Do you think that she is not a big fan of Obamacare ?

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

Congresswoman To Gruber: My Husband Died During Obamacare Enrollment Glitches

Filed under: General Problems | 6 Comments »

No Medicinal Use ?

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

We hear more and more that many in our various governmental agencies from local to the Federal level  Is that misrepresents the truth, fabricate stories to get to do what they want or just flat out LIES ! Is “reefer madness” defined from a century ago during our prohibitionist period… that “we” are continuing to hang our hat on… to help justify the seems to be a perpetual war on drugs ?

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Let’s hear it for a larger surplus of Pharmacists

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

It estimated that within 4 yrs.. 20% of PharmD graduates will not be able to find a job upon graduation..

Stony Brook University looking to open pharmacy school

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/stony-brook-university-looking-open-pharmacy-school

From the article:

Months after New York’s governor set aside money for a pharmacy school at Binghamton University, yet another school in the Empire State has announced plans to open a pharmacy school.

Stony Brook University on Long Island recently announced it has started the approval process to open its School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which would be housed in the Department of Pharmacological Sciences. No date was announced for the school’s opening.

 NYS budgeting $10 million for Binghamton pharmacy school

“A school of pharmacy would draw outstanding Stony Brook students from the undergraduate campus who are seeking careers in the health sciences,” Kenneth Kaushansky, senior vice president for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine, told the Statesman.

“There is a need in New York State for an additional school, as there are only seven schools of pharmacy in New York,” Kaushansky said. “The need for pharmacists locally in Suffolk County remains strong, as Suffolk has fewer pharmacists per capita than the rest of the state.”

Kaushansky said Stony Brook’s pharmacy school would also be used as a research and learning facility. 

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Never can be too careful ?

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

Ask questions about medications

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/editorial/letters/2014-12-08/ask-questions-about-medications

From article:

Recently, I visited a walk-in clinic for pinched nerves. After informing the doctor of the medications I take on a daily basis, he inadvertently prescribed a drug that was not compatible with my medication.
The pharmacist filled the prescription and I was on my way — without asking questions. This error should have been caught by the pharmacist.
When I went back to get the prescription refilled, the pharmacist informed me that it was similar to Advil — an OTC drug I cannot take because it may cause bleeding when combined with my regular prescribed medication.
The doctor and pharmacist failed to recognize the drug interaction and I failed to ask questions.
According to the Institute of Medicine, medication errors account for approximately one out of 131 outpatient and one out of 854 inpatient deaths. Wake up doctors, pharmacists and patients!
I have since learned that we can significantly reduce the risk of medication error by asking questions such as, “What is the dose; what are the side effects and will this drug interact with my existing medications?”
So, ask questions and be involved. You may be your only safeguard from medication errors.
Doug Brown
Thunder Bay

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More “be well” at Walgreens in Florida ?

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

Action 9: Customers claim Walgreens refuses to fill legitimate prescriptions

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/action-9-customers-claim-walgreens-refusing-fill-l/njNwQ/

From the article:

ORLANDO, Fla. —

Several Walgreens customers contacted Action 9, claiming that the pharmacy chain refuses to fill their pain prescriptions.

Walgreens has a policy to curb narcotics abuse, but Action 9’s Todd Ulrich found that the company won’t reveal its guidelines, and its secret policy can punish legitimate customers, too.

Manuel Rabell’s back pain was so bad that his doctor prescribed the potent painkiller hydrocodone. But at Walgreens, the pharmacist refused to fill it, saying that it didn’t fit their policy guidelines.

“So I was like, ‘OK, but why? Why this? Why that? Can I see the guidelines?’ They said no,” Rabell said.

Later, Walgreens refused to fill Rabell’s wife’s painkiller prescription.

“I was shocked, because I was going to the same pharmacy for years,” Lizzette Rabell said.

At least 10 customers contacted Action 9 with similar complaints

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Identity fraud is going on right in front of you ?

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

SRAcrystalballMan charged in connection with alleged Waltham credit card fraud

http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/article/20141204/NEWS/141208245

From the article:

A Haverhill man was arraigned Thursday on more than 100 counts of prescription and credit card fraud and identity theft, which include charges in a Waltham case, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Leo was indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury on Nov. 3.

He is charged with 16 counts of identity fraud, 54 counts of uttering a false prescription, two counts of attempting to utter a false prescription, three counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance (Class E), three counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance (Class B), 18 counts of conspiracy to commit identify fraud, three counts of credit card fraud, attempting to commit credit card fraud, larceny over $250, two counts of larceny under $250 and possession of an instrument to reproduce a credit card.

I have stated time and again.. that ID theft/fraud is more rampant than anyone – especially law enforcement – wants to admit.. So now can you add “using a credit card” and not having insurance as a RED FLAG..?  This fellow got by with diverting drugs for THREE YEARS..  How many of these forged Rxs would have been filled if the Pharmacy could access the state’s driver’s license database to verify the driver’s license presented against what was issued by the state…  I suspect that it would be a lot shorter than THREE YEARS !

