Day: 05/01/2015
Still Obsessed With Bud
Wikipedia: Kniphofia, also called tritoma, red hot poker, torch lily, knofflers or poker plant, is a genus of flowering plants… All plants produce spikes of upright, brightly colored flowers well above the foliage, in shades of red, orange and yellow, often bicoloured. The flowers produce copious nectar while blooming and are attractive to bees…
Ask A Narc: Your Questions for a Retired Officer of the Law
Ever want to ask a cop a question but too afraid to do so? Us too! Luckily, LEAP’s Diane Goldstein was available to answer some questions…
Is it true that medical marijuana patients should not be gun owners? I heard that if a cop comes into your house and finds weed and guns you are in big trouble.
Let me scream “Yes” as loud as I can…
Judge nixes state agency’s rule for medical marijuana card
A judge has ruled that the New Mexico Department of Health cannot require medical marijuana patients to exhaust “standard treatments” before they receive cannabis for relief.
That’s really good news 😀
The decision by state District Judge David Thomson came late Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by Santa Fe psychiatrist Carola Kieve. It may force the Department of Health to change its newly promulgated rules and application forms…
The judge cited a form letter the department sent to an applicant as evidence that it skirted the law. The letter informed the prospective patient that his application was incomplete because he had not provided documentation of “medications or standard treatments that have failed.”
Kieve’s lawyer, Brian Egolf of Santa Fe, said she “took on the cause of PTSD sufferers because it was the right thing to do.”
“Now, more patients will get the help they need,” Egolf said.
An Alternative-Medicine Believer’s Journey Back to Science
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/alternative-medicine-believers-journey-back-science/?Src=longreads
After celebrity doctor Andrew Weil pioneered the idea at the University of Arizona in the late ’90s, 23 medical schools now offer residencies in integrative medicine. There are now integrative medicine centers and programs in many of the nation’s top hospitals and universities, including the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, Duke, and Johns Hopkins.
In 2013, the American Board of Physician Specialties added integrative medicine alongside more traditional board certifications such as surgery and dermatology (there were so many applicants that the first certification exam had to be delayed). And last year, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine—a publicly funded research agency that is part of the National Institute for Health—changed its name to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health…
Loosely categorized as “alternative medicine,” the approaches include nutritional supplements, dietary regimens, detoxification protocols, acupuncture, energy healing, homeopathy, chiropractic, traditional Indian medicine, and whatever else has anecdotal support yet remains unaccepted by the larger scientific community…
At Yale, physician and prominent health advocate David Katz practices integrative medicine… Besides, he says, practices like reiki and homeopathy are relatively harmless. Reiki involves nothing more than laying hands on—or, often, just above—a patient’s body. Homeopathy is essentially the prescription of sugar pills. Even if these treatments really are just theatrical placebos—e.g. real acupuncture works no better than fake acupuncture—why not offer them as an option if patients want them? …
Reflecting on his experience, Jim Laidler concluded that false hope was like a drug. Perhaps that’s part of the reason Dr. Oz’s defenders are as fervent as the parents who threatened Jim’s life: some of them can’t face the pangs of withdrawal.
And false hope isn’t just for patients. Doctors—traditional and integrative alike—also can become dependent…
Jim Laidler is an anesthesiologist, and his work involves the same kind of expectation management. “My chronic-pain patients are often referrals,” he says, “and they’ve been led to believe that they can live a life free from pain. The first thing I do is explain that our goal is to manage pain, not eliminate it.” …
By the time a pain patient gets to an anesthesiologist, she’s been through the ringer. So I have to wonder how many patients actually arrive at Dr. Laidler’s office with the expectation that “they can live a life free from pain.”
What percentage of chronic pain patients have false hope? Should pain patients learn acceptance as soon as possible, or should they continue to hope? How do you know when your hope is false?
Container community plans to embrace graffiti
http://krqe.com/2015/04/30/container-community-plans-to-embrace-graffiti/
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – An Albuquerque developer is taking a new approach to stop vandalism at his business. Rather than paint over graffiti again and again, he plans to embrace street art in hopes of dissuading vandals.
