Day: 05/15/2015

Are ‘Abuse-Resistant’ Painkillers Actually Effective in Reducing Overdose Deaths?

http://www.thefix.com/content/are-abuse-resistant-painkillers-actually-effective-reducing-overdose-deaths

Herper tests out Purdue’s “abuse-resistant” version of OxyContin, called Hysingla, and confirms that the pill can not be crushed or dissolved in water. But Kolodny, who has worked with addicts for 10 years, says “I’ve very rarely come across people who’ve developed that disease [of addiction] from snorting or injecting the pills. People develop that disease from using the pills orally.”

Well, look, it’s Mr. Kolodny!  Dude, how are you doing?  Still busy being the spokesperson for the war against pain patients?

For someone who allegedly treats addiction, I find your lack of understanding of this illness to be rather sad.  It’s not the drugs that cause addiction, and you should know that.  But then, you used the word “developed,” not caused.  That might be a distinction you can get away with in the medical industry, but not anywhere else.

Heck, you could say that people develop addictions from being white, since most drug addicts are, in fact, white.  Or you could rightly say that people develop the disease of addiction from poverty, domestic abuse, rape, and child abuse.  Or from the under-treatment of pain.

In defense of his product, Haddox states that of the 16,000 overdose deaths in 2013, “the vast majority of those were poly-substance deaths,” meaning alcohol or other illegal drugs played a part. He also argues that painkillers have improved his patients lives, many of whom might commit suicide without pain treatments.

As far as patients suffering from chronic pain, Kolodny argues that “they need access to effective, evidence-based treatment. Giving people opioid painkillers is not going to help. In fact, if someone’s really suicidal because of their chronic pain, you’re putting a potentially lethal means in their hands.”

Poor Mr. Kolodny knows nothing about chronic pain (let alone addiction).  “Giving” pain patients access to opioids actually does help — it helps millions and millions of patients.  Out of the millions of pain patients who take opioids, only 16,000 have overdosed.  Let’s see, if there are, say, 40 million pain patients taking opioids, 16,000 would be 0.0004%.  Sound like an “epidemic” to you?

Of course, that’s not counting the overdoses that are actually suicides because pain patients just give up on having their pain adequately treated or are tired of being treated like criminals and drug addicts.

I wonder, Mr. Kolodny, how many suicides are you responsible for?  How many pain patients have killed themselves because they didn’t have access to opioids due to your advocacy work?

Why does the media keep pretending that Kolodny is an expert?  I’m not even a doctor and I know he’s full of shit.

A cure for chronic pain?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150515083223.htm

Chronic pain is known to cause brain anatomy changes and impairments, but yoga can be an important tool for preventing or even reversing the effects of chronic pain on the brain, according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) official speaking at the American Pain Society’s annual meeting…  M. Catherine Bushnell, PhD, scientific director, Division of Intramural Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH…

Since when did alternative treatments fall under the heading of “science”?

Let’s see, yoga can not only prevent chronic pain, it can reverse it?  Seriously?  Is this woman trying to say that yoga is a cure for chronic pain?  I wonder how many chronic pain patients this treatment has been tested on for her to make this kind of statement?

I think oncologists should start prescribing yoga for their cancer patients.  And dentists should start prescribing it after root canals.  Break a bone?  Do some yoga.  Suffer from migraines or Trigeminal Neuralgia?  Do some yoga.  (And good luck.)

“Imaging studies in multiple types of chronic pain patients show their brains differ from healthy control subjects,” said Bushnell. “Studies of people with depression show they also have reduced gray matter, and this could contribute to the gray matter changes in pain patients who are depressed. Our research shows that gray matter loss is directly related to the pain when we take depression into account,” said Bushnell…

From chronic pain immediately to depression… How many chronic pain patients suffer from Major Depressive Disorder?  Not too many, or else antidepressants would be a lot more successful in treating pain.

