Monday, September 28, 2015

Best Buddies To The End: Pelosi And Boehner

Once upon a time Conservative Americans thought the Republican party went to Washington to represent their interests.

Today, thanks to Donald Trump, they know better. We have become 'The Party'. 
weaselzippers

Pelosi will miss the perpetually spineless Boehner.
Via The Hill:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday dismissed reports that she and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) struck a deal to avoid a government shutdown shortly before he announced his resignation.
Some conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have alleged that before announcing his resignation as Speaker on Friday, Boehner acquiesced to Democratic demands and agreed to fund Planned Parenthood and a litany of other liberal initiatives to avoid a government shutdown.
“The early reports are discouraging,” Cruz said, The New York Times reports.
“If it is correct that the Speaker, before he resigns, has cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to fund the Obama administration for the rest of this year, to fund ObamaCare, to fund executive amnesty, to fund Planned Parenthood, to fund implementation of this Iran deal, and then presumably to land a cushy K Street job after joining with the Democrats to implement all of President Obama’s priorities, that is not the behavior one would expect from a Republican Speaker of the House,” he continued.
But Pelosi disputed that claim in an interview with host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“No, I wish it were true,” Pelosi said. “All we have agreed is that we have to honor the calendar which says that on Sept. 30 the fiscal year ends and we have to have a continuing resolution to take us forward as we prepare for the omnibus bill which will take us through the next year.”
Boehner said in a separate interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that there won’t be a government shutdown because he expects the Senate will pass a continuing resolution to fund the government next week, and that the House will likely take that up and pass it.
Republican leadership is under pressure from the party’s base to defund Planned Parenthood after a string of controversial undercover sting videos were released showing official from the group negotiate the price of aborted fetal tissue for scientific research.

Thank You The Hill and Dapandico.


Don't go away mad Mr Speaker, just Go Away. 

Can't even accuse them of being Bipartisan anymore. 

Sickening, just sickening.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

California Orthopedic Surgeon Among 15 Indicted In Largest Fraud Scheme In State History

Feel Good Story of The Day, or another small fry distraction?
fiercehealthpayerantifraud
Following a five-year investigation, prosecutors expose a $150 million scheme full of bribery corruption
A Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon was one of 15 people indicted for a decade-long scheme that billed insurance companies $150 million for botched surgeries and services that were never performed, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The 132 felony charges outlined in two separate indictments exposed deep-seated corruption led by Munir Uwaydah, M.D. According to one indictment, Uwaydah, who was arrested in Germany last week and is awaiting extradition, allowed an unlicensed physician's assistant to perform surgeries on patients while he was not in the operating room. According to the LA District Attorney's Office, at least 21 patients "sustained lasting scars" as a result, and required additional surgeries to fix the botched surgeries.
Additionally, a number of patients underwent surgeries that were not medically necessary, after Uwaydah and others allegedly altered MRI tests and insurance authorization reports. Uwaydah and his business partner, Paul Turley, are also accused of paying as much as $10,000 a month to marketers and attorneys in exchange for patient referrals. Twelve of the people arrested, including Uwaydah, face life in prison if they are found guilty.
Authorities also identified Kelly Soo Park, Uwaydah's office manager and personal assistant, as another key player in the scheme. According to the Los Angeles Times, Park was acquitted in 2013 on charges that she strangled Uwaydah's 21-year-old ex-girlfriend in 2008. At the time, prosecutors alleged that the woman was killed days after her father ended business negotiations with Uwaydah, and after the surgeon made six-figure payments to Park and her family.
The latest indictments round out a year in which surgeons and hospital executives were nailed for outlandish fraud schemes. In August, executives at Sacred Heart Hospital in Chicago were sentenced for a multi-million dollar kickback scheme thatled to unnecessary ED admissions and intubations. Earlier this summer, the infamous Detroit oncologist, Farid Fata, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for administering unnecessary doses of chemotherapy.
For more:
- here's the LA District Attorney's announcement
- see the two indictments (one) (two)
- read the LA Times article

Thank You Mr Sweeny and FHPAF.

"California Orthopedic Surgeon Among 15 Indicted In Largest Fraud Scheme In State History"

The Deuce You Say.



