Health department officials in Miami have a bitter pill to swallow after uncovering more than 40 licensed physicians who legally operate clinics that treat patients with chronic pain using narcotic-based prescriptions, while marketing non-narcotics for those struggling with others for pain killer addictions.

Narcotics officers in a number of states from Kentucky to Texas and throughout the Northeastern United States blame Florida for their own states’ influx of prescription drug abusers and fatal drug overdoses since federal regulation of such clinics in Florida is non-existent, thanks to a provision in state law that makes it impossible to prosecute physicians who prescribe such narcotics without a court order.

The issue that health officials face isn’t the pain clinics themselves, but the turn-style marketing tactics some use when they knowingly treat patients who suffer from legitimate chronic pain conditions with excessive amounts of narcotics and attempt to wean them off the drugs with non-narcotic replacements after they become addicts.

Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger, an addiction specialist and past president of the Dade County Medical Association tells the Miami Herald that “offering such services is like a slap in the face.”  He says some pain clinics are seeking not to help addicts but to profit from selling drugs used to curb dependency — in addition to selling large amounts of painkillers to patients who don’t necessarily need them.

Wollschlaeger calls pain clinics “pill mills,” because of their well-known reputation among drug traffickers in other states who regularly travel to South Florida with the sole intent of shopping these clinics for easy access to narcotics. The recipients then sell the drugs on streets in their home states. The Herald reports that neighboring Broward county / Ft. Lauderdale is home to two-thirds of all physicians identified by the DEA as prescribing the most Oxycodone anywhere in the United States.

The irony is that Federal officials essentially built the market for such clinics in 2002 by allowing physicians who operate pain management clinics to prescribe a drug called Suboxone, a medication commonly used to treat heroine and narcotic addiction. Its better-known alternative, Methadone, is strictly dispensed through licensed and regulated hospital-based clinical settings.

Suboxone was introduced by the Feds at a time when prescription drug abuse was increasing to almost epidemic proportions in the United Stated. The idea was to encourage more addicts to seek treatment for abuse without having to visit hospitals or traditional medical clinics for care.

The problem in Florida is lax regulation and training requirements, according to pain management experts. Unlike in other states, Florida does not require a physician to be board certified in pain management to dispense Suboxone. All it takes to open up shop is an 8-hour training session before any physician with a clean medical license and the desire can start a clinic. On the Federal level, the requirements are the same in any state, but most states have more rigorous standards for Suboxone prescribers.

“If the physician has a license to practice medicine, we don’t have the right to prevent them from prescribing Suboxone,” said Nick Reuter, a senior policy analyst with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that oversees the Suboxone certification program.

Marilyn Wann never bought into professional modeling marketing-speak proclaiming that “Thin is In.” It’s not because her physique doesn’t fit the phrase. For her, it’s a widely-held bullying tactic for the current authors of health insurance reform. Marilyn tells New York Times reporter Susan Saulny that an increasing number of slender Americans blame fat people — not Medicare, nor pharmaceutical company profits — for the most historic overhaul of our healthcare delivery system since the U.S. Government started Medicare itself.

“We’re kind of a popular punching bag,” says Wann, author of the book, “Fat! So?”

Physicians, dieticians and the scientific community have proven that there is a common link between obesity and a slew of chronic and terminal illnesses, from diabetes to heart disease. Healthcare bean counters claim that fat people increase the entire cost of healthcare for everyone, since they are more often diagnosed with long-term disease.

We’re all aware of the doomsday, sky-is-falling stats that apparently prove we’re all eating funnel cakes, Twinkies and potato chips all while sitting in front of the couch watching The Biggest Loser every night. It’s the stuff that sensational television and reality series’ feed off of. To be sure, the Robert Wood Foundation (a think-tank on healthcare issues) just published a study showing that two-thirds of us are fat. In four states alone, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia, more than 30 percent of its residents are statistically obese.

But Wann thinks it is somewhat discriminatory that corporate America is suddenly offering sums of money, free stays at fat camps and other incentives to overweight Americans in a thinly-disguised campaign to cut group insurance coverage costs while marketing the move as a gesture toward caring about the wellness of their employees.

