Grateful Actor Looks Back – August 1, 2018 – Actor David Charkham talks about his own addiction and recovery. Filmed in Battersea Park, London. In 1965, David Charkham played a schoolboy in the original London cast of Wolf Mankowitz’s musical “Passion Flower Hotel”. Along with two other cast members, he recorded a song from the musical, “I Love My Love”, which was issued on Decca. He also appeared in various children’s TV programs during the 1960s. In 1972 he appeared in the London production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. His mother and father worked in the fashion business. NOW, David Charkham…
Author: Leonard Buschel
Celebrity Rehab’s Rehab SHUT – August 4, 2018 – State health regulators are moving to revoke the license of a well-known Pasadena drug rehabilitation center made famous by the reality television show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.” The Department of Health Care Services temporarily suspended the Pasadena Recovery Center’s license in June after investigating the death of a client and a series of other violations. The agency now is seeking a permanent revocation to protect the clients of the program, according to records filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings. PRC is now operating as a sober living facility, which…
Patient Beware – August 3, 2018 – Their latest project, titled The Bleeding Edge, targets the $400 billion medical device industry and its cult of innovation—pitting promising new devices against older, more proven treatments. More specifically, Dick and Ziering aim to expose the corporate carelessness around FDA-approved medical devices like Essure, a permanent birth control implant that blocks the fallopian tubes so women can’t get pregnant. Full Story @ Tonic.Vice.com
NEW BOOK RECOMMENDATION – August 5, 2018 – By Beth Macy In 2000, a doctor in the tiny town of St. Charles, Va., began writing alarmed letters to Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin. The drug had come to market four years earlier and Art Van Zee had watched it ravage the state’s poorest county, where he’d practiced medicine for nearly a quarter-century. Older patients were showing up at his office with abscesses from injecting crushed-up pills. Nearly a quarter of the juniors at a local high school had reported trying the drug. Late one night, Van Zee was summoned…
Altoid Sales Set to Skyrocket – August 4, 2018 – As legalization of recreational and medical marijuana continues to expand, police across the country are more concerned than ever about stoned drivers taking to the nation’s roads and freeways, endangering lives. With few accurate roadside tools to detect pot impairment, police today have to rely largely on field sobriety tests developed to fight drunk driving or old-fashioned observation, which can be foiled with Visine or breath mints. That has left police, courts, public health advocates and recreational marijuana users themselves frustrated. Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized…
No Mystery Here – August 1, 2018 – Art Bell, a former syndicated AM radio host best known for nightly shows in the 1990s featuring paranormal themes and conspiracy theories, died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, authorities in Nevada said Wednesday. An autopsy found the 72-year-old Bell’s death April 13 at home in rural Pahrump was from “multiple drug intoxication from his own lawfully prescribed prescriptions,” Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly’s office said in a brief Facebook announcement . It called the death an accidental overdose. Full Story @ ChicagoTribune.com
It’s a Family Affair – July 31, 2018 – Michael Douglas is getting candid about his son Cameron’s public struggle with drug addiction. Cameron was released from jail in August 2016 after serving almost seven years for drug charges. He was originally sentenced to five years in prison for possession of heroin and selling methamphetamine in 2010, but after admitting to smuggling drugs into prison, his sentence was extended. “My son’s struggle was a nightmare,” Douglas says in a new interview with Radio Times. “It was stressful for all involved, very painful and difficult. I’m happy to say he’s in…
Google Hired LegitScript – July 30, 2018 – More than 100 addiction treatment centers have been cleared to join Google’s AdWords service, David Khalaf, a spokesman for LegitScript, told Behavioral Healthcare Executive, an industry magazine. Earlier this year, Google hired LegitScript, a company that provides security services for online health businesses, to develop a method of vetting addiction treatment ads so that the company could start accepting the ads again, Reuters reported. LegitScript considers 15 criteria, including criminal background checks and checks for appropriate licenses. It charges would-be advertisers $1,995 a year for its services, according to Reuters … The…
No More Empty Beds – July 26, 2018 – This hearing focused on call centers, which refer callers to treatment facilities, and which people frequently find by searching for addiction help online. News investigations have found that unscrupulous call centers refer patients to shoddy facilities—especially patients with private insurance that they can bill—and often hide the fact that they’re paid by the treatment clinics to do so. Journalist Cat Ferguson found that the companies involved in the care of one call center user billed her insurance more than $3,600 for a urine test, for which Medicare reimburses less than $80,…