  • Kamala Harris (3)
  • Janet Napolitano (6)
  • Gavin Newsom (2)
  • Why Is Donald Trump Happening To America?

    redstate.com
     Leon H. Wolf (Diary)  |  
    I confess that I have been struggling to understand the Donald Trump as much or more than any other pundit out there. His appeal is a phenomenon that defies conventional explanation, and if anyone had really come to understand it before now, they could have reduced it. However, no one really has.
    The most common (and obviously false) explanation for Trump’s popularity is that it is all about his stance on immigration. This is the explanation you will find commonly offered by folks like Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter, in the comments section of conservative blogs, and by people who have over ten hashtags in their twitter bios – in other words, the places where immigration hard liners tend to congregate and convince themselves that they are more numerous than they are, because everyone they know is one.
    The problem, of course, is that this is nonsense. There’s a humongous amount of polling data that suggests that the vast majority of the Republican voting base is in favor of a conditional path to citizenship. FiveThirtyEight compiled data from eight polls conducted so far this year and found that, on average, an astounding 72% of Republicans favor a path to citizenship if certain conditions (paying back taxes, paying a fine, learning English) are met. These are “amnesty” positions, according to the folks who support Trump, and yet they are the clear majority position within the GOP.
    Additionally, the explanation that immigration is the one issue that Trump voters care about is flatly inconsistent with the actual polling data that demonstrates his rise to the top. If you look at the RCP averages since Trump entered the race, it is clear that he has pulled the bulk of his support from Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. It beggars the imagination to think that, here were all these Republican voters who cared nothing about anything other than immigration, but before Donald Trump came along, they were going to support the two most moderate candidates in the race on immigration. Further, if you look at Trump’s recent dip in the polls, it is clear that the voters who have left his ship have gone to Rubio and Fiorina, neither of whom is an immigration hard liner by any stretch of the imagination.
    If immigration were the end-all-be-all in this year’s election, then before Donald Trump entered the race, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100% should have been way out in front, as he was clearly the most doctrinaire immigration candidate in the race – but he wasn’t. Further, if all The Donald’s supporters care about is immigration, then to the extent that they leave Trump’s camp, it should be to another immigration hard liner like Cruz or Santorum or someone. But they’re not. In fact, the stubborn resistance of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%‘s polling numbers to respond either positively or negatively to changes in Trump’s fortunes is nearly conclusive evidence that immigration is not the primary driver of Trump’s support.
    I think the reason that it appears that it is, at least on a surface level, is that the Laura Ingrahams and Ann Coulters and twitter border warriors of the world have a vested interest in making it appear that Trump’s completely unexpected rise to the top of the polls is based on immigration. If their narrative is believed as to why Trump has risen, then of course they gain more power and influence within the coalition, such that even if Trump falters, they can say  to whoever takes his place, “If you don’t take our concerns about immigration seriously, and bow and kiss our rings, then you are doomed to fail.”
    I don’t really blame them for this tactic at all. Lord knows if I could concoct a plausible story about how life issues explain Trump’s rise to prominence, I would probably be trying to sell it, as well. That doesn’t mean, however, that we have to ignore facts, or that other candidates will be able to duplicate Trump’s success by trying to co opt his message on immigration; to the extent that some portion of his supporters really are in it just for the immigration (and that is doubtless true), those folks aren’t going anywhere, and they probably aren’t the majority of his support, or even close to it.
    I also don’t think it’s true that “But he fights!” is a meaningful explanation for Trump’s popularity, for many of the same reason. That might possibly explain some defection of Walker supporters, but not Bush supporters. And it likewise doesn’t explain why Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%, who has been picking high profile fights for years, wasn’t in first place before Trump entered, and why he hasn’t benefitted from Trump’s recent slump.
    So what is it, then? Here’s what I think, and hear me out.
    I think all the things that horrify some people about Trump – the fact that he makes these childish jokes about Carly Fiorina’s face, and the way Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 87% looks, and Jeb Bush’s wife – are features to his supporters, rather than bugs.
    I think Donald Trump’s success is a reflection of the frustration people have in being told to act like adults. I really do.  I think we’ve become such a repressed society in terms of what you can say to people these days (largely due to the damn lawyers like me). You can’t say anything about anyone – either at your workplace or anywhere in public, without being called into the HR office or getting sued or having the government come knocking at your door. You can’t even say the obvious biological fact that Caitlyn Jenner is still a man without having hundreds of angry emails and tweets threatening your job.
    I think we’ve become a nation full of people who are painfully repressed and that there’s a significant part of the population that is sick to death of it. I think that’s why people behave the way they do online. The things people will say through their phones and through email are things you never hear people say real life, and I think that is reflective of the fact people are dying for an outlet to just achieve catharsis sometimes and just let it all out – and Donald Trump is just a personification of that.
    I don’t think the Trump support is reflective of any issue at all. I don’t think it’s even reflective of disgust with the GOP. I think it’s reflective of the disgust we have with the new unwritten rules of society
    Those rules say, “if you’re going to have a successful position in life, and especially in politics, you can’t go around saying that Megyn Kelly was on her period, or that Carly Fiorina’s face is a problem, or thatSen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 87%’s appearance is a target rich environment for jokes.” And prior to Trump, the truth is that you couldn’t.
    The reality is that people are excited to see, hey, here’s a guy who goes on TV, and if he wants to pop off at the mouth, he pops off at the mouth, and if this guy can rise to being President of the United States then maybe I don’t have to always shut my mouth and I can sometimes say what I feel and maybe I can call my annoying coworker ugly and not have to risk being sued, too.
    Maybe that’s what it is. And I’ll tell you, if it’s that, you can forget about Trump going away – because that feeling and frustration is not going to go away, as long as American society continues to constantly oppress basic expression and as long as we’re forced to keep refusing to say out loud things that we all know to be true.

