Health officials vow to develop drugs to curb the opioid epidemic

More than 90 people in the United States die each day of opioid overdoses.

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More than a third of teenage girls experience depression, new study says

Depression is usually considered an issue parents have to watch out for starting in the turbulent teenage years. The CW channel, full of characters with existential angst about school, friends and young love, tells us so, as do the countless parenting books about the adolescent years in every guidance counselor's office. But what if by that time it's already too late? A […]

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Poll: Most Americans want Senate to change or ditch House health-care bill

Most Americans hold an unfavorable view of the House-passed health-care bill and want the Senate to change it substantially or block it entirely, according to the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. A 55 percent majority of Americans view the Republican-backed American Health Care Act negatively, the same proportion who want the Senate to make major […]

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The Cover up of Health Care Provider Abuse.

Let's take a listen to ZdoggMD. Zdogg is a physician who began Turntable Health in Las Vegas, as a unique direct payment model with a heavy emphasis on patient engagement and wellness.

Dr Z as he is well known also is an entertainer of some repute, with a considerable portfolio on his Youtube Channel. His vignettes are at time serious but more often he addresses serious problems with a thick shellac of humor. Zdogg has given commencement addresses and is a nationwide speaker at medical meetings.

Here he take on the issue of dangerous assaults on first line responders, and nurses. In this case he elaborates on a case of a nurse being assaulted and raped, and the dereliction of duty by a correctional officer on the scene. Listen to the horrific story.

It Is Time for Doctors to Fight Back

Trump's policies are pressing doctors to speak out |

More and more physicians are no longer sitting by and allowing administrators to devalue patient care and set artificial metrics for quality of care. Quality of care now, is measure by the number of boxes checked of in an electronic health records. Simplistic measures such
Sickcare is sick and innovation can help make it more like a healthcare system. Forces are already in play making that happen, but it will take a substantial effort still to achieve a more cost-effective, user friendly and efficient system. Overcoming the political, economic and cultural barriers of government, academia, business and sick care is indeed a Herculean task.

Trump's policies are pressing doctors to speak out

ACA repeal efforts and other Trump administration policies are getting unprecedented pushback from the medical community.A lot is on the line. The House has passed legislation to replace the ACA in the American Health Care Act (ACHA), and the Senate is working on its own repeal bill. Funding for women’s health programs and protections for people with preexisting conditions are at risk of being cut or eliminated. The president’s budget would slash Medicaid by more than $600 billion. And Trump’s executive order on immigration threatens to curb the supply of foreign doctors.Doctors are speaking out against the administration's policies in public media, in protests, through petitions and in direct conversations with lawmakers, either in Washington or during town halls in their districts. For the most part, their employers support them. Doctors are careful to separate their patient contact from their political activity, but many view protesting as not only a right, but also an obligation.

In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, Dr. Dhruv Khullar urged Congress and the White House to ensure that no one with health insurance today would lose coverage in the future. “My patients can’t wait for policies that appeal to this political lobby or that political base,” he wrote. “Any lapse in insurance coverage affects the care they get — or don’t get — First do no harm

Doctors must toe a fine line in balancing political advocacy and their responsibilities to patients.

The American Medical Association’s (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics encourages doctors to “stay well informed” about proposed healthcare policies and “work toward and advocate for the reform and proper administration of laws related to healthcare.” However, it draws a line against mixing politics with patient care. According to Section 2.3.4, physicians should “be sensitive to the imbalance of power in the patient-physician relationship” and “refrain from political conversations during the clinical encounter.”

The American College of Physicians (ACP) encourages its members to take a stand on issues affecting healthcare. “We have been advocating very, very strongly in support of the ACA and against the AHCA,” Dr. Jack Ende, president of the ACP, tells Healthcare Dive, adding that the college focuses on policies and not political parties or politicians. “If the evidence shows that the public is better served with one program, that’s the program we support,” he says.There have also been turnouts at GOP town hall in support of the Affordable Care Act and callers expressing concerns about HHS Secretary Tom Price’s ties to healthcare companies. The public outcry puts businesses in a bind that ultimately just want to make money. Hospitals and health systems now have to consider their brand under the Trump administration.While health systems and other employers typically refrain from activism, most seem to support medical professionals’ right to protest policies they feel harm patients, so long a they do it on their own time.Care through a broader lens

For many physicians, the Trump era has sharpened the realization that staying in their office isn’t enough and that larger contextual issues play as important a role in a patient’s health as the treatments doctors prescribe.To influence the debate, Chhabra and some colleagues formed Clinician Action Network. The group now numbers about 70 physicians, many working in health policy and serving underserved populations, and studies the impact of policy decisions on patients to effectively advocate on their behalf. Obligation to speak out

Ende sees the increased activism as a reflection of a current trend to teach medical students and residents to be sensitive to problems in their workplace. If a hospital system doesn’t provide adequate nursing support or doesn’t address issues about patient experience, doctors have an obligation to speak out and try to push positive change. Speaking out on healthcare policies at the state and federal levels is a natural and logical extension of that trend.

