Prescription Pill Abuse -- Still More Pharmacy Robberies and Dirty Doctors

Posted by Pat Olsen on February 24, 2012

Sometimes an issue’s impact doesn’t hit people until it lands in their back yard. I’m not one of those people. Likepolice cars and pharmacy.jpg many in the addiction and recovery field, I get the big issues, especially when it comes to abuse. But now that a drug store around the corner from me has been robbed by someone wanting drugs, pharmacy robberies ARE in my back yard.

It’s one thing to see the aftermath of a robbery on the news, when the camera focuses on the front of the pharmacy. It’s another to read “Middletown drugstore robbed of oxycodone by armed man” and realize you’ve been in that pharmacy.

The DEA reports that these armed robberies increased 81% from 2006 to 2010, and if current news reports are any indication, they seem to have increased even more in 2011 and so far in 2012. No pharmacy is safe. The industry publication Pharmacy Times advised hiring armed guards, or at least removing ads from front windows so police had a clear view of any danger inside.

Recently Joan posted about doctors who add to the prescription abuse problem by knowingly overprescribing pain pills to addicts: Doctors Who Fuel Addiction and Relapse. The robbery near my house came shortly after I saw the result of an accident on a New York state highway caused by a driver who was high on pain pills. A family died in the crash. A doctor had recently prescribed hundreds of pills for the driver. At the end of the news segment, another doctor was asked about this supposed professional, and his answer was telling. “He’s not a doctor, he’s a drug dealer,” he said.

And there’s an update on pill mills, which I posted about a year ago, that is not good news. You may remember that Florida authorities were shutting them down right and left. It seems many of the undesirables that start these storefront operations are simply moving to Georgia. “The people come completely out of left field without any pharmacy background and open a pharmacy in a sleazy strip mall right down the street from a pain clinic,” [the director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency] said. “You do a cursory background on them, and they’re living in a doublewide in Pembroke Pines, Fla.”

The USA Today article points out that drug dealers adapt. It seems safe to say that people who work in drug enforcement will never be out of a job.

 

Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston

Posted by Pat Olsen on February 12, 2012

Life is funny. My post about musicians and addiction appears, and wham—Whitney HoustonThumbnail image for Whitney houston.jpg becomes the latest musician to join the list of those who have died. Was it an overdose? News reports from TMZ and other news stations mention prescription pills near her body, so it’s likely? Not out of the question? Who knows.

I never even thought of her when I wrote that post. Whitney was a Jersey girl, and an icon of my generation. As so many commentators have said this morning, her voice was majestic. You should hear my women friends who also loved her describe her.

But as I heard her story on a morning show, there was no escaping her similar history to others in the field.  Blessed with extraordinary talent, she had a promising future when she started out.

Then…something…insecurity?...pressures associated with fame?...a troubled relationship with a man? derailed her.  I saw one headline that blamed Bobby Brown, her ex-husband, but I didn’t want to read it. She’d been to rehab after rehab. It was so sad to hear Larry King saying he didn’t recognize her even though she was sitting at the next table.

It’s so easy to speculate and blame.  As one commentator said, let’s leave her be now. Let the family mourn. As I’ve said before about anyone who becomes addicted, there are friends and family members who love the person. She was a mother, a daughter, a goddaughter, a friend, and so much more.

Musicians, Addiction and Recovery

Posted by Pat Olsen on February 12, 2012

You may remember a November post about professionals that form support groups for members making their way back from addiction:  lawyers and judges and medical professionals.Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for MusiCares.jpg

One group I didn’t include was musicians, and lord knows enough of them have problems with addiction. The list seems endless: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain are just three who died from overdoses.

I don’t know what it is about the lifestyle, but drug abuse seems so ingrained in it it’s scary. Why does the creative process, and this particular art especially, result in so many people taking such copious quantities of drugs? Last year, an article in The Wall Street Journal called The Rehab Album cited a number of albums by artists who got sober. It mentioned how good the quality of the work can be on these albums.

