Kudos to Dr.Cecil Wilson, President Elect of the AMA, whose letter to the editor was published in todays Miami Herald.
He should be applauded for standing up for what we know is right: comprehensive healthcare reform benefiting all Americans.
Thank you Dr. Wilson for your commitment to our profession and the public health.
Bernd Wollschlaeger,MD,FAAFP,FASAM
AMA Member & Outreach Recruiter
============================================================================
AMA to Miami Herald: AMA Supports Reform
July 23, 2009 (published)
Miami Herald
Letter to the Editor
Floridians without health-insurance coverage are in dire straits (Report: 3,560 Floridians will lose health insurance every week, July 16). For their sake, we must achieve meaningful healthcare reform that provides all Americans with access to affordable, high-quality coverage.
The American Medical Association is committed to health reform this year that covers the uninsured, improves quality and ensures patients get the best value from healthcare spending. Important progress has been made with the House and Senate vigorously working on legislation. The AMA will stay actively engaged to make certain health reform that will improve the health of America's patients is accomplished.
The uninsured crisis playing out in Florida is one that can be seen all across America.
We must seize the opportunity this year to pass comprehensive health reform.
Cecil B. Wilson, MD
President-elect, American Medical Association
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
AMA and Healthcare Reform
Attached today's press release from the AMA regarding its support for H.R. 3200. Obviously, our AMA is supporting the legislation which DOES contain a stripped down version of the public health insurance option. I wonder why their press release omits this important fact? Maybe, to avoid stirring up discussion and potential opposition from the hardliners within our AMA? Nevertheless, the press release is also a small baby step into the right direction and I hope that its not followed by two steps backwards. We will see.For more information about the bill see http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BILLSUMMARY-071409.pdf .
Yours
Bernd
NEWS FROM THE AMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2009
AMA SUPPORTS H.R. 3200, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009”
House Bill Expands Access to High Quality, Affordable Health Care for Americans
WASHINGTON– Today, the American Medical Association sent a letter to House leaders supporting H.R. 3200, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.”
“This legislation includes a broad range of provisions that are key to effective, comprehensive health system reform,” said J. James Rohack, M.D., AMA president. “We urge the House committees of jurisdiction to pass the bill for consideration by the full House.” H.R. 3200 includes provisions key to effective, comprehensive health reform, including:
* Coverage to all Americans through health insurance market reforms
* A choice of plans through a health insurance exchange
* An end to coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions
* Fundamental Medicare reform, including repeal of the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula
* Additional funding for primary care services, without reductions on specialty care
* Individual responsibility for health insurance, including premium assistance to those who need it
* Prevention and wellness initiatives to help keep Americans healthy
* Initiatives to address physician workforce concerns
“The status quo is unacceptable,” Dr. Rohack said. “We support passage of H.R. 3200, and we look forward to additional constructive dialogue as the long process of passing a health reform bill continues. This is an important step, but one of many steps in the process. The AMA is actively engaged with Congress and the administration to achieve health reform that best meets the needs of patients and physicians. We are committed to passing health reform this year consistent with principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of practice, and universal access for patients.”
# # #
Yours
Bernd
NEWS FROM THE AMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2009
AMA SUPPORTS H.R. 3200, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009”
House Bill Expands Access to High Quality, Affordable Health Care for Americans
WASHINGTON– Today, the American Medical Association sent a letter to House leaders supporting H.R. 3200, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.”
“This legislation includes a broad range of provisions that are key to effective, comprehensive health system reform,” said J. James Rohack, M.D., AMA president. “We urge the House committees of jurisdiction to pass the bill for consideration by the full House.” H.R. 3200 includes provisions key to effective, comprehensive health reform, including:
* Coverage to all Americans through health insurance market reforms
* A choice of plans through a health insurance exchange
* An end to coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions
* Fundamental Medicare reform, including repeal of the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula
* Additional funding for primary care services, without reductions on specialty care
* Individual responsibility for health insurance, including premium assistance to those who need it
* Prevention and wellness initiatives to help keep Americans healthy
* Initiatives to address physician workforce concerns
“The status quo is unacceptable,” Dr. Rohack said. “We support passage of H.R. 3200, and we look forward to additional constructive dialogue as the long process of passing a health reform bill continues. This is an important step, but one of many steps in the process. The AMA is actively engaged with Congress and the administration to achieve health reform that best meets the needs of patients and physicians. We are committed to passing health reform this year consistent with principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of practice, and universal access for patients.”