If you are reading this and have not spoken out. Do so now ! Call or email your congressman or senator. Better yet, visit them in person !

Trump's policies are pressing doctors to speak out | Healthcare Dive

Trump administration draft rule rolls back birth control coverage for religious employers

The Trump administration has drafted a rule that would allow religious employers to stop covering birth control in employer health plans. The free contraceptive mandate was one of the most controversial components of the Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. Supporters argue that it is a basic issue of women's rights and suggest that the […]

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raising your vibration // what i’ve learned, & where i’m headed

hi beauties!

i just returned from the magical, dreamlike, jungle-meets-ocean oasis of mukul in nicaragua. i am so glad that i was traveling with my dear friend megan (this was our third year in a row taking a retreat-style vacation together) because since we like all the same things, there was no pressure to do… anything.

each day we woke up, ordered coffee to the room (make your own bulletproof style, of course), did yoga (in a beautiful oceanside jungle hut surrounded by MONKEYS – my dream), laid by the pool, took naps, read books, did some writing, did yoga again, got spa treatments, went to dinner, and went to bed by 9pm at the latest.

it’s so special to have a friend that you can travel with who is cool with totally unwinding, relaxing and having no agenda. at home and even on a lot of my vacations i have to be very “on,” and ready to go for a whole lot of highly go-go-go activities. so when i go to a tropical oasis dreamland like nicaragua… i want to just be. i want to chill. i want to detox from technology, live in the now, and reset my nervous system to relax, sleep, and soak in the highest vibes.

which brings me to the topic of this post…

a lot of you have noticed that i have turned over a bit of a new leaf this year. it’s funny because i have been on a self-care path for a while now and i feel like i have always made the feel good, wellness-oriented choices that bring me closest to my highest self – but this year, there has been a serious and radical shift.

i feel more in tune than ever with the HIGHEST VIBES of the universe & with my highest self… and i am so beyond ecstatic that my journey has lead me down this path.

i think it started with learning to let go of a lot of stuff that was holding me back… people, stagnant relationships, past traumas (as you’ll learn in my latest podcast episode), certain wellness choices (like food and exercise habits) that were no longer serving me, and basically letting go of all of the built up resistance to connecting with my higher Self, the universe, and all that it has to offer.

i am not sure why i was so resistant aside from maybe the fact that i just wasn’t ready yet to fully embrace everything the universe was trying to present to me.

the past few years, i have been very caught up in building my career and making choices that propel my business and brand forward – which was sort of a backwards way of thinking about it, in reality, because since my brand is ME what i really needed to do was slow down and connect on a deeper level.

i now know that when i do that, EVERYTHING is more in alignment. the content i choose to share, the brands that approach me about working together, the way i fill my time and my days, and even the people who take up huge amounts of my heart. i just feel in LINE with what i am supposed to be doing, and where i am supposed to be going… and that is a really, ridiculously good feeling.

the thing is, i have always craved deeper connection. always, always. it is what has drawn me to yoga and all of the self-care practices i am so in love with like ayurveda, reiki, acupuncture, kundalini, massage, cupping, speaking to intuitives, meditation, crystals, eating well, retreats, functional medicine, deep connections and friendships… all of that amazing healing work and play that brings me closer and closer to my self.

yet because i am also very much a business-minded person, a perfectionist, and someone who has VERY high standards for herself and my career trajectory – a lot of my daily choices and much of my daily routine seemed to be getting in the way of the one thing i wanted most for years: TO SLOW THE F DOWN, so that i could really draw inward and create from the heart, instead of creating from a muffled version of what my heart wanted but my head told me to do.

slowing down & how it’s changed me:

so back to what i was saying before. a LOT of you, especially those of you who are highly empathetic and in tune with the universe and others’ energies, have noticed that this radical shift has begun to take place with me.

i have received a steady trickle of emails, DM’s and comments from you guys saying that you can see and feel my transformation from afar. a couple of you have even noticed that my VOICE has become calmer and more confident and steady (hi alex & mama!), and the way i express myself on the podcast has shifted to a much more in-tune and ultimately happy & high vibrational version of myself.

i feel it too (!!!!) and i am blown away and thrilled that the transformation is noticeable from the outside to those of you who have been paying close attention to what i’ve been up to. it feels really amazing to get feedback about it because i know that it’s happening but to be radiating that shift on the outside is a whoooole different ballgame, and that’s what really matters.