The WSJ article noted that Rapper Eminem titled one album “Recovery” and that when Eric Clapton stopped using alcohol and heroin, he produced Journeyman and his career soared.

In the last few months I tried to read the memoir by Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards but found it too cumbersome. Here’s what the WSJ writer said about this musician:

Among those not buying into the "Celebrity Rehab" school of repentant confession: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, whose iconic status for nearly half a century has been inextricably—and often glamorously—linked to his dissolute lifestyle. Riding high on the bestseller list, his "Life" memoir opens in 1975 with the guitarist holding a varied stash (marijuana, peyote, pharmaceutical-grade cocaine) and getting arrested in Arkansas, only to walk away in time for a concert in Dallas.

Throughout the book he is largely unapologetic about his drug intake, chalking up his longevity to his expertise as a user: "It's not only to the high quality of the drugs I had that I attribute my survival. I was very meticulous about how much I took."

I found the memoir of Aerosmith’s lead singer Stephen Tyler slightly easier to read (“Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?”), although he probably matched Richards in drug use. In this video he agreed with Oprah Winfrey that it’s amazing he’s alive today.

One support group for musicians in recovery is The MusiCares Foundation. This organization offers different types of assistance, but help with drug treatment is one of them. Yahoo also has a group.

Musicians who recover and then speak about their lost years and what recovery means to them do such a service. Those who continue to get into trouble and make the news do not make for entertaining reading. Well, not for me, anyway.

 

Note from Joan Borsten:  

MusiCares has paid part of the cost of treatment for several of the musicians we have had in treatment at Malibu Beach Recovery Center.  We are always grateful for the organization's help and support, effectively administered by Harold Owens.

Does Blue Cross Fuel Addiction by Sending Payment to Addicts Instead of Treatment Providers?

Posted by Joan Borsten on February 10, 2012

You are an alcoholic or drug addict in the earliest stages of recovery.  You just finished rehab.  On admission you assigned your insurance benefits to the treatment center.cashing check triumphantly.jpg

Suddenly you get a very big check in the mail from your Blue Cross Health Plan, made out to you.  Obviously the money is intended is for the treatment center.   Do you forward it to the treatment center?  Or do you cash the check and spend the money? 

According to alcohol and drug treatment centers up and down the State of California more often than not, the check leads right back to an expensive drug addiction, or triggers a “secondary” addiction like gambling, shopping or overspending.

Is it possible that Anthem Blue Cross of California, Blue Cross of Hawaii and Blue Cross of Washington State – to name a few --  are unaware that the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) recently updated their definition of addiction to “chronic brain disease?”

Sending the check intended to pay for treatment to the addict or schizophrenic is not like sending a check to someone who broke a leg.

As a supervisor at Blue Shield put it, whenever a claim comes in with a mental health code the system should automatically direct payment to the provider.

Last year we learned the hard way about payment policy of some of the Blue Crosses.  Our client was Colin (not his real name), 32.  In addition to being addicted to prescription pills, he and his Significant Other were very entitled "big spenders" – designer clothes, first class travel, fine dining.  While in treatment, instead of washing his clothes, Colin sent everything out to be cleaned.

Colin's insurance policy only covered part of the treatment costs, and of course he was broke, so his elderly grandparents borrowed money against their social security and pension payments, and his parents cashed out part of their nest egg. 

When we discovered --  to our horror -- that the local Blue Cross, in accordance with their policies, had issued payment to Colin, we were terrified.   We learned through the family Colin and his Significant Other were on vacation in Mexico.  When the couple got home they quickly deposited the check and told the parents no check had arrived.  When Blue Cross confirmed the check had been cashed, Colin told his parents it was a different check.  The parents were ordered to stop communicating with us.  The Significant Other threatened a law suit and hired a lawyer. Obviously Colin was entitled to a financial reward for having completed 30 days of treatment. Fortunately for us, the lawyer insisted that the proceeds of the check be deposited into his client trust account, and then wired us the money.  

