Driving Us Crazy – February 21, 2019 – A study published last year found that extreme traffic increased the incidence of domestic violence by 9 percent. We talk to a psychotherapist, and hear how listeners cope with traffic. Full Story @ KCRW.com
Author: Leonard Buschel
Not a Stroke of Genius – February 16, 2019 – Among almost 82,000 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, risk for fatal and nonfatal stroke was 23% higher among women who self-reported drinking the most diet beverages — two or more per day — compared to the women who consumed the least. The latter group drank none or less than one of these beverages per week Full Story @ CNN.com
Mystery Drug – Feb. 21, 2019 – It comes in pills and powder, but no matter the form, the leaves from the tropical kratom tree can used to do the same thing: treat pain, depression, anxiety and even help with opioid withdrawal. “It’s a natural plant that people look at and say oh it’s natural it’s safe but it’s a very potent plant,” Henry Spiller, MS, DABAT, co-author of the study and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital said. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says the leaves contain compounds that can cause effects similar…
Washington Post – February 23, 2019 – Ryan Hess’s rock bottom came during a drizzly December in Ohio. He was yet again high on heroin, and he had been that way for more hours than he could remember. The 33-year-old lay on a filthy sweatshirt beneath a piece — just a small piece — of tent, stolen from a stranger’s garden shed. His socks and shoes were wet, his breath and body reeked. “I was hungry and very lonely,” he says. “I broke down weeping like a baby. I needed help, and 48 hours later I finally accepted it.” Full…
Stunning – Feb. 22, 2019 – “In the back of your mind you’re saying, what is this? What else is going on?” deputy James Hennessey says. Deputies said it was then clear the situation was a triple overdose. “They’re completely unresponsive, turning blue, the color leaving their faces. It’s scary,” Henry says. Each person got a dose of Narcan after deputies suspected the victims took fentanyl. The doses that were administered by deputies initially were not enough. When firefighters arrived, they delivered more Narcan. All three were taken to a hospital and survived. Full Story @ WPTV.com
The Only Good Ice – February 22, 2019 – “I don’t call ice climbing a sport. I call it an endeavor, a practice. It’s got too much danger to call it a sport. But that’s one of the reasons I love it. The danger brings you completely into the present moment.” Today, Talbot is climbing at the Ouray Ice Park in Ouray, Colorado. It’s a small mountain town nestled in the San Juan Mountains that’s affectionately known as the “Switzerland of America.” A light flurry of snow is falling steadily as Talbot finishes prepping her gear. She’s completely unfazed by…
Please Stop Coming Back – Feb. 22, 2019 – Nick Yacoub, STAR’s certified peer-recovery specialist, started using drugs when he was 10 years old and is now 11 years into recovery after his life turned around while mentoring others. “In that moment helping somebody else I felt very good about myself and thanks to that it gave me the motivation I needed to continue my own lifestyle of recovery,” Yacoub said. Later on this year the county plans to open a recovery unit for women, who make up about 17 percent of the detention center population. Full Story @ LocalDVM.com
Eating Our Feelings – February 21, 2019 – “Perhaps the time has come for us to take a closer look at the role of diet in mental health, because it could be that healthy diet choices contribute to mental health. More research is needed before we can answer definitively, but the evidence seems to be pointing in that direction.” said Jim E. Banta, PhD, MPH, associate professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health. The study found that nearly 17 percent of California adults are likely to suffer from mental illness — 13.2 percent with moderate psychological distress and…
Too Late? – Feb. 22, 2019 – More than 2.5 billion people around the world use smartphones, spending an average of four hours a day on their phones. Many say they want to cut back on the screen time, but only around half who try succeed. Georgetown Professor Cal Newport, author of “Digital Minimalism,” says it is possible to quit your smartphone addiction for good. Full Story @ WDSU.com
No Way Out – February 22, 2019 – Stevens was found dead at his Los Angeles home at approximately 1 p.m. The website obtained audio of emergency dispatchers responding to a 911 call about a “hanging.” The L.A. native was best known for his oddball stand-up routines at local clubs as well as larger festivals, such as Just for Laughs in Montreal. His last known set took place at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood on Wednesday, February 20, just two days before his death. Stevens also worked as an actor, starring in films including The Hangover, The Hangover Part…