ultimately this transformation is important to me because knowing myself on such a deep level enables me to radiate the highest vibes back out to YOU, via the podcast and everything else that i do. and the more high vibes that we all share, the happier and more balanced our universe will be. and perhaps after all this, this whole four year journey of blogging thus far, that might just be my most aligned mission i’ve ever had.

how did i slow down?!

shoot, i’m going to have to write a book about it. there is SO MUCH to say. good thing i love writing books.

there is so, so much i can attribute to how i have slowed down and begun this deeper spiritual shift unfolding within me, but here are some top changes i’ve made that i can reference:

+ kundalini yoga // doing kundalini straight up opened my eyes to how connected we all are with the universe, our spirit guides (spirit, God, your highest self, karma, the cosmos, whatever you choose to believe in!), and our own intuition when we simply slow down, BREATHE, move with mindfulness, and so much more. if you’re looking for more resources on kundalini, i’d recommend checking out my podcast episode 28, ft. the high vibe livin girls! also guru jagat’s invincible living book is a true game changer and will teach you a lot about the practice.

i have been taking kundalini classes at nine treasures in west hollywood, and plan soon to try out RA MA (guru jagat’s studio) and of course continue my privates with the HVL girls.

+ practicing meditation, mindfulness & mantras // i meditate every morning and i don’t put any pressure on the amount of time that i do it for. some days i am called to meditate for a full 45 minutes before i do anything else, but most days it’s between 10-15 minutes and i play kundalini music to get me in the zone. i have a few mantras i’ve found that are very powerful for where i am right now, most of which reminding me that “i am light” and “i am an infinite being of the universe” because those serve to get me out of my head, and allow me to move from the heart instead of get stuck worrying about trivial little things.

+ prioritizing self care // it can feel like a full-time job to prioritize yourself! so i have found ways to make sure that i am taking care of myself on a daily basis, which has required me to change my routine quite a bit. i have had to let go in other areas to make this happen – by saying “no” to tons of events and nighttime activities (they are endless in los angeles, trust me) so that i am able to say “yes” to myself… to everything from yoga to reiki to acupuncture to massage to a night in taking a bath and reading. i didn’t make time for ANY of this before… i was too caught up in being a social butterfly, which was fun but was not serving my higher purpose. now i say “yes” to the things that feel the most right to me — but i don’t put pressure on myself to do it all.

+ connecting with people who GET IT // i have always been somewhat of a “friend collector,” which sort of might be my favorite thing about myself. i have very close and special friendships from childhood, all sorts of summer camps and activities in high school, college / alpha phi, grad school, the NY wellness world, the blog world, the LA yoga world, and so much more

i adore all of these people, SO MUCH, and those who matter most to me will always be a priority. however, for years i was giving out so much energy to others. TOO much energy. i had to learn to let go and let some relationships shift and transform to make room for the most high vibe, positive, and loving ones. the people i am closest with, i have cultivated such a closeness with that they know who i am and what is important to me. the amazing kathryn budig says, “you know you’re lucky when you can count your closest friends on one hand.” i may exceed one hand just a bit, but the point is – i have let go and allowed many friendships and relationships to shift so that i can focus on the people that really matter to me and deserve my full attention and love.

plus, with their support, i am entirely different and more down to earth and calm person. so spreading myself too thin was something i needed to do for a long time in order to get to where i am now.

+ early to bed, early to rise // i am working on this, it’s probably one of the hardest shifts i have ever personally made because i am a natural-born night owl… but when i can get on an early to bed, early to rise schedule… everything in my life feels more vibrant and alive. i feel so much more rested and am actually able to fall asleep at night when i do this! a few things that help are not looking at my phone / social media for a few hours before sleep, practicing bedtime mindfulness and meditation exercises, and making sure my space is zen and peaceful for a few hours leading up to sleeping.

+ reiki // this is a newer one for me, but i am totally blown away by the healing power of reiki energy work. i have had a few sessions with the amazing kelsey patel and i have more coming up, and the amount of transformation that has taken place just from the work i have done with her so far is astounding. she reached right into my heart and soul and shed light on a few things that have really continued to hold me back (overcommitting, fear stories, focusing on the material, etc.) and i have been practicing my reiki “homework” (more like major self care!!!) for the last week and it’s been amazing.

+ saying NO!!! // i touched on this above, but without learning to say “no” to so, so many things that don’t entirely, completely, wholly serve my purpose… i would never have to room to say “yes.” saying YES to what i really want and need is so huge and important!

+ allowing space for love // for a long time i resisted receiving true, whole, beautiful love from another person because i just had so many stories in my head about how complex i am, how no one will truly get me so i need to settle with half-love type of relationships, etc. well this year i set an intention to open myself to true, real love and everything that comes along with it. and guess what? after sending out the message to the universe that i was ready… that’s what i got! allowing space for love and also channeling so much of my love (i have so much love to give it almost freaks me out sometimes lol) into this person who gives it right back to me… has been such an energetic force that has made me crazy happy and has given me the stability and confidence to continue down this spiritual path of awakening. it makes me feel safe – on a heart-level and soul-level, and i think without that force i would have trouble opening myself up in such a huge way to ALLL of the high vibe, good things that are currently surrounding me.

