Health Care

For most of us, the flu season is inconvenient, but for people confined to immigrant detention centers it’s scary. Children held in detention are 9 times more likely to die from the flu than the general pediatric population. With flu season well underway, we urgently need your help to get flu vaccinations to the people who need it most. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is blocking a group of doctors from offering the flu vaccine to children and families in detention.  Immigrant detention camps function like prisons: physically and emotionally stressed migrants are held in these overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, often for months on end. Without the flu vaccine, it’s almost guaranteed that we’ll see more outbreaks, putting more lives at risk. No one in 2019 should be dying from the flu in these camps. Carlos' death could have been prevented. Send a message to DHS before the disease spreads even further.  This is a heartless way to punish people who are seeking safety in the United States. Let’s be clear: our government put these people in camps simply because they are seeking asylum; they have not committed crimes. It doesn’t have to be this way. Our organization, Doctors for Camp Closure, wants to offer the vaccine to people in a detention center in California at no cost to the government. All we need is permission to enter. Join us in requesting permission to offer the flu vaccine to vulnerable children and families in migrant detention. P.S. – If you’re a physician, medical professional or medical student, please leave a comment indicating that when you sign.

TITLE OF BILL : An act to amend the public health law, in relation to deeming central venous lines as medically necessary Dream Shepherd is an 14-year-old girl who has courageously battled Sickle Cell Disease and who suffered a stroke in 2010 at the age of five. In December 2014, as part of a study, Dream received a stem cell transplant as part of her treatment plan and fight against Sickle Cell Disease. After the transplant she remained in the hospital for several months, while Doctors worked to stabilize her immune system, which was crucial to her discharge and transplant success. Additionally while in the hospital Dream had a Central Venous Line placed into her heart. The Central Venous Line has strict care requirements. In New York State Health Facilities only Registered Nurses are legally allowed to administer I.V. medications with use of a Central Venous Line; which have to be properly managed to ensure that Dream, and other's with a Central Line, do not acquire infections, especially if immuno-compromised. This central line goes directly into the right atrium of the heart, and requires immediate action should there be a disconnection for any reason as a patient with this type of line can exsanguinate should this go unmonitored or unnoticed. In addition to the high risk of infections, other complications of Central Venous Lines include Air Embolism, Pneumothorax, Pinch-off, Syndrome, Drug Precipitates, Thrombosis, Catheter Occlusion, Catheter Malposition, and Sepsis a severe blood infection caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Sepsis is extremely serious and can be life-threatening.  Due to the high potential for dangerous infections, as part of discharge planning, Dream's mother, who is not a medical professional, made a request for a skilled private duty nurse to care for Dream's central venous line. This request was denied by the insurance company as it was "not deemed medically necessary." Due to this rejection by the insurance company, the hospital informed Dream's mother, that she was required to provide the necessary care to Dream's central venous line. Not ensuring that Dream would have the correct and proper skilled nurse to provide the care after discharge which could have caused irreparable harm, including the worst outcome. Attempting to force the mother to provide the care would have required her to lose her job and source of income, along with saddling her with the anxiety of overseeing the medical attention that if not done properly, could lead to the loss of her daughter's life. That is a position no family member or friend should ever be in.

