Day: 01/24/2015

8 Ways the Legal System Screws Rape Victims (Like Me)

http://www.cracked.com/article_21910_8-ways-legal-system-screws-rape-victims-like-me.html?utm_source=FBTraffic&utm_medium=fijifrost&utm_campaign=CMfacebook

There’s a scientific reason most people don’t believe rape victims. Certain traumas can be so severe that they actually change the way that your brain processes and stores information. The chunks of your brain responsible for decision-making and memory shut themselves down, for the same reason your computer shuts itself down when the hard drive gets too hot — you don’t want to do any permanent damage. Unfortunately, this means the victim sometimes behaves like they’re lying: Police say that rape victims often exhibit the classic behavioral cues of a liar, which makes them instinctively doubt their story, no matter what the evidence says…

My therapist even offered me sessions completely devoted to preparing for a “not guilty” verdict. Because, as they knew, only two percent of rapists will ever spend a day in prison…

TMZ and censorship

During a bout with insomnia last night, I visited TMZ’s website for an article and picture of how Chaz Bono lost some weight. And while I wasn’t the only one on the thread of over 1,000 comments standing up for the LGBTQ community, there weren’t very many of us. Mostly it was just a bunch of haters and people who believed in Satan.

I don’t know why TMZ decided to remove all my posts, but it’s not like this is the first time I’ve been censored. I just didn’t think I would get flagged for posts like this:

painkills2 a day ago Removed
Good for Chaz. More Americans should get in shape too. I guess that makes him a role model. 🙂

painkills2 devinjustno(ツ)1999 a day ago Removed
Definition of abomination: “a feeling of hatred”
Oh, now I see where you’re coming from…

painkills2 18 hours ago Removed
There’s nothing wrong with loving who you are, she said, cause I made you perfect, babe. So hold your head up and you’ll go far, listen to me when I say:

I’m beautiful in my way cause God makes no mistakes, I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way, yeah…

Lady Gaga

painkills2 smoothoperator 20 hours ago Removed
Reduced to name calling… sad.

painkills2 smoothoperator 21 hours ago Removed
You should stop snooping in people’s bedroom windows.

painkills2 xman 21 hours ago Removed
My goodness, you are grumpy. Have you had your chocolate today?

painkills2 smoothoperator a day ago Removed
Life is short. Have some chocolate.

painkills2 smoothoperator a day ago Removed
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

That was my first and last visit to TMZ — a very sad bunch of people over there commenting, and it’s depressing.

1/23/2015, The New Measles

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/the-new-measles/384738/

Vaccination Coverage Among Children in Kindergarten, U.S. 2012–13 School Year

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6230a3.htm

8/29/2014, Fewer New Mexico Kids Vaccinated For Hepatitis A

http://kunm.org/post/fewer-new-mexico-kids-vaccinated-hepatitis

The CDC reports that nationwide, children below the federal poverty level tended to have lower vaccination rates overall.

Refusing Protection: The Decline of Childhood Vaccination in the U.S.

http://www.onlinemastersinpublichealth.com/vaccination/

Assessment of the Trends in Medical Use and Misuse of Opioid Analgesics from 2004 to 2011

Click to access 2014;17;E119-E128.pdf

Results: From 2004 to 2011, there was an increase in the medical use of all opioids except for a 20% decrease in codeine. The abuse of all opioids including codeine increased during this period. Increases in medical use ranged from 2,318% for buprenorphine to 35% for fentanyl, including 140% for hydromorphone, 117% for oxycodone, 73% for hydrocodone, 64% for morphine, and 37% for methadone. The misuse increased 384% for buprenorphine with available data from 2006 to 2011, whereas from 2004 to 2011, it increased 438% for hydromorphone, 263% for oxycodone, 146% for morphine, 107% for hydrocodone, 104% for fentanyl, 82% for methadone, and 39% for codeine. Comparison of opioid use showed an overall increase of 1,448% from 1996 to 2011, with increases if 690% from 1996 to 2004 and 100% from 2004 to 2011. In contrast, misuse increased more dramatically: 4,680% from 1996 to 2011, with increases of 1,372% from 1996 through 2004 and 245% from 2004 to 2011. The number of patients seeking rehabilitation for substance abuse also increased 187% for opioids, whereas it increased 87% for heroin, 40% for marijuana, and decreased 7% for cocaine.

