Tag Archives: prescriptions

General Safety Issues

SAFETY RISKS IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY (GUEST POST)

Whether you work in the healthcare industry or you just happen to have a lot of interactions with professionals in this field, you likely already know that healthcare is a complicated field, with big rewards and big risks. If you’re looking to get into this field, then you should definitely educate  yourself on the risks it entails, especially in regard to your personal safety. It’s hard to sum up all the risks succinctly, because they are extremely varied, but there will always be recurring dangers and hang ups. What are some of the biggest problems healthcare professionals experience? Read on to find out!

Malpractice Issues
Here we have a huge, double-faceted problem. While we wouldn’t say that it riddles the healthcare industry, you can certainly find plenty of cases of it. It poses a major risk for the patients, as they could be injured, or even killed, on the operating table or as a result of a treatment. That said, working in the industry also means that you may be subject to malpractice, regardless of your role in a procedure or treatment. Doctors are most at risk obviously, and they must protect themselves with comprehensive malpractice insurance.

Other Types of Lawsuits
As you probably know, malpractice is one type of lawsuit. The healthcare field can be held accountable for so many different problems though. Consider the sheer amount of people who walk into and out of doctors’ offices on a daily basis. Between private practices, hospitals and other such entities, hundreds, or even thousands, of people in your own town are going through those doors each day. Healthcare professionals must be extremely careful when it comes to handling confidential information, interacting with distraught or confused patients and giving anyone advice – every word you say and action you take can and will have consequences. One mistake on a prescription could potentially cost your office millions if it’s exploited or misinterpreted.

Bodily Hazards
This is something many worry about on a daily basis. Coming into contact with sick patients can potentially lead to physical harm or negative health consequences. Being stuck with a needle from a patient who is HIV, HCV or even HSV positive could potentially lead to health problems, as could being accosted by an angry or distraught psychiatric patient. Coming into contact with someone who has SARS or Bird Flu could also be hazardous. Most health professionals understand that this is an inherent risk to the profession and are willing to take that risk,  but you must understand that it comes with the territory if you plan to make a career out of it. All health care facilities will emphasize gloves, washing hands and other best practices to minimize the chances of any of these incidents from happening. 

Your Conscience
Most people enter the healthcare industry to make a difference – they care about their fellow man (or woman). However, there will always be those looking to game the system, and it’s up to you as a healthcare professional to prevent their success. It may be hard to imagine that someone would make up a story about pain in order to attain free medication, but it can and will happen. It may also be hard to accept that people just die in hospitals everyday – but they do, and you may need to adjust your worldview or attitude about why you have the job you do.
 
As you can see, all different types of safety risks exist in the healthcare industry. Some of them relate to the safety of money, and others relate to physical safety. Knowing about the field as a whole is quite important for anyone looking to enter it. More information can be found about healthcare professions at websites like thebestcolleges.org
 
Joseph Rodriguez writes about the his experiences in the healthcare industry as an administrator at a health center on the west coast.
General Safety Issues, Health Issues

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH WHEN IT COMES TO ABUSING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS?

This is a sad story of a tiny snowball that starts rolling down a mountain, growing larger by the minute.  It’s a story of the abuse of human beings who are given too many pain killers, powerful antipsychotic and anti-anxiety drugs.  Tragically, many of the patients are children, some under three years of age.  Many of these little ones have been through physical or mental stress in their short lives.  Prescribing drugs to toddlers is considered “off-label” – uses not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.  By the time the snowball reaches the bottom of the mountain, taxpayers, Medicare and Medicaid are the victims of  fraudulent prescription costs.   

According to a recent report by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, $47 million worth of Medicaid prescriptions have been written over the past two years in Texas, by a  handful of physicians.  The top five doctors alone wrote $18 million worth.  In their report, based on sources such as the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, Texas Medical Board, U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and Medicaid vendor drug claim files, the following information represents these two sets of data.  These sets listed the top 10 Medicaid prescribers of antipsychotic drugs, such as Zyprexa, Abilify and Seroquel.  We won’t name names, but the #1 physician wrote 44,138 prescriptions that were filled at a cost of $6,370,005.  The next four doctors had written prescriptions costing from $4,643,626 to $1,996,043.  The top prescribers of drugs known as psychotropics, (referring to different types of mental-health drugs, possibly including antipsychotics,) given from 2005 or 2006 to 2009 totaled more than 120,747 by five physicians.  Many physicians have physician assistants that can write prescriptions under their name, and some clinics are probably included in these figures.  