+ SO MUCH MORE! // there are tons of products, nourishing foods, etc. that have helped me that i really want to share but that will be a whole post in itself. i am going to record a solo podcast episode soon on EVERYTHING that has helped me so stay tuned and please let me know if there is anything specific you’d like me to include!

lastly…

i am so grateful and blown away by the way that PODCASTS can connect us all on such a deeper level, and that those of you who listen to my podcast have gotten to know me in a whole new way this year and have gotten to experience many aspects of this shift firsthand.

i credit the soul on fire podcast as a big part of why many of you have noticed my spiritual transformation with such force, but also instagram & the bloggy are other places people have noticed because everywhere i share it’s just me… no frills, no inauthentic BS. just me.

i want to thank each and every one of you for joining me on this journey and also allowing the things that i share to be used in YOUR life — as i know many of you are on a similar path. we all just want to be happy and in balance, and for THAT… i will always be here to try to share as much as i can about what i learn, to see what resonates most with you.

ALL OF THE LOVE !! where are you in your spiritual journey? would love to hear! xx

Negotiating cancer: Tips from one who’s done it

At the age of 24, after two surgeries and two aggressive rounds of chemotherapy failed to cure me, my oncologist sent me home to die. When I was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013, I'd never even heard the word immunotherapy. I didn't know that my doctors wouldn't have all the answers. I thought […]

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How To Discourage a Doctor | THCB

I came across this series of articles and comments whilst researching for today's post.

The hospital is not a friend of the doctor. These stories will illuminate what many physicians face. Perhaps it is not a uniform policy, and perhaps the tide has turned with the battle being won by hospital conglomerates. The days of the local community hospitals is about over, due to mergers and acquisitons forced by economic necessity and solvency. For most of the hospitals who did not merge are now gone.

These are the daily battles that your physician(s) endured to care for patients. Shameful ! While there are many hospital executives that do not subscribe to these tactics a few bad apples spoil the barrel.

The details of the article are much too long to long to repeat here, these are some of the high points.

"Not accustomed to visiting hospital executive suites, I took my seat in the waiting room somewhat warily. That was when I spotted the document on an adjacent chair. Its title immediately caught my eye: “How to Discourage a Doctor.” No one else was about, so I reached over, picked it up, and began to leaf through its pages. It became apparent immediately that it was one of the most remarkable things I had ever read, clearly not meant for my eyes.

My recollection of its contents is naturally somewhat imperfect, but I can reproduce the gist of what it said. “The stresses on today’s hospital executive are enormous. They include a rapidly shifting regulatory environment, downward pressures on reimbursement rates, and seismic shifts in payment mechanisms. Many leaders naturally feel as though they are building a hospital in the midst of an earthquake. With prospects for revenue enhancement highly uncertain, the best strategy for ensuring a favorable bottom line is to reduce costs. And for the foreseeable future, the most important driver of costs in virtually every hospital will be its medical staff.

“Though physician compensation accounts for only about 8% of healthcare spending, decisions that physicians strongly influence or make directly – such as what medication to prescribe, whether to perform surgery, and when to admit and discharge a patient from the hospital – have been estimated to account for as much as 80% of the nation’s healthcare budget. To maintain a favorable balance sheet, hospital executives need to gain control of their physicians. Most hospitals have already taken an important step in this direction by employing a growing proportion of their medical staff. “Merely controlling the purse strings is not enough. To truly seize the reins of medicine, it is necessary to do more, to get into the heads and hearts of physicians. And the way to do this is to show physicians that they are not nearly so important as they think they are. Physicians have long seen the patient-physician relationship as the very center of the healthcare solar system. As we go forward, they must be made to feel that this relationship is not the sun around which everything else orbits, but rather one of the dimmer peripheral planets, a Neptune or perhaps Uranus.

“How can this goal be achieved? A complete list of proven tactics and strategies is available to our clients, but some of the more notable include the following:

“Make healthcare incomprehensible to physicians. It is no easy task to baffle the most intelligent people in the organization, but it can be done. For example, make physicians increasingly dependent on complex systems outside their domain of expertise, such as information technology and coding and billing software. Ensure that such systems are very costly, so that solo practitioners and small groups, who naturally cannot afford them, must turn to the hospital. And augment their sense of incompetence by making such systems user-unfriendly and unreliable. Where possible, change vendors frequently.

