Day: 02/11/2015

1/29/2015, Automated Prediction of Risk of Problem Opioid Use in a Primary Care Setting

http://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900%2815%2900049-8/abstract

An automated surveillance method utilizing baseline risk indicators from structured electronic health care data was moderately accurate in identifying COT patients who had subsequent problem opioid use.

This study was part of a research collaboration between Group Health Research Institute and Pfizer Inc. (“Electronic Research of Opioid Abuse Detection and Surveillance (e-ROADS)”), carried out with financial support from Pfizer Inc…

Michael Von Korff and David Carrell are principal investigators of funded and pending grants to Group Health Research Institute from Pfizer Inc. for research on use of natural language processing to identify problem opioid use. They are also principal investigators for pending grants to Group Health Research Institute from a consortium of drug companies to conduct FDA-mandated research concerning risks of problem opioid use among patients receiving extended release opioids.

12/11/2011, New state law leaves patients in pain

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2016994769_silent12.html

In March, Passantino’s doctor told him that his Pierce County clinic, part of the Community Health Care network, was no longer treating chronic-pain patients. The doctor wrote one last oxycodone prescription — 25 pills, 5 milligrams each, good for maybe a week — and suggested that Passantino cut the tablets into pieces, to make them last longer. Good luck finding another doctor, the physician said…

At least 84 clinics and hospitals now refuse new pain patients, and some have booted existing patients, The Times found. The growing legion of untreated pain patients has become so troublesome that some clinics, like one in Everett, post signs that ward off walk-ins: “We do not treat pain patients.”

His wife, Jennifer, hunted down a list of 60 physicians and clinics that work with Medicaid patients. With help from a relative she called every provider on the list, pleading for someone to treat her husband. She tallied the answers in a journal. Every answer was no…

For lawmakers, there was also a financial incentive. The Department of Labor & Industries, which oversees medical compensation for injured workers, predicted the new law would result in fewer prescriptions for opioid medications, saving the state an estimated $13 million a year, according to legislative fiscal notes…

The requirement to consult a specialist whenever daily doses climb above 120 milligrams has caused the most anxiety among medical providers…

The state has thousands of practitioners with prescribing privileges. But as of last month, the state’s sanctioned list of pain specialists numbered just 13…

At least 2,173 people died in Washington by accidentally overdosing on methadone between 2003 and 2010, a Seattle Times analysis of death certificates shows. Among long-acting painkillers — a group that includes OxyContin, fentanyl and morphine — methadone accounts for less than 10 percent of the drugs prescribed but more than half the deaths, The Times found…

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3286629/

Group Health’s Initiative To Avert Opioid Misuse And Overdose Among Patients With Chronic Noncancer Pain (August 2011)

Regardless of the value of long-term opioid therapy in the management of chronic non-cancer pain...

http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/seattle-health-system-finds-early-success-with-program-to-prevent-opioid-misuse/

2/10/2012, Seattle Health System Finds Early Success with Program to Prevent Opioid Misuse

Dr. Trescott reported in Health Affairs that between September 2010, when the initiative was launched, and May 2011, almost 6,000 patients on long-term opioid therapy at all dosage levels met with their clinicians to develop care plans that were documented in their electronic health record. As of January, almost all of the system’s 7,000 patients in this category have care plans.

As a result of the new system, which made doctors’ prescribing practices very clear, some physicians are no longer allowed to prescribe opioids at Group Health, according to Dr. Trescott. “We know we’re prescribing lower doses of opioids overall, and we’re doing a lot more urine drug screening than we used to,” she says…

Under comments:

February 10, 2012 at 12:39 pm, Sidney Schnoll said:  It is very important to set up appropriate guidelines in the prescribing of controlled substances. I’m always amazed, however, that when the results of these programs are reported there is never any mention of the effect on the treatment of the patient’s pain. We need to make sure there is the correct balance so that patients don’t suffer as we pat ourselves on the back.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25621426

1/23/2015, Evaluation of Health Plan Interventions to Influence Chronic Opioid Therapy Prescribing.

Physicians reported more conservative beliefs regarding opioid prescribing immediately after completing an online course in 2011, but the course was not associated with additional reductions in mean daily opioid dose prescribed by physicians completing the course.

http://updates.pain-topics.org/2011/09/rules-hurt-patients-with-pain-in.html

9/1/2011, Rules Hurt Patients with Pain in Washington State

I’ve been searching for more updated news about pain patients in Washington state, but I can’t find any.

