Category: Mental Health

Bernie Sanders Organized the 1st "Lincoln-Douglas Style" Debate – On Single Payer Healthcare

6/3/2016

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In 1993, Representatives Bernie Sanders and John Boehner introduced a plan for the first-ever "Lincoln-Douglas Style" House floor debates.

Sanders was asked in an interview a month before the debate, "Another part of the equation over here... the Democratic leadership has been talking about what they are saying is an "Oxford Style" debate. What's your reaction to that?" Sanders replied, "I don't think it makes a damn bit of difference whatever it is."

Sanders continued, "The idea came from Mr. Boehner of Ohio, who is head of the Conservative Opportunities Council. And he came to me two weeks ago and he suggested it might be good for the country and good for the Congress if we had a real clash of ideas and a real debate on some of the most important issues facing this country. I thought it was a great idea. I went back to the members of the progressive caucus. They thought it was a great idea. We're ready to go.

I'm very frustrated, and I think most members of Congress are frustrated, about how little the American people really know as to what's going on in Congress, or, in fact, are knowledgeable about the most important issues facing this country. The corporate-owned mass media, in my view, does a horrendous job. We spend more time with violence and sensationalism and five second soundbites rather than honest debate about the terrible crises facing this country. This country is undergoing major economic decline. Our people are becoming poorer. We're one of two nations in the industrialized world without a nationalized healthcare system. We lead the industrialized world among poverty for our kids, etc, etc, etc. Where is the debate? How did this happen? Who owns America? We're not having that debate. So I think that having some people from the right and some of us who are progressives on the left really clash and talk about the future of America, talk about the problems facing this country, will give the American people the opportunity to hear serious debate.

The first debate as I understand it will be on the single payer healthcare system... believe that the Canadian single payer system is the most cost-effective way to provide comprehensive universal healthcare to all Americans."

The first debate was on healthcare. Physician Jim McDermott and Bernie Sanders represented the single payer point of view. See: Physicians in the United States Congress

Two years prior in 1991, Bernie Sanders held a hearing, "The Most Serious Problem Facing the US: Healthcare System Reforms." Representative Sam of Florida spoke of the private healthcare system in the United States:

"It's a historic accident. We have let it go on. It has brought disaster to our whole healthcare system. We have not only the most expensive healthcare system, we have the most clumsily administered system to work with."

Private Health Insurance Whistleblower Wendell Potter Described How the Insurance Industry Put Profits Before Patients

In June 2009, testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation by a former health insurance insider named Wendell Potter made news even before it occurred: CBS NEWS headlined: "Cigna Whistleblower to Testify."

After Potter's testimony the industry scrambled to do damage control: "Insurers defend rescissions, take heat for lack of transparency."

"When you're in the executive offices, when you're getting prepared for a call with analysts in the financial media, what you think about are the numbers. You don't think about the people. You think about the numbers and whether or not you're going to hit Wall Street's expectations."

More: KPBS San Diego and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation compare healthcare in the United States and Canada in 2009

Video below: Through Scare Tactics and Lobbying, the American Medical Association, Private Health Insurance Companies, and PhRMA have Campaigned for Profits Over Better Health the last 70 Years

With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Below, he spoke with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform. He described why he left his successful career as the head of Public Relations for CIGNA, one of the nation's largest insurers, and decided to speak out against the industry. "I didn't intend to [speak out], until it became really clear to me that the industry is resorting to the same tactics they've used over the years, and particularly back in the early '90s, when they were leading the effort to kill the Clinton plan."

(continued below)

Potter began his trip from health care spokesperson to reform advocate while back home in Tennessee. Potter attended a "health care expedition," a makeshift health clinic set up at a fairgrounds, and he tells Bill Moyers, "It was absolutely stunning. When I walked through the fairground gates, I saw hundreds of people lined up, in the rain. It was raining that day. Lined up, waiting to get care, in animal stalls. Animal stalls."Looking back over his long career, Potter sees an industry corrupted by Wall Street expectations and greed.

According to Potter, insurers have every incentive to deny coverage — every dollar they don't pay out to a claim is a dollar they can add to their profits, and Wall Street investors demand they pay out less every year. Under these conditions, Potter says, "You don't think about individual people. You think about the numbers, and whether or not you're going to meet Wall Street's expectations."

Mental Health, Addiction, and Drug Policy: Politics and Faux Morals Trump American Health

Identifying Sick U.S. Cultural Institutions that Have Created a Downward Trend in American Health

Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen: The Cost of Foreign Policy That Relies Too Heavily Upon Military and Arms Sales

Renowned Swiss Economist and Investor: Bullish on Bernie

Bernie Sanders is the Best Fix for America's Speedball Economy

Bernie Sanders the Best Candidate to Help Normal Americans Stuck in Neverending Recession

It's the Information Age, Democrats Do Not Need Another Goldman Sachs President

Progressive vs Conservative Roots: Mental Health, Criminal Justice, Drugs, Foreign Policy

(continued below)

Opioid Crisis: Epidemic that Medicine Made

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin stated at a recent National Governors' Association Meeting, "And I'm gonna close by this: Our biggest enemy... because, you know... the beautiful comments of Joanne Peterson. I have heard more stories like Joanne's, and so have we all. And you know what we do? We go,

"God, that's just so heart-wrenching. It's just so horrid."

But you know, we're up against some big financial pressures here.

Will Pharma Fraud and Drug Prices Impact the Election?

Failing America: Politicians Lack Courage to Fight Substance Abuse and Improve Mental Health and Drug Policy

The Big Picture: Gov Peter Shumlin Holds FDA, Pharma, Physicians Accountable for RxProblem

You Created "Drug Culture," Not the Drugs

Bernie Sanders Brings the Heat on Healthcare, Pharma, and the FDA

Just a few years ago, the combined pharmaceutical industry spent $435,000 per member of Congress lobbying for their views, let's just get this out there. $435,000. That's big money. Do we have the courage? Do we have the heart to do it?"

(continued below)

Click for video.

Red-Flagging and Rescission

Among the other testimony heard by the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation was that of Robin Beaton. It reflected some of the insurance company tactics condemned by Potter.

It was a nightmare scenario. The day before she was scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy for invasive breast cancer, Robin Beaton's health insurance company informed her that she was "red flagged" and they wouldn't pay for her surgery. The hospital wanted a $30,000 deposit before they would move forward. Beaton had no choice but to forgo the life-saving surgery.

Beaton had dutifully signed up for individual insurance when she retired from nursing to start a small business. She had never missed a payment, but that didn't matter. Blue Cross cited two earlier, unrelated conditions that she hadn't reported to them when signing up — acne and a fast beating heart — and rescinded her policy.

Beaton pleaded with the company and had her doctors write letters on her behalf to no avail. It was not until Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) personally called Blue Cross that her policy was reinstated and she could undergo surgery. In that year, Beaton's tumor doubled in size, leading to further complications necessitating the removal of her lymph glands as well.

People ask me all the time why the US health system is so difficult to fix. Main reason: all the waste is someone's income and they lobby.
— Omar S. Manejwala MD (@drmanejwala) January 3, 2016

The practice is called "rescission" and Beaton's is not an isolated case. The House Energy and Commerce Committee found that the major private health insurers had rescinded the policies of approximately 20,000 people in a five year period, to avoid paying out approximately $300 million in benefit claims.

Appearing before the same committee, CEOs of the major health insurance companies stated that they would continue to use rescission, arguing that it is a necessary protection against fraud and abuse.

Wendell Potter held a variety of positions at CIGNA Corporation over 15 years, serving most recently as head of corporate communications and as the company's chief corporate spokesman.

Prior to joining CIGNA, Potter headed communications at Humana Inc., another large for-profit health insurer and was director of public relations and advertising for The Baptist Health System of East Tennessee. He also has been a partner in an Atlanta public relations firm, a press secretary to a Democratic nominee for governor of Tennessee and a lobbyist in Washington for the organizers of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn.

Wendell Potter is a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he received a B.A. degree in communications and did postgraduate work in journalism and public relations. He holds an APR, which means he is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America, and is still a dues-paying member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Club in Washington.

Potter's latest book is titled Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It.

Potter Details How the Insurance Industry Attacked Michael Moore's healthcare documentary, 'SiCKO'

National Institute of Mental Health diddles while mental health infrastructure is gutted and and taxes are wasted. Former chair of the DSM task force, psychiatrist Allen Frances: "NIMH loves fancy basic science and couldn't care less about the clinical care received by our citizens. It is run by, and for, scientists with an indifference to the needs of the taxpayers who support its budget."

U.S. government refuses to fund research into the therapeutic potential of serotonin 2a receptor agonists psilocybin and ayahuasca, despite their promise in treating addiction, depression, and other difficult-to-treat mental disorders. More: Psilocybin's Potential Impact on Mental Health and Neuroscience Research

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It's the Information Age, Democrats Do Not Need Another Goldman Sachs President

4/26/2016

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Updated 4/30/16

–Margaret Soltan, No I wouldn’t. And ol’ Bern wouldn’t either

A cozy relationship with Wall Street fraudsters Goldman Sachs is the tip of the Clinton conservative iceberg that is a liability to the future of the Democratic Party.

