America’s Poison – Sept 20, 2019 – It took Congress until December 2017 to pass a bill specifically targeting fentanyl — nearly four years after legislators first received warnings about the dangers of the drug. In that time, more than 67,000 Americans had died from overdoses of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. Fentanyl death rates are still rising. A small group of lawmakers has been sounding the alarm on fentanyl since the drug started causing a spike in overdose deaths in 2013. But they were unable to pick up traction in Congress, controlled by Republicans for years, watching bills to…
Author: Leonard Buschel
Not In Our Crackyard – SEP. 19, 2019 – “I understand that there’s a need for a rehab center — we do need it — (but) I just think it’s not fiscally responsible to be put into Itasca,” said April Senase, who has lived in the village for a decade. “…Those of us who moved here and work two and three jobs to live in this town, it’s going to push us to where we have to leave.” The village’s Plan Commission has rescheduled the meeting for Oct. 2 at a location yet to be chosen. An hour before…
Don’t Start – September 21, 2019 – Like a game of telephone gone wrong, what followed was hundreds of citations of the letter justifying increased prescription of opioids. But few of the citations noted that the letter referred to inpatients prescribed opioids during brief and closely monitored hospital stays. The letter was never meant to apply to opioids in an outpatient setting, nor for long-term use. Meanwhile, another seed was planted. Many doctors and pain organizations, including the World Health Organization, began a well-intentioned campaign to treat pain. From breakthrough cancer pain to chronic backache, they said pain was undertreated,…
When Will It End? – September 19, 2019 – Dr. Schuchat said some patients are on ventilators and therefore are unable to tell investigators what substances they vaped. “I wish we had more answers,” she said. The C.D.C. provided the first demographic snapshot of the afflicted: Nearly three-quarters are male, two-thirds between 18 and 34. Sixteen percent are 18 or younger. “More than half of cases are under 25 years of age,” Dr. Schuchat said. Illnesses have now been reported in 38 states, and one United States territory. In the most recent case, in St. Louis, officials said on Thursday…
Who Doesn’t? – TWO YEARS AGO…APRIL 13, 2017 – A copy of the 92-page, partially redacted complaint describes how the company, spin-off company Indivior, and a third company called MonoSol RX gamed the pharmaceutical regulatory process using a variety of “deceptive and unconscionable” practices to maintain a chokehold on the emerging market for medicine-based addiction treatment. The case against Reckitt Benckiser accuses it of “product hopping,” in which a company tweaks its product slightly, often without any actual improvements, and then applies for a new patent with the intent of keeping its market share intact. In Reckitt Benckiser’s case, the…
Non merci, aller trop vite – Sept. 23, 2019 – The closely watched trial that opened in Paris is expected to last six months and is one of France’s biggest in years. The trial dossier runs to nearly 700 pages — with around 300 pages taken up by plaintiffs’ names. The trial was spread across five rooms, connected by video-link, at the Paris courthouse and nearly 400 lawyers were working on the case. Guardiola, who has already received a pay-off from Servier, will testify as a witness. She said the drug-maker “ruined my life.” Irène Frachon, a lung specialist who…
“If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.” —Marcus Aurelius
Time to Sue, Sue, Sue – Sept. 18, 2019 – “It has been a long time coming but there is now a legal team of experts fighting for victims and people impacted by the opioid crisis and Purdue Pharma. This morning, I filed a claim with the legal team against Purdue Pharma — which declared bankruptcy on Sunday night. I encourage each and every one of you to do the same. Any money recovered under my personal claim against Purdue, I am dedicating 100% to support solutions in prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery support services in my community.”…
Less For For-Profit Prisoners? – SEPT. 10, 2019 – “Certainly the worst things that we had great fear about – spikes in consumption, kids, people driving while high – we haven’t seen any of that,” he continued. “We were very worried that by legalizing, we were making this more somehow more psychologically available to kids. We haven’t seen that. If anything, we’ve seen less drug dealers.” If there is one area where society has had some difficulty adapting to a space where cannabis products are legal and readily available is many people still do not have a grip on how…
When they’re ready… – September 9, 2019 – Are you ready to stop using? It’s a question Mr. Whaley asks hundreds of addicts every year as part of the Drug Abuse Response Team (DART), a unit Sheriff John Tharp created in 2014 to combat the area’s rising overdose deaths by diverting addicts away from jail and into treatment. Team members roam the county reaching out to addicts after overdoses, checking on them in their homes and helping get them into detox or treatment and stay there. When she wasn’t ready — or willing — to get clean Ms. Howell,…
All Hands On Deck – SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 – Since then, Captain Sandy has used her own experience to help others overcome their demons. “In my career, I’ve helped many people who have drinking problems. I’m one of those people. And I grew up in a state where, at 17 years old, you could drink. And we had drive-through daiquiri bars. You could drive through, order your daiquiri, and drive away,” she said in the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 After Show, which you can view, above. “I kept getting arrested, drinking and driving. And then one day, I finally…
