Princess Health and Pill-mill bill does not pass as legislative session ends in failure; special session starts Monday.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Pill-mill bill does not pass as legislative session ends in failure; special session starts Monday.Princessiccia

attorney general doctor shopping doctors General Assembly legislation legislature lobbying pain clinics pill mills state government

Gusty 12:18 Add Comment

Though it's considered by experts as the most important bill needed this year, the Senate failed to pass a measure that would crack down on so-called pill mills before the end of the legislative session last night. Gov. Steve Beshear, above, called a special session that will begin Monday to give legislators more time to consider the bill, as well as approve funding for a $4.5 billion road-building plan � which was the main cause for the legislative gridlock.

Beshear wasn't happy, and blamed Senate President David Williams: "His rank partisanship, his obstructionist attitude, have caused numerous special sessions and cost the taxpayers millions of dollars of unnecessary expenses." The special session will cost more than $60,000 per day. "He's Senate president. I can't do a thing about that," Beshear said. "But what I can do is make sure that the people of this state know very loudly and clearly what damage he is causing to Kentucky."

Beshear even criticized Williams in his agenda for the special session, which included "legislation to enhance and expand tools and resources critical to Kentucky's continuing efforts to address the scourge of prescription drug abuse that plagues our citizens."

Negotiators on the prescription-drug measure, House Bill 4, came up with a compromise that pleased the Kentucky Medical Association, which opposes moving the state prescription-drug monitoring system to the attorney general's office from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the doctor-controlled Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure. The compromise would still make that move, and still limit ownership of pain clinics to physicians, but dropped a requirement that all physicians pay $50 to use the system.

Beshear railed against the impasse. "Sen. Williams willfully ignored the visible misery of our communities and allowed this essential bill to die," he said in a press release. "Why? Because of his road projects." Some lawmakers said another factor was House Democrats' refusal to override any of Beshear's budget vetoes, in spite of what Williams said was House Speaker Greg Stumbo's pledge to override. Stumbo denied making such a pledge.

On the road issue, "Williams wanted Beshear to sign the transportation projects list into law before the Senate voted on the bill authorizing the road construction money. Without the funding bill, those projects couldn't get started," reports Ryan Alessi of "Pure Politics" on cn|2, a cable-company news service. "Williams didn't want to give Beshear the ability to veto the project list and be able to unilaterally decide how to spend the $4 billion in federal and state road and bridge construction money."

According to Beshear, $288 million was allotted in the funding plan for Williams' district, $130 million of which would have been funded in the near future. But Williams "made some last-minute fine-print changes that moved an additional $155 million of those projects in his district ahead of those in other communities around the state." (Read more)

Princess Health and Docs must stop over-prescribing pain pills, summit speakers say.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Docs must stop over-prescribing pain pills, summit speakers say.Princessiccia

pill mills prescription drug abuse prescription drugs

Gusty 14:31 Add Comment

When a statistic showed the number of opioid prescriptions increased from 76 million in 1991 to 219 million in 2011, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, asked the seminal questions: "Do we really have this number of people requiring these prescriptions? Have we increased four times in terms of chronic pain? That's clearly not the case."

Dr. Ileana Arias, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "opioid overdose death rates have risen in lock step with sales," reports Laura Ungar for The Courier-Journal. "In 2010, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed to medicate every American adult around the clock for a month."

These were more troubling statistics discussed at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit, held in Orlando, Fla., and organized by Eastern Kentucky's Operation UNITE. "This is an epidemic. And at CDC, we do not use the word epidemic very lightly," Arias said.

Volkow pointed out opioids are very addictive, since they raise dopamine levels in the brain, which are triggered when people do pleasurable activities, such as eating or sex. Heroin and the painkiller OxyContin are nearly identical in their chemical structure, she said. OxyContin blocks pain but increases dopamine. "You are decreasing pain, but you are activating a reward," she said.

Treatment is one solution, but "we don't have sufficient treatments. We are far behind other conditions," such as cancer or HIV, Volkow said.

More research is needed to "develop better pain medications that are as effective as opioids that are not addictive," she added. Doctors also need to be aware of over-prescribing, with Arias recounting a story in which she was prescribed two-weeks worth of Demerol after she had her wisdom teeth taken out � an excessive amount, in her view.

U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers of Kentucky's 5th District said he wasn't surprised. "Time and again, we've heard that doctors have prescribed, say, two weeks of medication when only a few days are necessary," he said. "Then the rest go in a medicine cabinet for (others) to pilfer." (Read more)

Princess Health and Troubling statistics discussed at prescription-drug summit.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Troubling statistics discussed at prescription-drug summit.Princessiccia

pill mills prescription drug abuse prescription drugs state government; General Assembly

Gusty 14:29 Add Comment

Staggering statistics were revealed this week at the Orlando-based National Rx Drug Abuse Summit, including one survey that found 2 million people age 12 and older started using prescription pain medicine for non-medical reasons in 2010. A troubling 11 percent of active-duty military personnel reported misusing pain medicine in the past month, Department of Defense research shows. And more than 15,000 people die each year because of pain killers, 1,000 of whom are Kentuckians, reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal.

"Prescription-drug abuse is causing untold misery among our families," Gov. Steve Beshear said at the gathering, which was organized by Eastern Kentucky-based Operation UNITE. The problem is "wasting away the future of many people in the Commonwealth of Kentucky."

As he's done several times now, Beshear asked conference attendees to push legislators to pass House Bill 4, which should be voted on today in Frankfort. The bill would require pain clinics to be owned by doctors, require doctors to participate in the state's prescription-tracking system, and move the system to the attorney genera's office from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Experts said prevention is key, which involves education youth, parents, as well as doctors and pharmacists. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin doctors "need to be more cognizant of the problem," Ungar reports, recounting an incident in which a patient stole one of her prescription pads by using her 4-year-old daughter to district Benjamin.