2/28/2014, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s Diseases Added to Qualifying Conditions

http://nmhealth.org/news/information/2014/2/?view=41

The New Mexico Department of Health announced proposed adjustments to the Medical Cannabis Program regulations within the confines of the current statute. The Department commissioned a survey in 2013 that addressed supply of medical cannabis relative to average patient use. The results showed that average patient use is exceeding available supply.
Today, the Department announced two adjustments to the program in order to meet the needs of qualified patients.

The Department is proposing to increase plant limit from 150 total plants and seedlings up to 150 mature plants and up to 300 seedlings. This will require a rule change and public comment before implementation.

The Department plans to open the applications period to add up to 12 licensed-non-profit producers. There are currently 23 licensed non-profit producers. The application period will begin after the rule changes are finalized.

The Department anticipates announcing proposed rule changes at a public hearing to occur sometime this spring.

Secretary Ward has accepted the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board’s recommendation to add Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease to the list of qualifying conditions to get into the program. There are now 19 qualifying conditions to become a patient. 

Currently there are 10,621 patients in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program…

http://nmhealth.org/publication/view/help/132/

Currently, there are 20 qualifying conditions: Severe chronic pain, painful peripheral neuropathy, intractable nausea/vomiting, severe anorexia/cachexia, hepatitis C infection currently receiving antiviral treatment, Crohn’s disease, Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, inflammatory autoimmune‐mediated arthritis, hospice patients, Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and Cervical Dystonia.

http://forum.nmcannabisreview.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=171

Are you suffering from a debilitating medical condition and want to try medical cannabis, but whatever diagnosis you’ve been given is not listed in the qualifying conditions? Unless you follow cannabis news on a daily basis, you might miss recent research and strides in cannabis treatments. Here’s a short list of possible additions that current medical research may support:

ADD
Alcoholism
Alzheimer’s
Bipolar disorder
Chronic cystitis
Depression
Fibromyalgia
Hepatitis C (not currently receiving antiviral)
Irritable bowel syndrome
Leukemia
Migraine/Cluster Headaches
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Opioid dependency or abuse
Panic disorders
Rheumatoid arthritis
Schizophrenia
Tinnitus
Traumatic brain injury
Type 2 diabetes

“Scientists have big news for people suffering from arthritis, colitis and lupus: Medical marijuana can help reduce some of the most painful effects of their conditions.”

SCREAMING SCAMMER

mrsura1yoyoda@gmail.com

GREETING’S

I AM MR SURA YOYODA,

THE SECRETARY OF THE FINANCE FOREIGN PAYMENT APPROVAL DEPARTMENT OF UNION ECONOMIQUE ET MONETAIRE OUESTAFRICAINE (UEMOA)NORTH-WEST REGIONAL OFFICE, IN THE CITY OF OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO.

I HAVE A BUSINESS PROPOSAL WHICH INVOLVES ABOUT $15.3 M U S D (FIFTEEN MILLION THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLARS ONLY).

AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER; WE SHARE IN THE RATION OF 40% FOR YOU AND 60% FOR ME. IF YOU WILL BE INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT ME SO THAT I WILL GIVE YOU MORE INFORMATION ON HOW WE WOULD HANDLE THIS PROJECT, TO ENABLE US COMMENCED ON ALL ARRANGEMENTS.

YOUR SINCERELY, MR SURA.

What a waste of bandwith…

The Chinese Email Scam

ilu1888@cnpc.co.in

Huh, looks like this scammer is from India…

This is
Liu Yuezhen
Chief Financial Officer
China National Petroleum Corporation
9 Dongzhimen North Street, Dongcheng
District, Beijing, P.R.China

Ah, it’s (allegedly) from China…

Date: February . 6th . 2015

Re: Joint Venture Investment

Dear Esteemed Colleague:

When was the last time someone called you an “Esteemed Colleague”?  Like, never?

I hope this email finds you in good health.

Well, as long as you’re asking, no, not really…

In view of my correspondence with you, I unassumingly request for your utmost consideration, as this letter serves as a formal notice of my intent to go into a multinational investments with you in your country.