Life Saving Prescription – February 21, 2019 – Such co-prescribing mandates are emerging as the latest tactic in a war against an epidemic of prescription and illegal opioids that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives over the past two decades. The companies that make the drug are supportive of the moves. It’s not hard to see why: An FDA analysis estimated that more than 48 million additional naloxone doses would be needed if the agency officially recommended co-prescribing nationally. Full Story @ KHN.org
All Talk, No Action? – Feb. 24, 2018 – With seven pharmaceutical executives set to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, one can only hope for a similarly pivotal moment for prescription drug prices. Like their predecessors in the tobacco industry, the drug makers will testify at a time of near-universal anger over industry antics. Drug prices are soaring in a way that defies reason. A vial of insulin that cost less than $200 a decade ago now sells for closer to $1,500. Actimmune, a drug that treats malignant osteoporosis and sells for less than $350 for a…
Equal Opportunity Killer – February 22, 2019 – Why is it spreading? “Heroin,” Stanford University’s Mathew Kiang told NBC News “specifically, fentanyl-laced heroin … African-Americans were less affected because there were “much lower opioid prescription rates in the black population than in the white population,” the study stated. In recent years, however, “rates of heroin use and prescription opioid misuse in blacks and whites have begun to converge,” that study said. Full Story @ AOL.com
Acting As If – Feb. 22, 2019 – You’ve lost Becky Something,’ she was told at the start of the trailer. Becky was then seen admiring herself in a mirror and smoking as a crowd chanted. I always flirt with death, I look ill, but I don’t care about it,’ Becky sang. Full Story @ DailyMail.co.uk
DEA Suffer$ Cutback$ – February 22, 2019 – The (DEA) claims it operates its current civil asset forfeiture program “to disrupt the financial dealings and dismantle the financial infrastructure of illegal drug traffickers.”But, it is unclear how some items seized are implicated in the “financial infrastructure of illegal drug traffickers.” For example, the DEA and collaborating agencies seized huge sums of high-priced jewelry, totaling over $560,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018. Full Story @ FilterMag.org
Clearly Giving Back – February 21, 2019 – Alexakis says he is flattered when people find hope in his songs, but he is even more happy when people are encouraged by his three decades of sobriety. “I like to be a part of making people happy and taking care of people. And hopefully teaching people, through my experiences and my story, how to take care of themselves,” said Alexakis. Full Story @ WPDE.com
It’s Real to Them – Full Story @ NBCNews.com
Very Bad Taste – February 2019 – “Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either,” she added. Burberry boss Marco Gobbetti said the brand was “deeply sorry for the distress” caused, adding: “It was insensitive and we made a mistake.” The hoodie featured in a collection called Tempest which was on the runway at London Fashion Week on Sunday. The show featured “rebellious youths” scaling walls in one space and Burberry’s creative director Riccardo Tisci dedicated it to “the youth of today”. Model Liz, who had been part of the Burberry show but didn’t wear the hoodie, said…
Hypocritical Oafs – Feb. 22, 2019 – Dr. Michael Anthony Simental of Corona, 47, who practiced at the Kaiser Permanente – Dr. Reza Ray Ehsan of Bel-Air, 60, – Saloumeh Rahbarvafaei of Northridge, 40, – Ana Leblanc of Chino Hills, 33, Kaiser Permanente issued a statement saying Simental has been on leave since November, and his patients are being treated by other physicians. The company said it is cooperating with the investigation. “We are extremely diligent in meeting our commitment to the proper prescribing of medication,” according to Kaiser. “We are also a leader in innovating ways to reduce opioid…
Making a Killing – Feb. 21, 2019 – Dr. David Kessler, the FDA commissioner in the 1990s at the time Purdue’s powerful, long-acting opioid Oxycontin was first approved, says the FDA never should have allowed the drug and others like it to be broadly marketed for chronic pain patients. The agency erred in radically extending the market for opioids despite the lack of studies on the safety and efficacy for long term use, he says. The former commissioner says the label on opioid drugs must be changed to limit the ability of drug companies’ to market opioids. “It needs to…
