http://youtu.be/fqDtQEXdkt8

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“After briefly reading some of the comments, sounds a lot like “drug seeking behaviors”. And, more like withdrawal pain than chronic pain.”

This is a comment made on this blog in reference to this post GENOCIDE IN AMERICA ? update 10/12/2014

http://stoppnow.com/

Did this reader just “briefly read” thru the comments because of a narrow minded myopic view of the use/abuse of opiates in our society.

I feel sorry for anyone who dies “before their time”.. be it from EBOLA, car accident, cancer, or no matter what the cause.. that being said… here is one of the comments from that website…

SON BECAME ADDICTED AFTER USING 1 PERCOCET RECREATIONALLY.  THE ADDICTION PROGRESSED TO DAILY USE OF OXY’S AND ROXY’S EASILY OBTAINED FROM THE PILL MILLS.

NO ONE becomes addicted from a single dose of a opiates…unless they have a serious underlying mental health issues and/or an addictive personality.

Maybe this poor kid’s family was in denial – or ignoring – about his mental health issues… for whatever reason…

Here is part of email that I got today …

Portland substance abuse panel takes public health approach

David Harry

Monday, October 13, 2014 at 2:20 pm

PORTLAND — As the federal government begins to view substance abuse through the prism of public health, rather than law enforcement, a city subcommittee is preparing to assess the scope of addiction, prevention and recovery in Portland.

At its monthly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 9, the subcommittee established by Mayor Michael Brennan heard more about the policy shift from Michael Botticelli, acting director of the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy.

“We need to deal with people who have addictive disorders,” said Botticelli, himself a recovering addict who has been sober 25 years. “We need to be efficient, but also humane in how we respond to those issues.”

Botticelli’s talk came during two days of visits to Bangor and Portland, where he announced 19 state communities would share in a $7.5 million grant to establish or continue “Drug-Free Community” programs.

The federal government has awarded these grants to community groups and coalitions to combat youth substance abuse since 1997.

Even the FEDS are starting to realize that ADDICTION IS A DISEASE… and needs to be treated medically… not by putting the person in prison for a decade.

We have to go back to The Harrison Narcotic Act  to find the genesis to this mind set …

“An Act To provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes.” The courts interpreted this to mean that physicians could prescribe narcotics to patients in the course of normal treatment, but not for the treatment of addiction.

The AMA in their ICD9 disease coding system has several codes  (304.*) for opiate addiction http://www.icd9data.com/2013/Volume1/290-319/300-316/304/

This website… talks about opiate issues that happened in the last decade and the Florida  pill mills are – according to Pam Bondi – HISTORY !

In 2012 deaths from all opiate overdoses increased 620.. while the Heroin overdose deaths increased 1530..  Obviously, the illegal drug trade is alive and well.. maybe these types of groups needs to STOPP beating the wrong drum.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/15/painkiller-deaths-drop-for-the-first-time-since-1999/17262383/

from the article:

New federal data show deaths from prescription painkillers have decreased for the first time since 1999, while heroin deaths have surged, suggesting some addicts may have turned to illicit drugs as new federal and state restrictions made prescription narcotics harder to get.

Abuse of prescription opioids, such as the powerful painkiller OxyContin, fueled a surge in overdose deaths, which quadrupled from 4,030 deaths in 1999 to 16,917 deaths in 2011. The numbers are based on mortality data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2012, the latest year available, deaths from prescription painkillers dropped 5% to 16,007, according to CDC data made public Wednesday by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Deaths from all categories of prescription drugs dropped 3%, the data shows.

While drug abusers may have turned away from prescription drugs, heroin use has surged, leading to a 35% increase in heroin overdose deaths, from 4,397 in 2011 to 5,927 in 2012, the data show. People addicted to prescription narcotics may turn to heroin, which offers a similar high.

So this is a good thing ?

910 FEWER  DEATHS  for legal opiate drugs AND…  1530 MORE DEATHS from HEROIN

Only the government can claim progress with the war on drugs… when the number of deaths from opiate abuse increases by 620..

I thought that the war on drugs primary mission was to DECREASE the number of people abusing opiates ?  AND this is the same entity (feds) that is going to make healthcare more available and more affordable ?

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Below is the contact information for a investigative reporter in Houston, TX at the local CBS affiliate… He is developing a story about medication errors in the community pharmacy.

He is looking to talk to any Pharmacist or Technician – on or off the record – about corporate mandates and/or metrics that are adversely affected your ability to safely do your job and keep meds errors to a minimum and protect patient safety.  You don’t have to be in the Houston area.

You know that your corporate employer wants the patients to “be well” .. because “health is everything”

Joe Zorek has already done a lengthy video interview with this reporter.

David Raziq

KHOU-TV

1945 Allen Parkway

Houston, TX. 77019

Wk: 713-284-1087

Cell: 832-794-8415

Email: draziq@khou.com

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U.S. Finds Many Failures in Medicare Health Plans

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/us/us-finds-many-failures-in-medicare-health-plans-.html?_r=3

This is Pres Obama’s first Chief of Staff… who apparently knows how to play the political game …

WASHINGTON — Federal officials say they have repeatedly criticized, and in many cases penalized, Medicare health plans for serious deficiencies, including the improper rejection of claims for medical services and unjustified limits on coverage of prescription drugs.

Medicare officials impose civil fines and take other enforcement actions when they see practices that could harm beneficiaries by delaying or denying access to care. Insurers usually do not dispute the audit findings, but say the care they provide is superior to that in the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported these findings:

• In more than half of all audits, “beneficiaries and providers did not receive an adequate or accurate rationale for the denial” of coverage when insurers refused to provide or pay for care.

