Woman escorted from Vermont Medical Center at author Robert Whitaker's speaking event

To contact us Click HERE
This blogger, who describes herself on her blog:

"My name is Jeanne and I'm a writer and artist living in VT. I worked as a peer supporter from 1995 til 2010. I survived psychiatric iatrogenic injuries and went on to sue for damages. I'm not a medical professional, if you want to taper from psych chemicals consult a professional. My dream is to have a small solar farm and to continue to be a pain in the neck to the arrogant everywhere."

Was Escorted out of the building when attempting to show support for ["support his work"] Robert Whitaker, author of 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' who was speaking at the Vermont Medical Center, in June 2012.

"She said it was private corporate property and I was trespassing. She said I was causing a disturbance. Then a Nancy T. showed up and got in my face about the situation. I had asked Ms. White for her last name and she was kind enough to tell me, but Ms. T. refused to tell me her name. I got out my handy iphone and asked if I could tape what they were saying to me. They said no. I was rolling up my posters when Ms. White yelled, “Call Security!”"


Take a look at her posters on her blog. Outrageous, that she was removed from the building.

Whistleblowers and GSK's record $ 3 Billion dollar settlement: Paxil, Wellbutrin, Avandia

To contact us Click HERE
via PR News Wire:

PRESS RELEASE
July 2, 2012, 10:42 a.m. EDT
Whistleblowers played major role in Glaxo case, leading to Glaxo's record settlement

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Two whistleblowers represented by Phillips & Cohen LLP provided the government with overwhelming evidence that was at the heart of the government's case against GlaxoSmithKline GSK +1.34% and the record-setting settlement announced today.

The whistleblowers - Thomas Gerahty, a former senior marketing development manager for Glaxo, and Matthew Burke, a former regional vice president -- provided invaluable insider information that Glaxo was engaging in corrupt nationwide schemes to push sales of Advair, Wellbutrin, Imitrex and other popular prescription drugs for "off-label" (unapproved) uses, that it used improper financial inducements to market its drugs, and that it misrepresented the safety and efficacy of those drugs. Glaxo's illegal practices caused Medicare, Tricare - the healthcare program for the military -- and Medicaid to incur huge losses.

The civil settlement of Gerahty and Burke's whistleblower case and a separate whistleblower lawsuit filed in Colorado total $1.017 billion out of total settlement. It is the largest civil, False Claims Act (whistleblower) settlement on record. (Two other whistleblower lawsuits that alleged another improper practice concerning Advair marketing settled for $25 million, for a total of $1.042 billion paid under the settlement agreement for the four whistleblower cases.)

Gerahty, Burke and Phillips & Cohen worked closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston and the Justice Department since they filed their "qui tam" (whistleblower) case in early 2003 in Boston's federal district court.

Gerahty and Burke gave the government new and detailed information about Glaxo's nationwide improper marketing practices, including the use of financial inducements to doctors to prescribe Glaxo's drugs and the promotion of Advair, Wellbutrin, Imitrex, Lamictal, Zofran and Valtrex for off-label, unapproved uses. Unapproved use of prescription drugs can create significant risks to patients, and drug manufacturers are prohibited by federal law from promoting their drugs for unapproved treatments.

As the government investigation progressed, the whistleblowers and their attorneys made a significant difference in particular in the government's case against Glaxo for its off-label marketing of Advair for mild asthma. Gerahty, Burke and Phillips & Cohen devoted substantial effort and time preparing the legal case that helped demonstrate Glaxo improperly marketed Advair as a first-line asthma treatment and for asthma patients previously treated with only a short-acting inhaler.

As a result, Glaxo paid $686 million out of the total settlement to resolve claims involving the off-label marketing of Advair to treat mild asthma - by far the largest amount Glaxo paid to settle any of the civil charges. (See the settlement agreement at www.glaxowhistleblowers.com .)

Kelton and Phillips & Cohen also represented the whistleblower whose qui tam lawsuit against Pfizer alleging the off-label marketing of the prescription painkiller, Bextra, helped the government recover $1.8 billion as part of a record-setting $2.3 billion settlement in 2009.

"The gravity of Glaxo's conduct cannot be overstated," Kelton said. "The company's improper marketing practices extended across a wide range of its prescription drug portfolio. Given what we saw with Glaxo, Pfizer and other pharma companies, it's fair to conclude there has been almost no limit to what pharma companies have done to sell their products."

Read the rest here

More on the massive GSK fine

Here GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion for health fraud.

Here (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and pay $3 billion to settle the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history.

The settlement includes $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines in connection with the sale of the drug company's Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia products, according to filings in federal court on Monday.

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole said at a news conference in Washington that the settlement "is unprecedented in both size and scope."

Also at Pharmagossip MONDAY, JULY 02, 2012--

GlaxoSmithKline to Plead Guilty and Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Fraud Allegations and Failure to Report Safety Data--
Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in U.S. History
Global health care giant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices, the Justice Department announced today. The resolution is the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history and the largest payment ever by a drug company.

And Pharmalot Biggest Deal Ever: Glaxo Pays $3B For Bad Behavior.



And Seroxat Sufferers Stand Up and Be Counted.

~~
GSK Press Release: CEO Andrew Witty nearly apologizes, but doesn't--uses word "regret" and read to part that says it is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing regarding the sales of certain drugs listed in the lawsuit settlement:

GlaxoSmithKline concludes previously announced agreement in principle to resolve multiple investigations with US Government and numerous states

"Commenting on the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty said: “Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for GSK. Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.
“We are deeply committed to doing everything we can to live up to and exceed the expectations of those we work with and serve. Since I became CEO, we have had a clear priority to ingrain a culture of putting patients first, acting transparently, respecting people inside and outside the organisation and displaying integrity in everything we do.
“In the US, we have taken action at all levels in the company. We have fundamentally changed our procedures for compliance, marketing and selling. When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct. In the last two years, we have reformed the basis on which we pay our sales representatives and we have enhanced our ability to ‘claw back’ remuneration of our senior management.
“We have a vital role to play in bringing innovative medicines to patients and we understand how important it is that our medicines are appropriately promoted to healthcare professionals and that we adhere to the standards rightly expected by the US Government.”
Under the terms of the settlement, GSK will plead guilty to misdemeanor violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act related to certain aspects of the marketing of Paxil for paediatric use and of Wellbutrin for certain uses, and for failure to include information about the initiation or status of certain Avandia studies in Periodic and Annual Reports submitted to FDA.
The civil settlement reached with the Government does not constitute an admission of any liability or wrongdoing in the selling and marketing of Lamictal, Zofran, Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, Valtrex, Avandia or Advair products, nor in its nominal pricing practices. "

How does this work? part 2 Grassley's question number 6

To contact us Click HERE

from page 13 of this document, that Dr Steve Balt placed on Twitter, in attempt to expose a colleague

Question 6

Have any of the prescribers identified to this Committee been referred to your state medical board?