The side effects of living with chronic pain can easily be mistaken for depression, but these two conditions are not the same.  They are distinctly different.  But I would guess that when pain is not adequately managed, that could be a catalyst for depression.

Hey, yoga for Major Depressive Disorder too!  (And good luck.)

Bushnell said there is compelling evidence from studies conducted at NIH/NCCIH and other sites that mind-body techniques, such as yoga and meditation, can counteract the brain anatomy affects of chronic pain. “Practicing yoga has the opposite effect on the brain as does chronic pain,” said Bushnell.

So does eating chocolate.  Hey, chocolate for treating chronic pain and depression!  (And good luck.)

She said the studies show yoga practitioners have more gray matter than controls in multiple brain regions, including those involved in pain modulation. “Some gray matter increases in yogis correspond to duration of yoga practice, which suggests there is a causative link between yoga and gray matter increases,” Bushnell noted.

Well, if you say so…  But saying so doesn’t make it true (unless you work in alternative “medicine”).

I’m not saying that mediation and yoga can’t help chronic pain patients, but just like self-hypnosis, there will only be a small percentage of patients who are able to make these treatments work.

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2014/nccih-17.htm

The revision from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was mandated as part of the omnibus budget measure signed by President Obama… The center’s research priorities include the study of complementary approaches — such as spinal manipulation, meditation, and massage — to manage pain and other symptoms that are not always well-addressed by conventional treatments…

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2710810

The relationship between chronic pain and depression is complex, and nonorganic chronic pain has been hypothesised (at least in some cases) as the expression of an underlying affective disturbance…  The DST test results did not suggest the existence of a close relationship between chronic pain and major depressive disorder; however, a wider relationship between chronic pain and affective disturbances, at least in a subgroup of patients, cannot be ruled out.

Alabama bought lethal injection drugs on black market, feds seized them

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=10406

Alabama, like several other states, had become so desperate for a supplier that it turned to the black market, the Atlantic reported in a story this week. The federal government did not approve and the Drug Enforcement Administration seized the drugs from several states…

Until 2010, states bought the sedative sodium thiopental from the U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Hospira. However, Hospira stopped making the drug that year after the Food and Drug Administration discovered that its plant in North Carolina had been producing contaminated drugs…

“Since Hospira had been the only FDA-approved supplier of sodium thiopental, states that had imported it had done so illegally,” the Atlantic reports. “Prisons had become, in effect, drug smugglers, and while the FDA may have been willing to look the other way, the DEA was not. In March 2011, agents seized Georgia’s supply of sodium thiopental. In April, they seized Tennessee’s, Kentucky’s, South Carolina’s, and Alabama’s.” …

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/06/execution-clayton-lockett/392069/

The Cruel and Unusual Execution of Clayton Lockett

Pentobarbital was by now no longer available from Lundbeck, but Fretland learned that compounding pharmacies were copying execution drugs and selling them to prisons. Compounding pharmacies exist to fill niche needs—for example, making a version of a drug for a patient who is allergic to an additive in the mass-market product. Part drug company, part pharmacy, they operate in a gray area with little oversight. (In April 2013, after a deadly meningitis outbreak was traced to a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts, FDA officials announced that they had inspected about 30 compounding pharmacies and found unsanitary conditions in all but one of them.) …

If you’re a chronic pain patient who is considering getting steroid injections, I would find out the source of the the drugs the doctor is going to use before you have the procedure.  Research the company where the drugs are being manufactured and find out if there have been problems in the past.