    Thank You Mr Wolf and Redstate.

    You nailed it Leon. 
    The toxic sludge of Political Correctness invading and reprogramming every second of everyone's life is making everyone regardless of their political views, edgy, upset, Diagnosably 'Mentally Ill' and just plain old pissed off on steroids.

    High Hilarity? CAIR Gives Ben Carson A Copy Of The Koran To Dispel "Any Misconceptions About Islam"

    How does one accuse an Islamist Supremacist Group of Weaponized Chutzpah?

    weaselzippers
    Which begs the obvious question: Has CAIR read the Koran?
    Thank You Zip.


    So long as a Candidate swears to, and Does uphold the Constitution over whatever personal religious beliefs they hold, . . . like Sharia Law, adhering to, giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States such as ISIS, A-Q, etc. 

    Responding to Ben Carson’s opposition to a Muslim president, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said it would be unconstitutional to prohibit someone from being president because of their religion. But he also said the Obama administration’s plan to allow tens of thousands of Muslim refugees from Syria into the U.S. is “crazy.”
    Carson, one of Cruz’s opponents in the crowded GOP presidential primary field, has said he “would not advocate putting a Muslim in charge of this nation;” Cruz said that the Constitution does not allow a specific religion to be a qualification for the presidency.

    This is why Ted Cruz is the one candidate who gets it right.
    And This is one of the funniest turn arounds on CAIR.
    Will CAIR now be publicly supporting Senator Cruz for President?
    Will pigs be flying on the evening news?

    Thank You Nick.

    Tuesday, September 22, 2015

    Psych Headline News Links 9-22-2015

    Can Anyone tell us WHY we keep breaking the Treasury's back to feed this industry?

    "Because HOPE Remains For A Cure?"

    Remember the last time we made policy based on HOPE?
    Real Unemployment Rate 42.9%, Not 5.5%

    White House Blocks Petition Seeking Investigation Into Psychiatric Drugs And Violence
    A Message From President Obama About Your Petition On Reducing Gun Violence
    J&J/PhARMA Parented ObamaCare
    Barf Alert! Obama Consults J&J CEO Weldon On Fixing The Economy