# # #
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Healthcare Reform Debate: Shall We Include Single-Payer In The Debate?
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
Attached an editorial from yesterdays Seattle Times written by Dr. John Geyman is professor emeritus of Family Medicine at the Universityof Washington, past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, and a member of the Institute of Medicine.
He argues that legislators are "only considering options that build on the present system."He adds that "after months of work, legislative committees in Congress have brought forth drafts of proposals that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is starting to score in terms of cost and effectiveness. As expected, the costs of these incremental proposals are high BECAUSE they are based on the CURRENT dataset of health care costs and on data provided by insurance company actuaries. "He is correct that legislators refuse to even consider a single-payer option and that the CBO has yet to score such an option and how it would compare to the models proposed during the current debate.
He ends the editorial with the following challenge: " President Obama has brought forward the concept of audacity of hope. Is it too audacious now to hope that the legislators we elect to Congress can see beyond their campaign contributions and the lobbying efforts by corporate stakeholders to require that single-payer be scored?"
Yours
Bernd
The Seattle Times July 6, 2009
A pay-go option for health-care reform
By John Geyman
As Congress recessed for the July Fourth holiday, the debate over
health-care reform was reaching a fever pitch. Now the top domestic issue
for the Obama administration, the biggest questions are how much a reform
bill will cost and how to pay for it, quite aside from how effective a
"reform package" will be.
Skyrocketing costs that are out of control are the hallmark of our present
system. Yet legislators have already acceded to pressures and dollars from
stakeholders in the present system (within which costs are revenue) and are
only considering options that "build on the present system."
After months of work, legislative committees in Congress have brought forth
drafts of proposals that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is starting
to score in terms of cost and effectiveness. As expected, the costs of these
incremental proposals are high. The first number of $1.6 trillion over 10
years (while still leaving 36 million Americans uninsured) sent these
committees back to the drawing board. At the moment, leading Senate
Democrats are hailing $1 trillion over 10 years as potentially doable.
After presiding over huge deficits during their eight years in power,
Republicans are now demanding "pay as you go" (pay-go) policies. Together
with Blue Dog Democrats, they are threatening to act as spoilers of any
health-care-reform bill on its price tag alone.
Given the dimensions of these difficult economic times including a $1.8
trillion deficit for 2009, $5 trillion in new federal debt over this year
and next, and rising unemployment, pay-go makes good sense. And the
president is making the case that his health-care plan must pay for itself.
Conventional "wisdom" (as generated by the mainstream corporate media) says
that any health-care reform will cost a lot, and that there is no pay-go
option. But there is.
Single-payer financing (public financing coupled with a private delivery
system, a reformed "Medicare for All"), as embodied in Rep. John Conyers'
bill (HR 676 in the House) with its 83 co-sponsors, will yield savings of
some $400 billion a year. That's enough to assure universal coverage for all
Americans while eliminating all co-pays and deductibles ? the ultimate
pay-go. Single-payer will give us far more efficient, affordable, effective
and reliable health care than our present multipayer system. Health insurers
have known for years that they can't compete on a level playing field with
single-payer, and have only been surviving by favorable tax policies and
other subsidies from the government.
This recent testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science
and Transportation by Wendell Potter, former head of corporate
communications at Cigna, says it all: "I know from personal experience that
members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty
and trustworthiness of the insurance industry. Insurers make promises they
have no intention of keeping, they flout regulations designed to protect
consumers, and they make it nearly impossible to understand or even to
obtain information we need."