Read the list of questions and ask yourself if Senator Grassley would be interested in the 2009 top 10 prescriber of Seroquel Dr Steve Balt, and his medical license being suspended (on probation) during the 2009 writing of over 1000 rx for Seroquel. Seroquel is known to be used off-label, and one must question the medical office setting where Balt worked at the time as being a player in the Medicaid, Medi-Cal fraud investigation. Were those patients rx'd Seroquel (antipsychotic) for indication use approved in 2009? or was it off-label? were the bulk of the recipients of the prescriptions Medicaid patients?

It's National VNA Week!

To contact us Click HERE
The following is from an email I just sent to our fantastic staff:

This week, we celebrate National VNA Week and acknowledge and celebrate the invaluable work we do to keep patients home, where they most want to be. It’s even more special this year because we also are celebrating 125 years of providing excellent care for our community. We have a proud history and we can look forward to our future…. the VNA of Boston & Affiliates is more relevant now than ever before.

We are there at the start of life and we are there at the end of life providing compassionate care so that patients have the best quality of life they can with dignity and independence. Here is a sampling of some of the comments we receive from our patients:

“VNA of Boston is consistently excellent! VNA has improved my quality of life & sense of wellness!!!”

“I was treated with the greatest respect and courtesy.”

“They made me feel safe and secure in helping me get better and made a good recovery in regaining my health back.”

“We have had multiple experiences - OT's, PT's, nurses - all have been great.”

“I was very impressed with the professionalism of all who helped me. Thank you very much!”

“The care was excellent and I would highly recommend the VNA to anyone. Everyone was great.”

Thank you all – to all the clinicians in the field and the staff in the office who support their work – for your expertise, your passion and commitment, and your contribution to the future of the VNA of Boston & Affiliates.

Rey

"It's what we do... we are nurses..."

To contact us Click HERE

For most of my career, I've been fortunate enough to work with clinicians who heal and who care.  Who bring skill and experience, and a frequently unquenchable compassion, into situations that many of the rest of us would do nearly anything to avoid.  I may be inclined to exit... while they rush in.

Meet Barbara, a nurse manager from the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston.  And here are a few of her photos of her native Haiti.  Idyllic and beautiful, as in the sunlit bay above.  Tragic and devastating, as in what follows.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010.  A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake with an epicenter only 25 kilometers west of capital city, Port-au-Prince.  Ultimately... 316,000 dead.  300,000 injured.  1,000,000 homeless.

And Barbara rushed in.

Here's her story... from the beginning.

Barbara grew up in Carrefour, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, with her mom, a teacher, and dad, an owner of an auto repair business, and brother and sister.  It was a happy, largely uneventful time... until her father became sick.  Among his ailments, Barbara's father also suffered from decubitius skin ulcers, which then (and even still today in Haiti) were poorly understood.  Barbara, then 13 years old, remembers being angry when her father, a proud man who resisted family pressure to move to the United States, told her "not to worry" and that he would be around for "another ten years".  Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

At the age of 16, Barbara and her remaining family members moved to Florida and then eventually to Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Barbara and her sister, Beatrice, held a variety of jobs and when Barbara decided she wanted to become a nurse, Beatrice, then a medical assistant, helped her to pay for the training.  When Barbara completed nursing school, she began working and then helped to finance Beatrice's nursing education.  Barbara continued on to earn her bachelor's degree and is now studying for a master's in health care administration.

Barbara remembers well that day in January, 2010.  Reports of an earthquake began surfacing, with no one fully aware of its magnitude or impact.  Beatrice called Barbara and gave her an update.  It was far worse than expected.  Far worse.

Barbara recalls: "We were looking at the news.  We couldn't believe it.  Nobody knew what was happening.  We started calling our family there but no lines were open.  We were so worried.  We couldn't sleep.  We tried calling the UN but couldn't get through.  We just didn't know what to do.  I was desperate..."

The overwhelming emotion was helplessness.  "People there were dying and I thought, I'm a nurse.  I have to help."  Partners in Health, an organization dedicated to improving the quality and access to health care services in poor and developing areas, called Beatrice on Saturday and asked to deploy her to Haiti on the following Monday.  A month later, Barbara's call came.

It was a two week assignment.  The lead time was limited.  According to Barbara, "you just pack your bag and go."

She recalls departing the airport in Haiti.  She remembers looking around at the rubble, the devastation, the places where buildings once stood.  "It was tough to see a country you left and is no longer there."

Barbara was stationed at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince.  "Once you got there, the gate was closed and you couldn't leave."  And once there, she and her companions worked for 10 days straight, during 7PM to 7AM shifts.  Barbara remembers being struck when she saw the former sight of a nursing school next to the hospital which she had seen as a child.  "It was no longer there.  It was completely flat.  I wondered how many people were trapped underneath."

After a quick orientation from the physician-in-charge, Barbara was given a brief tour and was immediately "put to work."  She described the first day as "one of the worst days of my life.  There were 300 to 400 patients there all needing care... from TB to fractures to missing limbs to wounds... to people who were just dying.  Just name it - it was right there looking at you..."

When asked how she responded to that, Barbara describes: "You start to work.  Your forget about everything else.  You just tried to save everyone you could.  You just do whatever you can."

She remembers one young girl at the hospital.  She had lost nine members of her family in the tragedy.  "She was so thin.  You could see only bones.  She would not eat or drink... and she never spoke... except at night, she would scream out the names of her family who were now lost to her.  I remember seeing a lady who stayed with her.  She was from the local church and she slept on the floor, giving the girl a sip of water."  Despite their efforts, the patient passed away.

Another patient, a 27 year old woman with renal failure and high blood pressure, was experiencing significant physical and emotional stress.  Barbara knew the patient needed oxygen and fast, so she ran down the hall looking for a tank.  A simple tank of oxygen.  Plentiful in every hospital where Barbara has worked, but scarce in Port-au-Prince's General Hospital.  Barbara called out: "This girl's going to die, her heart's going to give out soon... "... and remembers seeing the desperate look in the woman's eyes.  The patient said to Barbara: "Please don't leave me.  If you leave me, they're going to let me die."  Barbara knew she was right.

The patient eventually received the oxygen and the vital dialysis she required and lived.

There was also an older woman patient who "could have been my mother."  She had two wounds in her lower legs; "it looked to be a diabetic ulcer".  Barbara watched this patient fade from an amiable, even joking, favorite among the nurses, to one who became more and more ill and despondent.  At one point, she had no clothing or even sheets, leaving one of the nurses to donate some of her own clothing to the patient.  The patient died, alone and in pain.  Per Barbara, "there was no reason for her to die that way..."

Barbara looks back at the experience and feels that: "We didn't do enough.  There's so much more to do there.  And it's not over there.  It's terrible what's happening in the tent cities there now.  It's just horrible still... but I want to go back."

When asked why she wants to return, Barbara lowered her eyes and said, simply and solemnly: "It's what we do... we are nurses..."

If you're interested in learning more about Partners in Health, please click here.

If you'd like to help, click here.