Patients' lives depend on choice. **Since starting the petition, I have realized that there are many issues other than temperatures with forced mail-order pharmacy.  Mail-order pharmacy is very loosely regulated. There are life-threatening delays, lack of face-to-face relationship with pharmacists for people with chronic conditions, and rapid closures of our independent pharmacies; although, a recent study showed people prefer independent pharmacy (2018, Gill).    *************Our Story************* Our son, received a life-saving liver transplant at the age of 2 from a 3-year-old little girl. His life depends on the potency and effectiveness of chemotherapy/immune suppression medications every 12 hours to prevent his body's immune system from fighting off his transplanted liver. In the past mail-order delivered his liquid oral medications in nothing but a plastic envelope on a 102-degree day on a hot enclosed not temperature controlled UPS truck. Shortly after, he went into liver rejection which could have resulted in complete liver failure or death. I speculated that the medication could have been too weak after the delivery of medications in high heat. I vowed to never again risk his life with mail-order pharmacy. Recently, we were mandated/forced to only use mail-order pharmacy in order to receive coverage for his life-saving medications.  The package arrived in only a bag on a hot day without an ice pack. The hot non-temperature controlled enclosed delivery truck can reach temperatures up to 170 degrees. His labs elevated again afterward. My son wants to know, "Why would they do that?" I contacted the manufacturer, who performs the testing stated that both of my son's medications should be discarded and considered less potent once stored above 86 degrees as higher temperatures and freezing could both result in lower potency. Liquid medication is the most harmed by the mishandling of medications outside of the manufactures temperature storage guidelines.  I contacted the mail-order pharmacy who refused to replace or take back the medication. They said the law & USP Pharmacopoeia allows them to ship up to 104 degrees, although the manufacturer states it is not proven safe at these temperatures. However, I have received communication from USP Pharmacopoeia who writes guidelines for storage, and they also said that the mail order pharmacy should follow the manufacturer's guidelines of 59-86 degrees for storage. Again, the trucks reach up to 170 degrees which is much hotter than 104.  I contacted the FDA, who states that the mail order pharmacy should be using the manufacturer's guidelines that have been proven safe..However, since the mail-order pharmacies are regulated loosely by the State Board of Pharmacy, not the FDA. There was nothing that the FDA could do.  I made over 30 calls to the insurance company begging for them to please let us pick my son's medications up at the local pharmacy at which they are filled. My son's physician wrote a note/appeal as his transplant team has stated that they have tried to voice their concerns about this issue with their pediatric/child patients and no one is listening! The insurance company still denied the doctor's appeal for us to pick up my son's medications in the safest way. It was not until the Media became evolved that the insurance company budged.  I felt helpless and have united with many other pharmacists, physicians, patients, mothers and fathers, and caregivers who feel the same way. Helpless. Mail-order of prescription drugs should be a choice, not the only option of coverage.  Mail-order pharmacies may appear to save money, but when my son ended up in the hospital after taking medications that could have been compromised by having lower potency, the cost of the rejection was thousands of dollars. If his liver would have fully failed, the cost of his liver transplant for just 5 days (he was in the hospital for 5 weeks) was over $1,000,000. The lax regulation and oversight may save money on prescription drug plans but may come at an increased cost to the health plan itself. Also, keep in mind the endless waste of medications that automatically are sent regardless of whether or not patients need them. Also, people with chronic, complex conditions, should always have the option of face to face interaction with a pharmacist who knows their complex needs and medical history. The pharmacist and patient relationship are crucial to the successful outcome of the patient's overall health. Taking this away is harmful to patients and be more costly to our already stressed healthcare system.   Only allowing mail-order pharmacy for coverage is unethical and irresponsible. I share stories on my social media sites every day of patients who are suffering from lack of choice.  We need your help to make mandatory mail-order an option, not a mandate.  YOUR URGENT SUPPORT WILL SAVE LIVES! THANK YOU!! WE APPRECIATE ALL OF THE SUPPORTERS, CAREGIVERS, & PATIENTS.  Thank you,  Loretta Boesing, Founder of Unite for Safe Medications You may make a tax-deductible contribution to support our advocacy here Email: loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com Facebook Page: Issues with Mail Order Pharmacy @justamomwholovesherson Twitter: @BoesingLoretta The greatest way that you can help is by sharing this petition & gathering 2-3 people in your community who are having issues and speak to your legislatures.                  Reference: Gill, Lisa L. “Consumers Still Prefer Independent Pharmacies, CR's Ratings Show.” Product Reviews and Ratings - Consumer Reports, 7 Dec. 2018, www.consumerreports.org/pharmacies/consumers-still-prefer-independent-pharmacies-consumer-reports-ratings-show/

Every day, we in Wisconsin call on police officers and fire fighters to arrive immediately for situations we find too dangerous or unpredictable to deal with on our own.   When these first responders arrive, we expect them to be healthy, reasonable and effective in how they perform but how can we ask this of them when, as a state, we refuse to accommodate their healthcare needs as determined by their work conditions?  They are human and, like all humans, will suffer mentally and physically from repeated exposure to trauma, but Wisconsin laws don't seem to take that into account. Wisconsin’s First Responders deserve full coverage for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment through workers compensation whether or not the symptoms are the result of an extreme event or the day-to-day work. Traumatic events police officers encounter on a day-to-day basis include:  handling severely injured or deceased people including babies violent interactions racing through red lights inspecting abandoned buildings the anticipation of danger These stressful events are unavoidable for officers and they take a toll.   Among other alarming byproducts, PTSD increases suicide risk, and the rate of suicide among police officers is far higher than the national average. To date, this year: 41 officers have been killed by felonious assault 163 officers have taken their own lives.  Today, Wisconsin law prevents most officers and fire fighters with PTSD due to day-to-day stress from receiving needed assistance by failing to compensate them.  Senate Bill 511/Assembly Bill 569 can change that.  It states the following: "The bill provides that if a public safety officer is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist and the mental injury that resulted in that diagnosis is not accompanied by a physical injury, that public safety officer can bring a claim for worker’s compensation benefits if the conditions of liability are proven by a preponderance of the evidence and the mental injury is not the result of a good-faith employment action by the person’s employer. Under the bill, such an injured public safety employee is not required to demonstrate a diagnosis based on unusual stress of greater dimensions than the day-to-day emotional strain and tension experienced by similarly situated employees as required under School District No. 1 v. DILHR, 62 Wis. 2d 370, 215 N.W.2d 373 (1974).” Wisconsin must meet the demand for police and fire healthcare so that they may do their jobs safely and in optimal health.  Please join us in urging our State Legislature to vote for Senate Bill 511/Assembly Bill 569, sign this petition and share it!