Many studies over the past two decades, including those by the CBO, the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the nonpartisan Economic Policy
Institute, have concluded that single-payer can assure universal coverage
and still save money. HR 676 needs to be brought out of the closet and put
on the table for CBO scoring against other options being considered in
Congress, all of which cost much more and fail to provide universal
coverage.
President Obama has brought forward the concept of audacity of hope. Is it
too audacious now to hope that the legislators we elect to Congress can see
beyond their campaign contributions and the lobbying efforts by corporate
stakeholders to require that single-payer be scored?
(Dr. John Geyman is professor emeritus of Family Medicine at the University
of Washington, past president of Physicians for a National Health Program,
and a member of the Institute of Medicine.)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009424809_guest07geyman.html
Attached an editorial from yesterdays Seattle Times written by Dr. John Geyman is professor emeritus of Family Medicine at the Universityof Washington, past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, and a member of the Institute of Medicine.
He argues that legislators are "only considering options that build on the present system."He adds that "after months of work, legislative committees in Congress have brought forth drafts of proposals that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is starting to score in terms of cost and effectiveness. As expected, the costs of these incremental proposals are high BECAUSE they are based on the CURRENT dataset of health care costs and on data provided by insurance company actuaries. "He is correct that legislators refuse to even consider a single-payer option and that the CBO has yet to score such an option and how it would compare to the models proposed during the current debate.
He ends the editorial with the following challenge: " President Obama has brought forward the concept of audacity of hope. Is it too audacious now to hope that the legislators we elect to Congress can see beyond their campaign contributions and the lobbying efforts by corporate stakeholders to require that single-payer be scored?"
Yours
Bernd
The Seattle Times July 6, 2009
A pay-go option for health-care reform
By John Geyman
As Congress recessed for the July Fourth holiday, the debate over
health-care reform was reaching a fever pitch. Now the top domestic issue
for the Obama administration, the biggest questions are how much a reform
bill will cost and how to pay for it, quite aside from how effective a
"reform package" will be.
Skyrocketing costs that are out of control are the hallmark of our present
system. Yet legislators have already acceded to pressures and dollars from
stakeholders in the present system (within which costs are revenue) and are
only considering options that "build on the present system."
After months of work, legislative committees in Congress have brought forth
drafts of proposals that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is starting
to score in terms of cost and effectiveness. As expected, the costs of these
incremental proposals are high. The first number of $1.6 trillion over 10
years (while still leaving 36 million Americans uninsured) sent these
committees back to the drawing board. At the moment, leading Senate
Democrats are hailing $1 trillion over 10 years as potentially doable.
After presiding over huge deficits during their eight years in power,
Republicans are now demanding "pay as you go" (pay-go) policies. Together
with Blue Dog Democrats, they are threatening to act as spoilers of any
health-care-reform bill on its price tag alone.
Given the dimensions of these difficult economic times including a $1.8
trillion deficit for 2009, $5 trillion in new federal debt over this year
and next, and rising unemployment, pay-go makes good sense. And the
president is making the case that his health-care plan must pay for itself.
Conventional "wisdom" (as generated by the mainstream corporate media) says
that any health-care reform will cost a lot, and that there is no pay-go
option. But there is.
Single-payer financing (public financing coupled with a private delivery
system, a reformed "Medicare for All"), as embodied in Rep. John Conyers'
bill (HR 676 in the House) with its 83 co-sponsors, will yield savings of
some $400 billion a year. That's enough to assure universal coverage for all
Americans while eliminating all co-pays and deductibles ? the ultimate
pay-go. Single-payer will give us far more efficient, affordable, effective
and reliable health care than our present multipayer system. Health insurers
have known for years that they can't compete on a level playing field with
single-payer, and have only been surviving by favorable tax policies and
other subsidies from the government.
This recent testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science
and Transportation by Wendell Potter, former head of corporate
communications at Cigna, says it all: "I know from personal experience that
members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty
and trustworthiness of the insurance industry. Insurers make promises they
have no intention of keeping, they flout regulations designed to protect
consumers, and they make it nearly impossible to understand or even to
obtain information we need."