 

Posted by Rey

UCLA Improves the Study of Single Cancer Cells Of Blood From Tumors & Those Circulating

To contact us Click HERE

The nanowires grab the cancer cells flowing through and they can hand pick cells for study as relates to Melanoma. The goal is to have a clinically applicable liquid biopsy.  BD

Press Release:

UCLA RESEARCHERS FURTHER IMPROVE ‘NANOVELCRO’ DEVICE TO

ISOLATE AND STUDY SINGLE CANCER CELLS FROM BLOOD

Researchers at UCLA have further improved a method for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients’ tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements, even single cancer cells can be accurately detected and safely isolated from patient blood samples for continuous analysis.

These cells, called circulating tumor cells (CTCs), metastasize or spread from one tumor to other parts of the body and form new tumors, thus propagating cancer in the patient. When they are isolated from the patient’s blood early over the course of disease progression, they can provide doctors with critical information about the type of cancer, the characteristics of the individual cancer, and its possible progression. Doctors can also tell from these cells how to tailor a personalized treatment approach for a specific patient. 

In recent years, a UCLA research team led by Hsian-Rong Tseng, associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) has developed a “NanoVelcro” chip. Blood is passed through the chip, in which very small nanoscale hairs (nanowires or nanofibers) coated with protein molecules from the immune system (antibodies) that match proteins on the surface of cancer cells trap CTCs and isolate them for further studies.

The CTCs trapped by the chip also act as a “liquid biopsy” of the tumor, providing convenient access to tumor cells, and earlier access to potentially fatal metastases. This study of the microscopic structure of diseased tissue is called histopathology analysis of biopsy samples and is considered the “gold standard” for determining tumor status. Being able to extract viable cells allows detailed analysis of the type of cancer, and the various genetic characteristics of that patient’s specific cancer.

Tseng’s team has now improved the chip by replacing the original non-transparent silicon nanowire substrate inside the device. These nanowires grab the cancer cells as the blood passes by them. Using a new type of transparent polymer nanofiber-deposited substrate, Tseng and his colleagues were able to “pick” single CTCs immobilized on the transparent substrates by using a miniaturized laser beam knife, a technique called laser microdissection (LMD). An article on the improvement of the chip was published online today, and is featured on the cover of the March 2013 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Angewandte Chemie,

“This paper summarizes a major milestone in the continuous development of NanoVelcro assays pioneered by our research group,” said Tseng, “we now can not only capture cancer cells from blood with high efficiency, but also hand pick single CTCs for in-depth characterization to provide crucial information that helps doctors make better decisions.”

Using the new assay on patients’ blood that contained circulating melanoma cells (CMCs), Tseng’s team was able to isolate and preserve single CMCs. Melanoma is a deadly type of skin cancer that is prone to spreading quickly throughout the body. The ability to capture and preserve single CMCs allows doctors to analyze the DNA structure of the cells and determine genetic characteristics of the patient’s cancer, confirming that the circulating cells remained genetically similar to the tumor they came from.

The preservation of single captured CMCs in the proof-of-concept study also allowed researchers to conduct an analysis, called single-cell genotyping, to find within the cell a specific target (BRAF^V600E) for a drug called vemurafenib. This designation describes a mutation in a protein called BRAF that appears in approximately 60 percent of melanoma cases. Drugs that inhibit BRAF are able to slow and often reverse the growth of melanoma tumors.

“With this technology we are getting closer to the goal of a widely clinically applicable liquid biopsy, where we can sample cancer cells by a simple blood draw and understand the genes that allow them to grow,” said Dr. Antoni Ribas, professor of medicine in the division of hematology-oncology and JCCC member, and one of Tseng’s key collaborators. “With the NanoVelcro chips we will be able to better personalize the treatments to patients by giving the right treatment to stop what makes that particular cancer grow.”

Dr. Roger Lo, another key Tseng collaborator and an assistant professor in the department of medicine, division of dermatology and department of molecular and medical pharmacology, and JCCC member, added, “This scientific advancement — being able to capture the melanoma cells in transit in the blood and then perform genetic analysis on them — will in principle allow us to track the genomic evolution of melanoma under BRAF inhibitor therapy and understand better the development of drug resistance.”

UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has more than 240 researchers and clinicians engaged in disease research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the Jonsson center is dedicated to promoting research and translating basic science into leading-edge clinical studies. In July 2012, the Jonsson Cancer Center was once again named among the nation’s top 10 cancer centers by U.S. News & World Report, a ranking it has held for 12 of the last 13 years. For more information on the Jonsson Cancer Center, visit our website at http://www.cancer.ucla.edu.

Latest From Health Insurance Business Intelligence Analytics For Avoiding Risk and Saving Money, Break Up Marriages and Dump the Spouse Coverage

To contact us Click HERE

Surcharge are becoming more well known for spouses and when the numbers are crunched, risk assessments are performed along with any other type of risk numbers such as mortality rates, etc. and the results must be saying “dump the spouse” according to this article in Market Watch.  This is pretty much talking about employer provided insurance.  There are people out there that marry for this, well almost but it certainly is a big consideration, and maybe they really do.  A couple years ago we had this story on the web.

Will Marry For Health Insurance Web Site – Nobody Cares, Responds, The Reality of A 30 Second Attention Span

Some companies have policies that discourage spouses and some just make it too expensive to add them.  The problem too is that some individuals can’t get insurance otherwise.  The surcharges can be as much as $100 a month and depending on income that can be a big issue or an inconvenience.  In 2014 we shall how this works as there will be exchanges for spouses to get insurance outside the company with the next provisions of the healthcare reform kick in.  Some companies will only allow the spouse added on if they already have their own insurance.  If plans are different and cover different doctors then both can’t see the same doctor.  Risk assessments and costs are working on all budgets today.  In some cases with Medicaid as this link below states, people get divorced to get coverage and it all comes back to income and how the numbers work out.  This sure doesn’t do much for keep the American tradition of family together.  BD

Divorce for Medicaid and Marry for Insurance – The American Healthcare System

---

By denying coverage to spouses, employers not only save the annual premiums, but also the new fees that went into effect as part of the Affordable Care Act. This year, companies have to pay $1 or $2 “per life” covered on their plans, a sum that jumps to $65 in 2014. And health law guidelines proposed recently mandate coverage of employees’ dependent children (up to age 26), but husbands and wives are optional. “The question about whether it’s obligatory to cover the family of the employee is being thought through more than ever before,” says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health

Such exclusions barely existed three years ago, but experts expect an increasing number of employers to adopt them: “That’s the next step,” Darling says. HMS, a company that audits plans for employers, estimates that nearly a third of companies might have such policies now. Holdouts say they feel under pressure to follow suit. “We’re the last domino,” says Duke Bennett, mayor of Terre Haute, Ind., which is instituting a spousal carve-out for the city’s health plan, effective July 2013, after nearly all major employers in the area dropped spouses.