On the flip-side, Wann and other obesity fairness champions say the efforts for reform are energizing opportunities to cultivate what she calls, Fat Pride. “Basically, we want to be treated with respect the same as everyone else.”

Who knows. Wann and her followers might start a movement toward true health insurance portability and help prove that individual health insurance is still affordable.

The flu pandemic has left many concerned especially with talk of a vaccine shortage.  But that doesn’t mean there is a shortage on ways to prevent you from getting sick.  Here are three simple steps that will protect your health not just now but all year long.

Step 1  Be sure you regularly disinfect the kitchen sink, the trash can, the bathroom faucet and the tub. These places harbor a lot of germs. The champion of the contamination? The kitchen sponge. Clean it in the dishwasher weekly.

Step 2  Lace up your sneakers and take a brisk walk five times a week. Regular exercise can help reduce chances of catching a cold.

Step 3  Include probiotics in your daily diet to help your immune system ward off bad bacteria. Try yogurt, fortified drinks, or a tasty treat like the 90-calorie Attune Milk Chocolate Crip Probiotic Bar.

There is more proof to convince smokers that if they want to kick their habit they need to hit the gym. A new study uses images to show how getting your blood moving by exercising for even 15 minutes minimizes your cravings to smoke. Here is a look at how the study was performed.

• The study – published in the journal Addiction, looked at 20 moderately heavy smokers. The smokers abstained from smoking for 15 hours before the trial.
• All participants were shown smoking-related as well as neutral images before either 15 minutes of sitting or exercising at a moderate intensity on a stationary bike.
• Afterwards, they were again shown the images. The research team used the latest eye tracking technology to measure and record their precise eye movements. They were able to show not only the length of time people looked at smoking-related images but also how quickly pictures of cigarettes could grab their attention, compared with non-smoking matched images.
• The study showed an 11% difference in how long the exercises vs. non-exercisers looked at the smoking related images.
• Also, after exercise, participants took longer to look at smoking-related images.
• Exercise, therefore, appears to reduce the power of the smoking-related images to grab visual attention.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Kellogg’s was doing its part to keep kids healthy during the flu season or at least that’s what they led consumers to believe. A bright yellow label displayed over the cereal box said their Cocoa Krispies cereal were now offering immunity support. With the flu season in full swing parents were grabbing it off the grocery store shelves to help keep their kids healthy. It turns out the labeling may have been a trick.

Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, said “The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn’t make sense.”She points out that all nutrients bolster immunity, and not just the Cocoa Krispies. Marion sent a letter to the FDA about this, months ago.  Other skeptics are also convinced the cereal company was just trying to make additional revenue in the wake of the swine flu hysteria.

The cereal giants have agreed to pull the label.  But Kellogg’s, is still standing behind their claims and have plead not guilty.

You can’t believe everything you read no matter how good it sounds or how good it tastes for that matter.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

With all the concerns over seasonal flu and swine flu (H1N1) vaccinations and whether the vaccinations will be delivered in time…you may be wondering if there is anything you can do on your own to protect yourself from the pandemic. Here are some home remedies that could save you from being infected.

1. Wash your hands with soap in warm to hot water. The amount of infection that could be transferred to other parts of the body can be reduced. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

3. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you must have close contact with a sick person (for example, hold a sick infant), try to wear a facemask or N95 disposable respirator

4. Clean your nose.  Dip a cotton swab in warm salt water and clean out your nostrils. Right before bedtime is a great time to do this. The salty water will cleanse your nostrils and prevent anything that may have settled in your nose from germinating further.

5. Bring on the Vitamin C. Vitamin C supplements and eating lots of foods that are high in Vitamin C can give your immune system just the boost it needs to ward off the flu and other virus’ that may be lurking around.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

There is yet another food scare to warn you about and it could affect your health.

Some people are refusing to eat canned foods from their pantry. A new consumer report says a potentially dangerous chemical called bisophenal A is being used in the production of hard plastics including plastic water and baby bottles.

The chemical has also been found in certain name-brand canned foods, according to a study. In its December issue, Consumer Reports tested soups, juice, tuna and green beans, and found that 19 name-brand foods contain some amount of BPA.

And organic foods were not exempt — they didn’t always have lower levels of BPA than non-organic foods. Some labels also declared their cans BPA-free, but this claim wasn’t always true either.

