Our primary purpose… – February 6, 2020 – For sure, there are families in this town that struggle with someone addicted, and many of those addicted are seeking help. At Christ Church Greenwich the 12-Step meetings are abundant: every week there are 10 Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meetings. Add seven other churches in town I found listed on the AA meeting schedule (ct-aa.org): Greenwich Baptist Church, Diamond Hill United Methodist Church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Saint Saviour’s Church, First United Methodist Church, St. Paul Lutheran Church, St. Catherine’s Church, and one at Greenwich Hospital. (And note, there’s an Addiction Recovery Center…
Author: Leonard Buschel
One Bad Apple? – February 7, 2020 – Burki is accused of doing the same thing on Jan. 28, the court documents say. However, on this occasion, he also held his victim’s hands down causing bruising to both arms, according to the documents. NJ Advance Media does not identify victims of sexual assault. The victim’s name is also redacted in the court documents. Authorities say he also had a gun magazine in his attic that could hold 25 rounds. In New Jersey, it’s illegal to have a gun with a magazine containing more than 10 rounds. In June, Burki became…
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” —Soren Kierkegaard
Rehab charged with 3 patient deaths – February 4, 2020 – Until now, the Sober Homes Task Force and Aronberg’s office had made more than 100 arrests, mostly patient brokering and insurance fraud charges. These are the first arrests involving deaths. “It’s a new front in the ongoing battles against those who take advantage of others with addiction,” Aronberg said. “We’ve got treatment providers who are more interested in cashing in on the insurance policies than they are on really providing patient care,” said Josh Horton, an attorney who represents the family of Anthony Torre, who died of an overdose…
Childhood will never be the same again – Jan. 31, 2020 – While Judd Apatow and Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos have both turned the project down, the Safdies might offer Reubens a little hope. That said, if a Safdies x Pee-wee collaboration does see the light of day, hope will surely be fleeting for sad, old Pee-wee. In an age of endless and unnecessary reboots, this is one we can actually get behind. @Vice
Reach one, teach one – Jan 31, 2020 – For more than two decades Nancy Yarbrough Banks has helped free women from the bonds of sex trafficking and addiction. Now, her book, “The Exodus, Where New Beginnings Happen.” is giving people hope. Jan 31, 2020 – “I get up with great intention to help somebody because I know help was given to me!” asserts Yarbrough. Her book comes with a journal to help victims break free of addiction and abuse. Yarbrough founded the Fresh Start New Beginnings shelter. It helps women and children find a safe place away from the…
Film Premiere – Jan. 27, 2020 – Many of the women at Guest House have struggled with addiction. But despite the daunting statistics around opioid addiction and the likelihood of previous offenders ending up back in jail, Guest House has had remarkable success. Northern Virginia Magazine reported that fewer than 10% of women who complete the full program at Guest House re-offend, compared to 70% nationwide. The nonprofit opened a second center in Old Town Alexandria last October with funding from the Virginia Department of Corrections and private donations. “The women are really breaking the mold around what an addict…
Angels in America – Jan. 30, 2020 – The focus on compassion comes more than a decade after the explosion in the U.S. of “mindfulness” — practices focused on attention, awareness and breathing. Health experts say compassion is the next phase, kind of mindfulness 2.0. Stanford University neurosurgery professor James Doty, whose 2016 best-selling memoir about compassion became the subject of a hit Korean pop song, said the compassion center he runs was the only one of its kind when it opened 12 years ago. Now, he said he has research collaborations worldwide. “Millions of dollars are being given to…
The High Court? – January 29, 2020 – The courtroom erupted into laughter at Spencer’s action, disrupting the normal daily activity in the court. Spencer was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and simple possession of a Schedule VI drug … Video from inside the courtroom where a man facing a simple possession charge, shows him lighting a marijuana cigarette in front of the judge. @WSMV
Who’s The Crazy One? – Jan. 28, 2020 – Officials say the video footage also showed Billing smoking what appeared to be marijuana from a glass bong, as well as white residue on a mirror next to a rolled-up bill. The individual who contacted authorities reportedly said he had been treated by Billing at the Second Chance Treatment Center since June 2019, and they became friends. Billing has since been fired by Second Chance. In December, Billing reportedly offered the man alcohol and marijuana. However, the individual was concerned about testing positive at an upcoming drug test. Billing then allegedly…
It’s NEVER Too Late – Jan. 29, 2020 – The overwhelming majority of cells taken from a smoker’s airways had been mutated by tobacco, with cells containing up to 10,000 genetic alterations. “These can be thought of as mini time bombs, waiting for the next hit that causes them to progress to cancer,” said Dr Kate Gowers, one of the researchers at UCL. But a small proportion of cells went unscathed. Exactly how they avoid the genetic devastation caused by smoking is unclear, but the researchers said they appeared to “exist in a nuclear bunker”. However, after someone quits smoking,…