Way…Out – Sept. 11, 2019 – Mr. Johnston had been released from a hospital on Tuesday after being treated for kidney issues. “He was still productive, writing songs and drawing, and was just annoyed by his health more than anything,” his brother said. “It was just one thing after another.” In a career that was filled with stops and starts, Mr. Johnston became something of a man-child celebrity of the artistic underground, earning the admiration of rock stars like Kurt Cobain and Tom Waits as well as comparisons to William Blake. His cartoon drawings — rendered in Magic Marker and…
Proceed With Cough-tion – Sept. 9, 2019 – U.S. health officials have identified about 450 possible illness cases in 33 states, including as many as five deaths. No single device or ingredient has been tied to all the illnesses. Many of those who were sickened said they’d been vaping THC. The warning signs will be required to go in any store that sells vaping products. They read: “Vaping can expose you to toxic chemicals and kill you.” The three companies to be subpoenaed each sell a substance containing Vitamin E acetate used to thicken vaping liquid. While Vitamin E…
When Irish Eyes Are Crying – Sept. 10, 2019 – He said the drug was easy to get in his neighbourhood and he could get it as easily as buying a packet of cigarettes. His drug use led to heartache for his family, severe mental health difficulties for himself, and two suicide attempts. He took it by choice, but would warn young teenagers to make different choices because of the way drugs make the lives of addicts and their families completely unmanageable. Minister for State at the Department of Health Catherine Byrne acknowledged the growing concerns over cocaine addiction, which…
MEDIA: Book Preview – Oct. 2019 – Instead they offer a “developmental model” based on the experiences of people who overcome addictions when they find other sources of pleasure and meaning. Contrary to popular belief, such “natural recovery” is the norm, as illustrated by examples ranging from soldiers who gave up heroin after returning from Vietnam to heavy college drinkers who moderate their consumption when they assume adult responsibilities. “We do not see addiction as a permanent personal trait,” Peele and Rhoads write. “We see it as something that ebbs and flows in individuals over time, and that most of…
The Best First Step – September 10, 2019 – Stay Occupied and Productive Although it may not seem like groundbreaking advice, one of the best ways to guard against falling into addiction is to fill your time with positive behavior. Consider taking up jogging, get a gym membership or volunteer for a local community organization. Do whatever it takes to stay busy and productive. Most people that do this soon find that they’re leading fulfilling and enjoyable lives – and have no more room for their addictive tendencies. Learn About Addiction As the saying goes, “knowledge is power”. When…
From One Extreme to the Other – September 10, 2019 – “He’s moaning, he’s groaning, he’s yelling out in pain,” Carol says. “Why am I being singled out? I took it as prescribed. I didn’t abuse it,” Hank says. He is part of a sweeping change in chronic pain management — the tapering of millions of patients who have been relying, in many case for years, on high doses of opioids. With close to 70,000 people in the U.S. dying every year from drug overdoses, and prescription opioids blamed for helping ignite this national catastrophe, the medical community has grown…
Smart Business Man is No Angel – SEPT. 13, 2019 – “His fraud involved thousands of patients, 16 nursing homes, the systematic payment of bribes, a complex web of bank accounts, and brazen obstruction of justice to try to prevent it all from coming to light,” prosecutor Elizabeth Young wrote in a sentencing memo filed with the court this week. Esformes, who has been in maximum security detention for 37 months since his 2016 arrest, called himself a shattered, repentant man when he stood before the judge. His shoulders drooped beneath his baggy khaki prison shirt as he began…
Obituary: He Was There To Help – Sept. 10, 2019 – The department he headed, Counseling and Psychological Services, describes itself on its website as a resource to help “students adjust to university life, manage personal and situational challenges, develop coping strategies, and grow personally and professionally.” Eells had previously worked at Cornell University as director of counseling and psychological services and as director of the University Counseling Center at the University of Southern Mississippi. He arrived at UPENN at a time when the campus community was demanding more mental health resources, according to student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian, in…
Makes Scarface Look Like an Amateur – Sept 12, 2019 – Court: Big Pharma drug dealers “Drug manufacturers cannot, as is alleged here, knowingly seek out suspect doctors and pharmacies, oversupply them with opioids for the purpose of diversion, benefit from the process, and then cynically invoke their status as otherwise lawful companies to avoid civil liability,” Appellate Judge D. Michael Swiney wrote. The common perception of a drug dealer may be that of the street dealer, but the DDLA does not make that distinction,” the opinion continued. “If plaintiffs’ allegations are correct … (opioid) manufacturer defendants knowingly flooded…