Cancer patient turned away at pharmacies

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=10401

“More than once I thought this is not worth it and just give up. My time is limited. Am I going to go through this every month?,” said Dr. Gary Welch.  Welch is battling advanced stage 3 pancreatic cancer, one of the most painful cancers…

After two rounds of chemotherapy Welch, a retired doctor and army colonel who now lives in Port Charlotte, Florida is in Jacksonville for proton therapy. He says it was either that or go to hospice care. His oncologist has prescribed him opioids including a Fentanyl patch…  But getting a refill has become a nightmare. He says he has been made to feel like he is a substance abuser…

Pot Pill Doesn’t Lessen Dementia Symptoms

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/Dementia

In a randomized controlled trial, patients who were taking either placebo or oral tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Namisol) had similar reductions in neuropsychiatric symptoms, reported Geke van den Elsen, MD, of Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen [Netherlands], and colleagues.  However, they pointed out that the 4.5-mg daily dose was well-tolerated, so a dosage increase may boost efficacy, they wrote online in Neurology…

Since firm evidence of the efficacy and safety of THC and other cannabinoids in dementia patients are lacking, they conducted a study of 50 patients who were randomized to either placebo or to 1.5 mg of oral THC three times a day for 3 weeks…

http://www.echo-pharma.com/en/products-and-pipeline/namisol/

Namisol® is the world’s first oral tablet that contains pure, natural Δ9-THC (dronabinol) in fixed dosages with high, predictable bioavailability and a long, stable shelf life at room temperature.

Namisol® is also the first major implementation of our innovative lipophilic compound Drug Delivery Technology Alitra™, and our main focus in the pharmaceutical development program. Namisol® is set to be registered for a number of indications, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), behavioral disturbances in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, and Chronic Pain.

The efficacy of Namisol® in patients with Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Chronic Pain is being researched. Additional indications are being examined. After successful completion of pre-clinical and clinical Phase I studies, Namisol® is now in Phase II of clinical development…

I’m a proponent of THC, but without all the other CBDs in cannabis, you’re getting a different and incomplete effect.  And 1.5mg is a pretty low dose.  It would be nice to see a study of patients who are at risk for dementia or in the beginning stages of this condition, as I think that will be where the real benefits lie.

As for treating chronic pain patients, the same issues would apply, only more so.  As a chronic pain patient, I would not be interested in a THC-only pill.

Today is a Bad Day

https://zoerising.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/today-is-a-bad-day/

When did simple things become so hard for me? I’ve been trying to pinpoint a day, month or year when I can say I became aware of the growing difficulty I am having with basic thought processing, but so far that crux in my life has been as elusive as my ability to finish this sentence in a clever way. I was a bright student. I have always loved learning, and I once prided myself on a rather sharp mind and wit. Now I am lucky to get out a coherent thought some days. What happened? Why. Are. My. Thoughts. So. Damned. Slow. Now? …

Possible police training problem

http://nmpoliticalreport.com/3601/letter-from-da-to-attorney-general-possible-police-training-problem/

In a phone interview, Brandenburg told New Mexico Political Report she would like to see an audit done to determine how many officers may have not been properly trained or certified as police officers. She estimated at least 100 officers may need recertification.

“If these officers aren’t truly certified then that needs to be taken care of immediately,” she said. She added that there could be lawsuits filed questioning the legitimacy of previous convictions.

“If their certifications can be challenged, then so can any arrests that were made, any criminal complaints that were filed, any warrants, any affidavits. Anything done under the collar of their official responsibilities of a law enforcement officer can be challenged,” Brandenburg said…

Guilty until proven innocent

http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=10385

The North Carolina business owner for months has been battling the federal government after IRS agents last fall seized $107,000 from him, under a controversial practice known as civil forfeiture…

McLellan is just one of thousands of Americans the IRS has seized money from, supposedly for “structuring” funds to avoid a law requiring banks to alert the government of deposits over $10,000. The law was instituted to help the government ferret out drug dealers, terrorists or other criminals — but the IRS occasionally flags deposits of just under $10,000 as suspicious even if there’s no evident criminal wrongdoing, in turn ensnaring people who may be innocent…

“There is no crime in this country for doing business in cash,” he said. “But the government treated Lyndon worse than a criminal, by taking his property and forcing him to prove his own innocence to get that property back.” …

Two months ago, the government offered McLellan 50 percent of his money back and warned him against chasing publicity, even going so far as to suggest it would rile people inside the IRS and could hurt his chances of seeing his cash again, his attorneys said.

