A Crisis in Primary Health Care

Where can we find an ally in Congress to help pharmacists become providers? Right here.


Source: Senator Bernie Sanders

Singer In Rock Band Charged With Bank Fraud

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Central California - the frontman of a Los Angeles-based rock band has been charged with submitting false documents to banks to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars worth of loans, money that he allegedly used to fund his band and his lavish lifestyle.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, between August 2009 and April 2011, the frontman obtained four loans from Comerica Bank totaling approximately $6.25 million. He then defaulted on those loans, causing Comerica to suffer losses of approximately $6 million.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time sympathizing with any bankers who may have been taken advantage of by a Moody musician who in his anger may have thought, like the President, that clawing back some of those profits was the best way to hold bankers accountable for the actions that led to America's economic crisis.

If you ask me, it doesn't sound like the bankers in this case conducted appropriate due-diligence, and should hold themselves responsible for their losses. It would also seem to me that a good case could be made based solely upon a judicial double-standard. Why is this singer being criminally-prosecuted when so many bankers who basically did the same thing are only being civilly-prosecuted?

It'll be interesting to see what a jury of his peers decides, and how this case turns out.

Word in the street is that the band's frontman has allegedly put together a formidable defense team to fight the charges. As a matter of fact, someone leaked me this video of their opening argument.

Accepting Responsibility

You know.. no one is perfect. Like the bad apples analogy I posted a while back, we all have varying degrees of imperfections. That's why the corporations are building robots to replace us. But, the key is to acknowledge our imperfections and not allow them to get the best of us.

If you've been a pharmacist for a while, then you'll know that there are many good pharmacists, who for whatever reasons, fall victim to their impulses and cross over that fine line between right and wrong, ethical and unethical. And that's okay. Any rational person realizes that we can't always be perfect in our behaviors. Sometimes we're gonna slip.

But, it's also important to understand that whenever we screw up, we need to own up to our mistakes. As long as they're not done to intentionally harm someone, most everyone can empathize with our faults and mistakes if we accept responsibility for them and do our best not to let them happen again.

It's only when we deny our mistakes, cover them up, and try to fight "the man" when the shit hits the fan and the consequences become severe. So, if there's anything I'd like my readers to embrace, it would be to be honest, accept responsibility, and to recognize where the fault actually lies.

Cadaver

Some of the stuff they don't teach you in A&P.


CADAVER - A bittersweet love story from Jonah D. Ansell on Vimeo.

The Six Dollar Fifty Man

It's hard to look after yourself in the playground when you're different.

Set in 1970s New Zealand, The Six Dollar Fifty Man follows Andy, a gutsy eight year-old boy who lives in a make believe superhero world where his imagination allows him to perform extraordinary physical feats, to deal with playground bullies.


The Six Dollar Fifty Man from NZ Shorts on Vimeo.

The Presidential Inauguration

While the Democrats were celebrating the inauguration of President Obama today, someone sent me this video clip of some alleged HSBC bankers relaxing and enjoying their freedom at a NY Republican nightspot, while reminiscing about the past and deviously thinking up new ways to manipulate the president for four more years.

The Lonely Life Of A Cynical Pharmacist

While I'm sitting here at home after a hard workout, eating dinner, drinking a beer, reading Twitter, and yelling at the TV, it occurred to me that some people who read my Tweets and my blog probably think I never get lucky because I'm at home so much.

But, nothing could be farther from the truth. For some unknown reason, many women, young and old, but especially divorced single-moms looking for companionship without any strings, seem to find my crazy ass attractive and fascinating. Either that or they're just desperate.

I live in a very large townhouse complex FULL of single woman who don't feel the need to "date" and are fully satisfied with stopping by my house whenever they get lonely. While it's true that I'm happy enjoying my alone time at home, women come to me. I don't have to go out to find them.

Of course, no one will believe stuff like that could ever happen to me. So, I've posted this video clip from my home security monitoring system to help back up my claims.

[Original perfect video link removed by source] That little dick mofo trying to cock-block my action!


Do No Harm

I Beat Mike Tyson

Alright! I was hoping that one of my favorite documentary film makers would release this to the public.


I BEAT MIKE TYSON - (FULL FILM) from Joshua Z Weinstein on Vimeo. Also - Kevin McBride

Fredo The Pharmacist

I see the profession of pharmacy as a brotherhood, one big family, but sometimes dysfunctional.

And like some dysfunctional families may do in order to fully understand the root cause of a problem before taking any action, we first try to address an individual family member's bad behaviors by calling them in to discuss it with one of their brothers from the state board of pharmacy.

But that doesn't always work to correct the problem.

As what can happen in many big families, there's often a competitive jealousy driving some members to try to prove their individual superiority, regardless of the potential consequences, that sometimes gets in the way of the entire family's best interests and may lead to their elimination from the family.

But don't just take my word for it, see for yourself.

Health Fraud Scams

I recently saw a local video news report in which people thought that vitamin infusions would help prevent the flu. So, I thought I would post this video and link from the FDA.

Make a New Year resolution to become better educated about health fraud scams. Health fraud scams are everywhere including TV, radio, and the internet. Don't be fooled by bogus claims and promises of miracles cures. Remember folks, there are no Z-rays.


Source: FDA: Health Fraud Scams

All Superheroes Must Die

It's hard to believe that a full year has already passed since the huge outrage created in the pharmacy community over the comments made by the CEO of Medco (now assimilated into Express Scripts) that many pharmacists took as an insult to the profession. Whatever came of that?