The construction crew is hard at work to create Albuquerque’s first ever cutting-edge shipping container community, near I-40 and Carlisle…
“The artists put a lot into it, and I think the graffiti people that go around the city, hopefully they have some respect for that, and all the work that gets put into it,” said Solomon. “Because those people are artists too, in their own way.” …
Mother tries to find MMJ doctor for her son, a cancer patient
https://www.facebook.com/nmmcpa
Susie Cromer
April 23 at 11:37am
Whats the easiest way to get a medical card for a cancer patient? Minor in new mexico. He is my 16 year old son.
Adrian Cisneros: Southwest Integrative Health Center, 5310 Homestead N.E. St 400, (505)256-3648. Dr. A. Koffman is my primary doctor, he is authorized to prepare forms from dept. of Health. You must make him he primary doc. for your son.
Susie Cromer: Thats the place where a young woman answered and turned me down. Im the mother and my son is 16.
Adrian Cisneros: I am regretful you were not treated with respect at SWIHC. I have been getting my renewal there for 3 years with no problems. I hope your son receives the help needed and medication for his cancer
New Mexico Medical Cannabis Patient’s Alliance: If your Dr is friendly he can sign the docs for you. If not, get records and we can refer you. Like peace medical , Zia health and there are others…..let us know if you need help……
Susie Cromer: Ok. I do need help. He isnt taking chemo right now but the mass is there again.
New Mexico Medical Cannabis Patient’s Alliance: I understand that was where they got no help and were not treated well. You know where you can get the help you need Susie Cromer. I am glad to have assisted you and your son. I hope we can meet in person at some point. If you need anything else you have my number. For everyone else, if a place doesn’t treat you with respect then they don’t deserve your money. There are choices.
The choices are Peace Medical and Zia Health, services which patients have to pay extra to access. Certain doctors affiliate themselves with these services and usually work at their facilities, but don’t appear to be available unless you pay the “referral fee” to Peace Medical and Zia Health for the privilege.
When I applied to New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program, I didn’t use these type of services, although some patients are happy to pay for the extra help. It’s difficult to find a marijuana doctor on your own, and many patients are too sick to put forth the effort. Plus, they are wary of the few doctors who do advertise, thinking they are card “mills.”
I had to see two different doctors for “severe chronic pain,” and the GP I saw in 2013 (found through an ad) later got in trouble with the State Medical Board, which took away his right to practice. I don’t know if that’s forever or just for a set amount of time. I believe the updated rules indicate that you only need to see one doctor for chronic pain, but it has to be a “specialist.”
Unfortunately, I don’t know which cancer specialists in New Mexico are willing to certify a patient for medical cannabis.
Revealed: Medicare’s Most Popular And Costliest Drugs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/medicare-drug-costs_n_7180084.html
The disclosures are part of a larger drive by Medicare to open up its records to researchers, journalists and the public at large. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services previously released data on how much hospitals charge for their services and on the financial ties between physicians and the manufacturers of prescription drugs and medical devices.
“We know that there are many, many smart minds in this country that can help us see these data in new and better ways. We’re excited to unleash those minds and see what they can find,” Sean Cavanaugh, director of the health care agency’s Center for Medicare, said during a conference call with reporters Thursday…
In addition to Nexium, Medicare spent more than $2 billion on three other prescription drugs in 2013: GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair Diskus for respiratory illnesses; AstraZeneca’s Crestor for high cholesterol; and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Abilify for depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder…
A high blood pressure medication called lisinopril accounted for the largest number of Medicare claims in 2013, 36.9 million, and the program spent $307 million on it. Medicines to treat thyroid disorders, pain, diabetes and heart disease rounded out the list of drugs with the most claims. Pharmaceuticals for respiratory ailments, depression, high cholesterol, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, anemia and cancer made the list of the costliest drugs…
When It Comes To Abortion Rights, ND Is The ‘Canary In The Coal Mine’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/abortion-clinic-north-dakota_n_7155136.html
According to the report, $87.5 million in federal and state funding is given annually to abstinence-only programs across the country…
The anti-abortion movement has set up shop next door to the clinic. A visitation chapel owned by the Diocese of Fargo holds Mass on Wednesday mornings, and afterward, its members stand outside the clinic with signs and pamphlets…
RRWC has a team of sidewalk volunteers whose job is to get women into the clinic safely. Christensen, a physics professor and single dad who has been escorting patients at the clinic for two years, says he feels a responsibility to help the women. “I’m a white male who’s a big guy and I have a good job; it’s hard to get any more privileged than that,” he said. “This is a situation where people are being bullied essentially, so I feel like I have to do this.” …
All Things Chronic 