About a fifth of companies had policies to discourage spouses from joining their health plan in 2012, according to Mercer, though most just charged extra—$100 a month, on average—to cover spouses who could get insurance elsewhere, rather than deny coverage entirely. Indeed, large firms including generics maker Teva and supply chain manager Intermec have spousal surcharges costing $100 a month, or $1,200 annually, while Xerox charges $1,000 for the year

Some companies drive spouses away using other tactics, such as making spousal coverage prohibitively expensive through higher surcharges or by making reimbursement rates so low that spouses can’t afford the plans.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-your-boss-is-dumping-your-wife-2013-02-22?link=sfmw

Why Medical Bills Are Out of Control–Steven Brill From Time Magazine “The Bitter Pill” With Jon Stewart…Killer Algorithms Part 55 (Videos)

To contact us Click HERE
Jon Stewart does a pretty good job with this serious topic.  There are 3 parts to the interview.  The point out that non-profits do make money.  MRIs are one of the first topics discussed and that has been in the news of late with the various charges and prices you get.  All the pricing is done with IT infrastructures that build on itself.  They don’t even touch the Health IT expenditures and how some of that goes.  I do that enough here.  Today saw this article about start ups and almost everyone of them looks like it has a model to sell data. 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Here’s part two…the Charge Master…the complexities…Jon Stewart says this should be “required reading”…and I’ll add my 2 cents in the fact that all the money is made with models and algorithms…

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The US doesn’t use it’s buying power he states.  Medicare for example is the best paying insurer in town in Florida.  Here’s a recent story that talks about complexity and the discounts the insurers negotiate..a carrier paying less than Medicare…

The AAFP Confronts United Healthcare On Reimbursements, Some Are Below Medicare Rates In Parts of the US–Payment Algorithms/Formulas Calculated Deep Within IT Infrastructures Do the Job

In Part 3 we are getting to the core, a lot of what I talk about government snowed by corporate USA business models and the complexities they build, to make money.  If you want to see more about how it works, watch the videos in the left hand side of this blog or visit the “Algo Duped” page. 

 

The high costs are due to excessive outsourcing in many areas.  When you outsource remember those on the other end want to make money. 

 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Now for the other side of this too in how analytics used out of context get more of your money, read this article and watch the video and I tell you how analytics are written just to make money sometimes and how it further squeezes you as a consumer and the doctors.  Again watch the videos on the left on this blog to see how you get duped and how the profiteering is flawing the data.  They didn’t touch on the data selling aspect here but did you know Walgreens made short of $800 million in 2010 selling data only? Read more here.  More profits made on top of what is discussed here.  We are under the Attack of the Killer Algorithms.  BD

Big Data/Analytics If Used Out of Context and Without True Values Stand To Be A Huge Discriminatory Practice Against Consumers–More Honest Data Scientists Needed to Formulate Accuracy/Value To Keep Algo Duping For Profit Out of the Game

Digital Literacy Needed–Senator McConnell Staff Falls for Parody Blog Post–Everything On the Internet Is Not True, Duped, Duped and Duped Again

To contact us Click HERE

You know I saw this and I had to laugh too one one side and on the other end it scares the daylights out of me.  I’m one of those out here with a few others that would just love to “help” educate some of these folks as that would save them from themselves.  The world is moving quick today and it is hard, sometimes to figure out what is real and what is not.  Watch my series of videos I have curated from folks smarter than me and you’ll get it.  It’s called Algo Duping 101. 

You will understand a bit more about how stats are used to sway you and the error factors that are inherent.  Most of the same videos are also on the left hand side of this blog if you scroll down.  You get a dose of it every day in the news.   Video number one helps dispute that there’s an algorithm fairy for the perfect butt, a friendship algorithm, etc.  If you are on the web enough, there’s plenty of material that debunks and laughs at the thought of someone even thinking they could create them:)   I like part when Charlie on the clinical trial data tells us the the information was no good as “the fish was dead”.  Learn up if you have the time.  Here’s the video from MSNBC and it is a little lengthy and he could have cut off a few minutes of this but you get the point…..DIGITIAL ILLITERCAY AND ALGO DUPING DELUXE. 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It is any wonder that the Sunshine Foundation says we should restore the Office of Technology Assessment, they need brain help.  This goes for both sides too as we have the other party looking for “Algorithm Fairies” too, thinking that a formula will fix all evils too. We need cabinet heads that have a little tech in their background.  I think the biggest problem is the perception that permeates in DC with what I see as “its for those guys over there” pass those laws, “for those guys over there’.  Sometimes you see that in software development too with developers that don’t even touch their own consumer software they write, just in it for the money. Part of that too goes back to the Aneesh Chopra days with way too many talks about “write code and get rich” and at the time he was good cheerleader but the need changed and we have a better US CIO with some real tech knowledge now in place and boy does he have a big job to do as well.  Watch the video below in just reading this blog post, don’t there’s some truth to Congress needing a bigger brain? 

Congress Needs a Bigger Brain–Restore the Office of Technology Assessment And Truly Assess What is Useful And Remove The Algo Duping Permeating In Government–Fantasy Perceptions That Are Not Real Can Be A Dangerous Thing

Why do we like and need satire?  Well (grin) sometimes they get it right and they are not even trying.  Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert have a no ending supply of material when foot in mouth appears and again most of it is education related with technology that is lacking somewhere along the line.  The Onion got this one right, (link below) the CIA is using Facebook and maybe this is what happened when the McConnell letter went out, the young staff member thought that that there’s more truth with satire today:)

When Satire Becomes Reality–CIA Admits to Full Monitoring of Facebook and Social Networks Just As the Onion Satirically Published Last Year..Not A Joke Any Longer It Appears With Privacy

Ok now that we know digital illiteracy is alive and well and permeates the news media so let’s take a serious look at what happens…this allows consumers to get hurt because corporate USA uses items as such and creates models, formulas, etc. that take data out of context to make money.  I’ve written about that for quite a while now and will provide a link below to where you can see a business discussion about “value” in the analytics being thrown out there today.  Don’t get sucked in if it doesn’t sound right, ask questions.  This may be a little technical but you can get something out out it for sure..it’s the math and models folks so listen up here if you can, the OMG soap operas aren’t getting you anywhere other than being entertained and frustrated. 

Big Data/Analytics If Used Out of Context and Without True Values Stand To Be A Huge Discriminatory Practice Against Consumers–More Honest Data Scientists Needed to Formulate Accuracy/Value To Keep Algo Duping For Profit Out of the Game

Ok so what’s next on the digital illiteracy list to appear in the news?  Will they read up?  Who knows.  This week we have yet another issue with digital illiteracy making news…the next governor vying for “Governor Ultrasound” recognition.  It’s digital illiteracy breaking out at the seems as we wouldn’t see stuff like this if they were not lost in the world of technology.  It gives MSNBC a ton of material to work with as well.  Don’t these guys ever think about how the “educated” world sees them? 