Other rehabs have not been so lucky.  One lost $130,000 when clients made off with payments. 

The patient of another treatment center returned home and to his surprise found several large checks waiting for him. By that time he had lost his job and was collecting unemployment.  He hd bills to pay.  So he made a unilateral decision as to what he thought his treatment was actually worth, and kept the rest for himself.    

There ought to be a law.

Naloxone and Overdose Rescue Kits and Hangover Helpers

Posted by Pat Olsen on February 08, 2012

When I first saw the headline, “Overdose Rescue Kits”, I thought it was a joke, a takeoff on articles about overdose rescue kit.jpghangover remedies. But it wasn’t a joke. (FYI, since that day, the “New York Times” has changed the headline to “Kits Using Naloxone Revive Addicts After Opiate Overdose”. They make those changes occasionally.) I knew about oral activated charcoal used for drug overdoses, but this was different.

Last October I posted about states passing legislation to help those who overdose by removing the fear of being arrested if someone calls 911 to get the person help. This article is about helping people in other countries who overdose on drugs like heroin and Oxycontin.

In Europe, someone dies from a drug overdose every hour, the article says. (I wonder what the figure is in this country.) With naloxone (or Narcan, the brand name), which blocks opiate receptors, the person may be revived. I don’t know if it’s possible in every case, but it’s been “shown to work” and “has been used for decades by surgeons and paramedics.” Naloxone is “a secondary chemical in the drug Suboxone”, according to Wikipedia.

The article mentioned there’s a question about how legal it is to distribute these kits the way other countries do it, but there are groups in Central Asia and in Europe hard at work. In China, if you call a hotline, someone on a motorcycle will deliver the kit to you. In Afghanistan, however, the person who gave you a heroin injection may also provide the Naloxone shot. L

Now the cost. Roughly between  25 cents and $2.00 in other countries, in contrast to about $6 or $9 in the U.S, depending on what article you read.

Be sure and check out the photo of the kit in the article. It looks very professional, like a first aid kit you might buy for your house. A nasal spray is available as well. I wonder why I never heard of these kits before.

In a 2009 article in Time magazine, addiction writer Maia SzalavitzMaia Szalavitz.bmp wrote about programs in Chicago and North Carolina in this country.  I also found mention of the kits by a Canadian blogger. Here’s an article from the Harm Reduction Journal on a government site about a study of a program in New York City. The conclusions seemed pretty positive. Finally, NPR has had a story on the kits, too.

As the New York Times writer mentions, if someone is revived with this kit, it may send him or her back to rehab. On the other hand, Szalavitz notes a problem with these programs: could drug users also think that if this is something that can resuscitate them they can continue using drugs with impunity? Which, as we know, is playing Russian roulette with your life.

About hangover remedies…there’s news on that front as well. Just before New Year’s, several new products hit the news. Enterprising entrepreneurs have been busy.

One product, a patch, goes on an area like a forearm 45 minutes before drinking and should be worn for eight hours after the last drink. It contains B and other vitamins, Acai berry, and folic and pantothenic acid. But even the doctor that helped produce the patch said that nothing will help those who drink a lot, so doesn’t this appear senseless?

Another supposed remedy is a pill that is a blend of aspirin, an antacid, and caffeine, and yet another is a mix of vitamin B and C, magnesium and cysteine. It seems to me there are so many more productive things to be doing with one’s time, and so many better things to invent for mankind.

Update from Joan Borsten:

Fifteen minutes after we published Pat's article, the phone rang.  A woman had already read it and wanted to know where to get a Naloxone kit.  She said she wanted to have one on hand in case her brother, a heroin addict, overdosed.   While researching this article, Pat had looked without luck for a manufacturer of these kits.  She tried again and discovered that kits require a prescription and the local pharmacy may or may not have a kit on hand, but there are apparently 200 naloxone distribution programs around the country.  There is a large program in New York directed by Sharon Stancliff with the Harm Reduction Coalition.  To find one in your area, type http://hopeandrecovery.org/overdose into your search engine and enter a zip code into the program locator.