“Promote a sense of insecurity among the medical staff. A comfortable physician is a confident physician, and a confident physician usually proves difficult to control. To undermine confidence, let it be known that physicians’ jobs are in jeopardy and their compensation is likely to decline. Fire one or more physicians, ensuring that the entire medical staff knows about it. Hire replacements with a minimum of fanfare. Place a significant percentage of compensation “at risk,” so that physicians begin
to feel beholden to hospital administration for what they manage to eke out.

“Transform physicians from decision makers to decision implementers. Convince them that their professional judgment regarding particular patients no longer constitutes a reliable compass.

“Subject physicians to escalating productivity expectations. Borrow terminology and methods from the manufacturing industry to make them think of themselves as production-line workers, then convince them that they are not working sufficiently hard and fast. Show them industry standards and benchmarks in comparison to which their output is subpar. On the off chance that their productivity compares favorably, cite numerous reasons that such benchmarks are biased and move the bar
progressively higher, from the 75th

“Increase physicians’ responsibility while decreasing their authority. “Above all, introduce barriers between physicians and their patients. The more directly physicians and patients feel connected to one another, the greater the threat to the hospital’s control.

How To Discourage a Doctor | THCB

U.S. death rate from Alzheimer’s rose dramatically over 15 years. Why?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just put out a grim report about Alzheimer’s disease in the United States. Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014, CDC found, and the number of Americans afflicted is likely to rise rapidly in the coming years. About 5.5 million people 65 years and older […]

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A patient’s budding cortex — in a dish? | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Frankenstein----in a petri dish

A patient’s budding cortex — in a dish?

The modern version...Franken-dish does not have a bolt through it's head.

Budding brain-like “human cortical spheroids” growing in a petri dish. Sergiu Pasca, M.D., Stanford University

A patient tormented by suicidal thoughts gives his psychiatrist a few strands of his hair. She derives stem cells from them to grow budding brain tissue harboring the secrets of his unique illness in a petri dish. She uses the information to genetically engineer a personalized treatment to correct his brain circuit functioning. Just Sci-fi? Yes, but...

An evolving “disease-in-a-dish” technology, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is bringing closer the day when such a seemingly futuristic personalized medicine scenario might not seem so far-fetched. Scientists have perfected mini cultured 3-D structures that grow and function much like the outer mantle – the key working tissue, or cortex — of the brain of the person from whom they were derived. Strikingly, these “organoids” buzz with neuronal network activity. Cells talk with each other in circuits, much as they do in our brains.

Neurons and supporting cells in the spheroids form layers and organize themselves according to the architecture of the developing human brain and network with each other.Sergiu Pasca, M.D., Stanford University

Sergiu Pasca, M.D.(link is external), of Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, and colleagues, debut what they call “human cortical spheroids,” May 25, 2015 online in the journal Nature Methods.

For further details:

A patient’s budding cortex — in a dish? | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Personalized Medicine, The Dog whose Bark was much worse than it's bite.

Eric Topol M.D., soon followed by Barak Obama coined the term 'personalized medicine' (PMx). It’s been about 16 years since Genentech launched Herceptin, a drug for breast cancer patients with a specific genetic mutation. At the time, Herceptin seemed to usher in a revolution for how drugs would be developed and patients would be cured.

In that new version of care, drugs could be tailored to a patient’s specific biochemical profile, dramatically improving efficacy rates and reducing the system-wide costs and complications associated with one-size-fits-all medications. For pharmaceutical manufacturers, this approach had the potential to improve sales and profits through a radically new business model: differentiated products for segmented populations (see “A Strategist’s Guide to Personalized Medicine,” by Avi Kulkarni and Nelia Padilla McGreevy, s+b, Winter 2012).

But despite the occasional success story, PMx is largely seen today as the dog that did not bark. With a few exceptions, such as Herceptin, there are few PMx success stories. This is true for several reasons.

Health insurers remain unconvinced of PMx’s merits. One would expect these companies to push hard for personalized medicine, considering that they are the main beneficiaries of more efficient healthcare. Yet most payors seem to believe that the economic benefits of PMx are relatively small. The few PMx-based therapeutics now on the market are much more expensive than conventional therapies—and the prices don’t always translate to proportionately better outcomes, such as higher survival rates. For example, Bristol-Myers Squibb released a new metastatic melanoma therapy called Yervoy in the U.S. in 2011. Yervoy costs US$120,000, but in Phase III trials, it added only about 3.7 months of survival time.

In addition, many pharma companies have been hesitant to make the necessary investments in personalized medicine. The steep costs required, including best-in-class PMx development and commercialization capabilities, seem out of proportion to the small markets for each drug. Cancer drugs are the exception, but pharmaceutical companies have focused less on the genetic causes of other diseases. That makes PMx a costlier and riskier proposition.