This all looks very alarming, until you consider that the definitions for “abuse” and “misuse” are probably very, very wide, and include a much larger population of patients than are actually having these problems.

The growing epidemic of the medical use and abuse of opioid analgesics is closely linked to the
economic burden of opioid-related abuse and fatalities in the United States, and continues despite the alleged undertreatment of pain…

Alleged?  I stopped reading here.

A Nation in Pain (December 2014)

AN EXPRESS SCRIPTS REPORT | DECEMBER 2014
FOCUSING ON U.S. OPIOID TRENDS
for TREATMENT OF SHORT-TERM AND LONGER-TERM PAIN

http://lab.express-scripts.com/publications/~/media/d48ef3ee579848e7bf3f14af536d7548.ashx

The analysis looked at both short-term use and longer-term use of opiate pain medicines; however, the majority of this report focuses on longer-term opioid use given the clinical complexities, and the risks of drug dependence and addiction commonly associated with longer term opioid treatment. For the purposes of this research, short-term users were defined as patients who were prescribed an opiate pain medication for a total supply of 30 days or less within a one-year period. Longer-term users were defined as those prescribed an opiate pain medication for more than a 30-day supply in a one-year period…

Do you think those definitions might skew the results a little?  (Please note sarcasm.)

The Express Scripts research also found that cities with the largest proportion of their residents using opiate painkillers were clustered in just four states in the southeast: Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas…

Substance Abuse Trends in Texas: June 2014

Click to access texas2014a.pdf

Trends in Texas center on illicit pain clinics, pharmacies, and physicians. The most desired pharmaceuticals continued to be the three that constitute the “Houston Cocktail:” hydrocodone, carisoprodol (Soma®), and alprazolam (Xanax®). The DEA reported prescriptions from Houston pain management clinics were filled in pharmacies as far north as Oklahoma, as far east as Alabama, and as far west as El Paso. Large numbers of patients from Louisiana and other States continued to travel to the Houston area for the purpose of prescription fraud. Furthermore, pill crews continued to recruit “patients” to fraudulently obtain multiple prescriptions from pain clinics that were subsequently filled at local area pharmacies and then given to the pill crew leader for illicit distribution. At the same time, Houston area physicians were found to be mailing prescriptions for Schedule II and Schedule III pharmaceuticals to patients in other States (primarily Louisiana and Mississippi), who then sent these medical practitioners money orders…

The most popular DXM products are Robitussin-DM®, Tussin®, and Coricidin Cough and Cold Tablets HBP®, which can be purchased as over-the-counter drugs and can produce hallucinogenic effects if taken in large quantities. Coricidin HBP® pills are known as “Triple C” or “Skittles.” The Texas Poison Center Network reported the number of abuse and misuse cases involving DXM increased from 99 in 1998 to 637 in 2013…

7/26/2012, Meet The Drug Dealer Who Helps Addicts Quit

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/26/155424108/meet-the-drug-dealer-who-helps-addicts-quit

A prescription drug called Suboxone helps wean people off of heroin and pain pills, but addicts have a hard time getting prescriptions. So they’re turning to the black market.

An Albuquerque man who goes by the name Mystery Man has stepped in to fill the void. He says he illegally sells Suboxone every day. To get Suboxone, Mystery Man has to find a patient with a Suboxone prescription, and give that person the $50 co-pay to fill it. He gets that money by selling, among other things, crack and guns…

“People who are treated with Suboxone are able to go back to school, they’re able to go back to work, they’re able to start paying taxes and taking care of their children,” says Dr. Miriam Komaromy, who directs a state-funded addiction treatment hospital in New Mexico. “It’s making them able to return to being a functioning member of society.”

The Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park recently warned of an emerging buprenorphine misuse. But a survey of physicians who are certified to prescribe Suboxone underscores Mystery Man’s role. The majority believe patients who seek Suboxone on the street are doing so to self-medicate.

Doctors who treat addiction are worried that Suboxone will gain a reputation as a street drug. But for now, the street is the only marketplace keeping up with demand.