Good News – Jan 29, 2020 – Suicides continued to increase in 2018, as did deaths from the flu and pneumonia during what turned out to be an unusually bad flu year. But declines in some other causes of death — most notably cancer and drug overdoses — were enough to overcome all that, according to the report. Cancer is the nation’s No. 2 killer, blamed for about 600,000 deaths a year, so even slight changes in the cancer death rate can have…
There’s a Pill for Everything – Jan. 30, 2020 – In 2008, when D’Onofrio and Yale collaborator David Fiellin, M.D., director of the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine, received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study screening and intervention techniques for drug addiction, opioid abuse was just beginning to receive attention as a major public health concern. Deaths from prescription opioids first spiked across the U.S. in 1999, in line with increased opioid medication sales. A wave of heroin-related deaths followed: from 2002 to 2013, they increased in the U.S. by 286%. Next, the misuse of…
It’s A Family Affair – January 29, 2020 – Cole grew up with a strained relationship with her mother who was forced to give her up for adoption due to her addiction. Through the years, they had their ups and downs because of Lons’ unsuccessful attempts at rehab … In August, Cole revealed her heartbreak when her mother relapsed again. She disclosed that Lons went back to the streets where she would rather be and expressed how much she missed her. She also enlightened fans on the pain of watching a family member struggling with addiction. @AmoMama
Bravo! Keep Coming Back – Jan. 31, 2020 – That brush with the law followed a January 2019 arrest in which the comedian was taken into custody for possession of a controlled substanceAt the time, a post on his Twitter account claimed he “was not arrested and sent to jail” but being held for “a few days to sober up before [being transferred] to a long term treatment facility.” On Christmas Day 2018, after testing positive for cocaine while serving four years probation, Lange took to Twitter with a photo of his distorted nose, joking that it was “hideously deformed…
New York Times Loves Recovery – Jan. 29, 2020 – When Jessica Simpson walks into a room you’re surprised by three things. The first, and they warn you about this — they say all celebrities are, but trust me, you can’t really wrap your brain around it until you are staring down at a strip of white scalp, bending a mile to give a perfunctory hug hello — is that she is very short. (Google says she is 5-foot-3, her publicist says 5-foot-4, my eyeballs estimate she’s maybe 5-foot-2.) (She is also very beautiful. I remember reading in Amy Poehler’s…
Sobriety Ink – Jan. 30, 2020 – The 35-year-old, who recently moved from Wolverhampton to Ramsgate, said: “I have always been an artist and at 16 I started working in a tattoo parlour as an apprentice. Two years later I started tattooing and did that for 11 years … “I am enjoying creating artwork that is unusual and eyecatching and also includes aspects of my previous work as a tattoo artist. I like my work to be fun but with meaning, something to talk about.” @IlseofThanetNews
Till Meth Do Us Part – JANUARY 28 2020 – I learned that meth is certainly not a drug just for people in trailer parks. It is incredibly prevalent in all parts of society, and particularly in gay culture. Statistically, gay men are four times more likely than straight men to try it. It is also one of the most addictive single substances known to man, if not the most addictive. People can become addicted after a single dose, and once people form a dependency, the chances for recovery are shockingly low. It drastically alters a user’s brain chemistry so…
Back from the dead – Feb. 3, 2020 – And she’d excel in both of those incredibly high-pressure, high-profile challenges. At the Grammys, Lovato was so emotional that it took her two tries to get through the intensely personal ballad “Anyone.” Fortunately, she would have no such problem at the Super Bowl as she soared through “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Miami. Indeed, it was one of the best versions ever performed at the Super Bowl, ranking up there with the likes of Idina Menzel (Super Bowl XLIX, 2015, Glendale, Arizona), Jennifer Hudson (Super Bowl XLIII, 2009, Tampa), Alicia Keys (Super…
On Netflix – True Story! – Feb. 03, 2020 – As The Pharmacist explicates via familiar non-fiction elements—elevated by both Schneider’s recordings and his alternately impassioned and teary interview commentary—Cleggett was a pioneer in the “pill mill” business, in which shady doctors opened clinics from which they sold prescriptions (for Oxy, Soma, and Xanax, aka “The Holy Trinity”) for cash. It was a legal drug-dealing operation, and the scores of men and women flocking to…
Stick with the Winners! – February 2, 2020 – Despite a successful business career as a high-tech recruiter, Tim Ryan found himself in the grips of heroin use and ultimately was sentenced to prison for drug-related convictions. Tim was released in just 14 months, using his time behind bars to grasp sobriety through long-term recovery. Six months after his release, tragedy struck. His 20-year-old son, Nick–for whom Tim had paved the way to use deadly drugs–died of an overdose. Nick’s death further catalyzed Tim’s mission to spread long-term recovery and real solutions to anyone who would listen. “Having worked with…
