of overdoses .. normally a cocktail of legal meds, illegal substances and alcohol and since .. as a country .. we don’t track how many of these deaths are actually suicide by drug overdose.

Prescribers are often taken to task over their pts that die from a drug overdose…BUT… typically no healthcare professional is held accountable for a pt , under their care… that commits suicide by any other means.

Let’s face it… taking more medication than prescribed or taking less than is prescribed is NON-COMPLIANCE..

The end result of non-compliance is the same… deteriorating quality of life and eventually death..

We have seemed to reach a point where we are interfering with certain class of pt being compliant because all of sudden we have become “uncomfortable” in filling legit Rxs of certain categories of medications.

30+ yrs ago… our society was all gung-ho about DISEASE PREVENTION… now we are gung-ho about DISEASE MANAGEMENT… because we miserly failed in helping pts with disease prevention.

Should we rethink why some of us are in healthcare… how many are more interested in their personal financial health… than the pt’s physical health… I recently saw a post by a Pharmacist… stating that s/he had no interest in giving vaccinations and studied pharmacy because that way s/he could be a DOCTOR and wouldn’t have to directly deal with patients..

We were eating lunch at a local restaurant and started talking to the female waitstaff and come to find out that she had got her nursing degree in 2012 and never took her boards… because she said that everyone was so interested in money and places she worked was so understaffed that she claimed that she was unable to do appropriate pt care.

Maybe this why we spend more dollars per capita that other industrial nations and may not provide as good of care ?

Just wants to make my heart bleed !

Montana Doctor Risks Medical License for ‘Narcotic Refugees’

http://nationalpainreport.com/montana-doctor-risks-medical-license-for-narcotic-refugees-8825472.html#comment-144825

Elizabeth Gardner says:

  • Dr Ibsen – we see so many people who are legally addicted to their meds crossing over to heroin and illegal use of drugs in South Florida. They get arrested and their life really spirals out of control and that is when myself and other criminal defense and family lawyers have to try and help them get out of the mire. Thank you for being so courageous to help. I would also like to suggest that you look into some natural substances that Dr. McCurdy of U of Miss has been researching to help addicts get off Rx opiates and deal with pain – mitragyna speciosa. It is legal, won’t kill anyone and won’t have any harm to their body and you can add it to your withdrawal regime for them. And, it is legal and doesn’t require Rx.

    Dr Ibsen has this article published on the www.nationalpainreport.com and the above is a comment apparently made by a female attorney in S FL.  The substance that she is suggesting common name is Kratom and according to the above video.. the DEA is going after this substance.. and they won’t be wanting to make it a C-II…. it will be C-I…

    This poor attorney and other attorneys have to bill hour$ trying to help these poor addicted souls out of the trouble they are in .. that the same judicial system created for them to fall into.

    IMO… another classic example of someone within the judicial system… interfering with the practice of medicine.  The judicial system creates a problem (black market) then they go after shutting down the black market that they created…   Isn’t it like raising chickens… as long as you don’t kill/eat all the chickens and/or eat all the eggs… you will always have a good supply of chicken & eggs to eat… If you eat half of the eggs laid and half of chickens hatched… you will soon have enough chickens and eggs to sell to neighbors to buy feed for the chickens.

 

Legal paperwork on class action over OT pay in CA

SusanHoward et al. v. CVSCaremark Corporation et al

http://www.wagehourlitigation.com/files/2015/01/howardVcvs.pdf

Regional grocery chain to close 1/3 of Rx depts

2010-09-01-sdc-tops1.JPG

Tops Markets to close 27 store pharmacies, including six in CNY

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/tops_markets_to_close_27_store_pharmacies_including_six_in_cny_1.html

“Space inside some of our supermarkets is at a premium and some of our locations are not filling enough prescriptions to make the most efficient use of our resources. A business decision was made to close out select pharmacy departments.”

Just another day at the pharmacy ?

Chicago Man Tells Walgreens Worker He Has HIV Before Jabbing Him In Face With Syringe: Police

Chicago Man Tells Walgreens Worker He Has HIV Before Jabbing Him In Face With Syringe: Police

The worker caught the Chicago man and his accomplice stealing hundreds of dollars worth of cosmetics, police said.

http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/chicago-man-tells-walgreens-worker-he-has-hiv-jabbing-him-face-syringe-police-0

A Chicago man told a Romeoville Walgreens worker he was infected with HIV before jabbing him in the face with a syringe, police said.

