Diseases & Conditions: Medications
Maybe, maybe not. We won't know until the federal government gives researchers more leeway.
By Megan Johnson, U.S. News & World Report
Legalize Marijuana? Obama Was Right to Say No
Marijuana Linked to Heart Disease and Depression
Photos: 10 Smokiest U.S. Cities
Multiple sclerosis patients can get prescription pot to ease their painful muscle spasms—if they live in Great Britain, where regulators recently approved a mouth spray made from cannabis, or marijuana. GW Pharmaceuticals, which developed Sativex and is preparing for advanced clinical trials to test its ability to relieve pain for cancer patients, wants to bring it to the United States.
Don't expect the company will have it easy. As far as the federal government is concerned, marijuana has no place in medicine. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers marijuana—like heroin and LSD—a schedule I controlled substance. Schedule I drugs are likely candidates for abuse, with no recognized therapeutic benefits. (Cocaine is a schedule II. Cough syrup is a V.)
Yet the medical use of marijuana by Americans is spreading. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia allow patients to use marijuana—and in some states to grow it—for medical purposes. Shops legally sell medical pot in California, Colorado, and New Mexico. But federal prosecutors continue to target growers, distributors, and users even in states where medical marijuana is legal.
The legal quagmire has hampered research into marijuana's potential medical benefits. Small studies by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego, demonstrate the pain-relieving ability of smoked marijuana in HIV and multiple sclerosis patients. Thousands of laboratory studies hint at a far greater range of medicinal properties, such as treating Alzheimer's disease, where it may inhibit an enzyme that leads to memory-robbing plaque formation in the brain, and fighting off MRSA infections, since certain compounds in cannabis have been shown to work against the superbug.
State Announces First Marijuana Dispensaries
Date:7/9/2010Duration: 04:01Video By: WMTW Portland ME
State officials Friday announced the organizations that will operate Maine's first medical marijuana dispensaries. News 8's Steve Minich reports.
But moving beyond lab rats has been tough. Only a handful of doubleblind, placebo-controlled clinical studies—the gold standard of medical research—have been done. Those favoring human research say it demands uncommon patience and persistence. Researchers must be cleared by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the proposed study has to pass muster with the Food and Drug Administration, and then the U.S. Public Health Service conducts its own review of the study's scientific merit and design. The entire process can take years, according to Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, an advocacy group.
Americans can take synthesized THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, as Marinol, a capsule made by Unimed Pharmaceuticals. Margaret Haney, a professor of clinical neurobiology at Columbia University in New York, has studied HIV patients whose appetites were enhanced when they smoked marijuana. Her findings suggest that either smoking pot or taking Marinol stimulates appetite. But there are downsides to both. A dose of Marinol may take three hours to kick in while smoked marijuana's effects are almost immediate, she says. Smoking the plant, however, may harm the respiratory system and, especially in young heavy users, the brain. Haney, whose research focuses on marijuana dependence, thinks cannabis could have a place in medicine. "There are clear medical potentials with this plant," she says. "I am not anti-marijuana, I'm not pro-marijuana. I want to understand it." Haney expresses frustration at what she considers wrongheaded efforts by states to legalize medical marijuana. There is too much, she says, that scientists do not know.
The American Medical Association asked the government last November to review marijuana's schedule I status. Downgrading cannabis would acknowledge its medical potential and encourage research. But that's not likely to happen. Keeping marijuana under schedule I, says DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden, is based on a lack of scientific evidence showing marijuana can be used safely and effectively as a treatment.
Meanwhile, patients like Dan Pope, 45, a Colorado resident with muscular dystrophy, continue their use of medical marijuana. He says it helps control his muscle spasms and makes his pain tolerable. But when he recently went to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, where he is a volunteer, to ask for support in reclassifying marijuana, he was turned down. There isn't enough research, he was told, to show that it works.
More on Medical Marijuana:
The Merits of Medical Marijuana
8 Facts You Might Not Know About Medical Marijuana
Marijuana's Memory Paradox
Bing: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Video: Willie Nelson on Pot's Stigma
Courtesy of U.S. News & World
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Medicare corruption gusher worsens
By Carl Hiaasen
chiaasen@MiamiHerald.com
Among South Florida's fearless Medicare rip-offs -- and there are thousands -- is the story of Guillermo Denis Gonzalez.