From former DNC co-chair Tulsi Gabbard's Facebook page, in response to the New York Daily News story titled, Hillary Clinton camp now paying online trolls to attack anyone who disparages her online:

"Many moons ago, David Brock, now the head of a Hillary Clinton Super PAC, used every resource available to ruin the life of Anita Hill and anyone who supported her. He would lie, cheat, and blatantly misrepresent facts if it meant getting Clarence Thomas through the Supreme Court nomination process. Brock openly admitted it ... As head of the Correct The Record Super PAC for Hillary Clinton, David Brock has launched something called Barrier Breakers — an online mob of paid trolls designed to attack any and every person who says one cross word about Hillary Clinton on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, or elsewhere."

The Clintons and Goldman Sachs

TIME: "President Bill Clinton's tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years.

Clinton, herself, is a barrier to national unity at a time when a record 43% of Americans identify as political independents, according to Gallup.

Barrier Breakers' latest attempt to rehabilitate Hillary Clinton's reputation:

Ads distracting from Hillary Clinton's past, present, and future economic and foreign policy positions imperil the security of the United States.

Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation.

He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment."

Fact: After the financial crisis, Bill Clinton gave 3x more speeches to Wall Street banks than Hillary. Full list. Will a Hillary Clinton presidency require bankers to bail out the American middle class whose wealth has been stripped by multinational corporations and Wall Street banks past 30 years?

Not Looking Out for the American People:

Elizabeth Warren: Hillary Clinton catered to lobbyists and greed instead of the interests of the American people. "And as their profits grow, they just throw more into lobbying for how they can get laws that make it easier, and easier, and easier to drain money out of the pockets of middle class families."
TIME Top 25 to blame for the financial crisis include Clinton, Greenspan

For the past 30 years, Bernie Sanders has had his eyes on the neoliberal ponzi scheme that puts the future of the United States in danger. It is a GOP sickness that has slowly crept into and infected the Democratic Party.

It mirrors the greed-induced opioid epidemic that has slowly addicted the United States since 1995.

America's Guilded Class Sending Poor Unemployed People to War is Not the Answer for Job Creation

We learned from Bush's Iraq War and the Bush-Clinton financial crisis that that reckless warmongering and conservative greed are no answers for job creation. While Republicans get their political financing edge from Citizens United, Democrats figured out how to get theirs from Wall Street and Hillary Clinton's corrupt associations. Both tend to feed off of Big Pharma, Big Oil, private health insurance industry, and private prisons.

When the U.S. economy experiences its inevitable crash, unnecessary wars of choice will always be an option.

America's gilded class job creation for the victims of America's undereducated, uninsured, and underemployed:

America's drug war puts the impoverished, undereducated, and underemployed in prison
Unnecessary geopolitical wars send the remainder to unnecessary wars of choice, such as the Iraq War or potential wars with Iran or China

What was the DNC thinking with their choice of a Clinton as a primary candidate in 2016?

Gallup: In U.S., New Record 43% Are Political Independents

Eric Holder, President Obama's Attorney General and Wall Street Double Agent:

Holder cashed in with one of Wall Street's favorite defense firms after 6 years of letting banks run wild and letting them off scot-free

CBS: The bank once dubbed "vampire squid" will pay $5 billion after admitting it misled investors

A Goldman VP resigned in March 2012 and wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about why he left their culture of corruption (Watch: CBS 60 Minutes story on Greg Smith). Rather than seeing corruption, Hillary Clinton saw $$$ in 2013 when she made $675,000 from 3 speeches to Goldman Sachs. Clinton refuses to release the transcripts.

New York Times:

Former Goldman Employee:

Hillary Not Truthful About Wall Street Speaking Fees: "Wall Street firms funded 14 of her 41 talks. In addition to Goldman Sachs, the list includes Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity Investments UBS and Bank of America. Her benefactors also include hedge funds and private equity firms like Apollo Management and Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts."

How did Clinton feel it was okay to accept $675,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, a company that just paid a $5 billion settlement for ripping off the American people?

Tulsi Gabbard: "Goldman Sachs just got a mere slap on the wrist for its criminal role in the 2008 collapse of our economic system. Even though Goldman Sachs admitted it committed fraud that contributed to the collapse, the U.S. Attorney General and the Justice Department have let the powerful and politically-connected Goldman Sachs off with a fine. No criminal prosecution for fraud and no indictment of the individuals who engaged in a pattern of making "false and misleading" representations of the company's mortgage-backed securities.

We were assured the Department of Justice would prosecute the individuals responsible for the fraudulent behavior that cost millions of Americans their homes--and now we see that those assurances were empty.

Adding insult to injury, the fine won't even be paid by the Goldman Sachs employees who engaged in the criminal conduct--it will be paid by company shareholders." Goldman Sachs has 18 bullet points under "controversies" on Wikipedia.

Video Below: Goldman Sachs made a record $13.4 billion in profit in 2013. PBS NewsHour asks: How Does Goldman Sachs Make Money?

NY Times: Suicide in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years

Culture is Not Your Friend: Pharma Abuse, Reckless Drug Policy and Foreign Policy, Mass Incarceration, 1% Lobbying, Failure to Improve Mental Health and Addiction Care

Out of touch politics is killing America: Politicians Lack Courage to Fight Substance Abuse and Improve Mental Health and Drug Policy

The new astrology: By fetishising mathematical models, economists turned economics into a highly paid pseudoscience

Weapons of mass destruction: Bernie addresses greed and poverty

What do Republicans represent? Trickle down is a proven failure and their anti-LGBT agenda helps nobody

Billionaires: Pitchforks ready

The new astrology: By fetishising mathematical models, economists turned economics into a highly paid pseudoscience

What Clinton said in her paid speeches: Recalled one attendee: 'She sounded more like a Goldman Sachs managing director.'

The New Yorker: Why the S.E.C. Didn't Hit Goldman Sachs Harder

A top S.E.C. lawyer’s email: The financial crisis was “more fairly attributable to lesser human failings of greed, arrogance and stupidity” than fraud. This sounds like Hillary Clinton business dealings,foreign policy, domestic policy, speech policy, her judgment, and... okay, it's everything she represents.

New York Post: "Clinton charged the University of California $300,000 for 1 speech in March 2014. When the school asked for a discount, her team at the Harry Walker Agency balked, saying that was the “special university rate.” The University of Nevada had to shell out $225,000 to get Clinton in June 2014, causing a ruckus at the school in the face of rising tuition."

Why nothing gets enforced with Wall Street

Who do you trust to make sure Goldman Sachs and the rest of the investment banks are utilized properly?

Why are the regulations not effective? "They're not effective really because there's really no one pushing them forward. Wall Street has gotten its claws into it. We know Wall St is a money making enterprise, but its also a lobbying enterprise.... Part of the issue is that Wall St has a lot of influence over the rule writing process and they are invested in making it weaker." -PBS NewsHour video

Five Years On: Lessons Learned from the Collapse?

Bernie Sanders: "Let's not insult the intelligence of the American people. People aren't dumb. Why in God's name does Wall Street make huge campaign contributions? I guess, just for the fun of it, they wanna throw money around. Why does the pharmaceutical industry make huge campaign contributions? Any connection, maybe, to the fact that our people pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs? ...And when we talk about Wall Street. Let's talk about Wall Street. In my view, it doesn't go anywhere near far enough. But when we talk about Wall Street, Wall Street and major banks have paid $200 billion in fines since the great crash. No Wall Street executive has been prosecuted." Goldman Sachs also gets to write off their $5 billion fine off on taxes, saving them $1 billion.

Obama: Sanders’ critique is ‘correct’ on need to break up big banks

Break Them Up: Former Goldman Sachs executive Neel Kashkari asserts banks that are “too big to fail” remain a serious threat to financial stability and must be dismantled. Now president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, he discusses the problem and a proposed solution.

The gap between wages and consumer prices imperils security: Social Unrest Unless Washington Wakes Up

Asher B. Edelman: "When you go to Reaganomics and you try to release money to the rich in the hope that it'll trickle down to the others.. We have proven time and time again, this is nonsense. It doesn't trickle down anywhere. The man with a million dollar income who makes another $100,000 is more likely than not not to spend it, and he generally invests it in a secondary investment, not a primary investment. He will create no jobs with it. He will create no consumption with it, normally... You should watch very carefully for the possibilities of social unrest in this country unless Washington wakes up."

Click for video.

"You should watch very carefully for the possibilities of social unrest in this country unless Washington wakes up." -Asher B. Edelman

Click for video.

Global Financial Meltdown: The Best Financial Crisis Documentary

"From 2009-2012, the richest 1% of Americans captured 95% of all new income, while the typical middle class family has seen their income go down by more than $2100." -Bernie Sanders

Wall Street Journal: Anemic Wage Growth Restraining Economy;
Sluggish worker earnings keep consumer spending in check

Wages in the U.S. have been largely stagnant over the past 45 years, but during the same time span consumer prices have risen dramatically.