Cooking Up A Better Life – Jan. 29, 2020 – …he also used the opportunity to encourage others currently going through a similar struggle. About three years after first opening up about his past struggles, Zimmern took to Instagram with another account of what it felt like to suffer from the disease, paired with a photo of himself from the early 1980s in which he’s toasting a glass of wine … This anniversary, he also offered advice and solidarity to others. “To those struggling with this disease, I wasted years not asking for help from people who cared about me.…
Life Saving – January 29, 2020 – “Instead of expanding access to treatment and saving lives, government inaction has led to the creation of active street markets for these medications in Philadelphia and elsewhere,” the office wrote in its news release this week. Krasner said his office had determined that “a few hundred people” are arrested each year in Philadelphia for buprenorphine possession without a prescription. His office could not say immediately how many of those charges were prosecuted. The District Attorney’s Office said research indicates that most people who use buprenorphine bought on the street are using it to…
So Sad – January 27, 2020 – Kevin Keast was a supportive husband, an amazing father and a compassionate social worker. He also struggled with mental illness and heroin addiction. That addiction ultimately killed him. There was the search for the right therapist, the right medication. There was a suicide attempt, and Kevin spent a week hospitalized. The couple overcame those difficulties and did the predictable things people do after they marry: the bought a house, they focused on their careers. Kevin went through periods of sobriety and relapse. “There was always an undercurrent of what if?” Sarah said of…
Have I got a rehab for you… – January 31, 2020 – “We’re still getting a lot of calls from people who are struggling for one reason or another. It seems to be people who have a lot of beds in either detox or residential and are struggling to fill those right now. “Certainly, there is still a market for quality providers who are doing things the right way. It just seems like a lot are struggling.” In its Behavioral Health M&A Report for the fourth quarter of 2019, Mertz Taggart says it tracked 21 transactions overall in behavioral health,…
Treatment Millions – Jan. 20, 2020 – That news came the same day AAC announced founder Michael Cartwright was stepping down as CEO, to be replaced by McWilliams, who at the time was the company’s chief financial officer. Cartwright remains chairman of the company’s board. The October agreement related to a $30 million high-interest loan, taken out in March, on which the company defaulted. The forbearance agreement was to run through March 31, 2020, and provided AAC with an additional $5 million from its lenders. @BizJournals
Canada Dry – January 31, 2020 – Anne Elizabeth works at the house for nineteen years. She started as a worker with pathological gamblers. “I started at the bottom of the ladder, so to speak, and then we started the prevention program. In fact, I was pregnant, I went on maternity leave, and when my director has established this program that greatly interested me, I negotiated with him to work there part time during my leave. I swear: between feedings, I would run a workshop in a school while my baby was only a few months. I wanted so much…
It’s Complicated – Jan. 2020 – In fact, the film more greatly resembles what we see in America today, where some are thriving but the poor and middle class are being squeezed to the point of despair. While op-ed pages issued cautions about “Joker” and its potential to provoke the darkest forces in our society, a few clearer-minded writers saw the film’s true intentions straight out of the gate. “Even after the early accusations that it was a film liable to incite violence proved unjust,” Gleiberman notes, “it was demonstrated beyond doubt that the movie spoke to humans of every…
Murdering For Money – January 29, 2020 – Its existence was revealed this week thanks to a government investigation. Practice Fusion agreed to pay $145 million to resolve civil and criminal cases, according to documents filed in a Vermont federal court. Practice Fusion admitted to the scheme with an unnamed opioid maker, though the details of the government case closely match a public research partnership between Practice Fusion and Purdue Pharma Inc., which makes OxyContin. … As deaths from opioid overdoses mounted, states and citizens accused manufacturers in lawsuits of pushing drugs while downplaying risks. Many millions of pills were…
9 years, 11 months sober… – Feb. 1, 2020 – As far as comeback stories go, there are few better than the one being authored by sports agent Leigh Steinberg. Steinberg also was promoting his blue-chip client currently in the NFL: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who will be winning the Super Bowl and is on the verge of becoming the highest-paid player in the NFL, perhaps at $40 million per season. Feb. 1, 2020 – No one on the planet understands the peaks and valleys of being a sports agent more than Steinberg, who turns 71 in March. There were…