After serving 14 years in prison for murdering a man with a silencer-equipped handgun, Gonzalez decided in 2006 to try the medical supply business.
For $18,000, the Hialeah resident bought a Medicare-licensed company called DG Medical Equipment and within a year he'd submitted $586,953 in false claims for supplies that were never provided to patients.
Medicare, using federal tax dollars, reimbursed Gonzalez $31,442 before he was tracked down and arrested.
Last summer, after pleading guilty to defrauding the government, Gonzalez was marched over to state court to face another murder charge -- this one for allegedly stabbing and dismembering an acquaintance during a monetary dispute. He is scheduled to go on trial next month.
No one familiar with Florida was surprised to learn that a murderer had been welcomed into the health-care trades. Indeed, the most shocking thing about the Gonzalez case was that Medicare hadn't forked over the full half-a-million bucks in bogus claims that he'd sought.
South Florida remains the Deepwater Horizon of Medicare corruption in the United States, and the gusher is getting worse. No other place even comes close to matching the number of crooked health-care businesses, or the immense dollar amounts that wind up in the pockets of criminals.
While overworked prosecutors crack down on operators like Gonzalez, the latest wave of Medicare cheats is specializing in fictional billing for mental health services, rehab sessions and physical therapy.
As Jay Weaver reported in The Miami Herald last week, mental health clinics in Florida billed Medicare for $421 million in 2009. That's four times more than was billed during the same period by mental health clinics in Texas, and 635 times more than was billed by clinics in Michigan.
As crazy and depressed as Floridians can be, there's no way that we're four times crazier than Texans, or 635 times more depressed than Michiganders.
The only plausible explanation for such a staggering discrepancy in mental-health claims is stealing -- thieves in Florida are simply more adept at fleecing Medicare.
Our dubious distinction as the sleazebag capital of America brought Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Miami last week for the first-ever national summit on healthcare fraud.
It wasn't quite as flashy or upbeat as the LeBron James-Chris Bosh-Dwyane Wade summit at the American Airlines Arena, but the mission is nonetheless worthy of attention.
Medicare is the biggest drain on the federal budget, and epidemic fraud is the biggest drain on Medicare. Most older Americans depend on the program to cover many health-care expenses, but the system is sagging and bloated.
Experts say Medicare fraud in South Florida costs U.S. taxpayers between $3 billion and $4 billion annually. It's predictable that Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties would be the hotbed, and also the venue for one of every three federal healthcare fraud prosecutions.
Part of the problem is that Medicare pays claims first, then asks questions later. That leaves criminals with a time gap that often allows them to bank the money, shut down their storefronts and scurry on before they get caught.
In 2008, Medicare paid $520 million to home healthcare agencies in Miami-Dade, just for treating diabetic patients. That was more money than the agency spent on that particular illness throughout the rest of the country combined.
The feds then changed the rules and put a cap on claims for homebound patients receiving insulin injections. The scammers simply turned their energies toward other exploitable areas -- in particular, mental health and physical therapy treatments.
Records show that Florida rehabilitation facilities billed $171 million to Medicare last year for physical and occupational services, which was 23 times more than California and 26 times more than New York -- two other states with no shortage of fraud artists.
For years, the Justice Department has been locking up Medicare fraudsters in Florida, yet business is booming. More FBI agents and prosecutors would help, but you'd need an army of them to dismantle all the bogus Medicare operations in South Florida.
Despite all the individuals indicted, including 94 nationwide on Friday, the risk of getting nabbed for Medicare fraud remains relatively small, and the potential profits from the crime remain large.
That's why health-care is such an appealing career move for local felons, even the occasional murderer. Why use a gun when you can make lots more money with a pencil?
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/17/1735272/medicare-corruption-gusher-worsens.html#ixzz0u38EiK5F
Comment
You want to start hiring people? THIS is the place to start - prosecutors, judges, investigators, prison guards, prison construction people, etc. Billions can be saved by hiring some knowledgable IT guys to discover these scams earlier.
chiaasen@MiamiHerald.com
Among South Florida's fearless Medicare rip-offs -- and there are thousands -- is the story of Guillermo Denis Gonzalez.