 

Drunk Shopping

Posted by Pat Olsen on February 06, 2012

Joan mentioned recently that I post about alcohol frequently. It’s true, I do. You have to admit—it’s woman ordering from a catalogue 1.jpgeverywhere. It’s in newspaper ads, it’s paired with entrees on restaurant menus…And it’s easy to see why. It’s the “socially acceptable” drug. A friend of mine recently said that kids smoking pot today are as ubiquitous as people drinking wine. Sad analogy, but it shows once again, alcohol is everywhere and often considered socially acceptable.

One example of how rampant alcohol is in our culture is the articles about the increase in people who shop online after drinking. You’ve probably heard of “drunk dialing” (making phone calls you otherwise wouldn’t make if you were sober); now we have “drunk shopping,” or more elegantly  “shopping under the influence,” according to an article in The New York Times.

It was especially popular to drink and shop online over the holidays, according to the writer. Boutiques have long been enticing shoppers with wine and cheese, and over the holidays, at least one brick-and-mortar retailer, A.Line Boutique in Denver, used alcohol and food platters in the hope customers would shop more after imbibing.

As a society, we use alcohol in many ways, such as to mark important occasions, in the Catholic ritual of communion, and when socializing with friends and family. In moderation it’s harmless and even has protective effects on the heart. (Doesn’t it seem like researchers are always finding more benefits?)

Most people can drink socially with no problem. But for others, those who abuse alcohol or become addicted to it, alcohol has serious consequences. (That’s over 14 million people in the U.S.) Socially, it’s a disaster for the drinker and those around him or her. (You’ve probably heard that 1 in 4 people are affected by a loved one’s drinking.) And physically, alcohol can kill.

As I’ve written before, in The Physical Toll of Alcoholism, it affects countless organs in the body, can lead to cancer, and impacts your brain. It’s also the cause of car accidents and accidents in the home. Less deadly but still sad are how it affects one’s judgment. Drunk shopping indeed.

Malibu Beach Recovery Diet™ - Valentine's Day

Posted by Licia Jaccard on February 03, 2012

Here comes February!  romantic dinner.jpgSince a few days after Christmas, stores displays are already dressed in pink and red and gear our attention towards the celebration of Valentine’s Day or, in some cases “Singles Awareness Day”.  Rarely does the fact that you are or not in a relationship, whether it is willfully or not, weigh-in so heavily in a world divided in two: the have or have not...

However, there is always a purpose in knowing how to cook for 2, and the following recipes will enable you to have this special feast at any time of the year, for a friend, a date, or a significant other at the time of your choice... and maybe Valentine’s Day!

Starting the meal with an appetizer that is made well in advance allows you to focus your attention on your guest without being buried in the kitchen.  This traditional dessert recipe was converted to its savory counterpart where the quality of the Parmesan cheese you have purchased will shine.  Roasted tomatoes are available in the olive bar of most higher-end grocery stores such as Whole Foods or Gelsons. If fresh ones are unavailable, use sundried tomatoes packed in oil and drain well.  

As well, this is a day where you should indulge in a beautiful piece of white fish, chilean sea-bass in this recipe, and serve it with the unusual braised radishes and the more traditional roasted asparagus tips.  

Lastly, dessert is the perfect setting for romance, and this one brings strong flavors, delicate balance and a rich lusciousness to the end of your meal.  This grown-up chocolate pie is a favorite of mine, as well as every other chocolate lover I have ever served it to.  Furthermore, if you were tempted to double the recipe, it can be made in advance and will freeze beautifully to allow you to enjoy the memories for many months to come.

Such a brilliant meal will certainly bring you praise and lots of bonus points.  Most of all, it rekindles the feeling that food can be anything but boring and can actually be fun to prepare and, most importantly, to share!

Click on Continue Reading (below) for the recipes.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Licia

www.sharemorethanfood.com

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