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How much is too much? Helena doctor’s drug prescriptions for pain challenged

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

Mark Ibsen

http://m.helenair.com/news/local/how-much-is-too-much-helena-doctor-s-drug-prescriptions/article_3c2d06f0-2a1b-5725-a304-fe2f7303ee49.html?mobile_touch=true

From the article:

Pujol said that Ibsen is providing service to a community of patients few physicians are willing to help. “Many doctors, including myself, don’t want to deal with it (pain patients),” he said.

Anderson concurred with Pujol’s assessment of pain treatment availability. “Most doctors don’t want to mess with that,” he said. “It’s hard to find a sympathetic doctor in Helena who will work with you — the legal implications and the regulations.”

Pharmacist Blank, when asked if Ibsen was exceeding the drug manufacturer’s limits, said “no.”

Expert testimony that no one prescribers in the area would deal with chronic pain pts and that Dr. Ibsen was not exceeding FDA prescribing limits

This inquisition was started by a former disgruntled employee… The allegations of misconduct were lodged by Sarah Damm, a licensed chiropractor who worked in Ibsen’s clinic, Urgent Care Plus, for three years. She filed her complaint against Ibsen 28 days after Ibsen fired her. Ibsen said he dismissed Damm for using profanity in front of patients, failing to follow instructions and gossiping about Ibsen with other employees. When she testified in October, she was employed as a truck driver at a beet farm in North Dakota.

Here is a interesting point… all the “expert witnesses” where licensed in Montana and their licenses are controlled by the same licensing board in Montana.. Could their testimony be influenced by the fact that they could have to face the same aggressive prosecutor over some real or perceived problem with how they practice their respective profession ? Wouldn’t it seem to be more unquestionable if the “experts” were from out of state and/or not licensed by the state of Montana ?  Was the deck “stacked against” Dr. Ibsen  by the Medical Licensing Board ?

There is a old lawyer saying…. if the facts are on your side… argue the facts.

IF the law is on your side argue the law…

If neither the facts nor the law is on your side … LIE.. LIE…LIE

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Proliferation of Prescription Drug Sales at the Rite Aid Sparks a State Investigation

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

Attorney General: Rite Aid Dispensed Tens of Thousands of Pills Illegally

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/attorney-general-rite-aid-dispensed-tens-of-thousands-of-pills/article_09464d30-7ce4-11e4-b0bb-abd7f70f9a38.html#user-comment-area

From the article:

That is just one case in a long string of questionable purchases of prescription drugs revealed in a 41-page complaint that Attorney General Kamala Harris filed this past March against the pharmacy at 500 S. Broadway and its then-pharmacist-in-charge, Anne Chung. The complaint alleges that the store has illegally dispensed tens of thousands of painkillers, anti-anxiety medication and other controlled substances, as well as subverted an investigation by the state Board of Pharmacy. It accuses Chung and Rite Aid of unprofessional conduct, gross immorality, incompetence, gross negligence and the “clearly excessive furnishing” of controlled substances between 2009 and 2012.

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Collateral deaths by law enforcement “doing their job”

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

12 Innocent People Killed By Law Enforcement Fighting The War On Drugs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/dea-controversies_n_5992324.html#slide=start

Kathryn Johnston
In November 2006, a narcotics team from the Atlanta Police Department apprehended a man with a known drug history. They planted marijuana on him, then threatened to arrest him unless he gave them information about where they could find a supply of illegal drugs. He gave them the address of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston. Instead of finding an informant to make a controlled buy from the address, the officer instead lied on the search warrant, inventing an informant and describing a drug buy that never happened.

When the police broke into Johnston’s home on the evening of November 21, 2006, she met them with an old, non-functioning revolver she used to scare off trespassers. They opened fire. Two officers were wounded from friendly fire. The other officers called for ambulances for their colleagues. Meanwhile, they handcuffed Johnston and left her to bleed to death in her own home while one office planted marijuana in her basement.

A subsequent federal investigation revealed that lying on drug warrants was common in the APD, the product of a quota system the department imposed on narcotics cops. That system was the result of the pool of federal funding for drug policing, funding for which the department competed with other police departments across the country. The federal investigation and media reports also found numerous other victims of wrong-door police raids in the years leading up to Johnston’s death. The entire narcotics department was later fired or transferred. While Johnston’s death led to calls for changes in the way the city enforces the drug laws, there was little in the way of real reform. The city instituted a civilian review board to oversee the police department, but its powers were severely weakened after complaints from the police union, and its first director eventually resigned in frustration.

Sources: Ted Conover, “Alex White, Professional Snitch,” The New York Times, June 29, 2012; Rhonda Cook, “Chain of Lies Led to Botched Raid,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 27, 2007; reporting by Radley Balko.

 

 

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Another stellar day for our judicial system and the war on drugs ?

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Pharmaciststeve

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No charges filed after woman with fibromyalgia dies in jail

http://www.emaxhealth.com/12410/no-charges-filed-after-woman-fibromyalgia-dies-jail

3 dead, 6 hospitalized in North Carolina after apparently taking cocaine mixed with pain killer

http://7online.com/news/3-dead-6-hospitalized-after-taking-cocaine-mixed-with-pain-killer/425447/

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