After serving 14 years in prison for murdering a man with a silencer-equipped handgun, Gonzalez decided in 2006 to try the medical supply business.
For $18,000, the Hialeah resident bought a Medicare-licensed company called DG Medical Equipment and within a year he'd submitted $586,953 in false claims for supplies that were never provided to patients.
Medicare, using federal tax dollars, reimbursed Gonzalez $31,442 before he was tracked down and arrested.
Last summer, after pleading guilty to defrauding the government, Gonzalez was marched over to state court to face another murder charge -- this one for allegedly stabbing and dismembering an acquaintance during a monetary dispute. He is scheduled to go on trial next month.
No one familiar with Florida was surprised to learn that a murderer had been welcomed into the health-care trades. Indeed, the most shocking thing about the Gonzalez case was that Medicare hadn't forked over the full half-a-million bucks in bogus claims that he'd sought.
South Florida remains the Deepwater Horizon of Medicare corruption in the United States, and the gusher is getting worse. No other place even comes close to matching the number of crooked health-care businesses, or the immense dollar amounts that wind up in the pockets of criminals.
While overworked prosecutors crack down on operators like Gonzalez, the latest wave of Medicare cheats is specializing in fictional billing for mental health services, rehab sessions and physical therapy.
As Jay Weaver reported in The Miami Herald last week, mental health clinics in Florida billed Medicare for $421 million in 2009. That's four times more than was billed during the same period by mental health clinics in Texas, and 635 times more than was billed by clinics in Michigan.
As crazy and depressed as Floridians can be, there's no way that we're four times crazier than Texans, or 635 times more depressed than Michiganders.
The only plausible explanation for such a staggering discrepancy in mental-health claims is stealing -- thieves in Florida are simply more adept at fleecing Medicare.
Our dubious distinction as the sleazebag capital of America brought Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Miami last week for the first-ever national summit on healthcare fraud.
It wasn't quite as flashy or upbeat as the LeBron James-Chris Bosh-Dwyane Wade summit at the American Airlines Arena, but the mission is nonetheless worthy of attention.
Medicare is the biggest drain on the federal budget, and epidemic fraud is the biggest drain on Medicare. Most older Americans depend on the program to cover many health-care expenses, but the system is sagging and bloated.
Experts say Medicare fraud in South Florida costs U.S. taxpayers between $3 billion and $4 billion annually. It's predictable that Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties would be the hotbed, and also the venue for one of every three federal healthcare fraud prosecutions.
Part of the problem is that Medicare pays claims first, then asks questions later. That leaves criminals with a time gap that often allows them to bank the money, shut down their storefronts and scurry on before they get caught.
In 2008, Medicare paid $520 million to home healthcare agencies in Miami-Dade, just for treating diabetic patients. That was more money than the agency spent on that particular illness throughout the rest of the country combined.
The feds then changed the rules and put a cap on claims for homebound patients receiving insulin injections. The scammers simply turned their energies toward other exploitable areas -- in particular, mental health and physical therapy treatments.
Records show that Florida rehabilitation facilities billed $171 million to Medicare last year for physical and occupational services, which was 23 times more than California and 26 times more than New York -- two other states with no shortage of fraud artists.
For years, the Justice Department has been locking up Medicare fraudsters in Florida, yet business is booming. More FBI agents and prosecutors would help, but you'd need an army of them to dismantle all the bogus Medicare operations in South Florida.
Despite all the individuals indicted, including 94 nationwide on Friday, the risk of getting nabbed for Medicare fraud remains relatively small, and the potential profits from the crime remain large.
That's why health-care is such an appealing career move for local felons, even the occasional murderer. Why use a gun when you can make lots more money with a pencil?
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/17/1735272/medicare-corruption-gusher-worsens.html#ixzz0u38EiK5F
Comment
You want to start hiring people? THIS is the place to start - prosecutors, judges, investigators, prison guards, prison construction people, etc. Billions can be saved by hiring some knowledgable IT guys to discover these scams earlier.
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