If I remember correctly, it seemed to me that most of the action from the profession as a whole was to rant about it though the various forms of media, and oh yeah, perhaps circulate a petition in order to show him who was boss, or to threaten a hunger strike to affect some serious change on his part.

It doesn't seem that any pharmacists' efforts were very successful. If only pharmacists realized that their powers originate from their feet (en masse), not from their mouths or their fingertips.

But, there were also some younger superhero pharmacists calling for even more action against the evil and greedy corporate forces interfering with our profession. How did they do?

Here's video of a few of them confronting that CEO, trying to get him to change his ways, and finally coming to realization that the mandate of corporate CEOs seems to be that all superheroes must die.

The Man Whose Arms Exploded

A permanent erection, massive quantities of speed and cocaine, peanut-sized testicles, thick brown urine, handfuls of downers, horse steroids, Frankenstein’s monster syndrome, bitch tits, massive trauma, total shut-down, sudden death.

Welcome to the disturbing world of EXTREME bodybuilding. The Man Whose Arms Exploded follows Gregg Valentino, the man with the biggest arms in the world and explores what happened to him, and others, after a lifetime of steroid abuse. Here's the film trailer.


Source: Firecracker Films

Side Effects: The Movie

How many prescription-drug-gone-wrong thrillers can they make with this title?

A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison. Side Effects is a prescription-drug-gone-wrong thriller about Emily and Martin, a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily's psychiatrist -- intended to treat anxiety -- has unexpected side effects. Go figure.

"Whoever makes this drug is going to be rich," remarks Mara's husband, right before the apparent dark side of the prescription is revealed.


Source: Open Road Films

Blood Pressure: The Movie

What do you do when the pressure of the daily pharmacy grind and the limits of your life wears you down? Do you develop a strange attraction to me and my blog, or to perhaps a secret admirer?

Nicole, forty-one, is a pharmacist with a husband and two teenage kids, who is at a point in her life when she is asking if "is this it?", or whether there’s something more to life.


Blood Pressure Trailer from Templeton Ratsworthy on Vimeo and Film Website

Bath Salts: It's Not A Fad...It's A Nightmare

Navy Medicine psychiatry resident Lt. George Loeffler at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, CA, discusses his firsthand experiences treating service members at Navy military treatment facilities from consequences of bath salt use.

"I would say not just as the naval officer, but as your doctor, bath salts will not only jack up your family and your career, it will jack up your mind and body too," said Loeffler in this PSA.

The Bath Salts campaign's slogan, "Bath salts: It's not a fad...It's a NIGHTMARE", reflects the hallucinogenic effect of bath salts, which are a non-regulated designer drug comprised of a synthetic cathinone, or amphetamine, that can have a dangerous or debilitating effect on the user.

Fitness Over Fifty

I worked out at the downtown YMCA (across the street from ASU) the other day, and while it's never my intention to compete with anyone else but myself, there's always that one dumbass in his early twenties that gets upset that I can lift more than him, and hatefully views me as "the competition".

Foolish jealousy is a loser's game my young friends. If you only knew that it's exactly the opposite of what you're thinking. I want you to embrace weightlifting, and be like me once you reach my age. If you can outperform me in any weightlifting category, I'm happy for you and your accomplishment.

Don't be jealous of us older guys. Reaching fifty-years of age doesn't mean a death sentence, or that I should be expected to "give up" and act (what you consider) my age. As long as anyone stays off the "juice", a little persistence in the weight room can go a long way in leading a healthy life, living longer, and looking more youthful in middle-age. If I outperform you, don't blame me, it's your fault.


Fitness Over Fifty with Steve of Club Fitness New York from Mighty Productive on Vimeo.

So You Want To Be A Floater, Huh?

I was having a conversation a while back with a younger pharmacist who thought that the best answer to avoiding the soul-draining everyday political bullshit in the workplace, was to work for the pharmacy registries or the temporary staffing services. To each his own I guess.

I know that it sounds like a good gig. But unless you speak with a pharmacist who's experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly of working through a registry, you might be stepping into a hornet's nest. So, let me share just this ONE ugly aspect of that end of the business that's almost unavoidable.

In many of the pharmacies that you'll be assigned to work, you'll be viewed as the drifter, an outsider often considered inferior or even incompetent, and someone presumed incapable of doing the job as quickly and efficiently as the pharmacists and techs employed there full time.

And you'll be held in contempt until you stand your ground and prove it to the bullies otherwise.

So, knowing that you probably won't believe that, I've included this hidden video of my experience at the local pharmacy after-hours hangout, during an assignment at a pharmacy located near Tucson.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2013 is now upon us, and it's been another year in my search to find those elusive honest men (and women). It's not as easy as it sounds. If you've read through my 2012 Tweets and blog posts, then you've probably come to realize that truly honest people are few and far between.

Luckily, it just so happened that I discovered a few of them this past year.

There was that one New York Talking Head that I knew from my youth, the one poor homeless man many Arizonans read about living in Tempe, the cave-dwelling cynic I discovered living in Utah, and last but not least - the honorable Dr. Dicksheet.

So, a few honest men can be found. They're just becoming harder to find.

If only more people were honest with themselves, cared about others as much as they care about themselves, and were less selfish and greedy, then maybe my search would be much more fruitful.

No matter, I'll keep searching anyway. Perhaps this year I'll find an honest man in Montana. And as I continue my search, I hope that you find what you're looking for this year and discover happiness and find fulfillment in the simple (and meaningful) things in life.