Finally, the reason success stories are so rare is a notable reluctance among physicians to adopt PMx. Medicine is a cautious discipline, understandably, and in some cases PMx requires practitioners to dispense diagnoses and treatments based on complex molecular changes. For example, in the 10 years since Genomic Health launched its pivotal Oncotype DX test, which can determine the recurrence risk of breast cancer and assess the likely benefit of certain types of chemotherapies, it has faced steep resistance from the medical community. Even though Oncotype DX has been proven as medically relevant technology, and been widely reimbursed by payors, analysts estimate that it is used on only half of all eligible patients.

Despite the promise of fewer and less serious complications than toxic chemotherapy using PMx to treat malignancy, they have other and even more serious side effects causing heart, and liver disorders.

There is much more to be done until this methodology enters the main stream.

A Diagnosis for Personalized Medicine

‘I guess you are here for the opium’: Investigator stumbles across $500 million in poppy plants

Cody Xiong cracked open his door, saw the investigator on his porch and fessed up, authorities say. “I guess,” Xiong said, “you are here for the opium.” The investigator wasn't. But suddenly, he was intrigued. What followed was a massive opium bust, based entirely on a North Carolina poppy grower who thought prematurely that the jig […]

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Halfway house residents found two men dead from overdoses -- their drug counselors

The man's losing battle with heroin was laid out right there on the nightstand of the halfway house. There were three morning devotionals, including “God Calling,” geared toward keeping a person's thoughts pointed heavenward. Then there was the nicotine: two packs of cigarettes, a vaporizer and a case of snus to quell cravings. And near the edge: empty […]

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Marijuana extract sharply cuts seizures in severe form of epilepsy

Parents want this drug for children with severe epilepsy and now research shows it's effective.

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It’s not pain but ‘existential distress’ that leads people to assisted suicide, study suggests

A few decades ago, doctor-assisted suicide was considered a fringe idea despite surveys showing many physicians support the idea under certain circumstances. The face of euthanasia at that time was Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan pathologist nicknamed “Dr. Death.” By his own admission, he helped 130 people end their lives. He was convicted of homicide and served eight years in prison. […]

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WHO chooses a new leader to head the global health agency

The governing body of the World Health Organization on Tuesday elected Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian former health minister, to head the global health agency responsible for marshaling the international response to infectious disease epidemics such as Ebola and Zika. During the third and final round of balloting in Geneva, members of the World Health […]

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Ancestry.com takes DNA ownership rights from customers and their relatives

A word to the wise: Read the complete terms of service.

Read the fine print before you send in your sample to Ancestry.com . The bottom line is you consent to give ownership of your genetic information to Ancestry.com . Ancestry.com can use your genotype for anything it wants. They can use methods to copy it, transcribe it, modify it and use it for whatever purposes they want and gain profit from it.

There are three significant provisions in the AncestryDNA Privacy Policy and Terms of Service to consider on behalf of yourself and your genetic relatives: (1) the perpetual, royalty-free, world-wide license to use your DNA; (2) the warning that DNA information may be used against “you or a genetic relative”; (3) your waiver of legal rights.

So, you still own your DNA, however Ancestry.com also owns it. It is not a partnership. Normally when a company owns something that they don't own they pay a royalty payment each time it is used. Essentially you are paying them to use your DNA. What do you get in return ? Their marketing literature explains it.

The AncestryDNA service promises to, “uncover your ethnic mix, discover distant relatives, and find new details about your unique family history with a simple DNA test.”

For the price of $69 dollars and a small saliva sample, AncestryDNA customers get an analysis of their genetic ethnicity and a list of potential relatives identified by genetic matching. Ancestry.com, on the other hand, gets free ownership of your genetic information forever. Technically, Ancestry.com will own your DNA even after you’re dead.

Specifically, by submitting DNA to AncestryDNA, you agree to “grant AncestryDNA and the Ancestry Group Companies a perpetual, royalty-free, world-wide, transferable license to use your DNA, and any DNA you submit for any person from whom you obtained legal authorization as described in this Agreement, and to use, host, sublicense and distribute the resulting analysis to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered.”

Basically, Ancestry.com gets to use or distribute your DNA for any research or commercial purpose it decides and doesn’t have to pay you, or your heirs, a dime. Furthermore, Ancestry.com takes this royalty-free license in perpetuity (for all time) and can distribute the results of your DNA tests anywhere in the world and with any technology that exists, or will ever be invented. With this single contractual provision, customers are granting Ancestry.com the broadest possible rights to own and exploit their genetic information.

The AncestryDNA terms also requires customers to confirm that, “You understand that by providing any DNA to us, you acquire no rights in any research or commercial products that may be developed by AncestryDNA that may relate to or otherwise embody your DNA.” Essentially, you still own your DNA, but so does Ancestry.com. And, you can commercialize your own DNA for money, but Ancestry.com is also allowed to monetize your DNA for millions of dollars and doesn’t have to compensate you.