Many studies over the past two decades, including those by the CBO, the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the nonpartisan Economic Policy
Institute, have concluded that single-payer can assure universal coverage
and still save money. HR 676 needs to be brought out of the closet and put
on the table for CBO scoring against other options being considered in
Congress, all of which cost much more and fail to provide universal
coverage.
President Obama has brought forward the concept of audacity of hope. Is it
too audacious now to hope that the legislators we elect to Congress can see
beyond their campaign contributions and the lobbying efforts by corporate
stakeholders to require that single-payer be scored?
(Dr. John Geyman is professor emeritus of Family Medicine at the University
of Washington, past president of Physicians for a National Health Program,
and a member of the Institute of Medicine.)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009424809_guest07geyman.html
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Insurance Mandate Gains Support
Attached a letter to President Obama supporting an employer mandate SUPPORTED by the President and CEO of Walmart and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest healthcare employees union in the US.
This serves as evidence that those of us who do support an insurance mandate DO NOT belong to the extreme left-wing fringes as claimed by our colleagues in organized medicine!
Yours
Bernd
"We are for shared responsibility. Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must
make some contribution."
June 30, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
As the Congress considers legislation reforming our health care system, many difficult choices lie ahead.
During the debate, we must keep our eyes trained on one clear imperative: reforming health care is
necessary not just to improve the health of all Americans, but also to remove the burden that is crushing
America’s businesses and hampering our competitiveness in the global economy.
As the nation’s largest private employer, the nation’s largest union of health care workers with over one
million members, and a think tank that has been a leader on health care policy, we have worked closely in
support of health care reform since 2006, when we came together to help break the stalemate that had
defined the health care debate for too long. Now, to move the debate forward once again, we are coming
together to advance what we believe are important proposals that should be included in the current efforts
to reform our nation’s health care system.
We believe now is the time for action on this vital issue. We commend the leadership of elected officials
who are committed to enactment of reform, and we appreciate the commitment to inclusion and
transparency which has been present thus far.
We are entering a critical time during which all of us who will be asked to pay for health care reform will
have to make a choice on whether to support the legislation. This choice will require employers to
consider the trade off of agreeing to a coverage mandate and additional taxes versus the promise of
reduced health care cost increases.
Today, health care costs more because we don’t cover everyone – the average family premium costs an
additional $1,100 because our system fails to provide continuous coverage for all Americans. And losing
coverage pushes people already dealing with financial hardship to the verge of financial collapse. One
accident or unexpected illness can financially ruin them. In 2008, half of all people filing for home
foreclosure cited medical problems as a cause.
A large and growing uninsured population also cripples our broader economic growth. The higher taxes
and premiums needed to meet rising health care costs threaten to consume the benefits of nearly all
economic growth over the next four decades, according to research published in the journal Health
Affairs. And the U.S. economy is losing up to $244 billion every year in lost productivity due to the
uninsured according to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress.
From a business perspective, health reform could not be more critical. A majority of Americans—158
million—receive their coverage through their job or their spouse’s job, according to the Kaiser Family
Foundation. But few businesses will be able to keep up with the pace at which premiums are rising.
Premiums are expected to rise by 20 percent in less than four years, according to research by professors at
Harvard University -- costing 3.5 million workers their jobs, and cutting insured workers’ average annual
incomes by $1,700.
Fiscally, the growing cost of health care is poised to drive our federal budget over a cliff. A recent report
by the Senate Finance Committee found that by 2017, “health care expenditures are expected to consume
nearly 20 percent of the GDP.” In his former role as Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO),
current Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag testified to Congress that, “the single
most important factor influencing the federal government’s long-term fiscal balance is the rate of growth
in health care costs.”
We believe payment reform and efficiency initiatives need to be at the center of healthcare reform. The
President and the Congress have put forward good ideas to improve the productivity of our health care
sector. These policies need to be strengthened and adopted because health care reform without controlling
costs is no reform at all.
We are for shared responsibility. Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must
make some contribution. We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage, but any
alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers to hiring entry level employees. We look
forward to working with the Administration and Congress to develop a requirement that is both sensible
and equitable.