Terence McKenna: "At the top of the culture, it's profoundly intellectually bankrupt. There is no plan except to keep peddling stuff, basically until the forests are gone and the oceans polluted... it's not malevolent, it's simply... they are clueless. They have run out of steam. And so the answer is to try and keep the game going as long as possible... while the people at the top are saying, sooner or later the shit is gonna hit the fan. Sooner or later, the dam will burst. Well they say, let's be sure that it's later, not sooner, cause I've got 2 kids at the Sorbonne, I'm paying off a Mercedes, and I need to get this taken care of before it all falls apart."

Top Economist and UN Advisor Jeffrey Sachs:

Robert Reich: Those who expect Sanders supporters to switch to Clinton may be in for a surprise

Progressive vs Conservative Roots of Sanders, Clinton:Mental Health, Criminal Justice, Drugs, Foreign Policy

History of regime change:

Risky Saudi Business:

Hillary Clinton has embraced various conservative ideologies throughout her career: Goldwater conservatism, Nixon values, Reaganomics, neoconservatism, and neoliberalism

Unfortunately, these ideologies have been disastrous:

Drug war designed to disproportionately imprison African Americans and dissidents
Mass incarceration
Neglect of the mentally ill
Deregulation of Wall Street
Neocon ideology of foreign interventionism and regime change
Pharmaceutical industry monopoly on mental health and pain care that gutted America's mental health infrastructure and and created our current prescription opioid, heroin, and hepatitis C epidemics.... plus Pharma fraud and price gouging

The death of Bobby Kennedy began the era of conservatism, America's disastrous war on drugs, and the end of significant progress in mental health research for half a century.

Click for link.

In this video, Hillary 2008 fondly remembered the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968, months before the Democratic National Convention.

Pharma Greed, 2009 and 2016: They cannot get enough. In May 2009, Sen. Bernie Sanders gave the rousing Senate floor speech below on the greed and power of the pharmaceutical industry in Washington (Pharma lobbying spent an average of $450,000 per Congressman in 2013). Obama made a promise to lower drug prices when campaigning in 2008. In 2009, the FDA and Democrat traitors (along with the Republicans, as always) killed the Dorgan Amendment that would have allowed drug reimportation and cheaper drug prices.

Huffington Post: Drug Reimportation Was Killed In Deal That Would Have Made Drugs Cheaper

NPR: Senate Democrats Split On Dorgan Amendment that Would Have Allowed Prescription Drug Reimportations

Washington Post:
Drugmakers fight Dorgan Amendment that would have allowed reimportation to make drug prices cheaper

Video: FDA and "Clinton Conservatives" pursuade Obama to block drug reimportation

Bernie talks about the failed Dorgan Amendment and a transformative moment in his life related to prescription drug prices:

2016: Bernie Sanders Introduces a Bill to Allow Reimportation and Discusses Pharmaceutical Industry Fraud Against American Taxpayers

Not a New Problem: Republicans and Certain Clinton Conservatives Oppose Prescription Drug Reforms in 2016

The Hill: An Obama administration proposal aimed at fighting high drug prices is facing a backlash on Capitol Hill, again by Republicans and Clinton conservatives

“CMS is proposing significant and complex changes to an integral part of the Part B program and did so with no input from the Congress,” the letter adds, referring to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Why should they get input from Congress? Congress works for the drug companies at a rate of $435,000 in lobbyist cash per member of Congress.

More from The Hill:

“The administration's Part B proposal seeks to deliver better value for consumers and Medicare, while ensuring that doctors and patients continue to have access to life-saving drugs,” said HHS spokesman Ben Wakana. “That's why the proposal enjoys support from a diverse set of voices — from AARP to the American Academy of Family Physicians to the former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under George W. Bush.”

Some powerful interest groups are strongly against the proposal and are pressuring Congress to act.

PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (AKA: Big Pharma) has denounced the plan.

“That certainly has to be a concern,” KJ Hertz, senior legislative representative at AARP, said of the PhRMA and provider group lobbying. “They're putting a lot of pressure on members of Congress as well as the administration.”

AARP is a prominent supporter of the proposed program, noting that last year Medicare Part B spent $22 billion on drugs, double the amount in 2007, which it calls “simply unsustainable.”

Due to Pharmaceutical Lobbying, Perhaps, Politicians Fail to Focus on the Source of America's Opioid Epidemic

Healthcare professionals, law enforcement, Senators Markey, and Manchin: Reform FDA to Address Source of Opioid Crisis (video)

FDA Addicted: Politics and Faux Morals Trump American Health

Identifying Sick U.S. Cultural Institutions that Have Created a Downward Trend in American Health

Failing America: Politicians Lack Courage to Fight Substance Abuse and Improve Mental Health and Drug Policy

Stealing and murder: Prince sings about the corporate-run government that steals and kills (him)

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin: "In Congress, when I testified recently, after 3 U.S. senators, two Republicans and a Democrat were working hard on this issue. Two senators said, "Well, you know, if we built higher walls on the Mexican border, we'd keep out the drug dealers that are bringing in this cheap heroin." And my response was, we've had drug dealers on our borders as long as I've been alive, and we probably always will, unfortunately. And what has changed? Why are they doing so well when they really weren't able to sell heroin in these quantities twenty years ago. And let's answer the question..."

"It isn't the drug dealers on the South American border that are our biggest challenge, believe it or not. Yes, they're a big problem. But it is our drug dealers that are FDA approved, selling this stuff in every pharmacy in America."

Bernie Sanders tells us what happened the last time we educated an entire generation of Americans

Progressive vs Conservative Roots of Sanders, Clinton: Mental Health, Criminal Justice, Drugs, Foreign Policy

Click for video.

Click for link.

Click for video.

NIH Fiddles While America is Dying of Mental Illness and Addiction

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.

Click for video.

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Progressive vs Conservative Roots of Sanders, Clinton: Mental Health, Criminal Justice, Drugs, Foreign Policy

4/9/2016

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Hillary Clinton has embraced various conservative ideologies throughout her career: Goldwater conservatism, Nixon values, Reaganomics, neoconservatism, and neoliberalism

Unfortunately, these ideologies have been disastrous: Drug war designed to disproportionately imprison African Americans and dissidents, mass incarceration, neglect of the mentally ill, deregulation of Wall Street, neocon ideology of foreign interventionism and regime change, and pharmaceutical industry monopoly on mental health and pain care that gutted America's mental health infrastructure and and created our current prescription opioid, heroin, and hepatitis C epidemics.

In this video, Hillary 2008 fondly remembered the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968, months before the Democratic National Convention.

The death of Bobby Kennedy ushered in the rise conservatism, America's disastrous war on drugs, and the end of significant progress in mental health research for half a century. Robert Kennedy defended classic hallucinogen research in the years before his death: "Why if they were worthwhile six months ago, why aren’t they worthwhile now?Why didn’t you just let them continue?… We keep going around and around… If I could get a flat answer about that I would be happy. Is there a misunderstanding about my question? I think we have given too much emphasis and so much attention to the fact that it can be dangerous and that it can hurt an individual who uses it… that perhaps to some extent we have lost sight of the fact that it can be very, very helpful in our society if used properly.”

Since the enactment of Nixon's Federal Controlled Substances Act that banned research of classic hallucinogens in humans, we have not seen any significant progress in the treatment or prevention of mental illness or substance abuse in America. Coincidentally, the United States recently reached a four-decade high in rates of suicide and alcohol related deaths. Classic hallucinogens were the most promising treatment for addiction when they were banned.

Despite a prescription opioid epidemic, conservative ideologues still do everything possible to obstruct harm reduction and adequate care for the victims of pharmaceutical company greed. One such ideologue is Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the DNC and Hillary 2008 campaign co-chair.

On the left, Bernie Sanders urges the United States to address the root causes of crime in 1991: "Let's stop putting poor people in jail and disproportionately punishing blacks!" In the video to the right, Hillary Clinton defends her conservative roots in 1996: "And I feel like my political beliefs are rooted in the conservatism that I was raised with.... I'm very proud that I was a Goldwater Girl." What do Hillary Clinton's conservative roots mean for America?

Bernie Sanders on Crime: Address Root Causes
Posted by Our Amazing World on Tuesday, March 1, 2016

I'm Proud to Be a Goldwater Girl!
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, April 9, 2016

Despite Bill Clinton's reckless defense of his crime policies in the video to the right, Hillary Clinton still defends her husband's criminal justice record that increased mass incarceration.

It was Hillary Clinton's conservative roots that created the drug war that targeted African Americans and dissidents, put serious guns on American streets, and didn't address the root causes of crime. It's her conservative roots that defunded mental health care in America, which put those with serious mental illness either on the streets or in prison.

The war on drugs has resulted in mass incarceration, inadequate treatment of substance abuse, human rights abuses, and a 40 year period of no significant progress in the prevention and treatment of mental illness and addiction in the United States.

Forbes: Why Hillary Clinton Lacks Credibility On Criminal Justice Reform

Land of the Free? America has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the prison population

Superpredators: Bill Clinton Knew Exactly What He Was Doing With That Tirade Against Black Lives Matter

The Clintons aggressively defend their credentials and past decisions on the campaign trail, while Bernie Sanders still pushes the United States to identify and address the root causes of crime, substance abuse, and foreign policy mistakes.