It appears this stranger is confused…

This is Mr. Liu Yuezhen, Chief Financial Officer of CNPC Group (China National Petroleum Corporation)

Now you’re being redundant… and even I know that it is proper to address someone from China by their first name, after using “Mr.”

In an open minded manner, I purposefully contact you to negotiate my proposition for investment of multinational companies and industries with you in your country. However, if you willingly accept my proffer I shall provide you with the relevant details for the investment fund and our procedures in sequence.

Dude, I’m in pain, what do you want?

Furthermore, I want every of my dealings with you to be carried out legally, genuinely and transparent to establish medium to long-term investment and credible business relationship.

Whatever.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Does anyone — ever — respond to your emails?

Warm regards,

Liu Yuezhen, Chief Financial Officer

You know, the Chinese are not known for their sense of humor, and they don’t like scammers, either. Maybe one day, somebody that works for Mr. Liu will happen upon this post of mine, and you’ll get a response from that person.  (Good luck.)

11/21/2014, RB spin-out Indivior says addiction pipeline will deliver

http://www.pharmaphorum.com/news/rb-spin-out-indivior-says-addiction-pipeline-will-deliver

“At the moment, patients have to decide every day whether to stay in treatment – that’s 365 dosing decisions every year – and we can reduce that down to 12.” The product is injected subcutaneously and forms a gel pellet that breaks down slowly over the course of a month…

A similar philosophy underpins Indivior’s new buprenorphine product based on a prodrug – called buprenorphine hemiadipate – which means it can be formulated into a swallowable rather than a sublingual tablet…

While these are all important new products from a clinical perspective, the biggest commercial opportunity will probably come from Indivior’s alcohol dependence treatment arbaclofen placarbil…

Thaxter also said that, as an independent company, Indivior will be actively looking for opportunities to expand its pipeline in the addiction arena with technologies applicable to alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis dependence, among others…

http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/sales-slump-reckitt-pharma-spinoff-indivior-its-first-ever-earnings-release/2015-02-11

2/11/2015, Sales slump for Reckitt pharma spinoff Indivior in its first-ever earnings release

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01848054

5/2/2013, Study to Assess OX219 (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) for the Induction of Treatment of Opioid Dependence

OX219 (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) [Zubsolv®]

Principal Investigator: Lynn Webster Life Tree Pain Clinic, 3838 S 700 E Suite 200, Salt Lake City, UT 84106

Sponsor:  Orexo AB

No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study

Study Completion Date: January 2014

http://www.purduepharma.com/news-media/2010/07/purdue-pharma-l-p-receives-fda-approval-for-butrans-buprenorphine-transdermal-system-ciii/

7/1/2010, Purdue Pharma L.P. Receives FDA Approval for Butrans™ (buprenorphine) Transdermal System CIII

“Healthcare professionals now have an important new option for appropriate adult patients suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain when an opioid may be needed to manage their pain,” said Lynn R. Webster, MD, FACPM, FASAM, Medical Director of the Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah…

http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2011/03/25/NY71789

SAN CARLOS, Calif., March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — PharmacoFore, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation abuse-resistant prescription drugs, announced that Lynn R. Webster, M.D., FACPM, FASAM, Co-Founder and Medical Director of Lifetree Clinical Research, will introduce the Company’s novel technology during the 27th Annual American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) Meeting.

Dr. Webster’s presentation, titled “New Opioid Formulations and Delivery Systems,” will feature PharmacoFore’s Bio-Activated Molecular Delivery™ (also referred to as Bio-MD™) and MPAR™ technologies…

http://bdsi.investorroom.com/2014-04-07-BioDelivery-Sciences-Announces-Four-BUNAVAIL-Abstracts-to-be-Presented-at-the-2014-American-Society-of-Addiction-Medicine-Annual-Conference

BUNAVAIL utilizes BDSI’s proprietary BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA) technology to deliver buprenorphine for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence, along with the opioid antagonist naloxone, which is intended to serve as an abuse deterrent…

Poster presentation by Lynn Webster, MD
Low-Dose Naloxone Provides an Abuse Deterrent Effect to Buprenorphine Doses

BEMA Buprenorphine is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain and is licensed on a worldwide basis to Endo Pharmaceuticals. Clonidine Topical Gel for the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy is currently in Phase 3 development…

http://www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article/S0376-8716(14)01686-X/abstract