Mike Pence of Indiana Wants to Be Governor “Ultra-Sound Number Two”– Wants 2 Ultra-Sounds, Before and After the Taking Abortion Pill…Digital Illiteracy Keeps Enacting Vaginal Legislative Discussions

Everyone complains about MSNBC at times with their coverage but why don’t these lawmakers and their staff smarten up and quit giving them such “rich” material as they share it with all of use and we laugh our fannies off at one point and at the other side we get angry in seeing the ineptness of what and who elected sadly.  I try to again help educate as when this is all that permeates the news with soap operas and OMG stories and it allows big smart corporations to continue controlling most of the money in the US as all this runs on servers 24/7 with models and code written while we get left with this crap.  BD 

Doctor Who Helped US Find Bin Laden Sits Jailed in Pakistan–Will Zero Dark Thirty Nominated for an Oscar Help Free America’s Abandoned Hero?–Update

To contact us Click HERE
We all know the Oscars are up and coming and that the movie has been nominated for an award.  This is sad that the doctor now sits imprisoned sentenced to 33 years after helping the US.  I don’t know all the details on why he was not given an opportunity to leave the country but sitting in prison for helping the US find Bin Laden doesn’t seem to where he should be by any means.  The RHL group is working to bring some recognition and help to see if there’s anything that can be done. 

MMRGlobal, MyMedicalRecords.com is a sponsor of the Medical Quack and is part of the RHL Group and has underwritten this effort.  Below you can watch the interview with Bob Lorsch and the efforts being made by the foundation. 

More information and how to get involved can be found here at www.freeafridi.com

More videos at Fox news...

Fox News Additional Coverage

MMRGlobal was pretty much an unknown entity in the news world until the Hollywood connection with Taylor and Russell Armstrong taking money from the firm was made public upon the death/suicide of Taylor Russell.  Last year I sat down with Bob to ask questions and get a better idea of what his companies do in healthcare.  Back on topic with this story though it hardly seems fair that the doctor,  Dr. Shakil Afridi, who helped the US find Bin Laden faces a future in jail.  BD 

---

BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) — “Zero Dark Thirty” is a contender to bring home an Academy Award for Best Picture this weekend, but first, local activists are joining forces to free a doctor who helped the United States find Osama bin Laden.

Arguably playing the most critical role in the 10-year hunt for bin Laden is Dr. Shakil Afridi, who is currently being held in a Pakistani prison. If Beverly Hills businessman Bob Lorsch has his way, Afridi’s story will steal the show at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

He calls Afridi a patriot who’s been left behind.

Pakistan, which is officially an ally of the United States and receives billions of dollars in aid from America every year, claims Afridi was arrested for other charges, unrelated to identifying bin Laden.

However, the people fighting for his freedom don’t buy it and want Afridi freed now.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/02/20/can-zero-dark-thirty-oscars-help-free-imprisoned-doctor-who-helped-find-bin-laden/

Don't Count Preschool Out Just Yet

To contact us Click HERE

So, the author of this article, "The Early Education Racket" makes some pretty sweeping claims that I find a bit dubious. Moyer makes the claim that those kids who belong to families that can afford preschool probably don't need it. I'm also skeptical because it doesn't seem very well thought out. For example, there are several ways to define need that Moyer never seems to consider.

My kid's preschool was as expensive as the university that I was attending. However, if I had it to do all over again, I'd do the exact same thing. She still remembers it as a really wonderful and nurturing experience. It wasn't until I talked to her preschool instructors that I learned that she had a real talent for art. Since she was my only child, I had nothing to compare it to, so I was simply unaware of her knack for it.

Preschool can help parents to identify their child's strengths, weaknesses, and gifts at a really young age and that can give them a clue as to what sort of activities, supplies, and experiences that child would most enjoy. At preschool, she was able to work with instructors who had art experience. I had none. Even if I was really, really diligent, I still wouldn't have been able to teach her the skills that she learned there. If your child is really into something that you know how to do, then I can imagine that preschool might not make much of a difference. However, if your kid is into something that leaves you scratching your head to understand, really talented preschool instructors can be a lifesaver.

Here's a few examples of her work. If you're wondering about that weirdness in the bottom right corner of her last picture, I can explain. She's still a minor. That means we don't allow her to use her real name online. We had to blot it out of the last picture so that I could share it here.

"Deep Sea Mermaid" done in Micron Pen

"Veggies" done in PrismaColor

"Star Fucker" done in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 6
"The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project proposes a Close Encounter of the Seventh Kind as mating between a human being and extraterrestrial that produces a human-alien hybridisation, usually called a Star Child. This concept is similar to ideas promoted by ancient astronauts theorists like Erich von Däniken, Zecharia Sitchin and Robert K. G. Temple, in that extraterrestrials interacted with, perhaps interbred with and influenced ancient human beings in the past."

Sometimes, There's More to Consider Than Just Gender

To contact us Click HERE
Grace Annam, recently wrote a post ("It's not something I would do, but...") about her observations about interactions with others now that she has started the public transition process as a woman who is transgender. There were some aspects of her analyses that I'm not so sure about.

I can think of a lot of situations where it might be really bad idea to presume that the “I certainly support you in making this choice for yourself. It’s not something I would do, but...” response was a way of expressing the idea that transitioning is bizarre or incomprehensible. If I heard a friend who is transgender respond to someone with “Well, of course not. You’re cisgender” I’d be really, really disappointed for several reasons.

First of all, the comment assumes that the person is cisgender. After all, just as the person didn't know that my loved one is transgender, my loved one who is transgender may not be aware of the fact that the person they’re speaking to isn't cisgender. I can imagine that being mis-gendered by anyone can be incredibly hurtful, especially for those who are gender nonconformant. I’m cisgender, so I don’t know whether it feels the same. However, the idea of being mis-gendered by someone who is transgender makes me think about how awful and sickening it is to me when other mixed-race/mixed-ethnicity folks make assertions about what race they've decided that I belong to or when others within the queer community make assumptive assertions about my orientation.

Secondly, I’d be really upset about the “Well, of course not. You’re cisgender.” response because I feel like it betrays a certain lack of understanding about intersectionality. There are lots of other privilege issues involved in why a person could decide that transitioning certainly isn't anything they’d do.

I had a best friend in middle school. She came out to everyone. I totally supported her choice to do that, but it certainly wasn't something that I’d do and it had everything to do with privilege. As a person of color living in a white-dominated society, I already had my racial identity working against me. It’s damned hard to get a job when you’re competing against white people and most of the folks doing the hiring are white. My friend didn't have to worry about that. When you’re a black woman of color your femininity and womanhood is automatically denied. We are already seen as hypersexual or asexual and, as such, completely acceptable targets for sexualized violence. Now, couple that with being an “out” lesbian, with all of the stereotypes that go along with it, and see how long it takes before you are sexually assaulted. My friend didn't have to deal with that combination and never would.

I've known folks who will likely never transition to living as the gender that they are. I wish they lived in a world where they could, but they don’t. They can support those who do transition while recognizing that they wouldn't/won’t do it. It doesn't mean they’re cisgender or otherwise privileged relative to those who do transition. We don’t all pay the same cost for bucking the system. Some people just can’t afford to do it.

There’s also some real ablism in this post, but I think that might be best explained in a different comment.

Woman escorted from Vermont Medical Center at author Robert Whitaker's speaking event

To contact us Click HERE
This blogger, who describes herself on her blog:

"My name is Jeanne and I'm a writer and artist living in VT. I worked as a peer supporter from 1995 til 2010. I survived psychiatric iatrogenic injuries and went on to sue for damages. I'm not a medical professional, if you want to taper from psych chemicals consult a professional. My dream is to have a small solar farm and to continue to be a pain in the neck to the arrogant everywhere."