“Today the the DOJ is giving him 100 percent,” said Institute for Justice spokesman J. Justin Wilson. “We got him an enormous amount of publicity – and it did work.”

Wilson said McLellan had other resources to keep his business, “L & M Convenience Mart,” open since last October. But he had to fork over $3,000 for his initial legal fees, and some $19,000 for an accountant to audit his business to prove to the government there wasn’t anything untoward going on. The government said it will not repay those costs or any interest on the seized money…

From 2005 to 2012, the IRS seized more than $242 million from alleged structuring violations in more than 2,500 cases, according to an Institute for Justice study. In more than 830 of those cases, no other criminal activity was alleged…

Smiling Onion

http://www.healthextremist.com/red-onions-vs-white-onions-which-ones-healthier/

There are quite a few commonalities between both red and white onions. Both types of onions are considered low on the glycemic index, with a rating of 10. They both also provide about 10 percent of the daily value for vitamin C and the same amount of calcium per serving.

Although white onions contain .5 more grams of fiber and a higher amount of sulfur, red onions have been found to contain a higher amount of many other beneficial nutrients…

In general, the rule is that onions with a sharply strong taste, such as red onions, contain a higher amount of antioxidants. Red onions also win in the category of cancer prevention and blood thinning properties. Additionally, red onions contain less sugar compared to white onions, which is where they get their sweet taste from…

Nutrients in a Purple Onion

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutrients-purple-onion-1949.html

Purple onions have more soluble than insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber attracts fluid in your gut, creating a slow-moving gel. This slows digestion, which allows vitamins and minerals to absorb through intestinal walls. Insoluble fiber from the skins of onions sweeps out your gut like a broom and helps you have regular bowel movements…

A 1/2-cup serving of julienned purple onions provides approximately 65 calories…  Purple onions have about 1 gram of protein, which also contains 4 calories per gram…

Purple onions are particularly rich in flavonoids called anthocyanins. These types of phytochemical compounds neutralize free radicals that scavenge through your system destroying healthy cells and tissues. Flavonoids protect vital organs, including your heart, and help lower your risk of cancer. There is not a set recommended amount of flavonoids you need in your diet, but eating a variety of colored fruits and vegetables ensures that you get plenty of these beneficial compounds.

Vitamin C boosts your immune system. This vitamin also helps build collagen, a component of skin that is essential for elasticity and wound healing. Vitamin C acts like an antioxidant and works alongside flavonoids to diminish free radicals. Women require 75 milligrams of vitamin C every day, but men need 90 milligrams, the Linus Pauling Institute reports. You can get about 12 milligrams of vitamin C from a 1/2-cup serving of raw, purple onions.

Let’s learn about red onions, shall we?

http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-sweet-yel-130223

Red Onions – With their deep purple outer skin and reddish flesh, these are really the odd-guys out in the onion family. They are fairly similar to yellow onions in flavor, though their layers are slightly less tender and meaty. Red onions are most often used in salads, salsas, and other raw preparations for their color and relatively mild flavor. The lovely red color becomes washed out during cooking. If you find their flavor to astringent for eating raw, try soaking them in water before serving.

After they’re picked, are they supposed to keep growing, like this one?  I dunno, but it was delicious, just the same.

Walgreens and my marijuana t-shirt

I wore my marijuana t-shirt this morning and got no less than 3 compliments on it, with some really nice grins from other people.  I was hoping someone would ask me if I wanted to buy some, but no such luck.

I love buying Claritin-D at the pharmacy counter while I’m wearing my marijuana t-shirt.  It’s so… ironic. 🙂

(Photo taken at Albertson’s, which has 12-packs of Dr. Pepper on sale, four for $11.)