Support for a mandate also requires the strongest possible commitment to rein in health care costs.
Guaranteeing cost containment is essential. One way to ensure savings was recently advanced by former
Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle and Bob Dole, “Implement pre-specified targets
for spending growth and enact a “trigger” mechanism that automatically enforces reductions,” (Crossing
Our Lines, Bipartisan Policy Center) President Obama suggested strengthening the role of Med Pac to
help enforce spending discipline.
With smart, targeted policies, we can create a financially-viable health care system that enables workers
to change jobs without losing their care, and allows businesses to become more nimble. Health care costs
will no longer stand in the way of their ability to retool for the 21st century. Focusing on health care cost
savings – and demonstrating a strong commitment to achieving these savings– would make this bill a win
/ win for employers, individuals and America’s competitiveness.
Respectfully,
John Podesta President & CEO Center for American Progress (CAP)
Andrew L. Stern President & CEO Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Mike Duke President Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
This serves as evidence that those of us who do support an insurance mandate DO NOT belong to the extreme left-wing fringes as claimed by our colleagues in organized medicine!
Yours
Bernd
"We are for shared responsibility. Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must
make some contribution."
June 30, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
As the Congress considers legislation reforming our health care system, many difficult choices lie ahead.
During the debate, we must keep our eyes trained on one clear imperative: reforming health care is
necessary not just to improve the health of all Americans, but also to remove the burden that is crushing
America’s businesses and hampering our competitiveness in the global economy.
As the nation’s largest private employer, the nation’s largest union of health care workers with over one
million members, and a think tank that has been a leader on health care policy, we have worked closely in
support of health care reform since 2006, when we came together to help break the stalemate that had
defined the health care debate for too long. Now, to move the debate forward once again, we are coming
together to advance what we believe are important proposals that should be included in the current efforts
to reform our nation’s health care system.
We believe now is the time for action on this vital issue. We commend the leadership of elected officials
who are committed to enactment of reform, and we appreciate the commitment to inclusion and
transparency which has been present thus far.
We are entering a critical time during which all of us who will be asked to pay for health care reform will
have to make a choice on whether to support the legislation. This choice will require employers to
consider the trade off of agreeing to a coverage mandate and additional taxes versus the promise of
reduced health care cost increases.
Today, health care costs more because we don’t cover everyone – the average family premium costs an
additional $1,100 because our system fails to provide continuous coverage for all Americans. And losing
coverage pushes people already dealing with financial hardship to the verge of financial collapse. One
accident or unexpected illness can financially ruin them. In 2008, half of all people filing for home
foreclosure cited medical problems as a cause.
A large and growing uninsured population also cripples our broader economic growth. The higher taxes
and premiums needed to meet rising health care costs threaten to consume the benefits of nearly all
economic growth over the next four decades, according to research published in the journal Health
Affairs. And the U.S. economy is losing up to $244 billion every year in lost productivity due to the
uninsured according to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress.
From a business perspective, health reform could not be more critical. A majority of Americans—158
million—receive their coverage through their job or their spouse’s job, according to the Kaiser Family
Foundation. But few businesses will be able to keep up with the pace at which premiums are rising.
Premiums are expected to rise by 20 percent in less than four years, according to research by professors at
Harvard University -- costing 3.5 million workers their jobs, and cutting insured workers’ average annual
incomes by $1,700.
Fiscally, the growing cost of health care is poised to drive our federal budget over a cliff. A recent report
by the Senate Finance Committee found that by 2017, “health care expenditures are expected to consume
nearly 20 percent of the GDP.” In his former role as Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO),
current Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag testified to Congress that, “the single
most important factor influencing the federal government’s long-term fiscal balance is the rate of growth
in health care costs.”
We believe payment reform and efficiency initiatives need to be at the center of healthcare reform. The
President and the Congress have put forward good ideas to improve the productivity of our health care
sector. These policies need to be strengthened and adopted because health care reform without controlling
costs is no reform at all.
We are for shared responsibility. Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must
make some contribution. We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage, but any
alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers to hiring entry level employees. We look
forward to working with the Administration and Congress to develop a requirement that is both sensible
and equitable.