Was Escorted out of the building when attempting to show support for ["support his work"] Robert Whitaker, author of 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' who was speaking at the Vermont Medical Center, in June 2012.

"She said it was private corporate property and I was trespassing. She said I was causing a disturbance. Then a Nancy T. showed up and got in my face about the situation. I had asked Ms. White for her last name and she was kind enough to tell me, but Ms. T. refused to tell me her name. I got out my handy iphone and asked if I could tape what they were saying to me. They said no. I was rolling up my posters when Ms. White yelled, “Call Security!”"


Take a look at her posters on her blog. Outrageous, that she was removed from the building.

Whistleblowers and GSK's record $ 3 Billion dollar settlement: Paxil, Wellbutrin, Avandia

To contact us Click HERE
via PR News Wire:

PRESS RELEASE
July 2, 2012, 10:42 a.m. EDT
Whistleblowers played major role in Glaxo case, leading to Glaxo's record settlement

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Two whistleblowers represented by Phillips & Cohen LLP provided the government with overwhelming evidence that was at the heart of the government's case against GlaxoSmithKline GSK +1.34% and the record-setting settlement announced today.

The whistleblowers - Thomas Gerahty, a former senior marketing development manager for Glaxo, and Matthew Burke, a former regional vice president -- provided invaluable insider information that Glaxo was engaging in corrupt nationwide schemes to push sales of Advair, Wellbutrin, Imitrex and other popular prescription drugs for "off-label" (unapproved) uses, that it used improper financial inducements to market its drugs, and that it misrepresented the safety and efficacy of those drugs. Glaxo's illegal practices caused Medicare, Tricare - the healthcare program for the military -- and Medicaid to incur huge losses.

The civil settlement of Gerahty and Burke's whistleblower case and a separate whistleblower lawsuit filed in Colorado total $1.017 billion out of total settlement. It is the largest civil, False Claims Act (whistleblower) settlement on record. (Two other whistleblower lawsuits that alleged another improper practice concerning Advair marketing settled for $25 million, for a total of $1.042 billion paid under the settlement agreement for the four whistleblower cases.)

Gerahty, Burke and Phillips & Cohen worked closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston and the Justice Department since they filed their "qui tam" (whistleblower) case in early 2003 in Boston's federal district court.

Gerahty and Burke gave the government new and detailed information about Glaxo's nationwide improper marketing practices, including the use of financial inducements to doctors to prescribe Glaxo's drugs and the promotion of Advair, Wellbutrin, Imitrex, Lamictal, Zofran and Valtrex for off-label, unapproved uses. Unapproved use of prescription drugs can create significant risks to patients, and drug manufacturers are prohibited by federal law from promoting their drugs for unapproved treatments.

As the government investigation progressed, the whistleblowers and their attorneys made a significant difference in particular in the government's case against Glaxo for its off-label marketing of Advair for mild asthma. Gerahty, Burke and Phillips & Cohen devoted substantial effort and time preparing the legal case that helped demonstrate Glaxo improperly marketed Advair as a first-line asthma treatment and for asthma patients previously treated with only a short-acting inhaler.

As a result, Glaxo paid $686 million out of the total settlement to resolve claims involving the off-label marketing of Advair to treat mild asthma - by far the largest amount Glaxo paid to settle any of the civil charges. (See the settlement agreement at www.glaxowhistleblowers.com .)

Kelton and Phillips & Cohen also represented the whistleblower whose qui tam lawsuit against Pfizer alleging the off-label marketing of the prescription painkiller, Bextra, helped the government recover $1.8 billion as part of a record-setting $2.3 billion settlement in 2009.

"The gravity of Glaxo's conduct cannot be overstated," Kelton said. "The company's improper marketing practices extended across a wide range of its prescription drug portfolio. Given what we saw with Glaxo, Pfizer and other pharma companies, it's fair to conclude there has been almost no limit to what pharma companies have done to sell their products."

Read the rest here

More on the massive GSK fine

Here GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion for health fraud.

Here (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and pay $3 billion to settle the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history.

The settlement includes $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines in connection with the sale of the drug company's Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia products, according to filings in federal court on Monday.

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole said at a news conference in Washington that the settlement "is unprecedented in both size and scope."

Also at Pharmagossip MONDAY, JULY 02, 2012--

GlaxoSmithKline to Plead Guilty and Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Fraud Allegations and Failure to Report Safety Data--
Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in U.S. History
Global health care giant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices, the Justice Department announced today. The resolution is the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history and the largest payment ever by a drug company.

And Pharmalot Biggest Deal Ever: Glaxo Pays $3B For Bad Behavior.



And Seroxat Sufferers Stand Up and Be Counted.

~~
GSK Press Release: CEO Andrew Witty nearly apologizes, but doesn't--uses word "regret" and read to part that says it is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing regarding the sales of certain drugs listed in the lawsuit settlement:

GlaxoSmithKline concludes previously announced agreement in principle to resolve multiple investigations with US Government and numerous states

"Commenting on the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty said: “Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for GSK. Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.
“We are deeply committed to doing everything we can to live up to and exceed the expectations of those we work with and serve. Since I became CEO, we have had a clear priority to ingrain a culture of putting patients first, acting transparently, respecting people inside and outside the organisation and displaying integrity in everything we do.
“In the US, we have taken action at all levels in the company. We have fundamentally changed our procedures for compliance, marketing and selling. When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct. In the last two years, we have reformed the basis on which we pay our sales representatives and we have enhanced our ability to ‘claw back’ remuneration of our senior management.
“We have a vital role to play in bringing innovative medicines to patients and we understand how important it is that our medicines are appropriately promoted to healthcare professionals and that we adhere to the standards rightly expected by the US Government.”
Under the terms of the settlement, GSK will plead guilty to misdemeanor violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act related to certain aspects of the marketing of Paxil for paediatric use and of Wellbutrin for certain uses, and for failure to include information about the initiation or status of certain Avandia studies in Periodic and Annual Reports submitted to FDA.
The civil settlement reached with the Government does not constitute an admission of any liability or wrongdoing in the selling and marketing of Lamictal, Zofran, Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, Valtrex, Avandia or Advair products, nor in its nominal pricing practices. "

How does this work? part 2 Grassley's question number 6

To contact us Click HERE

from page 13 of this document, that Dr Steve Balt placed on Twitter, in attempt to expose a colleague

Question 6

Have any of the prescribers identified to this Committee been referred to your state medical board?


Read the list of questions and ask yourself if Senator Grassley would be interested in the 2009 top 10 prescriber of Seroquel Dr Steve Balt, and his medical license being suspended (on probation) during the 2009 writing of over 1000 rx for Seroquel. Seroquel is known to be used off-label, and one must question the medical office setting where Balt worked at the time as being a player in the Medicaid, Medi-Cal fraud investigation. Were those patients rx'd Seroquel (antipsychotic) for indication use approved in 2009? or was it off-label? were the bulk of the recipients of the prescriptions Medicaid patients?