Cold Cold Turkey – SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 – The ACLU filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Kansas on September 6, and argues that the BOP’s denial of buprenorphine to Crews violates the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution against “cruel and unusual punishment.” It puts Crews at risk of withdrawal, relapse and overdose, the ACLU said. The ACLU noted that the federal government already recognizes medication-assisted treatments like buprenorphine as the standard of care for opioid use disorder. Federal prosecutors have already launched investigations of state and local prisons or jails that similarly denied people…
Staying On Message – Sept. 14, 2019 – Greta Waples, one of the organizers of the event, spoke to CBC Manitoba’s Ismaila Alfa on Up to Speed on Friday, her two-year sobriety anniversary. “I was essentially just getting through the day, doing what I had to do to get that next fix,” she recalled. “I was barely living, barely surviving.” But Waples’s story didn’t end there. She went to trauma rehab, developed positive relationships, found a supportive community and managed to claw her way out of addiction. “There was too much to lose as I kept moving forward,” she said.…
Too Lazy to Roll a Joint? – September 5, 2019 – When it is “inhaled deep in the lung, [it] can cause problems,” Zucker tells NPR. He says the lab has found very high amounts of vitamin E in 13 of the patient-submitted cartridges they’ve analyzed. “As high as even 50 percent of the liquid that is in the vaping [cartridge].” It was not found in cartridges from patients that contained only nicotine. It’s not clear whether some patients vaped both cannabis and nicotine products. Zucker also notes that they haven’t ruled out other substances, and the Food and…
New (Important) Music – September 13, 2019 – “You know they talk about addiction. It’s a progressive disease. It’s not something where you just wake up and you’re homeless and you’re begging for crack or heroin,” Fraites says. On the latest album, the band tracks how this disease progresses through three generations. The first includes an alcoholic woman named Gloria Sparks. In the song “Gloria,” Schultz imagines how Gloria’s children see her and how she sees herself. “Gloria being that important and also being that dysfunctional is where the album kind of begins,” Schultz explains. The listener can hear…
Mission Assisted Treatment – September 14, 2019 – I’ll never forget the last time I drank or my state of mind at that desperate moment in my life. I’d just left my job a week earlier and didn’t have much to live for. I had few friendships left; I became known as “Liv the liability” — no one knew how I would behave on a night out and I was often too much to handle. I’d either verbally attack someone or pass out in the bathroom of a random bar. My family was desperately worried but trying to maintain their…
Where the Bottom Line is a Corpse – Sept. 14, 2019 – “This is what people need to know,” Boffetti went on: “Those companies are going to continue to operate, because it will take them years to wind them down, and they generate cash flow” — by some estimates, up to $1 billion a year. “And they propose that they can find ways to use that to defray costs, to pay for lawyers, to help sell those businesses,” he said. “They get to walk away with all the money they took out of the company running this opioid scheme…
Testimony – Sept. 14, 2019 – Johnny Rzeznik has been sober for nearly five years now, but the journey wasn’t an easy one for the Goo Goo Dollsfrontman, who admits he used alcohol as a social lubricant. “It worked for a while because it was a social lubricant. I didn’t have to deal with anything that I was afraid of, which was everything. I loved being alone and drunk,” he explained to People in a revealing new interview, “that was when I felt most comfortable.” “Then I was like, this can’t go on forever,” he recalled. “It got dark.” Thankfully,…
An Addiction Call Box – Sept. 14, 2019 – “We’ve already got a few phone calls and we even got someone help,” Sylvester said. Sylvester said he knows about the struggles of fighting addiction – 30 years ago, he was addicted to alcohol and cocaine. “You feel hopeless,” Sylvester said. “It leaves you empty. It destroys you. It takes your soul. It really is just this destructive path and it happens quicker than you think.” It’s a simple idea and the two men hoped putting an answer right in an area where drug use is common can help reach…
DON’T EXHALE – September 5, 2019 – The university’s Star Lab, led by Alexander Star, began developing the box-shaped device in 2016, in the midst of a wave of pot legalization across the United States. Star, a chemistry professor, partnered with Ervin Sejdic, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who’s also at the university, to build the prototype. The device uses carbon nanotubes, which are 1/100,000 the size of human hair, to recognize the presence of THC, even when other substances are in the breath, such as alcohol. The THC molecule binds to the surface of the tubes, altering…
She’s Got Game – Sept. 12, 2019 – In retrospect, what I realized is that when I opened the door (again), it was just giving my power away,” said Moore. “I guess I would think of it like this: It was really important to me to have natural childbirth because I didn’t want to miss a moment. And with that I experienced pain. So part of being sober is, I don’t want to miss a moment of life, of that texture, even if that means being in … some pain.” In Harper’s Bazaar, Moore credits her daughters with ex-husband Bruce…