Although AncestryDNA customers provide voluntary consent to have their DNA used in commercial research projects, customers are free to withdraw consent, with a few exceptions. First, “data cannot be withdrawn from research already in progress or completed, or from published results and findings.” In those cases, Ancestry.com has access to data about you indefinitely.

Secondly, if a customer withdraws their consent, Ancestry.com will take 30 days to cease using their data for research. Finally, withdrawing consent, “will not result in destruction of your DNA Sample or deletion of your Data from AncestryDNA products and services, unless you direct us otherwise.” Customers must jump through additional hoops if they want their DNA sample destroyed or their data deleted from AncestryDNA products and services. The Ancestry.com policy does not specify what “additional steps” are required. U.S. customers must contact Ancestry.com customer service at 1–800–958–9124 to find out. (Customers outside the United States must call separate customer service numbers.)

Their marketing literature posted on their web site is rather seductive about the wonderful genomic science that will allow you to discover where your relatives come from or even connections with other members of your family. It however, other than the legal disclosures when you sign up says nothing about their legal claim to your genetic data. BEWARE !

http://ift.tt/2qcun8c

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overcoming trauma: dealing with PTSD & healing through self-care

hi guys!

today i shared my first ever solo podcast episode… talking all about trauma, a specific experience i went through a decade ago that left me with lingering and lasting PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) that i still deal with to this day, how self-care and wellness has been a true game changer for me, dealing with addiction and depression (with someone you love) as a highly sensitive person, and sharing the details of my story in hopes that it may resonate a bit with you.

the thing about trauma is that it’s different for all of us. it shows up in so many different ways, and can get triggered by the tiniest thing. when we suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic experience gets lodged way deep inside of our nervous system and never really goes away.

it works its way into our heart, our brain, and even our body… and in my experience, it can get so bad it can even make us sick. have you ever had the experience of feeling so overwhelmed and stressed out that you catch a cold or come down with the flu? i believe that that was me for the first two years of college because i was a walking advertisement for PTSD… and i had NO IDEA how to deal!

so over the years, i have found my tools. i’ve learned what i need to deal with my emotions and in order to feel good. i truly believe that trauma is not something one “recovers” from, it is a lasting part of us that we learn to deal with and move past. the journey has it’s positive aspects too — it makes us more compassionate, more depthful, more loving beings capable of digging DEEP and appreciating happiness on a whole new level.

so, what has helped me deal?!

in this episode i share that i actively CHOOSE happiness every single day. it is not bestowed upon me just because i live this rad life where i have my dream job, loving humans around me, etc. it’s true work every day to tune in and choose happiness. sometimes my PTSD still gets the best of me. it shakes me to my core when it strikes me so deeply that i don’t even feel like i can get out of it.

the truth is… it crept up really bad recently, to the point where i knew if i didn’t share my story in a podcast episode then i just wouldn’t be sharing my authentic self or really living my fullest truth.

it can still make me feel short of breath and totally paralyzed by sadness, even a decade later. MORE than a decade later. and i know that my trauma story isn’t as bad as it gets — not nearly — we ALL have our crap, but this is how i dealt with mine. and now it’s out there to be shared with you loves via the podcast.

i wrote a few more blog posts about this, what lead me to the re-emergence of feeling this way last week, etc. and i will be posting those this week and next. also, tommy (you’ll know exactly who he is once you listen to the episode…!) wants to come on the blog for a Q&A session in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that also.

i think THAT will be the true post to read. his story is something else and he inspires me very much.

my non-negotiables:

as i mentioned in the episode, i feel very lucky to have so much support in my life and to generally have found so many coping mechanisms that work for me. some of them (not all… but i think all of them are in the episode!) are below, and i credit so much of my health and wellbeing to these things every day…

+ being surrounded by loving humans: this might seem like a no brainer, but surrounding myself with people who lift me up, who GET ME from the inside out (and don’t get totally thrown off and freaked out when i have a PTSD moment), who are compassionate and loving and driven and understanding of sensitivity — those are the people i choose to spend time with. it has caused me to have to separate from some others in my life who i was once much closer to, but it’s better for everyone this way and gives me more room for the people who REALLY set my soul on fire and make me feel heard!

+ having a SUPER grounding self-care practice: this one is huge for me, and it has taken me this full decade to come up with my self-care routine, which of course is still ever-changing. right now my routine includes… morning meditation, keeping a pretty consistent early to bed early to rise routine (or trying), kundalini breath work, crystals, working with awesome holistic practitioners for reiki, acupuncture, functional medicine, bodywork, massage and more… doing yoga every day, taking baths, reading, and taking time to myself when i need it. i didn’t do this for a long time, in fact i pushed myself to grind HEAVILY for years on end, so this is a huge shift for me that has changed my life in a million amazing ways in the last few years.