Woman escorted from Vermont Medical Center at author Robert Whitaker's speaking event

To contact us Click HERE
This blogger, who describes herself on her blog:

"My name is Jeanne and I'm a writer and artist living in VT. I worked as a peer supporter from 1995 til 2010. I survived psychiatric iatrogenic injuries and went on to sue for damages. I'm not a medical professional, if you want to taper from psych chemicals consult a professional. My dream is to have a small solar farm and to continue to be a pain in the neck to the arrogant everywhere."

Was Escorted out of the building when attempting to show support for ["support his work"] Robert Whitaker, author of 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' who was speaking at the Vermont Medical Center, in June 2012.

"She said it was private corporate property and I was trespassing. She said I was causing a disturbance. Then a Nancy T. showed up and got in my face about the situation. I had asked Ms. White for her last name and she was kind enough to tell me, but Ms. T. refused to tell me her name. I got out my handy iphone and asked if I could tape what they were saying to me. They said no. I was rolling up my posters when Ms. White yelled, “Call Security!”"


Take a look at her posters on her blog. Outrageous, that she was removed from the building.

Whistleblowers and GSK's record $ 3 Billion dollar settlement: Paxil, Wellbutrin, Avandia

To contact us Click HERE
via PR News Wire:

PRESS RELEASE
July 2, 2012, 10:42 a.m. EDT
Whistleblowers played major role in Glaxo case, leading to Glaxo's record settlement

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Two whistleblowers represented by Phillips & Cohen LLP provided the government with overwhelming evidence that was at the heart of the government's case against GlaxoSmithKline GSK +1.34% and the record-setting settlement announced today.

The whistleblowers - Thomas Gerahty, a former senior marketing development manager for Glaxo, and Matthew Burke, a former regional vice president -- provided invaluable insider information that Glaxo was engaging in corrupt nationwide schemes to push sales of Advair, Wellbutrin, Imitrex and other popular prescription drugs for "off-label" (unapproved) uses, that it used improper financial inducements to market its drugs, and that it misrepresented the safety and efficacy of those drugs. Glaxo's illegal practices caused Medicare, Tricare - the healthcare program for the military -- and Medicaid to incur huge losses.

The civil settlement of Gerahty and Burke's whistleblower case and a separate whistleblower lawsuit filed in Colorado total $1.017 billion out of total settlement. It is the largest civil, False Claims Act (whistleblower) settlement on record. (Two other whistleblower lawsuits that alleged another improper practice concerning Advair marketing settled for $25 million, for a total of $1.042 billion paid under the settlement agreement for the four whistleblower cases.)

Gerahty, Burke and Phillips & Cohen worked closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston and the Justice Department since they filed their "qui tam" (whistleblower) case in early 2003 in Boston's federal district court.

Gerahty and Burke gave the government new and detailed information about Glaxo's nationwide improper marketing practices, including the use of financial inducements to doctors to prescribe Glaxo's drugs and the promotion of Advair, Wellbutrin, Imitrex, Lamictal, Zofran and Valtrex for off-label, unapproved uses. Unapproved use of prescription drugs can create significant risks to patients, and drug manufacturers are prohibited by federal law from promoting their drugs for unapproved treatments.

As the government investigation progressed, the whistleblowers and their attorneys made a significant difference in particular in the government's case against Glaxo for its off-label marketing of Advair for mild asthma. Gerahty, Burke and Phillips & Cohen devoted substantial effort and time preparing the legal case that helped demonstrate Glaxo improperly marketed Advair as a first-line asthma treatment and for asthma patients previously treated with only a short-acting inhaler.

As a result, Glaxo paid $686 million out of the total settlement to resolve claims involving the off-label marketing of Advair to treat mild asthma - by far the largest amount Glaxo paid to settle any of the civil charges. (See the settlement agreement at www.glaxowhistleblowers.com .)

Kelton and Phillips & Cohen also represented the whistleblower whose qui tam lawsuit against Pfizer alleging the off-label marketing of the prescription painkiller, Bextra, helped the government recover $1.8 billion as part of a record-setting $2.3 billion settlement in 2009.

"The gravity of Glaxo's conduct cannot be overstated," Kelton said. "The company's improper marketing practices extended across a wide range of its prescription drug portfolio. Given what we saw with Glaxo, Pfizer and other pharma companies, it's fair to conclude there has been almost no limit to what pharma companies have done to sell their products."

Read the rest here

More on the massive GSK fine

Here GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion for health fraud.

Here (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and pay $3 billion to settle the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history.

The settlement includes $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines in connection with the sale of the drug company's Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia products, according to filings in federal court on Monday.

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole said at a news conference in Washington that the settlement "is unprecedented in both size and scope."

Also at Pharmagossip MONDAY, JULY 02, 2012--

GlaxoSmithKline to Plead Guilty and Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Fraud Allegations and Failure to Report Safety Data--
Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in U.S. History
Global health care giant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices, the Justice Department announced today. The resolution is the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history and the largest payment ever by a drug company.

And Pharmalot Biggest Deal Ever: Glaxo Pays $3B For Bad Behavior.



And Seroxat Sufferers Stand Up and Be Counted.

~~
GSK Press Release: CEO Andrew Witty nearly apologizes, but doesn't--uses word "regret" and read to part that says it is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing regarding the sales of certain drugs listed in the lawsuit settlement:

GlaxoSmithKline concludes previously announced agreement in principle to resolve multiple investigations with US Government and numerous states

"Commenting on the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty said: “Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for GSK. Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.
“We are deeply committed to doing everything we can to live up to and exceed the expectations of those we work with and serve. Since I became CEO, we have had a clear priority to ingrain a culture of putting patients first, acting transparently, respecting people inside and outside the organisation and displaying integrity in everything we do.
“In the US, we have taken action at all levels in the company. We have fundamentally changed our procedures for compliance, marketing and selling. When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct. In the last two years, we have reformed the basis on which we pay our sales representatives and we have enhanced our ability to ‘claw back’ remuneration of our senior management.
“We have a vital role to play in bringing innovative medicines to patients and we understand how important it is that our medicines are appropriately promoted to healthcare professionals and that we adhere to the standards rightly expected by the US Government.”
Under the terms of the settlement, GSK will plead guilty to misdemeanor violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act related to certain aspects of the marketing of Paxil for paediatric use and of Wellbutrin for certain uses, and for failure to include information about the initiation or status of certain Avandia studies in Periodic and Annual Reports submitted to FDA.
The civil settlement reached with the Government does not constitute an admission of any liability or wrongdoing in the selling and marketing of Lamictal, Zofran, Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, Valtrex, Avandia or Advair products, nor in its nominal pricing practices. "

How does this work? part 2 Grassley's question number 6

To contact us Click HERE

from page 13 of this document, that Dr Steve Balt placed on Twitter, in attempt to expose a colleague

Question 6

Have any of the prescribers identified to this Committee been referred to your state medical board?