Facing Lawsuits From 37 States, 1,500 Cities – Feb. 20, 2019 – Forbes ranked the Sacklers the 19th-richest family in America in 2016 at $13 billion. While a total assessment of the family’s philanthropy is unclear, millions have been given away by family entities. For example, the Mortimer D. Sackler Foundation distributed more than $2.7 million from 2015 to 2017, tax records show. And the London-based Sackler Trust distributed £8.4 million ($11 million) in 2017, according to documents filed with the U.K. Charity Commission….The Sacklers have been the subject of new scrutiny since January. A judge last month unsealed new…
Slipped me Mickey got real Goofy – February 15, 2019 – The alcohol-filled push-pops made headlines over the summer, when it was discovered that each Buzz Pop comes loaded with more alcohol than a glass of wine! Needless to say, Disney park visitors who want to beat the eat and beat their sobriety away, now have a new best friend! Full Story @ ComicBook.com
Should Be Mandatory – Feb. 14, 2019 – A Senate Democrat on Thursday filed a proposal that would allow public schools to buy a type of drug that is used to treat people who have overdosed on opioids. Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Miami-Dade County Democrat, filed the bill (SB 1064) for consideration during the legislative session that starts March 5. Under the proposal, schools would be able to buy supplies of naloxone, a type of drug known as an opioid “antagonist” that is administered to counter the effects of overdoses. The bill also would shield from liability school officials who…
Food is God – November 16, 2018 – “I was suffering from the DTs [delirium tremens],” he says. “I chose alcohol over food for a period of about four weeks. I was about 140 pounds—and I’m six foot two. I developed bleeding ulcers and I was vomiting blood. In my mind, it was still a question of whether or not I had a problem.” Chef Bogardus, having reached a physical rock bottom, was forced to confront his reality. It wasn’t the manifestation of his illness that brought him down, really. It was the inability to self-medicate. “Once I couldn’t keep…
Freebie – February 14, 2019 – Typically, the person in recovery dreams that they’re using their main substance again, and gets flooded with overwhelming feelings of panic or guilt. Once the person wakes up, however, they usually feel relieved that they were just dreaming. Typically, the person in recovery dreams that they’re using their main substance again, and gets flooded with overwhelming feelings of panic or guilt. Once the person wakes up, however, they usually feel relieved that they were just dreaming. Full Story @ Bustle.com
Medi (don’t) Care – February 15, 2019 – In 2007, nearly 90 percent of insurance plans offered buprenophine without restriction, but that number had shrunk to 35 percent by 2018. Over that same period, the proportion of plans that covered prescription opioids (such as OxyContin) with no restrictions ranged from 93 percent to 100 percent. Full Story @ USNews.com
BE CAREFUL – February 15, 2019 – In the same period, the number of people who had syphilis and reported using injection drugs — meth and heroin — more than doubled, according to the CDC report. Nearly 17 percent of women with primary and secondary syphilis said they had used methamphetamine, 10 percent had used some form of injection drugs and 5.8 percent had used heroin in the past year. Full Story @ DailyMail.co.uk
Recovery is Beautiful – Feb. 15, 2019 – But she is now 80 days clean and is already looking remarkably healthier. She appeared on TV yesterday where she received high praise for overcoming her demons thanks to a three-month spell in rehab. at the Perry Clayman Project. Christie said: ‘My first night in rehab was really difficult because I had to go through a withdrawal process, so I had to go as long as possible through a detox before I could be stable on my medication. ‘I know at one point I didn’t feel very positive and I was really…
Overcoming – February 17, 2019 – I think it was the way in which my parents reacted to it,” he said of his overdose. “My mom was in Poland at the time, and her mom, my grandma, was sick with pancreatic cancer; she had been given a month to live. “She just said, ‘I give up, I surrender, I’m done fighting … You’re either going to make it or you’re either going to not.’ And that really hit me and that finally shook me enough to say, ‘I can’t continue to do this on my own. I’m finally ready to…
Pay Sam Money! – February 6, 2019 – Quinones’ book explored how opiate addiction took over countless towns throughout America starting in the 1990s. The name for the book came from the nickname given to a popular swimming pool in Portsmouth, Ohio, one of the key locations in Quinones’ journey. The film “Dreamland,” which will star Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly and Armie Hammer, follows a drug trafficker, a professor, and a recovering addicted mother who are each tangled in the machine that keeps the addiction going in their own ways. Quinones told TheWrap that he has no involvement in the…