Smug Life: Defending War Machine & Mass Incarceration Credentials
Smug Life: Hillary and Bill pimp their war machine and mass incarceration credentials... DWS: Chip off the old mass incarcerationist block: http://bit.ly/23cOBxjCIA influence in with bringing guns, crack cocaine into poor communities: https://youtu.be/IkaXLZvDbCIHillary & CIA Neocon Ideology: http://bit.ly/1UKHWXkBernie Sanders: Address the Root Causes of Crime http://bit.ly/23kN3DYUnreconstructed Hawk: http://bit.ly/1VdDpie
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, April 9, 2016

Deleterious effects of the war on drugs

American Drug Policy Has Killed Millions?
Cultural Failure: http://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/biden-mckenna-culture-not-your-friendObstruction of Mental Health, Brain, and Pain Research: http://www.ouramazingworld.org/life/shamanicoptionsObstruction of Palliative Care Research and Mental Health for Aging Populations: http://www.ouramazingworld.org/spirituality/psilocybin-prozac-xanaxDid I Mention Palliative Care? http://www.ouramazingworld.org/life/dont-listen-to-other-peoples-advice-words-of-wisdom-for-every-generationBernie Sanders on Drug Policy: http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-drug-policy/Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Drug Policy: http://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/dws-big-alcohol-drugpolicyHillary Clinton on Drug Policy: Whichever Way the Political Wind is Blowing
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, March 28, 2016

It has also obstructed important research of cannabis and non-addictive hallucinogens, substances that appear to be effective against certain types of pain and anxiety.

Nixon's war on drugs received a shot in the arm with Ronald Reagan's 1984 Sentencing Reform Act, then conservatism ushered in an era of imprisoning the mentally ill via reduced funding for community mental health programs. Unfortunately, mental health and substance abuse care is driven by local and state ideology rather than research-driven and well-informed public health practices, resulting in inadequate care for the most vulnerable citizens of America.

Source: Stanford University. Click for link.

If you think that her conservative roots will improve mental health care and drug policy in the United States, you are badly mistaken. Those roots have run the United States into the ground: First with Nixon's war on drugs, next with Reaganomics, mass incarceration, and destruction of mental health care funding, then with Clinton's continued support of conservative economic policies, deregulation, backwards drug policy, mass incarceration, and gutting of mental health care infrastructure by the pharmaceutical industry and top levels of American government.

2014 Population Study: Hallucinogen use predicts reduced recidivism among substance-involved offenders under community corrections supervision
NY Times: In Brazil, Some Inmates Get Therapy With Hallucinogenic Tea
More: Hallucinogen studies

Poor decision-making at the top levels of government used to result in early death for many African Americans. However, with weak psychoactive drugmaker regulation and increasing income inequality, the epidemic of death has caught up to Caucasians. The 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Angus Deaton, found that Caucasian men and women in the United States have been dying at alarming rates the past 20 years. It has the attention of President of the United States and the media, but in a much different way than the crack baby "problem" of the 1980s.

What do Bernie Sanders and the 2015 Nobel Prize winner in Economics have in common? They both recognize that it is important to listen to the wants and needs of citizens.

Bernie Sanders: "The problem with not listening to what most of your citizens want and need. "I am telling people what they want to hear. They want jobs. They want healthcare. They want educational opportunities for their kids. They want to deal with climate change. They want the wealthiest people to pay their fair share of taxes. Yeah, that's what I'm telling people. And on every one of those issues, that is exactly what the American people want.... The difference is what I tell people is what I believe to be true, what is true. And you check the issues. You look at the polling. Do the people want the wealthiest folks in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes? You know what, establishment may not like that. It is true. Do people think that we should make public colleges and universities tuition free? Yeah they do. Should we raise the minimum wage? Yeah. That's what the American people want. So what we are doing is maybe saying to the American people, it's about time that the Congress listened to YOU, and your needs, and your demands."

Conservative Reaganomics have also hurt Americans. Asher Edelman, Wall Street icon, stated in an interview with MSNBC, "80% of Americans have been in a recession for at least 15 years... Bernie Sanders is the best presidential candidate for the economy, no question." Edelman stated in a separate interview, "When you go to Reaganomics and try to release money to the rich in the hope that it'll trickle down to the others, we have proven time and time again that it is nonsense. It doesn't trickle down anywhere. The man with a million dollar income who makes another $100,000 is more likely than not not to spend it, and he generally invests it in a secondary investment, not a primary investment. He will create no jobs with it."

Lack of insight: How did Clinton feel it was okay to accept $675,000 in speaking fees from investment bank Goldman Sachs, a company that just paid a $5 billion settlement for ripping off the United States?

Bernie Sanders has a long history of taking the correct positions on social, economic, healthcare, and foreign policy issues. Socially conscious Pope Francis recentlyinvited Sanders to speak at the Vatican.

THEN & NOW PT 2
Bernie Sanders Then & Now, Pt 2
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, April 2, 2016

Will Hillary Clinton Conservatism Address Weak FDA Regulation of Psychoactive Drugmakers, the Real Drug Problem in America?

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Nixon's Drug Assault Hurt Blacks and Dissidents

"Nixon launched the war on drugs in 1969. He appeared to understand that his policies against illicit drugs were really a war against people. Whether or not Nixon intended to target specific groups, African-Americans, along with young and poor people in general, have borne a disproportionate share of the casualties in the war on drugs.

CNN: Aide says Nixon's war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies

DNC Chair and Hillary Clinton 2008 Presidential Campaign Co-Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Fuels the Fire of Mass Incarceration: "My criminal justice record is perhaps not as progressive as some of my fellow progressives"

2015 Nobel Prize in Economics Address Death of White America: Identifying Sick U.S. Cultural Institutions that Have Created a Downward Trend in American Health

Click for link.

In 1971, Nixon called drug abuse "Public Enemy No. 1." He signed new laws that cracked down on users and created the Drug Enforcement Administration. By 1973, hundreds of thousands of drug users, most of them African-American, were arrested under the new laws.

The war on drugs also contributed mightily to raising the U.S. prison population more than eightfold.

Since the Nixon years, the tab for the war on drugs has run up to an estimated $1.5 trillion.Yet addiction rates are higher today than in 1969.

Fortunately, today's epidemic of opioid and heroin addiction has marked a dramatic shift in public attitudes and policies on drugs. Both liberals and conservatives understand that drug addiction is a disease that must be treated.

Bernie Sanders brings attention to the source of America's prescription opioid problem during the presidential debate. Clinton has accurately identified harm reduction and addiction treatment talking points, but has not mentioned that the pharmaceutical industry started the epidemic.

Click for video.

Forty years after Richard Nixon, Americans are beginning to outgrow the metaphor of war. They have discovered treatment. A lot of people have suffered in the meantime."

Even though today's prescription opioid and heroin epidemic were caused by fraudulent activity on the part of the pharmaceutical industry and loose regulation by the FDA, Hillary Clinton makes no mention of the FDA or Pharma on her website.

Will Pharma Fraud and Drug Costs Impact the Election? In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry spent an average of $435,000 on lobbying per each member of Congress.

The Big Picture: Governor Peter Shumlin receives a round of applause as he holds the FDA, Pharma, and physicians accountable for America's opioid epidemic. "What has changed? Who has the courage? Who has the heart?" –Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin

Andrew Kolodny, MD: How Pharma Marketing and FDA Regulatory Failure Let to the Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemics

Medscape: Opioid Crisis a Doctor Driven Epidemic Started by Pharma and Poor Mental Health Care

Hillary Clinton has received 1/3 of all campaign contributions given by the pharmaceutical industry. Can it be trusted that she will crack down on Pharma and the FDA on the important issues of high drug costs and pharmaceutical industry fraud? With glaring responsibility of the opioid epidemic being placed on pharma marketing fraud and loose regulation, why is there no mention of this on her campaign website?

HillaryClinton.com: No mention of the role of Pharma and loose FDA regulation in todays "quiet" opioid and heroin epidemics

Andrew Kolodny, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Phoenix House and Executive Director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing : What Hillary Clinton Could Do About the Opioid Crisis. On her website or in televised debates, Hillary Clinton still refuses to do #2 and #3 on Dr. Kolodny's list.

2. Understand how we got into this mess. "The huge uptick in prescriptions reflects the medical community responding to an industry-funded campaign that grossly minimized risks of long-term opioid use, especially the risk of addiction, while exaggerating its benefits."

3. Have the FDA Enforce the Federal Food and Drug Cosmetic Act. "If the FDA had been enforcing this law all along in regard to opioids, drug companies would never have been permitted to market long-term opioid use for common chronic conditions like low back pain, and we might have avoided this public health catastrophe. Until drug companies are prohibited from falsely promoting opioids as safe and effective for long-term use, it will be very hard to end the overprescribing that fuels this crisis." Hillary makes no mention of Pharma or the FDA on her website.

Fix the FDA: Healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and Congressmen address the prescription opioid and heroin epidemics.

