Pharmas O'Death

Pharmaceutical manufacturers do not make a profit unless they are selling pharmaceuticals. In order to maximize profits these companies may resort to unscrupulous business practices. And then they go to jail, but only after a number of people die.

BOSTON – Several pharmaceutical executives and managers, formerly employed by Insys Therapeutics, Inc., were arrested today on charges that they led a nationwide conspiracy to bribe medical practitioners to unnecessarily prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication and defraud healthcare insurers.

The indictment alleges that Michael L. Babich, 40, of Scottsdale, Ariz., the former CEO and President of the company; Alec Burlakoff, 42, of Charlotte, N.C., former Vice President of Sales; Richard M. Simon, 46, of Seal Beach, Calif., former National Director of Sales; former Regional Sales Directors, Sunrise Lee, 36, of Bryant City, Mich. and Joseph A. Rowan, 43, of Panama City, Fla.; and former Vice President of Managed Markets, Michael J. Gurry, 53, of Scottsdale, Ariz., conspired to bribe practitioners in various states, many of whom operated pain clinics, in order to get them to prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication. The medication, called “Subsys,” is a powerful narcotic intended to treat cancer patients suffering intense episodes of breakthrough pain. In exchange for bribes and kickbacks, the practitioners wrote large numbers of prescriptions for the patients, most of whom were not diagnosed with cancer.

These men should rot in hell for they are contributing to a crescendo of drug overdose deaths.

CONCORD, N.H. – Drug overdose deaths have increased by 33 percent in the past five years across the country, with some states seeing jumps of nearly 200 percent.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 states saw increases in overdose deaths resulting from the abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, a class of drugs known as opioids. New Hampshire saw a 191 percent increase while North Dakota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine had death rates jump by over 100 percent.

"Too many Americans are feeling the devastation of the opioid crisis either from misuse of prescription opioids or use of illicit opioids," said Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the CDC. "Urgent action is needed to help health care providers treat pain safely and treat opioid use disorder effectively, support law enforcement strategies to reduce the availability of illicit opiates, and support states to develop and implement programs that can save lives."

Last year, more than 52,000 people died from drug overdoses, with almost two-thirds involving prescription or illegal opioids. Deaths from synthetic opioids, including illicit fentanyl, rose 73 percent, to 9,580. And prescription painkillers took the highest toll but posted the smallest increase. Abuse of drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin killed 17,536, an increase of 4 percent.

Hospital ER overdose admissions are skyrocketing. Narcan (narloxone) has helped prevent many deaths, but I fear that its use also reduces the fear of an overdose, leading to more overdoses. In an age group known for risk taking behavior, this is disastrous.

Sure, some jackasses are gonna take a dirt nap at an early age no matter what you do. But a lot of these kids lack the common sense that a decent set of parents would give them.

H/T DC Clothesline

Prescription: Death

I wonder how much "support" the major pharmaceutical companies gave to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations when they recommended that doctors should initiate discussions about pain management with all their patients. From the UK Daily Mail:

Fifteen years ago, a report by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, a nationally recognized medical society which accredits hospitals, stressed that pain was vastly undertreated in the United States.

The report recommended that physicians routinely assess pain at every patient visit.

It also suggested that opioids could be effectively and more broadly used without fear of addiction.

Of course there were pain medications available for this. Lots and lots of medications.

The report was heavily publicized, and today it is widely acknowledged that it led to massive – and sometimes inappropriate – increases in the use of prescription opioid drugs to treat pain.

With more opioids being prescribed by well-meaning doctors, some were diverted from the legal supply chain – through theft from medicine cabinets or trade on the black market – to the street for illicit use.

As more opioids leaked out, more people started to experiment with them for recreational purposes.

This increase in supply certainly explains a large part of the current opioid abuse epidemic, but it doesn't explain all of it.

Oxycontin is one of those medications and Perdue Pharma has made billions from it.

According to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, Americans consume 80 percent of the world’s pain pills.1 Misleading pain statistics are used to push increasingly stronger narcotics into the marketplace.

Since OxyContin was introduced in 1996, Canada has recorded the second-highest number of prescription opioid painkiller addictions and the world's second-highest death rate from overdoses. In the US, narcotic overdose deaths now surpass deaths from murders and fatal car accidents.

[...] Because of its insatiable demand, some patients with legal prescriptions begin selling OxyContin tablets to drug dealers for a profit. The pharmaceutical company earned billions while watching their “miracle drug” turn ordinary citizens into hardened addicts and criminals.

How many people have died as a result of OxyContin? A firm number is difficult to ascertain. A variety of numbers have appeared in media reports, usually lacking citations or references, and many deaths involve a combination of drugs and alcohol.3

What is known is that narcotic overdose deaths have quadrupled in the last decade. Deaths from overdoses of drugs like hydrocodone (Vicodin), morphine, and oxycodone/OxyContin rose from 1.4 per 100,000 in 1999 to 5.4 per 100,000 in 2011.

In 2009, 1.2 million emergency department visits involved the “nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals or dietary stimulants” (which includes abuse). Oxycodone alone or in combination with other drugs accounted for 175,949 of those visits.

When crack cocaine hit American cities in the mid 1980's it quickly became the drug of choice. Now heroin has come roaring back in a big way. This taste for opioids was no doubt fueled by prescription drugs such as Oxycontin. Our county is the poster child for fatal drug overdoses.

Okay, So They Ain't Happy

The Carrier Corporation is located in Indianapolis, Indiana; it makes airplane engines. As part of its stated objective of remaining competitive, the company just announced that it is moving 1,400 jobs to Monterrey, Mexico.

At a company-wide meeting, a corporate representative announced this news to their workers. Everyone was ecstatic. No really, they were almost overcome with happiness. You can hear the joy in their voices as they are informed of the move. No, really, I'm not kidding. Once you listen to the video you too will be amazed at the overwhelming love and support displayed by the rank and file as they find out they will soon be unemployed.

You probably don't want to run the video at work as the rampant happy-happy joy joy is very contagious.

Story here.

Oil Price War

From today's Financial Times:

Saudi Arabia says its strategy of squeezing high-cost rivals such as US shale producers is succeeding, as the world’s largest crude exporter seeks to reassert itself as the dominant force in the global oil market.

The kingdom’s production rose to a record high of 10.3m barrels a day in April and there is no sign that it plans to reverse its policy at next month’s meeting of Opec, the producers’ cartel, in Vienna.

“There is no doubt about it, the price fall of the last several months has deterred investors away from expensive oil including US shale, deep offshore and heavy oils,” a Saudi official told the Financial Times in Riyadh, giving a rare insight into t

Maybe I'm stupid, but if the Saudi forced cuts in higher priced oil production, then why has the price of gas increased by over 60 cents per gallon in the past few months???