    madinamerica

    September 17, 2015
    On Tuesday, the Obama administration nominated Dr. Robert Califf to be the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a statement, director of the Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, Dr. Michael Carome called on the Senate to reject the nomination.  He contends that Califf “racked up a long history of extensive financial ties to multiple drug and medical device companies, including Amgen, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck Sharp & Dohme and Sanofi-Aventis, to name a few.”
    Categorized In:
    September 17, 2015
    Individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 are more likely to commit a violent crime if they are taking an SSRI antidepressant than if they are not, according to new research out of Sweden.  The study published in PLoS Medicine on Tuesday, suggests "warnings about the increased risk of violent behavior among young people taking SSRIs might be needed.”
    Categorized In:
    September 16, 2015
    BMJ issued a press release today after a reanalysis of the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil) concluded the drug is neither safe nor effective for adolescents with depression. The reanalysis conducted by a team of independent researchers contradicts the original study paid for by the drug manufacturer, known as Study 329.
    Categorized In:
    September 16, 2015
    After 13 years as the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Thomas Insel is stepping down.  While the NIMH conducts a national search for his replacement, Bruce Cuthbert, Ph.D., will serve as the acting director.
    Categorized In:
    September 16, 2015
    New research published in the August issue of Psychiatric Annals evaluates the results of randomized control trials on the use of various psychotropic drugs for patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD).  Despite the “American Psychiatric Association’s practice guidelines endorsement of SSRIs as first-line therapies for BPD,” the results of the meta-analysis reveal that pharmacotherapy in BPD is “not supported by the current literature,” and “should be avoided whenever possible.”
    Categorized In:
    September 14, 2015
    “In Gallup's annual measure of 25 major U.S. business sectors, the percentage of Americans with a positive view of the pharmaceutical industry dropped from 40% in 2014 to 35% this year, while the percentage with a negative view rose from 36% to 43%.”
    Categorized In:
    September 11, 2015
    New data on the effects of social support after the onset of psychosis suggests that patients with intense social support function better than those without such help, but than once supports are removed the effects eventually diminish.
    Categorized In:
    September 10, 2015
    Amid growing criticism about the over-prescription of psychotropic medication in foster care, Pennsylvania commissioned PolicyLab to conduct an analysis of the use of psychiatric drugs among all of the state’s Medicaid-enrolled children.  The report, released in June, found that the rates of psychotropic prescriptions among youth in Medicaid and foster care are higher than previous estimates.
    Categorized In:
    September 9, 2015
    Antipsychotics are currently the predominant treatment for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, but there is an accumulating body of research that links the use of these drugs to structural abnormalities in the brain. A recent meta-analysis suggests that gray matter loss in the brain may depend on the dose and class of the antipsychotic.
    Categorized In:
    September 8, 2015
    Antipsychotics are being prescribed to people who may have challenging behaviors but no mental disorder, according to new research published in this month’s issue of BMJ.  In people without intellectual disability, approximately 50% of prescriptions for antipsychotics are given in the absence of a diagnosis of severe mental illness.   According to the new analysis, an even higher proportion (71%) of those with intellectual disabilities receive antipsychotics without such a diagnosis.
    Categorized In:
    September 7, 2015
    This month’s issue of JAMA Psychiatry ran an editorial commenting on recent research revealing that the majority of youth prescribed antipsychotics have not been diagnosed with a mental disorder. For these youth, the harms outweigh the benefits.
    Categorized In:
    September 4, 2015
    In the September issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) three FDA advisory committee members describe the convergence of factors that made the committee’s recommendation to approve flibanserin especially challenging and politically charged. The authors of the JAMA editorial, Walid Gellad, Kathryn Flynn, and Caleb Alexander, all served on the FDA scientific advisory committee that ultimately recommended approval of flibanserin for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).  They list all of the following factors as explanations for what made the committee’s decision so difficult in this case, but do not offer a thorough explanation as to why the drug was ultimately approved despite these issues.
    Categorized In:
    September 2, 2015
    MedPageToday reports that Janssen Pharmaceuticals omitted data from a 2003 study that connected Risperdal with serious side effects. Earlier this year, a man with autism was awarded $2.5 million after growing breasts while on Risperdal.  According to MedPage, documents from this latest case reveal missing data tables from a 2003 study “designed to ferret out potential adverse effects of long-term risperidone use.”  The missing tables were related to elevated prolactin levels and side effects, including gynecomastia in men.
    Categorized In:
    August 31, 2015
    Bertha Madras, professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School, has printed a critique listing 20 flaws to a recent study finding no differences in physical or mental health problems between users and non-users of marijuana. More →
    Categorized In:
    August 27, 2015
    Willingness to interact with someone with a mental health diagnosis may be tied to the misperception that disorders can be transferred from one person to another, according to a new study published in the Journal of Memory & Cognition.More →