Markey, Manchin: Reform FDA to Address Opioid Crisis
Senator Joe Manchin III, Senator Edward J. Markey are joined by law enforcement, medical and public health leaders in call for reforms at FDA to address opioid crisis.
Posted by Our Amazing World on Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Bernie Sanders Brings the Heat on Healthcare, Pharma, and the FDA

The Big Picture:Gov Peter Shumlin Holds FDA, Pharma, Physicians Accountable for #RxProblem

Click for link.

#RxProblem: Everything you need to know about America's psychoactive prescription drug and opioid problem

Mental Health, Addiction, and Drug Policy: Politics and Faux Morals Trump American Health

America's Refusal to Accept Progressive Harm Reduction Principles Throughout History Has Proven Disastrous

Crime: How Did Drugs and Guns Become So Prevalent in the 1980s?

In 1996, journalist Gary Webb released a three-part series, "Dark Alliance," for the San Jose Mercury-News alleging that the Central Intelligence Agency helped spark America’s crack cocaine epidemic by enabling drug traffickers tied to the Nicaraguan Contras to ship into the country and use the proceeds to fund their insurgency against the Sandinista government.

Full 1996 Crack Cocaine Town Hall in Watts:
CIA Director John Deutch Addresses the Community

In response to the allegations, CIA Director John Deutch held a town hall meeting in Los Angeles, CA.

Below are a few of the many questions thrown at a noticeably uncomfortable CIA director.

"Forget the Drugs, How Did the Guns Get Here?"

Forget the Drugs, How Did the Guns Get Here?"
Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/IkaXLZvDbCI1996 CIA Director town hall meeting regarding allegations that the CIA was working with the cocaine industry to bankroll Contra rebels in Nicaragua. In 1996, journalist Gary Webb unloaded a three-part series for The San Jose Mercury-News alleging that the Central Intelligence Agency helped spark America’s crack cocaine epidemic by enabling drug traffickers tied to the Nicaraguan Contras to ship into the country and use the proceeds to fund their insurgency against the Sandinista government. Published on the Mercury-News’ website, thereby making it available to all, the series, “Dark Alliance,” became one of the first viral news pieces of the Internet era.
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, February 6, 2016

Former LAPD detective confronts the CIA Director

Michael Ruppert Confronts CIA Director John Deutch
Published on the Mercury-News’ website, “Dark Alliance,” became one of the first viral news pieces of the Internet era...1996 CIA Director town hall meeting regarding allegations that the CIA was working with the cocaine industry to bankroll Contra rebels in Nicaragua. In 1996, journalist Gary Webb unloaded a three-part series for The San Jose Mercury-News alleging that the Central Intelligence Agency helped spark America’s crack cocaine epidemic by enabling drug traffickers tied to the Nicaraguan Contras to ship into the country and use the proceeds to fund their insurgency against the Sandinista government. Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/IkaXLZvDbCIhttps://en.wiki2.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, February 6, 2016

Welcome to the Information Age: "Dark Alliance" was published on the Mercury-News’ website, making it one of the first viral news pieces of the internet era.

Terence McKenna in 1996: "Internet is the great equalizer."

We Know: Life in the Information Age
American Drug Warhttps://youtu.be/wX_-xMqg-6Ehttps://youtu.be/vD3snUVJiQE
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, February 6, 2016

Internet is the Great Equalizer (1996) - Terence McKenna
"Internet is the great equalizer" (1996)
Posted by Our Amazing World on Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI): "Clear Differences"

Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Sanders and Clinton
Tulsi Gabbard discusses qualifications of Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Major issues: http://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/smuglife
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, April 9, 2016

Founder and president of the Human Rights Foundation, Thor Halversson: "I actually made the largest contribution allowable to the campaign of Bernie Sanders... Because the Democratic frontrunner right now is unfortunately someone who has taken millions and millions of dollars from many dictatorships… Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia… countries that execute people for being gay. Countries that restrict all press freedoms. Countries that, in some cases, ban Christmas. I would much rather have Bernie Sanders be the Democratic frontrunner than a person who takes money from dictatorships, unquestionably."

Click for video.

The Information Age Does Not Bode Well for Illegal Covert Operations:

H.R. 4108: Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, Austin Scott Introduce Legislation to End Illegal U.S. War to Overthrow Syrian Government of Assad

Foreign Policy Decisions: Risky Business

Unreconstructed:

Click for video.

Rick Steves and Bernie Sanders: Tackling Greed, Holding Healthcare to a Higher Standard to Protect America's Future

Failing America: Politicians Lack Courage to Fight Substance Abuse and Improve Mental Health and Drug Policy

Asher Edelman: Bernie Sanders the Best Candidate to Help 80% of Americans Stuck in Neverending Recession

Bernie Sanders: "What our campaign is about is a very radical idea. We're going to tell the truth."

Clinton:

Raises Big Money from the Private Prison Industry

Hillary Clinton in Black History
Hillary Clinton in black history (with guest appearances from mass incarceration and execution the mentally ill). When did prisons become acceptable mental healthcare facilities? When conservatism became the norm. More: http://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/smuglife Source: https://youtu.be/5uWu0nSsg7w @JeanetteJing
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, April 11, 2016

Sanders:

Introduces Bill to Ban Private Prisons. “Study after study after study has shown private prisons are not cheaper, they are not safer, and they do not provide better outcomes for either the prisoners or the state.”

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Iraq Vet Tulsi Gabbard's Endorsement of Sanders Helps Distinguish Reformer From Status Quo

2/28/2016

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Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) announced her resignation as DNC Vice-Chair to be able to openly support Bernie Sanders for President.

Gabbard stated in her interview with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press: As a veteran... and as a soldier, I've seen firsthand the true cost of war. I served in a medical unit during my first deployment. Every single day, I saw firsthand the very high human cost of war. I see it in my friends who now a decade after we've come home are still struggling to get out of a black hole. I think it's most important for us as we look at our choices as to who our next Commander-in-Chief will be... is to recognize the necessity to have a Commander-in-Chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment... who looks at the consequences of the actions they take before they take those actions, so that we don't continue to find ourselves in those failures that have resulted in chaos in the Middle East and so much loss of life.

Tulsi Gabbard Resigns From DNC, Endorses Bernie Sanders For Pr...
Tulsi Gabbard has resigned from the DNC and endorsed Bernie Sanders for President
Posted by NowThis Election on Sunday, February 28, 2016

Personal Message from Gabbard: As a veteran of two Middle East deployments, I know firsthand the cost of war.

I know how important it is that our Commander-in-Chief has the sound judgment required to know when to use America's military power--and when not to use that power.

As vice chairman of the DNC I am required to stay neutral in Democratic primaries, but I cannot remain neutral any longer. The stakes are too high.

That’s why today I’m endorsing Senator Bernie Sanders to be the next president and Commander-in-Chief of the United States.

We need a Commander in Chief who has foresight and good judgment... who understands the need for a foreign policy which is robust in defending the safety and security of the American people. Who will not waste precious lives and money on interventionist wars of regime change. Such counterproductive wars undermine our national security and economic prosperity.

As elections continue across the country, the American people are faced with a clear choice. We can elect a president who will lead us into more interventionist wars of regime change... or we can elect a president who will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.

With this clear choice in mind, today I am resigning as Vice-Chair of the DNC so that I can strongly support Bernie Sanders as the democratic nominee for President of the United States.

And now, I ask you … Stand with me …. And support Bernie Sanders. Thank you.

DNC Vice-Chair Tulsi Gabbard expresses concern about the lack of Democratic debates

Tulsi Gabbard Speaks Out About Lack of Democratic Debates
The Invisible Democratic Debates:http://nyti.ms/1NAR22sWonder Why?http://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/ineedabernieheroGabbard disinvited:http://nyti.ms/1K3xlNOhttp://wapo.st/22ceM71
Posted by Our Amazing World on Thursday, December 17, 2015

Representative Tulsi Gabbard explains how criminal justice reform will have an impact on society, family, and the nation's economy during the American Justice Summit in New York City.

Rep Gabbard: Criminal Justice Reform Impacts 3 Areas of Society
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard explains how #CriminalJusticeReform will have an impact on society, family, and the nation's economy during the American Justice Summit in New York City.
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, February 1, 2016

Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) calls on Saudi Arabia to stop funding Islamic extremist groups if they want to be US allies

Saudi Arabia: Quit Funding Extremist Ideology
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) calls on Saudi Arabia to stop funding Islamic extremist groups if they want to be US allies...U.S. Urges Calm Between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Posted by Our Amazing World on Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Representative Tulsi Gabbard and then-Representative Bernie Sanders (before the Iraq invasion) share thoughts on interventionalist, counterproductive wars and regime change.