If this is going on in Texas, how about all the other states, and who is paying the bill?  One news article stated that in Ohio, a physician wrote 102,000 prescriptions in two years.  Another doctor in Miami wrote almost 97,000 in 18 months for mental health patients.  Thirty-four states have a State Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.  There are statewide databases that collect designated data on dispensed substances and this information is housed by a specific statewide regulatory, administrative or law enforcement agency.  Data is distributed to individuals who have the authority under state law to receive the information for the purpose of determining if it is legitimate medical use of controlled drugs or identify and deter previous drug abuse.  The Drug Enforcement Agency is not involved in these state programs. 

Kaiser Health News and the Star-Telegram both have reported that Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa is pressuring Health and Human Services officials to investigate why some physicians write massive amounts of scripts for tax-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs.  Prescription drug fraud in the U.S. costs an estimated $60 billion to $90 billion a year to these programs.  As it stands now, physicians in question may be sent before a medical review board or for education, which amounts to a slap on the wrist.   Our state has automated ways to check these records and catch overuse, incorrect dosage and misuse.  Each state should have some type of similar system.  But how do we stop them?  And what about the safety of patients who are given these huge doses of medications? 

For those who truly need help with mental or physical needs, we are grateful for medications.  Many times persons can be helped with therapy as well, and/or medicine.  Years ago, these powerful drugs did not exist, and we wonder how people overcame or coped with their problems.  Hopefully, they had the help and support of caring families and friends.   

Most of our doctors really care about us and want us to stay healthy.  Many are cautious about even over-prescribing antibiotics, because these meds eventually won’t help if given too often.  We appreciate physicians for their diligence, seeing us in the middle of the night in an emergency room, and upholding the oath they took when they became doctors. 

Hopefully, the Federal Health and Human Services officials will take action to remedy this fraudulent behavior.  They owe it to the taxpayers to do what is right and figure out a way to penalize those physicians who are abusing the system (and their patients).  A part of operating local hospitals or clinics require physicians or an oversight committee  to review patient’s records and determine if the care of each patient was appropriate.  This should be done on a regular basis.  It takes time, but is worth it to save someone’s life.  There must be a way to stop prescription fraud.   

Look at a map of the United States, and picture it covered with all those snowballs!

General Safety Issues, Uncategorized

CONCERNS ABOUT DRUGGED DRIVERS

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We worry about drunk drivers, drowsy drivers, and other risk-takers on the highways, such as drugged drivers.  Driving under the influence of prescription drugs can be deadly.  Medications act on systems in the brain that impair driving ability.  Warnings against the operation of machinery (including motor vehicles) for a specific time after use are included with the medications.  How many pay attention to those warnings?  If prescription drugs are taken without medical supervision (i.e., when abused), impaired driving and other harmful outcomes can happen.

Drugs acting on the brain can alter perception, cognition, attention, balance, coordination, reaction time, and other faculties required for safe driving. The effects of specific drugs of abuse differ depending on their mechanisms of action, the amount consumed, and the history of the user. The principal concern regarding drugged driving is that driving under the influence of any drug that acts on the brain could impair one’s motor skills, reaction time, and judgment.

Behavioral effects of these medications vary widely, depending not only on the drug, but on the person taking it.  Anti-anxiety drugs can dull alertness and slow reaction time.  Others, like stimulants, can encourage risk-taking and alter the ability to judge distances.  Mixing prescriptions or taking them with alcohol can worsen impairment and sharply increase the risk of crashing.

One example of a tragedy caused by a drugged driver is of a young lady riding her bicycle who was hit and killed by a drugged driver.  Police thought the driver had been drinking, as her speech was slow and slurred.  Rather than drinking, she told police that she had taken several prescription medications, including a sedative and muscle relaxant.  Police also said she did not stop after hitting the girl, until later when she crashed into another vehicle down the road.  She was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs.

Many states recognize drivers may be driving under the influence, but not from alcohol.  They consider any drug that causes one to fail a field sobriety test to be cause for getting a DUI arrest.  Unlike alcohol, there is no agreement on what level of drugs in the blood impairs driving.  Setting a limit for prescription medications is more difficult, because the chemistry of drugs’ effects are harder to predict that alcohol’s.  Some drugs may linger in the body for days.  Anyone who is taking prescription medications and knows how the particular medication affects them, should stay off the roads.

It is now time that we recognize and address the dangers that can occur with drugged driving, a dangerous activity that puts us all at risk.  Drugged driving is a public health concern because it puts not only the driver at risk, but also passengers and others who share the road.