Support for a mandate also requires the strongest possible commitment to rein in health care costs.
Guaranteeing cost containment is essential. One way to ensure savings was recently advanced by former
Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle and Bob Dole, “Implement pre-specified targets
for spending growth and enact a “trigger” mechanism that automatically enforces reductions,” (Crossing
Our Lines, Bipartisan Policy Center) President Obama suggested strengthening the role of Med Pac to
help enforce spending discipline.
With smart, targeted policies, we can create a financially-viable health care system that enables workers
to change jobs without losing their care, and allows businesses to become more nimble. Health care costs
will no longer stand in the way of their ability to retool for the 21st century. Focusing on health care cost
savings – and demonstrating a strong commitment to achieving these savings– would make this bill a win
/ win for employers, individuals and America’s competitiveness.
Respectfully,
John Podesta President & CEO Center for American Progress (CAP)
Andrew L. Stern President & CEO Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Mike Duke President Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Prescription Drug Overdose
On June 23, 2009 Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed legislation aimed at curbing the growing black market of illegal prescription drugs flowing from South Florida pain clinics across the eastern United States. The new law, passed nearly unanimously in the Legislature, will require doctors and pharmacists to record patient prescriptions for most drugs in a state-controlled database.
Its about pain to reign in on the explosive growth of "pain clinics" in South Florida operated by unscrupulous owners, some associated with the criminal underworld and organized crime.
The number of overdose deaths are soaring, too!
Unfortunately, the prescription drug monitoring program cannot be implemented until the end of 2011 and so far funding is pending.
As physicians we must continue to push for the comprehensive implementation of such program because our patients and fellow citizens are being harmed by drug dealers in a white coat.
Lets not be complacent but proactive. We just won ONE battle but not the war against drugs.
Yours
Bernd
Posted on Tue, Jun. 30, 2009
Prescription drug overdose deaths soar in Florida
BY SCOTT HIAASEN
shiaasen@MiamiHerald.com
Florida continues to see a rapid rise in fatal overdoses caused by prescription-drug abuse -- a trend fueled by a cottage industry of cash-only pain clinics -- while deaths from illegal drugs wane, according to a report from the state's medical examiners released Tuesday.
Nearly 1,000 deaths were caused in 2008 by the potent painkiller oxycodone -- a 33 percent increase from 2007, the report says. Four years ago, only 340 deaths statewide were attributed to oxycodone, the most popular drug in the black-market pill trade supplied by pain clinics.
Conversely, deaths from cocaine overdoses declined by 23 percent, to 648 in 2008.
Overall, prescription drugs accounted for 75 percent of the drugs found in overdose victims last year, the report says.
''The magnitude and severity of prescription drug abuse calls for strong, coordinated action,'' said Bill Janes, the director of the state's Office of Drug Control, in a written statement.
Florida took a step in that direction when the Legislature passed a law creating a statewide database to monitor prescription sales and increasing oversight of pain clinics, which operate with little scrutiny.
The prescription database is designed to detect addicts and drug dealers buying pills from multiple doctors -- often by faking ailments or medical records -- a practice known as ``doctor shopping.''
''It's almost impossible to monitor different people shopping doctors,'' said Dr. Joshua Perper, Broward County's medical examiner. ``A person can get hundreds or thousands of pills.''
This can also lead to dangerous drug combinations. Perper said the most common overdoses involve mixing several drugs, with oxycodone and anti-anxiety drugs such as Xanax and Valium among the most common combinations.
Though the new prescription monitoring law takes effect Wednesday, the database is not expected to begin operating until late next year.
Broward has become the nation's capital of illegal prescription drug trafficking, police say, with nearly 100 storefront pain clinics feeding a black market in pain pills stretching through Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Massachusetts. Florida leads the nation in oxycodone sales -- largely because of these clinics -- according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration data.
In 2008, Perper's office detected oxycodone in 171 Broward County overdose deaths -- more than twice the number found in 2005.
The highest number of oxycodone overdoses were reported in Pinellas and Pasco counties, where the drug was detected in 308 deaths last year.
