Day: 05/14/2015

More Denial of Care on the West Coast

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=10373

Grammy-Nominated Star Outraged When 24-Hour CVS Refuses Her Rx ‘Because Of The Neighborhood’

CARSON (CBSLA.com) — An R&B celebrity says a 24-hour CVS pharmacist refused to fill her prescription for painkillers in the middle of the night “because of the neighborhood.” Kelly Price lives in Carson and is convinced the pharmacist meant the vicinity is unsafe because it’s in a low-income area. She saw what happened as an attack on the community.

“I was offended for the people of this neighborhood. I was offended for anybody who lives in a neighborhood that may not be considered the upper echelon where expensive homes are, or where six- and seven-figure earners live,” said the seven-time Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter…

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=10371

Woman denied pain meds, new regulations to blame

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) – Jessica Barr loved gymnastics. But the sport didn’t always love her back. “It’s like football, great sport when you’re not injured,” she said. So, like many childhood gymnasts, Barr is paying for her time in the gym as an adult. She needed a knee replacement. And after shopping around for a surgeon, she chose one in the L.A. area.

The surgery went well, but pain is to be expected. “When I got home, pain-wise it was about a 7 to an 8,” she said. So Barr’s physician prescribed drugs for her pain – hydrocodone…

“We went to Northwest Pharmacy first,” she said. “Then we went to Rite Aid. Then I called Hina’s and then I called CVS… everybody said their store policy is they do not fill out-of-town prescriptions.” Frustrated, she called the Eyewitness News Tip Line.

“People go out of Bakersfield all the time to have surgeries done,” she said. “I started thinking about all the people that might be encountering the same situation I was encountering and it made me angry.” …

Police: Woman fatally shot 2 young kids, then herself in SUV

http://krqe.com/ap/police-woman-fatally-shot-2-young-kids-then-herself-in-suv/

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say a 25-year-old woman shot and killed a 3-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy in an SUV, then shot herself in the head. The discovery came hours after police said they were looking for a reportedly suicidal woman who had told her mother that she had a gun and might hurt her young children…

Court case shows how health insurers rip off you and your employer

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/05/11/17317/court-case-shows-how-health-insurers-rip-you-and-your-employer?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=watchdog&utm_medium=publici-email&goal=0_ffd1d0160d-8a5ebe00ce-100294249&mc_cid=8a5ebe00ce&mc_eid=41b10762c5

Many Americans, according to various polls, blame Obamacare for every hike in premiums despite the fact that the rate of increase for most folks was actually greater before 2010, the year the law went into effect.

Health insurers are delighted that many folks blame Obamacare for rate increases because it deflects attention away from them and, according to documents made public in a recent lawsuit against a big Blue Cross plan, the questionable activities they’ve been engaging in for years to boost profits…

All 50 States Ranked By The Cost Of Weed (Hint: Oregon Wins)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frankbi/2015/05/12/the-most-and-least-expensive-states-to-buy-marijuana/

The map says the cost for an ounce in New Mexico is $286, “according to PriceOfWeed.com, a site where users can anonymously submit the cost of weed in their area purchased either from the black market or legally through a dispensary.”

I’d say that was closer to the underground market price.  For instance, New MexiCann’s price is $320 an ounce, and at Medzen, it’s $364.

Obama’s DEA Pick Is A Drug Reform Disaster

http://marijuanapolitics.com/obamas-dea-pick-is-a-drug-reform-disaster/

Why the new acting DEA chief might disappoint drug policy reformers

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/14/8606051/dea-chuck-rosenberg

But as US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Rosenberg unapologetically enforced mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine that contributed to the wide sentencing disparities between black and white Americans, as Emma Schwartz reported for US News…

Psychiatirc Drugs Kill 500K+ Western Adults Annually…

https://makingsenseofcrazy.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/psychiatric-drugs-kill-500k-western-adults-annually-few-positive-benefits-leading-scientist/

Research director at Denmark’s Nordic Cochrane Centre, Professor Peter Gøtzsche, says the use of most antidepressants and dementia drugs could be halted without inflicting harm on patients. The Danish scientist’s views were published in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.

His scathing analysis will likely prove controversial among traditional medics. However, concern is mounting among doctors and scientists worldwide that psychiatric medication is doing more harm than good. In particular, they say antipsychotic drugs have been overprescribed to many dementia patients in a bid to calm agitated behavior…

The Danish professor also warns fatalities from suicides in clinical trials are significantly under-reported…

Commenting on the negative side effects of such pharmaceutical drugs, Gøtzsche argued the “short-term relief” appears to be replaced by “long term harm.” …

The Big Drug Database in the Sky

https://edsinfo.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/the-big-drug-database-in-the-sky/#comment-3458

In Pyle’s case, there was no evidence to suggest he had anything to do with the morphine theft that sparked the investigation. While looking through his prescription history, however, the detective felt that something wasn’t right. Pyle had been prescribed short-acting and long-acting opiate-based painkillers for years after being diagnosed with an inoperable mid-back disc herniation from a dirt-bike accident…

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/unwarranted-drug-database-search-prompts-new-utah-law-lawsuits/

Cases involving these drug databases are taking place around the country, though perhaps the most watched one is Wessler’s case in Oregon. It’s not against local police; he’s taking on the feds…

The fifth plaintiff, Dr. James Roe, is an internist treating geriatric and hospice patients. His line of work necessitates prescribing more drugs monitored by the state than a typical physician. He is concerned about his patients’ records being accessed without a warrant, and he has told the court that his prescribing practices have already changed as a result of this…

PDMP’s records are ‘more inherently personal or private than bank records,’ and are entitled to and treated with a heightened expectation of privacy,” the judge wrote.

Secondly, he noted that neither doctors nor patients voluntarily give up this information—it’s required by state law. “The only way to avoid submission of prescription information to the PDMP is to forgo medical treatment or to leave the state. This is not a meaningful choice.”

The judge went on to say that patients don’t have an absolute right to privacy in their prescription medications, because they should expect them to be accessed by pharmacists, physicians, and other medical personnel. However, it is “more than reasonable for patients to believe that law enforcement agencies will not have unfettered access to their records.”

On February 11, 2014, the judge ruled that the DEA’s use of administrative subpoenas to obtain prescription drug records violates the Fourth Amendment…

The Negative Affects of Unloving Step-Parents: A New Dad’s Pledge

http://lilpickmeup.com/2015/05/12/the-negative-affects-of-unloving-step-parents-a-new-dads-pledge/

Hating a child that’s not your own is an understatement. My stepmother’s jealousy and hate was transparent, as I recall how she’d regularly yell, scold, bully, and constantly condescend. I never felt love from her and I could do little right. As a result, I became more introverted and timid and anxiety-riddled with each weekend visit to dad’s house…

Today’s Moon

“The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.”  Carl Sandburg

“The day, water, sun, moon, night – I do not have to purchase these things with money.”  Plautus

“I’ve never seen a moon in the sky that, if it didn’t take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment.”  Colin Farrell

“A typical smart phone has more computing power than Apollo 11 when it landed a man on the moon.”  Nancy Gibbs

“Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.”  Neil Armstrong