Gabbard & Sanders: Stop Nation Building & Wars
Limiting Defense Department Waste & Helping #Veterans Will Require Real Political Change: bit.ly/1PMsz0CMental State of the Union: #DoD Waste, Naïve #DrugPolicy, No #MentalHealth bit.ly/1P7DRsGAmerican #ForeignPolicy: Risky Business bit.ly/1YhlXYHUndermining of #IranDeal was Treason: bit.ly/1ToYeF0Busting #NeoCon Hate Machines and #NeoLiberal Nuts: bit.ly/1OyzlktTulsi Gabbard Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders
Posted by Our Amazing World on Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Foreign Policy: Failure to Learn from Past Mistakes Threatens National Security and Economic Prosperity

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Libya

Poor Foresight

Strong Foresight

IBT: Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Clinton's State Dept

Reason: The New York Times Accurately Portrays Hillary Clinton as an Unrepentant Warmonger

Understanding Past Mistakes: Bernie Sanders' Foreign Policy Foresight

Supporting Veterans: Make Smarter Foreign Policy and Budget Decisions

Gabbard Endorses Sanders: Strong Foresight Needed in a President
http://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/gabbard-sanders-reformers
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, February 29, 2016

Poor Public Health Foresight: Pharmaceutical Industry's Monopoly on American Mental Health Has Been Disastrous

Click for link.

Clinton fails to acknowledge the FDA and Big Pharma's role in today's prescription drug overdose epidemic, while Bernie Sanders has put significant pressure on the the FDA, pharmaceutical industry, and healthcare system for quite some time. Clinton's silence is understandable, given large contributions given to her by the healthcare industry during her Senate tenure and by Pharma during her current presidential run.

Pharma's futile effort in improving American mental health has essentially pushed non-drug means of resilience to the side and created an extreme shortage of behavioral health providers in the United States, especially in rural and low-income communities where these resources are needed the most. Lack of mental health care has inevitably contributed to self-medication with addictive FDA approved substances such as alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepines.

Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont recently challenged a panel of leaders to address the root cause of America's prescription opioid problem: FDA who approves, Big Pharma who lobbies top levels of government with huge sums of money, and physicians who inappropriately prescribe opioids.

Shumlin: "Our biggest enemy... because, you know... the beautiful comments of Joanne Peterson. I have heard more stories like Joanne's, and so have we all. And you know what we do? We go, 'God, that's just so heart-wrenching. It's just so horrid.' But you know, we're up against some big financial pressures here. Just a few years ago, the combined pharmaceutical industry spent $435,000 per member of Congress lobbying for their views, let's just get this out there. $435,000. That's big money.

So I say, if governors, on a bipartisan basis, can say listen, we are above all of that, we're going to come up with protocols to make a difference."

"And I'm just asking us, do we have the courage? Do we have the heart to do it?"

In addition to changing prescribing practices, politicians must hold the FDA accountable for reckless approval of psychoactive prescription drugs that do more harm than good and push non-drug means of resilience out of American society.

Examples include:

Approval of expensive "me too" drugs for depression and anxiety
Approval of marginally effective drugs like Addyi, the female Viagra
Brintillex, (vortioxetine) a potentially-repurposed and ineffective antidepressant to treat Pharma-created mood-related symptoms of depression
FDA approval of opioid analgesic Zohydro despite a 13 member FDA advisory panel that voted 11-3 to not approve the drug
OxyContin FDA approved for kids
Despite amphetamine overuse being a problem in the United States, the FDA approved of the amphetamine Vyvanse to treat a newly created mental disorder termed "Binge-Eating Disorder" created by the American Psychiatric Association in their most recent version of the DSM. Shire, Maker of Binge-Eating Drug Vyvanse, First Marketed the Disease // Amphetamine of the Year // The Speed of Hypocrisy: How America Got Hooked on Legal Meth

Victims of U.S. Psych Pharma: Children as Young as 2 Years Old and Seniors Inappropriately Given Antipsychotics

Bad Combination: Over-reliance on mental health medications in American healthcare has made behavioral health care in the U.S. unavailable, unaffordable, and essentially nonexistent.

Click for link.

Self-Medication:

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who experienced mental distress were pumped full of a cocktail of mental health medications like every other American because of a thoroughly gutted and inefficient behavioral health care system.

U.S. Mental Health: No Profit Motive for Mindfulness Meditation, Despite Public Endorsement by the U.S. Surgeon General and Successful Studies Showing that Meditation Can Change Unruly Behavior in Schools

NIH Award Winner: Mindfulness-Based Pain Relief (video)

Do American Politicians Have the Brains to Challenge the Status Quo?

Transcendental Meditation Discussed by Veteran on DAV.org: "Through nearly half a year of treatment, Jensen was prescribed five different kinds of depression medication, three types of anxiety medication and two different sleeping aids. But none of it provided the relief he was hoping for."

PBS NOVA: The process of approving Addyi, the female Viagra. As Lori Brotto, a psychologist and women’s sexual health researcher at University of British Columbia, says of women’s sexual dysfunction, it’s “a lot of science mixed with a lot of politics mixed with, some might even argue, hidden agendas, and it’s hard to sift through it all.”

Addyi, the "female Viagra." Click for link.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wants to improve emotional well-being through meditation, gratitude exercises, and social connection. Is it realistic to think that this will catch on in the United States when there is no profit motive in promoting psychotherapy or mindfulness?

The Big Picture: Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont Holds FDA, Pharma, Physicians Accountable for #RxProblem

#RxProblem: Rogue State Rollback
#RxProblem: Rogue State Rollback
Posted by Our Amazing World on Thursday, February 25, 2016

Mental Illness: 1978 vs Today
Has anything changed in 40 years? It's arguably worse. Listen to the Surgeon General who wants to improve emotional well-being through meditation, gratitude exercises, and social connection (psilocybin psychotherapy, anyone?) http://www.ouramazingworld.org/life/shamanicoptions
Posted by Our Amazing World on Sunday, January 3, 2016

We have serious mental health and substance-use problems in the United States. The only FDA-approved substances to treat anxiety are marginally effective antidepressants that take weeks to see any effect and addictive benzodiazepines that kill 8,000 people each year.

Benzodiazepines are often co-prescribed with opioids despite the fact that both cause respiratory depression and increase the risk of overdose when taken together.

Lack of political courage is to blame for current drug policy that obstructs valuable research with Schedule I substances like cannabis and classic hallucinogens.

Clinton supports moving cannabis to Schedule II–the same legal classification as cocaine–which does nothing to help the thousands that are in jail and have arrest records for non-violent drug offenses.

Chronic Pain Fact: Most physicians are not properly educated in the treatment of chronic pain. Are Big Pharma, FDA, and the American Medical Association to blame?

Click for video.

FDA Addicted: Politics and Faux Morals Trump American Health

Boston.com: Elizabeth Warren open to legalizing marijuana

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently gave unfounded comments to NY Mag linking cannabis to heroin: "I don’t oppose the use of medical marijuana. I just don’t think we should legalize more mind-altering substances if we want to make it less likely that people travel down the path toward using drugs. We have had a resurgence of drug use instead of a decline. There is a huge heroin epidemic... I have individual opinions that may not line up ideologically. They’re formed by my personal experience both as a mom and as someone who grew up really bothered by the drug culture that surrounded my childhood -- not mine personally. I grew up in suburbia."

Newsweek: In states with medical marijuana, painkiller deaths drop by 25%

CNBC: Bernie Sanders files bill to legalize marijuana

When will science finally trump ideology when it relates to American public health, healthcare, and drug policy?

Moneyed Interests and Ideology Should Not Trump Scientific Evidence and Intelligent Decision-Making on U.S. Public Health and Drug Policy

The images and video clips below show how public health, drug policy, criminal justice, and healthcare policies of the United States have put Americans on a different health trajectory than citizens of other countries.

No candidates have discussed rescheduling classic hallucinogens to improve research, prevention, and treatment of mental illness and addiction in the United States.

People with mild to moderate depression and anxiety need more efficient treatments so resources are not taken away from those with more serious forms of mental illness. Overtreating the "worried well" is something that former DSM Task Force Chair Allen Frances has harped on repeatedly. Psilocybin is a potential tool to more efficiently treat this "worried well" population.

According to Johns Hopkins Magazine, psilocybin researcher Roland Griffiths "would like to add more to his roster of ongoing studies, but he and other researchers are hamstrung by a lack of funding. Despite the much-lauded findings on psilocybin, getting government approval for studies is still difficult.

Griffiths argues that there is too much value in those studies for governments and, possibly, drug manufacturers to ignore. “Scientifically, there’s a lot to get at. We’ve known that primary mystical experiences from hallucinogenic substances have been around for thousands of years. But it’s never really been studied.

Now, we can unpack those experiences using functional magnetic resonance imaging and genetics to see how some people are predisposed to such experiences and what that may mean for developing new treatments.”

Physicians are now turning to experimental use of club drug ketamine as a fast-acting treatment for depression and suicidality. Unlike classic hallucinogens, the long-term safety profile of ketamine is unknown.

The United States Needs a Progressive President Who is Willing to Look Past Ideology and Moneyed Interests to Improve American Public Health and Prevent the Next Psychoactive Prescription Drug Disaster

Failure to Fund Research of New Therapies Because of Politics; Not Science, Not Public Health: FDA-Approved Drug Therapies and Classic Hallucinogens to Treat Alcoholism: Barriers, Background, and the Latest Research. More found here.

Potent Off-Patent Medicines want to Help a Broken and Addicted U.S. Mental Health Care System

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Click for link.