 

 

Senior Pharmacist reflects back on his education

What I wish I had learned in pharmacy school

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/rx-more-meaningful-pharmacy-curriculum

Dennis Miller, RPh

Dennis Milller is a retired chain-store pharmacist living in Delray Beach, Fla. He welcomes feedback at dmiller1952@aol.com. His books “Chain Drug Stores are Dangerous” and “Pharmacy Exposed” are available at Amazon.com.

If you have Humana’s Medicare Advantage – how is that working for you ?

Humana Says Data Support Its Medicare Advantage Strategy

Accountable care option may really offer an ‘advantage’ to Medicare.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/GeneralPrimaryCare/49399?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2015-01-07&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=ST&eun=g578717d0r&

Humana achieved these results through greater cooperation and collaboration with providers, Beveridge said.

“It’s a lot of work. To do all these things, the health plan needs to provide the doctor with a lot of support,” he said, adding that Humana offers physicians help on a number of fronts such as medication compliance and making sure patients keep appointments with specialists. “In the old days, 10 years ago, the doctor just viewed the payer as someone who cut the check … In the accountable world, you don’t have the butting of heads.”

From the patient’s perspective, accountable care “helps them with their health” by concentrating on prevention of illness and improved management of chronic disease, Beveridge says.

When you ask an addiction specialist what should be done.. guess what the answer is


How should U.S. regulate powerful painkillers?

Stress, Anxiety, Nightmares, PTSD – just part of the job ?

Court: Getting robbed not part of Pa. liquor store manager’s job

http://www.delcotimes.com/general-news/20150107/court-getting-robbed-not-part-of-pa-liquor-store-managers-job

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state liquor store manager has won back workers’ compensation benefits after an appeals court rejected the state’s claim that getting tied up and robbed at gunpoint was part of the job.

Gregory Kochanowicz had been waiting six years for the state’s Liquor Control Board to pay the $727 per week plus medical benefits a compensation judge said he was owed.

The Commonwealth Court ruled on the case late last month.

The 60-year-old Kochanowicz said the April 2008 robbery in Bucks County — the first of his 30-year career — caused nightmares, anxiety and stress that led to a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis.

The LCB argued the robbery was a normal working condition since liquor stores are frequently robbed.

It can appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Do they really care about helping you manage your health ?

deathspiral

Does this graphic represent the state of our healthcare system… in a death spiral… you can pull out of a death spiral but you have to have someone at the controls that knows what they are doing..

By now we have all experienced the wonderful gift of restricted access to care that Aetna has given Independent Pharmacy and the Medicare Recipients that we serve. Thumbing it’s nose at every single rule and regulation set forth by CMS regarding marketing materials, Aetna has left patients scrambling to find the care they so desperately deserve.

How did this happen? Aetna’s Contracts were so bad for 2015 that numerous PSAOs and chain pharmacies could not accept the terms and conditions therein. Aetna did not remove the names of the affected pharmacies from it’s marketing materials for 2015 giving the perception that those pharmacies were indeed part of it’s network. Therefore, affected patients were not compelled to ask questions and seek advice regarding plan choices for the 2015 plan year. Beginning January 1,2015, these patients abruptly learned that their pharmacy of choice was not able to fill their prescriptions. Many of these patients are among our Nations’ most vulnerable and reside in underserved areas, where the only health-care provider is their trusted Community Pharmacist.

LISTEN TO THE PHARMACY PODCAST INTERVIEW
What do we do? The only option available at this writing is to take care of those patients as best as you can, assisting them in making sure they get their medications. Have the patient call 1-800-MEDICAR(E) or 1-800-633-4227 and ask for a representative. Have the patient explain that marketing misrepresentations by Aetna caused them to experience hardship and to please enroll them in a new plan for 2015 effective immediately. You can also reach out to your states’ SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) Counselors for help. These counselors have special Medicare numbers that allow them to speak on behalf of patients that may otherwise be unable to complete this process on their own.