• When making decisions, insurers often failed to consider clinical information provided by doctors and failed to inform patients of their appeal rights.

• In 61 percent of audits, insurers “inappropriately rejected claims” for prescription drugs. Insurers enforced “unapproved quantity limits” and required patients to get permission before filling prescriptions when such “prior authorization” was not allowed.

• Medicare plans frequently missed deadlines for making decisions about coverage of medical care, drugs and devices requested by doctors and patients.

These companies are receiving premiums to provide Medicare folks with products/services.. they advertise that they have 60 K pharmacies to fill the needed prescription. If these Pharmacies are declining to fill legit/on time/medically necessary Rxs… then they are in violation of their contractual obligations with the Medicare Part D… and if the Part D provider doesn’t require their contracted pharmacies to honor their contract.. then they are accepting premiums and not providing promised covered services/products and accepting money and not provide what is required by the contract .. then they are defrauding Medicare and the patient.

This fact may not being investigated… and since CMS is already focusing on abuses by these Part D providers… complaints by pts… may get more attention… CMS already has these Part D providers under the microscope…

Here is the ON LINE Medicare complaint page…  https://www.medicare.gov/medicarecomplaintform/home.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1  YOU DO NOTHING…. YOU GET NOTHING !

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Cops caught using millions in seized assets on surveillance gear, weapons and clowns
 http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-caught-millions-seized-assets-surveillance-gear-weapons-clowns/#tagZAMMOz3BYgYjj.99

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Nurses Outraged by Blame Game

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Ebola/48067?isalert=1&uun=g578717d2341R5705800u&utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-news&xid=NL_breakingnews_2014-10-13

“They threw the nurses under the bus. And when they admitted that it was not the nurses’ fault, there was no apology.”

That assessment of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital’s handling of the Thomas E. Duncan case comes from a nurse who supervises the emergency department at another community hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

The nurse, who spoke with MedPage Today on condition of anonymity, said she and other nurses were very familiar with the electronic health record system used at Texas Health Presbyterian since it is used by several hospitals in the region. They all knew the statement about separate workflows was false.

Equally false, she said, is the the suggestion that Duncan was initially discharged by the ED because he had no insurance.

“That is ludicrous,” she said. “In the first place, neither the doctor, nor the nurse knows if the patient has insurance — and don’t want to know. All we know is that the patient doesn’t have a primary care doctor, so the patient is admitted under the care of a hospitalist.”

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Will ‘Son of Sovaldi’ Cause State Medicaid Programs to Erect High Hurdles?

http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2014/10/13/will-son-of-sovaldi-cause-state-medicaid-programs-to-erect-high-hurdles/

What did the report find? Many state Medicaid programs have been moving to restrict access to Sovaldi. Right now, prior authorization, a process in which a payer will first review the prescription before automatically covering the cost, is required by 35 states for the treatment, according to the report distributed by the Medicaid Health Plans of America.

In addition, several states require patients to meet a set of clinical or related criteria for prior authorization, according to the report. And most, if not all, states that require prior authorization for Sovaldi also require patients to undergo a liver biopsy to determine the severity of their disease before treatment can begin.

The report offers a few examples of prior authorization requirements: Alaska requires patients to abstain from illicit drug use and alcohol for at least three months and undergo a verifying urine test; Illinois requires patients to meet 25 different criteria; and in West Virginia, only a board-certified infectious disease physician, gastroenterologist or hepatologist may prescribe Sovaldi.

And of 17 states that have placed Sovaldi on its so-called list of preferred drugs for which reimbursement is available, 14 states require prior authorization. And of those 14 states, seven also places limits on the frequency, quantity and duration of prescribing. Some states, such as Arizona, have a ‘once-in-a-lifetime rule that allows Medicaid patients only chance at treatment.

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Deputies search for gunman in Orange County CVS robbery

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/deputies-search-gunman-orange-county-cvs-robbery/nhhTx/

Some shoppers said they are not shocked.

“It’s pretty much an everyday thing over here,” said shopper Shema Singletary. I don’t do too much shopping up here at night. The area is kind of rough.”

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Morrisey had lobbying ties to drug distributor he’s now investigating

On Aug. 20, lawyers with the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety asked Morrisey’s permission to sue McKesson – along with 12 other prescription drug distributors previously named in a lawsuit filed in Boone County by former attorney general Darrell McGraw in 2012. DHHR officials put in the same request to Morrisey. At the time, the state agencies didn’t know Morrisey’s office had filed a subpoena for McKesson’s records.

Morrisey alleges that San Francisco-based McKesson flooded West Virginia pharmacies with pain pills, helping to fuel the state’s “drug epidemic,” according to court filings.

Let’s follow the “drug trail”… pt sees prescriber… prescriber writes Rx… pt takes Rx to pharmacy… pharmacy fills Rx… pharmacy reorders from the wholesaler… The wholesaler has NO RELATIONSHIP with the pt… never sees the pts.. never sees the Rx… and they are accused of FLOODING PHARMACIES WITH PAIN PILLS…?

NEWS FLASH… wholesalers only send to pharmacy what they order from the wholesalers !

  I guess that since addiction rates have stayed the same for the last 40 yrs… and we are spending TEN TIMES as much… fighting the war.. does this mean that we have to keep using more and more people to basically TREAD WATER ? Does that suggest that the war on drugs is basically failure and is for all practical purpose… cannot be won ?

But it would seem that those involved in fighting this war.. is being forced to find new sources of revenue to fund this war..

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