Profit Off The People – July 22, 2018 – Scott’s Gilead investment appears to have begun in 2013, when the company’s stock began soaring after the groundbreaking Solvadi drug treatment was launched at a price of $1,000-a-pill, or $84,000 for a 12-week course. Harvoni and Epclusa are other expensive Hep C drugs the company makes and commonly used. But increasing competition from other products has caused Gilead’s stock to stall after years of sharp growth. In those early go-go years, both public and private payers derided the Hep C drugs as budget busters. A U.S. Senate Finance Committee investigation in…
Little Lambs – July 23, 2018 – Due to alcohol also being present in products such as mouthwashes, the researchers set a cut off meconium EtG level that has previously reflected two alcoholic drinks a month. Between seven and eight years later, 198 of the families agreed to have the same children assessed for their IQs and attention skills. Attention was measured by recording how long it took for the children to respond to green traffic lights. DNA samples were also taken from mouth cells in the children. The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. Full…
Everyone Can Make a Difference – July 24, 2018 – When Milo Cress was 9 years old, he was at a neighborhood cafe, Leunig’s Bistro and Cafe in Burlington, Vermont. He’d noticed that whenever he’d be at restaurants with his mom, Odale Cress, and order a drink, they automatically came with a plastic straw popped into them. To Milo, that was odd. “It seemed like a waste to me,” he told The Daily Beast. Why? Cress saw that a lot of patrons were like him—they’d take the straw out of the glass, setting it aside or throwing it away. And…
MEDIA: Book Recommendation – July 2018 – Dana Bowman can’t escape the lure of perfectionism, trying to be a flawless wife, mother, and person in recovery. When Dana experiences a short-lived relapse during the Christmas holiday, she has the startling realization that recovery is more than just giving up alcohol. In this funny and revealing follow-up to her best-selling book Bottled, Dana reflects on how we live in a society of excess, always pushing ourselves to do and be better. However, it doesn’t take her long to realize that self-care and getting over herself is the key to happiness. Full…
Believe It or Rot – July 25, 2018 – A Memphis teen had to go through gut-wrenching surgery to remove her gallbladder, and her mom is blaming it all on spicy snacks. Rene Craighead said her 17-year-old daughter, also named Rene, loves Hot Cheetos and spicy Takis so much so that she eats whole bags of them. “She loves them. Every time I go out she says, ‘Bring me back some Hot Takis, bring me back some Hot Chips,’” Craighead told Memphis station WREG TV. “I want to make her happy, so I brought them back. She was eating big…
Cokefessional – July 23, 2018 – Dennis Quaid is finally ready to come clean about his cocaine addiction. This morning, Megyn Kelly Today aired a taped interview with Quaid, who discussed his drug addiction, his marriage to Meg Ryan, and his upcoming film Reagan. Quaid may be a successful, healthy actor now, but he revealed to Megyn Kelly that in the 1980s — the height of his early career — he was entirely dependent on cocaine, and it took a “white light experience” to set him on the path to recovery. “I grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, and…
SOAPBOX by Pete Nielson – July 26, 2018 – Addressing the growing opioid epidemic in California will require our state elected officials to do more than author bills in Sacramento. While legislation is important, we need leaders to be the voices that draw those suffering with addiction out of darkness and despair and into the light of needed, quality treatment. My organization fights for better treatment and more access, but faces a state Capitol that lacks leadership on the issue and a comprehensive approach to solving it. Opinion We need legislators to become knowledgeable on addiction and its human impact.…
Screening for Help – July 27, 2018 – Russell Kane, the comedian, has disclosed that he is receiving treatment for internet addiction and likened the lure of social media to cocaine. Kane said his use of a smartphone to monitor social media had become out of control and was affecting his family life. Speaking on his Boys Don’t Cry podcast, Kane, 42, said: “I’ll throw something out there. I’ve had six counselling sessions for internet addiction. Six, because it’s affecting my life. I haven’t shared this publicly; in fact, I don’t think my mum even knows this. I was getting…
So Do Non-Celebrities Too! – July 26, 2018 – What was your initial reaction when you first heard that Demi Lovato was checked into a hospital after a suspected heroin overdose? Public opinion seemed to be split between people who were genuinely concerned for the pop star, and another group of people asking, “Who the hell is Demi Lovato?” You would be hard-pressed to find anyone bashing her for her relapse or calling her a “scumbag.” This was the complete opposite reaction to Whitney Houston’s demise, Lamar Odom’s downfall, Josh Gordon’s struggles and other black celebrities who succumb to the…
Coming Clean – July 23, 2018 – Tyler went on to compare his descent into the depths of addiction by referencing Lewis Carroll’s famed female protagonist. ‘I went down the worst path. I went down the rabbit hole,’ says Tyler. ‘I went chasing Alice.’ The Aerosmith frontman and his bandmate Joe Perry were known as the ‘Toxic Twins’ because of their drug struggles, and by the mid-80s the band seemed to be heading for rock-and-roll obscurity. Full Story @ DailyMail.co.uk
Know Thyself – July 1, 2018 – What is it about a good selfie that we find so endearing to our hearts? Thousands of tiny pixels, drawing from a palate of hundreds of different colors, coordinated on a smartphone screen in such a way that makes us laugh or cry, smile or frown, or feel some other emotions. Selfies often tell an untold or underlying story words simply cannot do justice to. They’ve changed the way we view ourselves, the people closest to us and the world around us in real time. Even professional photographers are getting in on the…