Identifying Sick U.S. Cultural Institutions that Have Created a Downward Trend in American Health: Pharma Abuse, Reckless Drug Policy and Foreign Policy, Mass Incarceration, Healthcare Lobbying

Prescription Opioid Epidemic,
Crackdown, No Harm Reduction
==> Heroin use
====> Hepatitis C epidemic

Status Quo: Politicians Lack Courage to Implement Comprehensive Harm Reduction Measures, Improve Mental Health Care, and Reform Drug Policy

Related Links:

Pharma Fraud and Price Gouging: Will it Impact the Election?

Medical Ethics: Is it Unethical Not to Fund Research of Current Schedule I Drugs?

Former Top Psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman Discusses Ketamine: When Practice Leapfrogs Science (video)

Looking at history, Estes Kefauver was a progressive reformer who took advantage of a public health crisis to enact important pharmaceutical reforms.

Will Americans put Bernie Sanders in a presidential position to lead similar reforms against an FDA that puts pharmaceutical company profits ahead of American mental health?

From populist.com's Remembering Estes Kefauver:

Psychedelic Psychiatrist: Lieberman's Opinions on Classic Hallucinogens

"Kefauver was a mid-century Southern political leader who fought tirelessly for civil rights, civil liberties, antitrust enforcement, and consumer protection legislation (at a time in our history when such causes were far from popular).

In the years before 1962, Senator Estes Kefauver had held hearings on drug costs, the sorry state of science supporting drug effectiveness, and the fantastic claims made in labeling and advertising.

Click for link.

Opioid Addiction Epidemic: How a Marketing and Regulatory Failure Led to a Public Health Crisis (video)

Senators Markey, Manchin: Reform FDA to Address Opioid Crisis (video)

Culture is Not Your Friend: Identifying Sick U.S. Cultural Institutions that Have Created a Downward Trend in American Health

End-of-Life: Words of Wisdom About Life and Death

Source: Nature. Click for link.

In 1962, Thalidomide had been marketed as a sleeping pill by the German firm Chemie Grunenthal, and was associated with the birth of thousands of malformed babies in Western Europe. It gave Kefauver a chance to act on legislation.

The 1962 Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act required proof of efficacy as well as safety before a drug could be approved and marketed. This bill, which Kefauver dubbed his "finest achievement" in consumer protection, imposed controls on the pharmaceutical industry that required that drug companies disclose to doctors the side-effects of their products, allow their products to be sold as generic drugs after having held the patent on them for a certain period of time, and be able to prove on demand that their products were, in fact, effective and safe."

"Several days after Kefauver's death by heart attack on the Capitol floor, thousands of Kefauver's "little people"--white farmers with tieless red necks, blacks, laborers, housewives, school teachers, young people, old folk struggling on canes, Democrats and Republicans alike--converged in the narrow, stifling country streets of Madisonville, along with many of Kefauver's Senate colleagues and Vice President and Mrs. Johnson, to participate in funeral ceremonies for one of Tennessee's most beloved favorite sons."

Click for link.

2 Things Certain in Life: Death and Fungus

Will "The Coming Boom" in Brain Medicines Include Mental Health?

Psychedelics Expert Interviews and America's Mental Health & Addiction Tragedies

Could Non-Addictive Drug Psilocybin Be Useful in Combating Depression and Anxiety in Homebound Older Adults and Patients with Chronic or Terminal Illness?

CARERS Act Could Justify Re-Scheduling Classic Hallucinogens

Equal Bipartisan Support: GOP Senator Dean Heller 4th to Sponsor CARERS Act

Stamets Alleviates President Eisenhower's Fears By Winning the Gordon & Tina Wasson Award

Nothing Sacred in America? Unholy Churches, Unholy Mental Health, Unholy Pharma, Sacred Plants

America, Don't Fight Mental Illness and Addiction with One Arm Behind Your Back

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The Big Picture: Gov Peter Shumlin Holds FDA, Pharma, Physicians Accountable for RxProblem

2/22/2016

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Governor Peter Shumlin on the Root Cause of Opioid Crisis

At a National Governors Association meeting on February 20, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin gave powerful remarks regarding the "big picture" in America's unique prescription opioid epidemic.

Shumlin: I want to thank all the panels for their helpful suggestions, comments, and offers to cooperate with us. Governor Sandoval and I chaired this committee last year. We had a very similar conversation and I'm encouraged by the bipartisan acknowledgement that it is up to governors to act and make a difference on this issue, and I think we have a huge opportunity. And I think there's some reason for hope... I guess I would ask my fellow governors and folks on this panel this question, but I wanna preface it by expressing some frustration in addition to the hope. Listen, we're all doing the same things, I think, in our states. We are building out treatment. We're lifting the veil on the stigma and treating it as a disease instead of a crime. We're doing criminal justice reform. We're getting naloxone, telling them how to take it, so people stop dying in the streets who shouldn't be dying in the streets.

We're spending extraordinary resources. But I can tell you from someone who got out there early on this one. My frustration is... that not all that much has changed in Vermont. And I bet you'll find this, if you do all the things we're doing, you're going to have the same frustration. So we have to ask the fundamental question, why are we here? Like...what has changed in America? Why do we have all these folks addicted to either painkillers or heroin, or both? And I think we are hesitant as elected officials to look at how we got here, and I think we have to. So how did we get here? What has changed?

Governor Peter Shumlin: Addressing the #RxProblem
#FDA and #BigPharma: Governor Peter Shumlin challenges a panel of leaders to address the root cause of America's #RxProblem. "Our biggest enemy... because, you know... the beautiful comments of Joanne Peterson. I have heard more stories like Joanne's, and so have we all. And you know what we do? We go, "God, that's just so heart-wrenching. It's just so horrid." But you know, we're up against some big financial pressures here. Just a few years ago, the combined pharmaceutical industry spent $435,000 per member of Congress lobbying for their views, let's just get this out there. $435,000. That's big money. So I say, if governors, on a bipartisan basis, can say listen, we are above all of that, we're going to come up with protocols to make a difference. And I'm just asking us, do we have the courage? Do we have the heart to do it?" Prescription drug takeback events aren't going to fix the current or next problem, people. In addition to fixing prescribing practices, we have to hold the FDA accountable for reckless approval of psychoactive prescription drugs, whether they be for pain or more expensive "me too" drugs for depression and anxiety... or Addyi, the female Viagra... or Brintillex, (vortioxetine) a potentially-repurposed ineffective antidepressant to treat a made up mood-related symptom of depression (bit.ly/1VyXRq9) ... Or increased use of ketamine to treat depression... only because it's already FDA approved. Yet government doesn't look hard at other means of resilience, preventative mental health, cannabis as a means to self-treat pain or anxiety, or fund research and create a frame work for psilocybin? We have a serious drug problem in America and lack of politial courage is to blame for current drug policy that prevents research and less harmful treatment of psychological conditions and centralized pain with medicines that are currently Schdule I. What will prevent the next prescription drug problem?It's an Issue of U.S. Culture: bit.ly/1ZOOdpNLack of Political Courage: bit.ly/1NiSC7LFDA Approved Pharma Fraud: bit.ly/1R8okvfMental Health Overmedicating Trumps Public Health: bit.ly/1mhYeK0Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin Peter Shumlin Jeremy Faison ETSU Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse Working Group Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition Red Legacy Recovery Bill Haslam Charlie Baker Senator Joe Manchin III Phoenix House Matt Bevin U.S. Surgeon General
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, February 22, 2016

Shumlin: In Congress, when I testified recently, after 3 U.S. senators, two Republicans and a Democrat were working hard on this issue. Two senators said, "Well, you know, if we built higher walls on the Mexican border, we'd keep out the drug dealers that are bringing in this cheap heroin." And my response was, we've had drug dealers on our borders as long as I've been alive, and we probably always will, unfortunately. And what has changed? Why are they doing so well when they really weren't able to sell heroin in these quantities twenty years ago.

And let's answer the question.

"It isn't the drug dealers on the South American border that are our biggest challenge, believe it or not. Yes, they're a big problem. But it is our drug dealers that are FDA approved, selling this stuff in every pharmacy in America."

There isn't a governor here who doesn't know that.

So, I started looking at the history of this. Listen, in the 1990s when the FDA approved Oxycontin... We have to remember–and I'm sympathetic to our medical community–that the manufacturer of Oxycontin, Purdue Pharma, told our healthcare providers across America that we finally have a non-addictive painkiller. What a dream, right? Well, the folks started passing it out and a lot of folks got on it and became addicted, and I think a lot of providers started going, wait a minute, this doesn't seem to be working out quite right.

And they started looking at it, and you know, this is a history we don't talk about much, but, Purdue, the manufacturer, was taken to court. Three of their executives were charged with lying to physicians that they had information that this was in fact addictive but they told providers it wasn't. They paid a $70 million fine. Nobody went to jail. But, in that same year, they sold $11 billion worth of painkillers. So, you know, math is tough for some politicians, but the last time I checked, there's a thousand million in a billion. And so they paid a $70 million fine. $11 billion sold.

