Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Desert Storm Veteran needs help for family

Fort Hood veteran in hospital with infection that could have killed him


KXXV ABC 25 News
Erin Heft
December 10, 2018

TEMPLE, TX (KXXV) -
A veteran out of Fort Hood lays in the hospital tonight with an infection that could have taken his life.

Kenny Kreiter served in the Army out of Fort Hood in the early 1990s. During his time spent serving our country, Kenny sustained knee trauma and ultimately left the military due to his sustained injuries.
The same knee injury that haunted him years ago, has now taken a turn for the worse.
On Nov. 19, he was admitted into the Olin E. Teague Veterans Medical Center, and he has been there ever since. He is fighting a staph infection that took hold in his bad knee.
As the breadwinner of his family, it has been hard financially on them during this time. Since he has not been able to work, Kenny's manager said he was gathering a $1,200 check to donate to the family to help make ends meet.
The manager had misled them.
It was that day that Kenny's fellow veteran friend started a GoFundMe campaign in Kenny's name, in hopes that it will help the family during this trying time.


Getting over PTSD?

You can get over it...when you overcome it


Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 12, 2018

When you are depressed, feeling as if there is no hope, someone will eventually become frustrated because they do not know what to say. Sooner or later, the words "Get over it!" pop out of their mouths. 

While you may have been offended by those words, as if you are supposed to just forget and move on, there is power in that message when you think about it. You can get over it by overcoming it and making peace with it.
Back in 2012, there was a fundraiser out at the Orlando Nam Knights and MOH Sammy Davis Jr. was there. I know Sammy and his wife Dixie. I was talking to them about the PSA Sammy had done with some other Medal of Honor Recipients trying to get the troops and veterans to seek help for PTSD.

I asked Sammy if he wanted to add to what he said, and he agreed. This is the message he and Dixie wanted to give.

Kathie Costos DiCesare
Published on May 8, 2012
Vietnam Medal of Honor Sammy Davis has a message to all the troops coming home. Talk about it! Don't try to forget it but you can make peace with it. Dixie Davis has a message for the spouses too. Help them to talk about it with you or with someone else.

Why stay down there with the pain? Why surrender your power and remain trapped by what "it" is doing to you?


The only reason you have PTSD is because you are a survivor of something horrible. No shame in being a survivor! So, no shame in you unless you choose to have it control what you do now.

The next time someone tells you to "get over it" tell them that is exactly what you are doing by working to overcome it!

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

White House VA "Advisor" had nothing to do?

‘There were times I didn’t have a lot to do.’ Trump loyalist at VA forced out after collecting pay but doing little work


Washington Post
By Lisa Rein and
Josh Dawsey
December 11, 2018

The Trump administration has forced out a senior White House political appointee at the Department of Veterans Affairs who spent months on the federal payroll doing little to no work.
Peter O'Rourke, who served as VA’s acting secretary for several months this year, was asked to resign from the administration last week. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Peter O’Rourke’s departure marks an unceremonious fall for a Trump loyalist once seen as a rising star at VA where he nonetheless had a rocky tenure, first leading a high-profile office handling whistleblower complaints, next as chief of staff and then, for two months, as the agency’s acting secretary.

Since August he has held the nebulous role of senior adviser, with an uncertain portfolio and senior executive salary as high as $161,000. VA Secretary Robert Wilkie asked for his resignation Friday.

O’Rourke said in an interview that he remains “very supportive of the president and the agenda of the Trump administration” and would like to rejoin the administration.
read more here

Still think that the VA is bad for veterans?

Still think that the VA is bad for veterans?

For all the people who say that sending veterans into the civilian healthcare system is a good idea, remember this sample of what you do not read about as much as you complaints against the VA.

Oh, by the way, since when is it OK to forget that veterans pre-paid for their healthcare WHEN THEY DECIDED TO DIE IF NECESSARY FOR THIS COUNTRY?



10 latest healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements
Becker's Hospital Review
Written by Ayla Ellison
December 10, 2018

From hospitals suing HHS for finalizing a site-neutral payment policy to a nurse pleading guilty in a telemedicine fraud scheme, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.

1. Hospitals sue HHS over site-neutral payment policy
The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and three hospitals sued HHS Dec. 4 for finalizing a policy that will cut Medicare payments for hospital outpatient clinic visits.

2. BCBS of Texas beats physician lawsuit alleging ER underpayments
A lawsuit filed by 49 physician groups against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas was dismissed Dec. 3.

3. Walmart, 3 pharma companies sued over impure drugs
Four companies — Walmart, Aurobindo Pharma, ScieGen Pharmaceuticals and Westminster Pharmaceuticals — were hit with a lawsuit alleging they contributed to the sale and production of impure drugs.

4. Medtronic resolves medical device probes for $50.9M: 5 things to know
Medtronic will pay $50.9 million to resolve three U.S. Justice Department probes. The payments settle allegations that companies it now owns conducted improper medical device marketing, paid illegal kickbacks to hospitals and participated in other physician-engagement practices.

5. Tennessee nurse pleads guilty in $65.7M telemedicine fraud scheme
A nurse practitioner pleaded guilty Nov. 27 to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud for her role in a $65.7 million scheme that involved prescribing expensive compounded medications to Tricare beneficiaries.

6. Indiana medical company hit with first multistate HIPAA lawsuit: 7 things to know
Attorneys general from 12 states united to sue an Indiana medical company over a 2015 data breach.

7. 7 New York hospitals reach settlement, agree to stop improper billing of rape survivors
Seven New York hospitals agreed to pay restitution to rape survivors and revise billing procedures as part of a legal settlement.

8. Chicago physician convicted of billing fraud
A Chicago physician was convicted of billing insurance companies for nonexistent chiropractic manipulations.

9. Bristol-Myers Squibb must answer lawsuit claiming it knowingly underpaid Medicaid
A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled that Bristol-Myers Squibb must face a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging the drugmaker knowingly underpaid rebates it owed to state Medicaid programs.

10. Scientologist physician sues North Dakota hospital over religious discrimination
A former Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru Health System physician filed a lawsuit against the hospital Nov. 20, claiming the hospital system discriminated against him because he is a Scientologist.
read more here

U.S. veterans' hospitals often better than nearby alternatives

By Lisa Rapaport
(Reuters Health) - - U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals may provide better quality care than other hospitals in many American communities, a U.S. study suggests.
Researchers looked at 121 regional health care markets with at least one VA hospital and one non-VA facility. Altogether they assessed 135 VA hospitals and 2,988 non-VA hospitals using Hospital Compare, a public database that ranks hospitals on quality measures like mortality rates for common diseases and preventable complications.

"...they held hands. He raised a gun to his chest and killed himself."

"Meredith said she and her husband went to their primary care physician and asked for a referral to another pain clinic. They were told it would take a minimum of six weeks."

"That was too much for Lawrence. In March, on the day of his next medical appointment, when his painkiller dosage was to be reduced again, he instead went to a nearby park with his wife. And on the very spot where they renewed their wedding vows just two years earlier, they held hands. He raised a gun to his chest and killed himself."

Go here to read the rest of this story...then maybe you'll understand how taking away pain medicine can be hazardous to our lives.


As doctors taper or end opioid prescriptions, many patients driven to despair, suicide

I have not had to take pain medicine for a long time, since the shots into my spine worked, but I remember what life was like in that kind of pain and no hope of it going away. The only thing that allowed me to keep going to work, was the medication to take some of the pain away.