Read the list of questions and ask yourself if Senator Grassley would be interested in the 2009 top 10 prescriber of Seroquel Dr Steve Balt, and his medical license being suspended (on probation) during the 2009 writing of over 1000 rx for Seroquel. Seroquel is known to be used off-label, and one must question the medical office setting where Balt worked at the time as being a player in the Medicaid, Medi-Cal fraud investigation. Were those patients rx'd Seroquel (antipsychotic) for indication use approved in 2009? or was it off-label? were the bulk of the recipients of the prescriptions Medicaid patients?

It's National VNA Week!

To contact us Click HERE
The following is from an email I just sent to our fantastic staff:

This week, we celebrate National VNA Week and acknowledge and celebrate the invaluable work we do to keep patients home, where they most want to be. It’s even more special this year because we also are celebrating 125 years of providing excellent care for our community. We have a proud history and we can look forward to our future…. the VNA of Boston & Affiliates is more relevant now than ever before.

We are there at the start of life and we are there at the end of life providing compassionate care so that patients have the best quality of life they can with dignity and independence. Here is a sampling of some of the comments we receive from our patients:

“VNA of Boston is consistently excellent! VNA has improved my quality of life & sense of wellness!!!”

“I was treated with the greatest respect and courtesy.”

“They made me feel safe and secure in helping me get better and made a good recovery in regaining my health back.”

“We have had multiple experiences - OT's, PT's, nurses - all have been great.”

“I was very impressed with the professionalism of all who helped me. Thank you very much!”

“The care was excellent and I would highly recommend the VNA to anyone. Everyone was great.”

Thank you all – to all the clinicians in the field and the staff in the office who support their work – for your expertise, your passion and commitment, and your contribution to the future of the VNA of Boston & Affiliates.

Rey

"It's what we do... we are nurses..."

To contact us Click HERE

For most of my career, I've been fortunate enough to work with clinicians who heal and who care.  Who bring skill and experience, and a frequently unquenchable compassion, into situations that many of the rest of us would do nearly anything to avoid.  I may be inclined to exit... while they rush in.

Meet Barbara, a nurse manager from the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston.  And here are a few of her photos of her native Haiti.  Idyllic and beautiful, as in the sunlit bay above.  Tragic and devastating, as in what follows.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010.  A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake with an epicenter only 25 kilometers west of capital city, Port-au-Prince.  Ultimately... 316,000 dead.  300,000 injured.  1,000,000 homeless.

And Barbara rushed in.

Here's her story... from the beginning.

Barbara grew up in Carrefour, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, with her mom, a teacher, and dad, an owner of an auto repair business, and brother and sister.  It was a happy, largely uneventful time... until her father became sick.  Among his ailments, Barbara's father also suffered from decubitius skin ulcers, which then (and even still today in Haiti) were poorly understood.  Barbara, then 13 years old, remembers being angry when her father, a proud man who resisted family pressure to move to the United States, told her "not to worry" and that he would be around for "another ten years".  Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

At the age of 16, Barbara and her remaining family members moved to Florida and then eventually to Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Barbara and her sister, Beatrice, held a variety of jobs and when Barbara decided she wanted to become a nurse, Beatrice, then a medical assistant, helped her to pay for the training.  When Barbara completed nursing school, she began working and then helped to finance Beatrice's nursing education.  Barbara continued on to earn her bachelor's degree and is now studying for a master's in health care administration.

Barbara remembers well that day in January, 2010.  Reports of an earthquake began surfacing, with no one fully aware of its magnitude or impact.  Beatrice called Barbara and gave her an update.  It was far worse than expected.  Far worse.

Barbara recalls: "We were looking at the news.  We couldn't believe it.  Nobody knew what was happening.  We started calling our family there but no lines were open.  We were so worried.  We couldn't sleep.  We tried calling the UN but couldn't get through.  We just didn't know what to do.  I was desperate..."

The overwhelming emotion was helplessness.  "People there were dying and I thought, I'm a nurse.  I have to help."  Partners in Health, an organization dedicated to improving the quality and access to health care services in poor and developing areas, called Beatrice on Saturday and asked to deploy her to Haiti on the following Monday.  A month later, Barbara's call came.

It was a two week assignment.  The lead time was limited.  According to Barbara, "you just pack your bag and go."

She recalls departing the airport in Haiti.  She remembers looking around at the rubble, the devastation, the places where buildings once stood.  "It was tough to see a country you left and is no longer there."

Barbara was stationed at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince.  "Once you got there, the gate was closed and you couldn't leave."  And once there, she and her companions worked for 10 days straight, during 7PM to 7AM shifts.  Barbara remembers being struck when she saw the former sight of a nursing school next to the hospital which she had seen as a child.  "It was no longer there.  It was completely flat.  I wondered how many people were trapped underneath."

After a quick orientation from the physician-in-charge, Barbara was given a brief tour and was immediately "put to work."  She described the first day as "one of the worst days of my life.  There were 300 to 400 patients there all needing care... from TB to fractures to missing limbs to wounds... to people who were just dying.  Just name it - it was right there looking at you..."

When asked how she responded to that, Barbara describes: "You start to work.  Your forget about everything else.  You just tried to save everyone you could.  You just do whatever you can."

She remembers one young girl at the hospital.  She had lost nine members of her family in the tragedy.  "She was so thin.  You could see only bones.  She would not eat or drink... and she never spoke... except at night, she would scream out the names of her family who were now lost to her.  I remember seeing a lady who stayed with her.  She was from the local church and she slept on the floor, giving the girl a sip of water."  Despite their efforts, the patient passed away.

Another patient, a 27 year old woman with renal failure and high blood pressure, was experiencing significant physical and emotional stress.  Barbara knew the patient needed oxygen and fast, so she ran down the hall looking for a tank.  A simple tank of oxygen.  Plentiful in every hospital where Barbara has worked, but scarce in Port-au-Prince's General Hospital.  Barbara called out: "This girl's going to die, her heart's going to give out soon... "... and remembers seeing the desperate look in the woman's eyes.  The patient said to Barbara: "Please don't leave me.  If you leave me, they're going to let me die."  Barbara knew she was right.

The patient eventually received the oxygen and the vital dialysis she required and lived.

There was also an older woman patient who "could have been my mother."  She had two wounds in her lower legs; "it looked to be a diabetic ulcer".  Barbara watched this patient fade from an amiable, even joking, favorite among the nurses, to one who became more and more ill and despondent.  At one point, she had no clothing or even sheets, leaving one of the nurses to donate some of her own clothing to the patient.  The patient died, alone and in pain.  Per Barbara, "there was no reason for her to die that way..."

Barbara looks back at the experience and feels that: "We didn't do enough.  There's so much more to do there.  And it's not over there.  It's terrible what's happening in the tent cities there now.  It's just horrible still... but I want to go back."

When asked why she wants to return, Barbara lowered her eyes and said, simply and solemnly: "It's what we do... we are nurses..."

If you're interested in learning more about Partners in Health, please click here.

If you'd like to help, click here.

 

Posted by Rey