Consumer Reports found that the highest levels of bisphenol-A were found in Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans Blue Lake, Progresso Vegetable Soup and Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Soup.

The study also found much-maligned BPA in Similac Advance Infant Formula and Nestle Juicy Juice in a can.

Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that low levels of BPA exposure are safe for people and will not affect your health.

What to do
You can and avoid putting plastics the microwave (where they can release dangerous chemicals when heated) or the dishwasher (where they can degrade in the heat and excessive moisture). You can also choose smart plastics that use polyethylene (#1, #2, and #4) and polypropylene (#5), which require the use of less toxic additives. They also are non-chlorinated.

You can also select freezer bags or fresh produce which is also healthier than canned goods.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

If you chug back a couple of diet sodas a day, you may want to reconsider your choice of beverage.

One study examined more than 3,000 women for 11 years, and found those who drank two or more diet sodas a day were at double the risk for kidney damage.

The researchers did not learn whether it was the soda or the artificial sweetener in the drink that caused the damage.

“You can’t conclude that the sodas caused this problem conclusively but it suggests that there’s an affect on kidney function so people have to be aware that there’s a possible issue in doing anything in excess,” said Dr. David Goldfarb, kidney specialist with NYU Langone Medical Center.

Goldfarb said this is one of the first studies on the effects of diet soda and a lot more needs to be done before people make drastic changes.

Moderating your diet soda intake is the best thing to do for now.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

The H1N1 may spread worse because people say they can’t afford to to stay home if they get sick.

Public health experts are raising concerns that workers who deal with the public, like waiters and child care employees, are jeopardizing others by reporting to work sick because they do not get paid for days they miss for illness.

Tens of millions of people, or about 40 percent of all private-sector workers, do not receive paid sick days, and as a result many of them cannot afford to stay home when they are ill. Even some companies that provide paid sick days have policies that make it difficult to call in sick, like giving demerits each time someone misses a day.

Public health experts say policies like these encourage many people with H1N1, commonly called swine flu, to report to work despite official warnings from the government and most companies that they should stay home.

Some people who are really caught on a weekly income might say they are desperate for money and that they are going into work even though they are sick.

Many of these financially squeezed workers might also send their flu-stricken children to school, infecting others. Many will not see a doctor because they do hot have health insurance. Although there are affordable health insurance plans.

Well before President Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was emphasizing that businesses should adopt “flexible leave policies” to allow workers with the flu to stay home. In one advisory, the C.D.C. encouraged employers “to develop nonpunitive leave policies.”

Despite such recommendations, some employees say they have no choice but to go to work sick.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the health care industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

There has been panic over the H1N1 (a.k.a. swine flu) vaccine shortage. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies responsible for producing the vaccine have had various production problems. These corporations, including GlaxoSmithKline and AztraZeneca, have been working with the U.S. government to get the vaccine out as soon as possible. In addition, as Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explained to the New York Times, the actual reproduction of the vaccine in eggs chicken eggs has grown slower than expected. While the goal is to get all Americans vaccinated, only 30 million doses of the vaccine will be available by the end of this month.

Still, the situation’s not as scary as it sounds–even though it’s Halloween! Supplies are steadily growing, and H1N1, while serious, is not yet a nationwide pandemic. There’s still time for the vaccine to roll out, which it has been doing. Moreover, it’s only a subset of the population that is at higher risk:

• Children
• Pregnant women
• Teenagers & young adults
• and those with existing health problems.

Those groups need the vaccine as soon as possible, and most clinics have been rationing the vaccine for the moment. High-priority populations are moved ahead of the line, and others will receive any leftover vaccines. Some regions are seeing higher demand than others–and live vaccines for the H1N1 virus eventually expire. The worst scenario is for the vaccine to be thrown away; therefore, it should be then be offered to lower-priority populations, e.g. senior citizens (unlike the seasonal flu, senior citizens aren’t at high risk for the swine flu). Remember also that you only need a single shot of the vaccine for it to be effective.

Does your health insurance plan cover the H1N1 vaccine? It most likely does, if your primary care physician has it. If he or she doesn’t have a supply on hand, there are free and low-cost clinics available from county and state governments, as well as pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS.

(Image: Ben Chau under CC 2.0)