The medical examiner in that district, Dr. Jon Thogmartin, attributes the unusually high number to advanced detection techniques employed by his lab.
''Prescription drugs have really begun, to a significant degree, to replace illicit drugs,'' Thogmartin said.
Thogmartin said many victims overdose on pills prescribed to them by licensed doctors.
To health advocates, this shows that doctors practicing as pain-management specialists need more training and more oversight from the state medical board.
''It's unacceptable to open up a practice and call yourself a pain management physician and start writing prescriptions,'' said Dr. Laura Brown, a Bradenton physician on the board of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. ``That's not pain management.''
Its about pain to reign in on the explosive growth of "pain clinics" in South Florida operated by unscrupulous owners, some associated with the criminal underworld and organized crime.
The number of overdose deaths are soaring, too!
Unfortunately, the prescription drug monitoring program cannot be implemented until the end of 2011 and so far funding is pending.
As physicians we must continue to push for the comprehensive implementation of such program because our patients and fellow citizens are being harmed by drug dealers in a white coat.
Lets not be complacent but proactive. We just won ONE battle but not the war against drugs.
Yours
Bernd
Posted on Tue, Jun. 30, 2009
Prescription drug overdose deaths soar in Florida
BY SCOTT HIAASEN
shiaasen@MiamiHerald.com
Florida continues to see a rapid rise in fatal overdoses caused by prescription-drug abuse -- a trend fueled by a cottage industry of cash-only pain clinics -- while deaths from illegal drugs wane, according to a report from the state's medical examiners released Tuesday.
Nearly 1,000 deaths were caused in 2008 by the potent painkiller oxycodone -- a 33 percent increase from 2007, the report says. Four years ago, only 340 deaths statewide were attributed to oxycodone, the most popular drug in the black-market pill trade supplied by pain clinics.
Conversely, deaths from cocaine overdoses declined by 23 percent, to 648 in 2008.
Overall, prescription drugs accounted for 75 percent of the drugs found in overdose victims last year, the report says.
''The magnitude and severity of prescription drug abuse calls for strong, coordinated action,'' said Bill Janes, the director of the state's Office of Drug Control, in a written statement.
Florida took a step in that direction when the Legislature passed a law creating a statewide database to monitor prescription sales and increasing oversight of pain clinics, which operate with little scrutiny.
The prescription database is designed to detect addicts and drug dealers buying pills from multiple doctors -- often by faking ailments or medical records -- a practice known as ``doctor shopping.''
''It's almost impossible to monitor different people shopping doctors,'' said Dr. Joshua Perper, Broward County's medical examiner. ``A person can get hundreds or thousands of pills.''
This can also lead to dangerous drug combinations. Perper said the most common overdoses involve mixing several drugs, with oxycodone and anti-anxiety drugs such as Xanax and Valium among the most common combinations.
Though the new prescription monitoring law takes effect Wednesday, the database is not expected to begin operating until late next year.
Broward has become the nation's capital of illegal prescription drug trafficking, police say, with nearly 100 storefront pain clinics feeding a black market in pain pills stretching through Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Massachusetts. Florida leads the nation in oxycodone sales -- largely because of these clinics -- according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration data.
In 2008, Perper's office detected oxycodone in 171 Broward County overdose deaths -- more than twice the number found in 2005.
The highest number of oxycodone overdoses were reported in Pinellas and Pasco counties, where the drug was detected in 308 deaths last year.
The medical examiner in that district, Dr. Jon Thogmartin, attributes the unusually high number to advanced detection techniques employed by his lab.
''Prescription drugs have really begun, to a significant degree, to replace illicit drugs,'' Thogmartin said.
Thogmartin said many victims overdose on pills prescribed to them by licensed doctors.
To health advocates, this shows that doctors practicing as pain-management specialists need more training and more oversight from the state medical board.
''It's unacceptable to open up a practice and call yourself a pain management physician and start writing prescriptions,'' said Dr. Laura Brown, a Bradenton physician on the board of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. ``That's not pain management.''
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)