Abuse potential study of intravenous oxycodone hydrochloride alone or in combination with intravenous naltrexone in nondependent, recreational opioid users

ALO-02 is an opioid formulation intended to deter abuse; it comprises capsules filled with pellets of extended-release oxycodone hydrochloride surrounding sequestered naltrexone. The abuse potential (i.e., drug liking and high) of intravenous (IV) oxycodone combined with naltrexone, to simulate IV administration of crushed ALO-02 in solution, was compared with IV oxycodone alone and IV placebo in nondependent, recreational opioid users.

http://www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article/S0376-8716(14)01706-2/abstract

Preliminary report of THC influence on subject ability to discriminate between active opioid and placebo in human abuse liability study

http://www.opioidrisk.com/node/884

ORT: Opioid Risk Tool

Reprinted With Permission from Lynn Webster, MD

Click to access presidents-message-2014-volume15-3.pdf

(2014) Pain and Suicide: The Other Side of the Opioid Story

Three days later I got a call from his daughter. Jack had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He left a note saying he couldn’t live with the pain anymore…

Stoned drivers are a lot safer than drunk ones, new federal data show

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/09/stoned-drivers-are-a-lot-safer-than-drunk-ones-new-federal-data-show/?tid=rssfeed

Several states have passed laws attempting to define “marijuana-impaired driving” similarly to drunk driving. Colorado, for instance, sets a blood THC threshold of 0.5 nanograms per milliliter. But that number tells us next to nothing about whether a person is impaired or fit to drive. The implication is that these states are locking up people who are perfectly sober…

Voices of pain patients

https://www.facebook.com/WalgreensGoneWrong

Dana BombBird Ginsberg

Yesterday at 3:52pm

Trying to get a refill on one of my prescriptions, the store I usually go to got my Rxs mixed up with my mom’s DOG. They called and messaged me saying, “We can’t fill your RX due to problems with insurance.” I called the store and after a long wait on hold, the lady just sorta laughed and asked “Is this for a dog?” Then when I went to pick up my own RX, the guy at the counter was a jerk. He tried to make me take mine AND my mother’s dogs RX (which no insurance covered). I had to call my mother to confirm that no, I didn’t want to take my mother’s dog’s RX if I had to pay for it out of my own pocket. On top of that, instead of 3 packs of my own RX, I only got one because “that’s all Blue Cross would cover.”

2/2/2015, Pharmacies deny consumers pain prescriptions (FL)

https://www.facebook.com/WalgreensGoneWrong

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/pharmacies-deny-consumers-pain-prescriptions/31051336

Charlene Rubano’s son suffers from ADHD and struggles every month to get his medication…

Since the crackdown in 2013, deaths dropped by one-third and now there are 600 fewer pain clinics in Florida…

Does anyone want to estimate how many patients from 600 pain clinics were left without access to medical care?

Walgreens News

1/2/2015, Walgreen Slapped With Investor Lawsuit

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/01/02/walgreen-slapped-with-investor-lawsuit.htm

Walgreens operates the largest pharmacy chain in America, with 8,309 locations. Pharmacy sales have accounted for approximately 75 percent of the chain’s total sales for the past three years...

https://www.facebook.com/WalgreensGoneWrong

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3809406

Lawsuit: Walgreens prescription error killed man (2007)

The case is the fourth prescription-error trial involving a fatality since September 2006 for the nation’s largest drugstore chain in sales and profits. Jurors in Illinois, Arizona and Florida have rung up more than $61 million in prescription-error verdicts against Walgreens WAG in the three previous trials…

Like most pharmacies, Walgreens is coping with a market shortage of pharmacists at a time when national prescription volume is increasing. Parts of 42 states were identified as facing a pharmacist shortage in a January employment survey by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

And the number of prescriptions for all retail, long-term care and mail-order pharmacies nationally rose from 3.3 billion in 2002 to 3.7 billion in 2006, according to data from IMS Health, a pharmaceutical and health care consulting company.

In part, the trends have resulted in pharmacies’ increased reliance on technicians, who have less training and lower salaries than pharmacists, to help fill prescriptions…

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Family-Says-Pharmacy-Error-Nearly-Killed-Boy–247413951.html

2/26/2014, Family Says Pharmacy Error Nearly Killed Boy