Gil Kerlikowske, known as the country's "drug czar," said general practitioners and family medicine doctors accounted for 27 percent of all prescribers of extended-release, long-acting opioids. Internal medicine physicians were the most common specialists to prescribe, accounting for almost 17 percent of prescriptions of pain pills.

One of the problems, Kerlikowske said, is prescription drug abuse is considered more acceptable than taking other kinds of drugs. Children "see their parents taking it. It's not heroin. It's not coke." (Read more)

Princess Health and Diabetes can cause gum disease and tooth decay.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Diabetes can cause gum disease and tooth decay.Princessiccia

dental care dental school dentistry dentists diabetes nutrition obesity oral health

Gusty 14:27 Add Comment

Though it's commonly known that diabetes can affect organ function and eyesight, an oral-health expert points out that the disease can also cause tooth decay and gum disease.

"Diabetics with uncontrolled glucose levels tend to develop more gum disease and may lose more teeth than diabetics who have good control of their glucose levels," writes Dr. John Novak, associate director of University of Kentucky's Center for Oral Health Research, in an op-ed piece for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A high carbohydrate/sugar diet can also lead to high levels of sugar in the blood, which can hamper the way the body deals with infection, he writes. Gum disease may be the result because the gums are inflamed by the increased levels of bacteria living in the mouth.

Diabetes can also cause dry mouth, which "creates the perfect environment for the growth of bacterial plaque and for fungal infections such as thrush," he writes. To avoid these problems, Novak recommends brushing teeth and gums twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, flossing every day and using fluoride mouth wash before going to bed.

Signs of tooth decay or gum disease include tender gums that bleed easily when brushing or flossing; teeth sensitive to hot or cold temperatures; loose or broken teeth; sores, ulcers or a burning sensation in the mouth; and bad breath or a bad taste. (Read more)

Princess Health and Beshear vetoes parts of budget, but health spending is intact.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Beshear vetoes parts of budget, but health spending is intact.Princessiccia

cancer child abuse children colorectal cancer General Assembly legislation legislature Medicaid seniors state budget state government

Gusty 14:26 Add Comment

Though Gov. Steve Beshear vetoed 45 parts of the state budget yesterday evening, health-related spending was safe from the cut.

The budget will help reduce caseloads for social workers who investigate child abuse and neglect, funds colon cancer screenings for 4,000 uninsured Kentuckians, substance-abuse treatment for Medicaid recipients and includes funding for an elder abuse registry to protect senior citizens from unscrupulous caretakers.

"This is the most difficult budget I have ever drafted, and it will also be a challenge to implement and manage over the next two years," the governor said in a statement.

In the two-year, $19 billion budget, Beshear voted more than three dozen line-item appropriations, including "portions of the General Fund budget that limited his ability to manage the state's budget or spent money that doesn't exist," reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

He also cut some earmarks, including $100,000 for Actors Theatre of Louisville and $150,000 for the International Mystery Writers' Festival in Owensboro. "I am vetoing these parts because they identify new spending earmarks yet the General Assembly failed to appropriate additional funds to finance them," Beshear said. (Read more)

Princess Health andRunning Seminar Series.Princessiccia

Princess Health andRunning Seminar Series.Princessiccia

Gusty 12:46 Add Comment

Join Dr. Sean Delanghe of H+P at CrossFit Kitchener for a 3-part seminar series looking at the sport of running.

Humans have been perfectly molded by evolution to run effectively over long distances.  Come out to learn exactly what the newest scientific research is showing with regards to technique, training, nutrition, recovery and injury management.

Saturday, May 5 1pm
Saturday, May 19 1pm
Saturday, June 2 1pm

$40 per session or $100 for all 3

To Register:

 

Call: (519)208-7240

E-Mail: seandelanghe@gmail.com

Princess Health and Beshear tells national audience legislature should pass pill-mill bill.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Beshear tells national audience legislature should pass pill-mill bill.Princessiccia

attorney general General Assembly legislation legislature pain clinics pill mills prescription drug abuse prescription drugs state government

Gusty 15:07 Add Comment

Today, Gov. Steve Beshear again called on legislators to pass a bill Thursday that would crack down on so-called pill mills and thus curb prescription drug abuse. Speaking at the National Prescription Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando, Beshear asked for comprehensive collaboration to fight the problem, which kills more Americans than car accidents.

"No state or community is an island. It will take all of us � working across geographical and agency borders � to make headway against prescription drug abuse," he said.

The three-day summit is sponsored by Operation UNITE, which serves Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District, and features 100 leaders and experts, including Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske, Fifth District Rep. Hal Rogers, and Centers for Disease Control Principal Deputy Director Illeana Arias.

Beshear outlined what has already been implemented in Kentucky to combat the problem, including working with Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia to identify those who exploit the system by crossing state borders and forming a panel of health professionals to develop criteria to identify suspicious drug-prescribing habits. But he also stressed the importance of passing House Bill 4, which would require pain clinics to be owned by doctors, require doctors to participate in the state's prescription-tracking system, and move the system to the attorney general's office from the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

The latter provision continues to draw opposition from the Kentucky Medical Association, which is lobbying hard to make changes to the bill, or perhaps kill it. Beshear has been touting the bill, considered the cornerstone of this year's General Assembly, since before it was filed. Al Cross, director of the University of Kentucky's Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, said on KET's "Comment on Kentucky" Friday night that if the bill does not pass, the legislative session will be a failure. (Read more)