Sober Beds for Sale – July 27, 2018 – After Joseph and Rebecca Scolari turned their former home on Via Lampara into a sober living house, complaints piled up at their Talega homeowners’ association. Dead plants in the pots by the front door. Green-water Jacuzzi. Unmowed lawn. Faded garage door paint. “Please clarify what exactly is wrong with my garage door,” Rebecca Scolari wrote to Talega’s property management company in May 2015. “It appears to be in fine condition. Is everyone else on Via Lampara painting their garage doors? They are all the same age and have all been exposed…
Peace and Blessings – July 28, 2018 – Drug addiction and mental illness are real, constant struggles for millions of Americans, and Demi Lovato has long been forthcoming about the fact that she is among them. Her honesty has been a gift to many people who have experienced similar illnesses. And while much of the media will claw to eke out whatever grim details they can of what happened on Tuesday when she was rushed to the hospital after an apparent overdose, we should instead take this as an opportunity to recognize how Lovato’s openness about her struggles with addiction…
Bigger Bottles! – July 24, 2018 – There’s a scene in the first episode of HBO’s Sharp Objects that hits a little close to home: Camille Preaker, played by Amy Adams, makes her way to her car from a dive bar. Not ready to call it a night just yet—who ever is?—she cranks up the Led Zeppelin while idling in the parking lot and thrashes her head in demonstration of her booze-induced euphoria. The camera zooms in on her long hair as she whips it back and forth, wild and unencumbered, and then smash cut to: morning, when she startles…
The Anxious Americans – July 27, 2018 – When Christy Huff developed a painful eye problem that led to insomnia, her doctor had a common solution — Xanax. She took the medication as directed. One pill at night offered her some relief, but soon she began to experience anxiety, daytime terrors and tremors. Then, Huff had a startling realization. When she was off the Xanax she was going through withdrawal. And when she was on it “all of that just melted away,” she said. In just three weeks, her body was dependent on Xanax. “I don’t remember getting any warnings…
Help Is Available – July 26, 2018 – Tess Henry’s family paid $12,000 for 30 days of rehab from opioid addiction. She had done two more cycles of treatment without achieving sobriety. So her family agreed to pay $20,000 for 28 days of more rehab. But they never got the chance. A few days after assuring her mother that she planned to fly to Virginia to resume treatment, Ms. Henry was murdered. The tragic end of Ms. Henry’s six-year struggle to recover from an opioid addiction that began with a prescription for cough syrup was chronicled last week in The…
Generation Gone Good – July 28, 2018 – For Lemke, a member of Young People in Recovery, he has been breaking free from the drug addiction that haunted his life for 20 years. He said one of the most empowering things is the freedom he has from constantly looking for his next fix. “That’s the number one thing on your mind, no matter what. When you first wake up, that’s the first thing on your mind,” he said. “First thing that I think when I wake up now is what am I going to eat for breakfast.” But while Lemke,…
One in Four Potential Addicts – July 27, 2018 A quarter of the adults who went to hospital emergency departments with sprained ankles were prescribed opioid painkillers, a new study shows, in another sign of how commonly physicians turn to narcotics even for minor injuries. The state-by-state review revealed wide variation in the use of opioids for the sprains, from 40 percent in Arkansas to 2.8 percent in North Dakota. All but one of the nine states that recorded above-average opioid prescribing are in the South or Southwest. None are in the parts of Appalachia or New England that have…
INTRODUCING Sublocade – July 24, 2018 – Users often say they want to quit but the withdrawals are so intense that it pulls them back to the streets looking for another fix. That’s why a new opioid medication is being described as a great new weapon against opioid addiction. “To go from here to here is such a big jump. They need that titration, they need that step-down,” said Chad Sabora, a recovering addict who now helps others through his Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery. Sabora calls a new treatment drug called Sublocade “a game changer.” Full Story…
Keep Coming Back – July 27, 2018 – Demi Lovato is reportedly still in the hospital five days after she was found unconscious by paramedics at her L.A. home on Tuesday, July 24. A source confirmed to Us Weekly that the singer, 25, was still in the facility. Lovato was revived at her Hollywood Hills home by her friends with Narcan, which is typically administered after a narcotics overdose. “She had two friends with her at her house that called 911,” an insider told Us. “They were hysterical when paramedics arrived and Demi was unconscious. But the friends acted very…
Prevention Works – July 25, 2018 – Mayor Martin J. Walsh presented a new plan Tuesday to prevent youth substance use that he said he hopes marks a “historical turning point” in Boston. The 62-page document highlights the need to address racial, ethnic, gender, and economic inequities that contribute to substance use among youth. It acknowledges that young people of color often experience disadvantages in trying to access treatment and support. The report recommends focusing on the issues underlying substance abuse. Walsh, introducing the plan at City Hall, contrasted this approach with the “Just Say No” campaigns of the ’80s…