+ YOGA: yes, this falls under self-care but it also deserves a category of its own. yoga has been my go-to, my refuge, my therapy, my happy place, my sweat lodge (lol, but #true), and my greatest teacher for the last decade. ever since the DAY i started yoga, which was about 2 weeks after this traumatic event that i discuss in the podcast… it has been that way for me. i have a blog post all about being back at my home studio, my first ever yoga studio (!!), that is going up later this week that i can’t wait to share.

+ BREATHING: very simple, very powerful. learning to take deeper, fuller breaths both from kundalini and from my public speaking coach (and soon to be my amazing friend Jenna who teaches breath work classes at the same studio where i teach!) has shifted so much for me and is such a powerful way to reconnect.

+ embracing my HSP self: i used to be terrified of the intense feelings that would creep up surrounding this experience. i mean… INTENSE. my therapist once asked me if i heard voices in my head and i wasn’t sure how to even answer him because i was so discombobulated from the PTSD that i wasn’t sure what reality was any longer. for the record, i don’t think i ever heard voices that were not my own but i do believe i was on the verge and was about to tip over the edge into serious mental illness if i didn’t get help when i did.

+ WRITING & turning my deep emotion about my trauma into art: i call it “art” but that is writing, yoga, journaling, being real, making true and real connections with people i love, and so much more. that requires a lot of intense self-work from therapy to meditation to multiple teacher trainings to shed the layers and dig deep into myself… and well, that’s helped me a lot. <3

i would love to hear your thoughts on the episode if you end up listening – it’s episode 32 on the soul on fire podcast which you can find here on my site and here on iTunes!

and if you have not subscribed, rated or reviewed yet and you are a fan of the pod – it would mean the WORLD to me so we can increase visibility in iTunes and keep this pod going, going & going.

love you all, this subject is so dear to my heart and it feels so good to get it all out and share. <3

would love love love to hear your thoughts and your stories below. XO

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UnitedHealth Doctored Medicare Records, Overbilled U.S. By $1 Billion, Feds Claim | California Healthline

The complexities of billing Medicare in Medicare Advantage Programs is leading to fraudulent claims.

Advantage plans are paid by Medicare according to a risk sharing formula and payments can vary from year to year.

By Fred Schulte

In a 79-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, the Justice Department alleged that the insurer made patients appear sicker than they were in order to collect higher Medicare payments than it deserved. The government said it had “conservatively estimated” that the company “knowingly and improperly avoided repaying Medicare” for more than a billion dollars over the course of the decade-long sche

UnitedHealth Doctored Medicare Records, Overbilled U.S. By $1 Billion, Feds Claim | California Healthline

Medicare pays the health plans using a complex formula called a risk score, which is supposed to pay higher rates for sicker patients than for people in good health. But waste and overspending tied to inflated risk scores has repeatedly been cited by government auditors, including the Government Accountability Office. A series of articles published in 2014 by the Center for Public Integrity concluded that improper payments linked to jacked-up risk scores have cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.

Tuesday’s court filing argues that UnitedHealth repeatedly ignored findings from its own auditors that risk scores were often inflated — and warnings by officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) — that it was responsible for ensuring the billings it submitted were accurate.

All but two of 37 Medicare Advantage plans examined in a 2007 audit were overpaid — often by thousands of dollars per patient. Overall, just 60 percent of the medical conditions health plans were paid to cover could be verified. The 2007 audits are the only ones that have been made public.

Audits in these cases are difficult to trace. One factor may be due to inaccurate coding and/or incomplete medical records from providers notes in either a chart or in an EHR. This may be due to time pressures and inadequate time allotment for providers to complete their CPT and ICD coding.

While the feds are focused on the insurance companies, part of the blame may rest on providers themselves...insulated now by another level of bureaucracy. In an effort to reduce CMS cost, CMS has shifted the burden to Advantage plans. The blame game comes into operation in this case.

The current complexity of billing is such that it encourages omissions and faulty record keeping. CMS audits numbers, codes for CPT and ICD, in a digital manner, not an analog manner.

Stay tuned and add Health Train Express to your feeds by subscribing to a feed or by email.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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Showing posts from May, 2017

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The Cover up of Health Care Provider Abuse.

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Consumer oriented Genomics and Ancestry.com

FDA commissioner Gottlieb calls for ‘more forceful steps’ to curb opioid epidemic

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Trump budget seeks huge cuts to disease prevention and medical research departments

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Trump's policies are pressing doctors to speak out

which brings me to the topic of this post…

slowing down & how it’s changed me:

how did i slow down?!

lastly…

A patient’s budding cortex — in a dish?

Ancestry.com takes DNA ownership rights from customers and their relatives

A word to the wise: Read the complete terms of service.

so, what has helped me deal?!

my non-negotiables: