Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Workplace Insurers Spend More Than $1 Billion on Narcotic Painkillers
By Join Together Staff | June 4, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Insurance &Prescription Drugs
Costs related to narcotic painkillers are growing for workplace insurers, which are currently spending an estimated $1.4 billion on the drugs, The New York Times reports. The companies are facing payouts to workers with injuries who are being treated with opioids, including many who do not return to work for months—or who don’t return at all.
Opioids can increase disability payouts and medical expenses by delaying employees’ return to work, if the drugs are used too often, too early in treatment, or for too long. A study by the California Workers Compensation Institute conducted in 2008 found workers taking high doses of opioids to treat injuries, such as back strain, were out of work three times longer, compared to those with similar injuries who took lower doses of medication.
A 2010 study by the insurer Accident Fund Holdings found that when disability payments and medical care are combined, the cost of a workplace injury is nine times higher when a strong painkiller such as OxyContin is used, compared to when an opioid is not used, the article notes.
“What we see is an association between the greater use of opioids and delayed recovery from workplace injuries,” Alex Swedlow, the head of research at the California Workers Compensation Institute, told the newspaper.
Although there is little evidence that opioids provide long-term benefits in treating common workplace injuries such as back pain, these drugs are widely prescribed for these problems.
Insurance industry data shows that between 2001 and 2008, opioid prescriptions as a percentage of all drugs used to treat workplace injuries rose 63 percent. Costs have also increased. To reverse this trend, some states have issued new pain treatment guidelines, or are expected to do so.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Get State Certified in Pennsylvania
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Thursday, May 31, 2012
'Bath salts': Officials say the synthetic drug in disguise was behind recent ‘cannibal’ attack
Dangerous drug mimics the effects of cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine
Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 3:12 PMBY MEGHAN NEAL / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/bath-salts-officials-synthetic-drug-disguise-behind-cannibal-attack-article-1.1086791#ixzz1wRQdJR8u
Containers of ‘bath salts,’ a dangerous synthetic drug sold under names like ‘Ivory Wave’ and ‘Vanilla Sky.’
MIAMI-DADE POLICE DEPT/AP
This combo photo shows Rudy Eugene, 31, left, who police shot and killed as he ate the face of Ronald Poppo, 65, right, during a horrific attack in Miami Saturday.
The “cannibal” attacker who chewed off another man’s face in a gruesome crime in Miami Saturday is suspected to have been under the influence of a dangerous drug sold under the innocuous name “bath salts.”
The victim of the attack, a homeless Miami man, was in critical condition Monday after 75% to 80% of his face was chewed off, CNN reports. Police said the attacker, Rudy Eugene, 31, exhibited “insane” behavior similar to other violent incidences linked to bath salts.
Eugene was shot and killed by police during the attack.
Bath salts, also known by street names like “Ivory Wave,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Bliss,” and “Purple Rain”, made headlines last year after a rush of emergency room visits, thousands of calls to poison centers and several deaths. The man-made, synthetic drug is made from amphetamine-like chemicals and causes a unique combination of effects on the brain.
“If you take the worst attributes of meth, coke, PCP, LSD and Ecstasy and put them together, that’s what we’re seeing sometimes,” Mark Ryan, the director of the Louisiana Poison Center, told the New York Times.
The powdery substance comes in a small packet, and can be inhaled, swallowed or injected, according to a report from the National Institutes of Health.
The drug is manufactured by street chemists and sold in convenience stores or online, often legally. Sellers were able to sell the drug legally since its emergence in 2009 by marketing the substance as either bath salts or “plant food” or “insect repellant,” and stipulating “not for human consumption” on the label.
A 50-milligram packet usually sells for $25 to $50, reports say.
Use skyrocketed throughout last year, mostly by teens and young adults, until in October the DEA banned three chemicals used to make the drug.
Several states have issued a ban on the drug but no federal ban exists.
Users experience a mix of physical and psychological symptoms. The stimulant can cause excited delirium and severe hallucinations. Users can become violent and suicidal. People often experience a super-human strength, and long-lasting euphoria or paranoia, reports say.
The health consequences, like high blood pressure and rapid heart rate, can be fatal.
Because of the nature of the symptoms the drug has been linked to many violent and crazed crimes and deaths like the recent “zombie” attack.
Last year, a man in Indiana climbed a flagpole on the side of a road and jumped into traffic. Another man in Pennsylvania broke into a monastery and stabbed a priest, and a woman in West Virginia scratched herself 'to pieces' because she thought there was something under her skin, the New York Times reported.
Nudity is common because the drug causes body temperature to rise so fast and so high people feel like they're burning up and take off their clothes, reported the Daily Beast.
The powerful stimulant can cause super strength and in many cases hospital officials or police say it takes several people to hold down a user, the Times reported. The person often won’t respond to a stun gun or taser, the paper said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has classified bath salts as a Schedule 1 drug, labeling it as highly addictive and illegal. The agency banned mephedrone, MDPV and methoyne, the common ingredients in the drug.
The ban is in place for a year while the DEA studies whether it should be made permanently illegal.
However, banning synthetic drugs if often ineffective, experts say. Bath salts are a designer drug, meaning the chemical concoction can be tweaked slightly and classified as a new drug, making it easy to skirt around the law.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Video Game Trains Doctors to Fight Prescription Drug Abuse
By Join Together Staff | May 29, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inHealthcare, Prescription Drugs & Prevention
A new video game helps doctors learn how to determine if patients asking for painkillers truly need them. The game is part of an effort at Northwestern University in Chicago to help physicians fight prescription drug abuse.
The game trains doctors to identify deceptive behavior by patients who are likely to abuse prescription painkillers, according to The New York Times. The technology is similar to what the FBI uses to train agents in interrogation tactics, the article notes.
Doctors are taught to look for warning signs of drug abuse, such as a history of family problems. They also learn to observe signs of nervousness, such as fidgeting, finger-tapping and breaking eye contact.
The game is in its final phase of testing. It is designed for primary care and family doctors, who often are not comfortable evaluating patients’ need for painkillers, according to the newspaper.
“This isn’t something medical students have traditionally been trained for,” said Dr. Michael F. Fleming, whose research was used to design the game. “These are hard conversations to have.”
The game will soon be available online to medical schools and health care providers, for a fee. The game includes about 2,000 statements by a patient. Doctors can select from more than a thousand possible responses. The dialogue is based on interviews with more than 1,000 patients who received opioids for pain.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2012
National Inhalant Prevention Coalition: Stop Encouraging Kids to Huff Helium
By Join Together Staff | March 16, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Advocacy,Parenting, Prevention & Youth
Huffing helium is not safe, and adults must stop encouraging children to do it, according to the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC), a group that promotes awareness and recognition of inhalant use.
“Unknowing adults demonstrate and often provide helium to kids at parties, or science teachers use it in classes to demonstrate the effects of a gas on vocal cords,” Harvey Weiss, Executive Director of NIPC, said in a news release. “For years I have heard ‘everybody does it,’ and sure enough parents do it as well as Scout leaders, science teachers and even youth pastors. This normalizing of huffing needs to stop and all of us can play a role in that. We must be advocates for children.”
Weiss spoke about the dangers of helium at a press conference in advance of the 20th Annual National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week, which runs March 18-24, 2012.
Helium can displace the oxygen in the lungs, leading to oxygen deprivation, according to The Washington Times. This can cause symptoms that range from dizziness to blacking out to cardiac arrest.
Weiss said retailers can reduce helium abuse by placing tanks of the gas higher up on shelves, so they are out of the reach of children. He also called on adults to be more aware of the dangers of huffing helium.
Brian Dyak, President of Entertainment Industries Council Inc., which encourages the media to address social and health issues, called on the entertainment and news industries to educate people about inhalant abuse. The group says inhalant abuse should not be portrayed as glamorous or socially acceptable.
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