    Categorized In:
    August 26, 2015
    Despite updated standards requiring preregistration of clinical trials aimed at improving transparency, most studies published in the top-5 psychiatry journals from 2009 to 2013 do not meet the new guidelines, according to an analysis published in PloS one.More →
    Categorized In:
    August 25, 2015
    The combined use of antidepressants and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage, according to a study published last week in BMJMore →
    Categorized In:
    August 25, 2015
    A study carried out by BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver found a 47% increase in the number of pediatric emergency department (PED) visits related to mental health between 2003 and 2012.  This staggering increase compared to a 9% increase in total PED visits. More →
    Categorized In:
    August 21, 2015
    A study published in the journal of Psychiatry Research found that younger childhood age relative to one's classmates may be a risk factor for adult psychotic experiences.  This research supports claims that environmental factors such as school-related difficulties and marginalization contribute to psychosis.More →
    Categorized In:
    August 19, 2015
    On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Flibanserin (Addyi) to treat low sexual desire in women despite concerns about the drug's limited efficacy and doubts over its clinical relevance.  That the drug is being called the "pink Viagra" can be misleading as Viagra treats erectile dysfunction by improving blood flow while Flibanserin targets the brain, and must be taken daily.
    Categorized In:
    August 19, 2015
    “When people with early-stage symptoms took omega-3 supplements for three months, they had much lower rates of progression than those who did not,” according to research out of Australia covered in this month’s issue of the New ScientistMore →
    Categorized In:
    August 17, 2015
    While current treatment guidelines for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not recommend electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the NIMH is supporting new research into the use of ECT and deep brain stimulation (DBS) for OCD treatment.  Leonardo Fontenelle and his colleagues at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil set out to examine studies on ECT treatment for OCD and found the existing research to be too limited and inconclusive.More →
    Categorized In:
    August 17, 2015
    The Minnesota State Legislature approved $1 million in funding through 2019 to build a network of community clinics and outreach programs that provide therapy, support and treatment to individuals experiencing an initial presentation of symptoms associated with psychosis.  The first $260,000 of funding will be distributed through grants over the next two years.  The new programs will be modeled after the University at Minnesota’s first episode psychosis program, which has pioneered efforts to incorporate family education and training into therapy focused treatment programs.
    Categorized In:
    August 12, 2015
    Seniors are twice as likely to receive psychotropic prescriptions than younger adults but are much less likely to receive mental health care from psychiatrists or to receive psychotherapy, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.  More →
    Categorized In:
    August 11, 2015
    A long-term study that followed 408 seventh-graders for over 20 years found no association between marijuana use at a young age and an increased risk of psychosis, depression, and anxiety in adulthood.  The study, published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, was led by Jordan Bechtold of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.More →
    Categorized In:
    August 7, 2015
    The Federal jury hearing the first of 5000 claims against Eli Lilly for hiding the risks of withdrawal symptoms associated with Cymbalta found that Lilly did not mislabel the drug, and was not liable for Herrera's withdrawal symptoms.
    Categorized In:
    August 7, 2015
    Calling it “Poison,” plaintiff Claudia Herrera testified she would not have taken Eli Lilly's drug Cymbalta had she known the risks. Lilly hid the risks of withdrawal symptoms such as electric-like “zaps,” anxiety, spasms, and suicidal ideation, Herrera lawsuit claims, alleging that nearly half of users experience withdrawal rather than the 1% Lilly claims.
    More →
    Categorized In:
    August 3, 2015
    The majority of children, adolescents and young adults prescribed antipsychotic medications have not been diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to a recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry.  The study, led by Mark Olfson from Columbia University, examined trends in the treatment of young people with antipsychotics in the United States between 2006 and 2010 and raised concerns about the safety and efficacy of prescription practices.
    Categorized In:
    July 30, 2015
    Research published in the May 2015 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry questions the use of exposure therapy, the "gold standard" treatment for patients with PTSD.  Exposure therapy attempts to lessen the power of memories, thoughts, and feelings related to the trauma through the repeated discussion of the trauma-related situations with a therapist.  While prior studies have reported that it is efficacious,  exposure therapy has also been called the “cruelest cure” and criticized for inducing suffering in victims of trauma.
    Categorized In:
    July 30, 2015
    Research lead by Richard Bentall of the University of Liverpool finds that the quality of the therapeutic alliance (TA) in treating early psychosis, long known to be instrumental in achieving positive outcomes, can also lead to poorer outcomes when the quality is negative. "This is the first ever demonstration that TA has a causal effect on symptomatic outcome of a psychological treatment, and that poor TA is actively detrimental, these effects may extend to other therapeutic modalities and disorders," the authors conclude.
    Categorized In:


    Thank You MIA.