NYTimes:
3 Executives Spared Prison in OxyContin Case

OxyContin Clan: The $14 Billion Newcomer to Forbes 2015 List of Richest U.S. Families

Shumlin: My point is, we all talk about how we can spend more resources fixing the problem. And we aren't willing enough to look at the global challenge. The global challenge is this. In 2010, we prescribed enough Oxycontin in America to keep every adult in America high for a month. That's just a fact. In 2012, we sold 250 million prescriptions of Oxycontin. We only have 250 million people in America, right? That's a bottle for every living adult.

The FDA, just recently–and I say the FDA is part of our problem–they just approved Zohydro a couple of years ago, which is Oxycontin on steroids. You can crush it, it's not tamper resistant, you can shoot it, you can snort it. So we're right back there all over again.

On Zohydro, it's important to note, their 13 member advisory panel, which is mostly doctors, voted 11-3... DO NOT APPROVE ZOHYDRO because it'll be a bigger problem than Oxycontin, but they (FDA) did it anyway, right? Now this year, they approved Oxycontin for kids. I mean, you can't make this stuff up.

So, I guess I'll ask this question. If we know that the Blue Cross Blue Shield program in Massachussetts, the painkillers kill program, is working, why wouldn't we say, as governors, to the health and human services committee here...let's figure out what the protocols are. I went out in my State of the State and I said, let's limit for minor procedures in Vermont, let's limit the number of painkillers to 10, and then if you need more you can get more you gotta get more.

Now, I'm not a doctor, I shouldn't be doing this stuff. But I'm just throwing it out there to try to start a conversation. I know Governor Baker has made a similar effort in Massachusetts.

But guess what? In all due respect to the AMA (American Medical Association), all my docs (physicians) come out, and there are a lot of them, and they get on the radio and start saying, "What's this governor

"Will Congress act to save taxpayers billions of dollars–and protect the solvency of the Medicare programs–by taking on the AMA, the drugmakers and the insurers? Don't hold your breath." –Wendell Potter, author and private health insurance whistle-blower

talking about, we have all these folks with chronic pain, you know, he shouldn't be talking about how many to prescribe. What does he know, he's not a doctor." And I keep saying,

"Well yeah, I plead guilty. And you're doing such a good job of it with your medical degrees. 250 million prescriptions in a year... I don't need to be a doctor. I don't need to go to medical school to know that THAT IS NOT OKAY. We got 110 people in America that die everyday from this."

You know, when we had that guy, remember he put the bomb in his shoe and he got on a plane and it didn't go off? So we were all horrified and started taking our shoes off when we go to the airport, right. So millions and millions of people,

"We take our shoes off because of this one guy that got on a plane and tried to detonate a bomb. If this was a terrorist threat, imagine what we'd be doing."

continued below

Chronic Pain Fact: Most physicians are not educated properly in the treatment of chronic pain. It's tricky. The federal government is working on this problem.

"The most common chronic pain conditions are these centralized pain states. So when we heard earlier of the women dying of opioids in their 40s, it's because these... right now, even though we have recommended against using opioids forever in fibromyalgia, 1/3 of the fibromyalgia patients in the United States are taking opioids. We're using the wrong drugs in the wrong people when we're treating these centralized pain states. Why is this a problem? Because you have to turn the pharmacologic armamatarium upside down. The drugs that work in people with centralized pain are the opposite of the drugs that work in nociceptive pain. Opioids, NSAIDS, critical steroids don't do anything for these centralized pain states." –Daniel Clauw is a Professor of Anesthesiology. Medicine (Rheumatology) and Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. He serves as Director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. Watch the full video from Dan Clauw, Pain and Depression, What is the Relationship? Also see: Power of Positive Emotions in Mind-Body Health.

Most Common Pain Conditions are the Centralized Pain States
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, January 2, 2016

Clauw, continued: "Some of these patients that we see with fibromyalgia, that I'll refer to as "mad dog" fibromyalgia, have essentially had an untreated disease for 30 or 40 years. And now we don't just untreat it, we maltreat it. We give them opioids, which probably makes them worse. We do surgical procedures that are not going to help them. These people... all subspecialists just don't like because they feel uncomfortable taking care of..."

Those with fibromyalgia (brain disorder) have been untreated o...
Posted by Our Amazing World on Saturday, January 2, 2016

Shumlin: So my point is, why don't we, as governors, in a bipartisan spirit, to put together prescribing protocols that we recommend for all 50 states. Let's come up with a suggested list of protocols and as governors, let's try driving them through our states so that we go after the source, the root, of the problem that has lead us into this crisis. And I say, until we do that... and there's going to be huge resistance. You know, let's be honest about this. Big Pharma, in this room, we gotta lot of friends with us. If I ask them to all raise their hands... raise your hand if you're working for a drug-related company... just out of curiousity. Come on, let's see the courage. How many? Great, see. They're concerned. They're good. They wanna help us. If we can enlist them to take on this problem with us, we can solve it.

But I say, we can build out treatment centers for the rest of our lives. We can get all the Naloxone and we can buy up more. We can change attitudes. But, if you're gonna get hooked on this stuff–and we know how we pass it out, like candy, in America–and then you know you can get a much cheaper purer form, which is heroin, people are going to keep doing that because this is such an addictive, destructive, life-killing, destroying drug. So I say, as governors, let's take 3 weeks and come up with a protocol, take Blue Cross Blue Shield because they seem to have it figured out in Massachusetts.

And we'll get a lot of hits (criticism) for it. Docs got onto Vermont radio right away and said, well, what does he know, we've have people with chronic pain. I'm like, of course we do, no one's saying people with chronic pain should be in chronic pain.

NPR: Senate Democrats Split On Dorgan Amendment that Would Have Allowed Prescription Drug Reimportations

Doughnuts For Dorgan: Drug Reimportation Killed In Deal That Might Get Cheaper Drugs For Seniors

WashPost: Drugmakers fight plan to allow drug reimportation

This 2009 video discusses the winners and losers of the Affordable Care Act

Pharmaceutical Price Controls and Single Payer Healthcare
Afraid to Go "All-In" on Healthcare, Mental Health Reform http://www.ouramazingworld.org/science/addictingamericaWhy are Americans Unhappy? Life of the Sinking Middle Class http://www.ouramazingworld.org/science/naturesmedicinestanfordU.S. Healthcare Most Expensive, Least Efficient.http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/us-healthcare-most-expensive-and-worst-performing/372828/Healthcare Costs: Paying Till It Hurts...http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/health/paying-till-it-hurts.htmlWhat is a Single-Payer System?http://obamacarefacts.com/single-payer/Demand it from your Congressman: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/- - - - - - - -Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA):"There is very little education available in medical schools, pharmacy, nursing, as it relates to the screening, evaluation, and proper treatment of patients with chronic pain and mental illness. But, wouldn't you say, 'Is there not already educational material out there?' Yes, there is significant educational material out there, but many of them have been funded through subsidies of pharmaceutical companies. One of the concerns has been to what extent there may be some conflict and whether that affects the quality of the material. We in fact have very little data on long term treatment…many of the long-term data registries are tied to pharmaceutical industry and are not openly accessible to investigators."Kaiser Poll of Top Healthcare Priorities: http://on.fb.me/1P5gXo8#1 Making sure expensive drugs for chronic conditions (i.e. asthma, mental illness, cancer, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's, HIV, hepatitis) are available to those who need them.#2 Government action to lower prescription drug prices- - - - - -Single Payer Healthcare Crucial: http://on.fb.me/1klsjacOutcome for American Healthcare: The Dying of Whiteshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/02/death-rate-middle-aged-white-americans-aidshttp://www.ouramazingworld.org/science/placebomentalhealth
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, November 9, 2015

Bernie Sanders discusses the failed Dorgan Amendment. After the speech, iconic veteran Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia stands and says "Thank God for Bernie Sanders. Sail on brother."

But you can't convince me that we have 250 million Americans in chronic pain. So let's do it together. And I'm asking this committee of governors, members of this panel, how can we put together a list of prescribing protocols that we could all embrace that would actually make a difference, instead of dancing around this?

And I'm gonna close by this: Our biggest enemy... because, you know... the beautiful comments of Joanne Peterson. I have heard more stories like Joanne's, and so have we all. And you know what we do? We go, "God, that's just so heart-wrenching. It's just so horrid."

"But you know, we're up against some big financial pressures here. Just a few years ago, the combined pharmaceutical industry spent $435,000 per member of Congress lobbying for their views, let's just get this out there. $435,000. That's big money."

So I say, if governors, on a bipartisan basis, can say listen, we are above all of that, we're going to come up with protocols to make a difference. And I'm just asking us,Do we have the courage? Do we have the heart to do it?

END

Ask yourself, in addition to income inequality and lack of employment that pays a living wage, how does money and ideology in American politics contribute to the shocking decline in the health of United States citizens?

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The New Yorker:

Institutional: Identifying Sick U.S. Cultural Institutions that Have Created a Downward Trend in American Health

Another "big picture" item: Click on the image below to learn how public health, pharmaceutical, and healthcare policies of the United States have put Americans on a different health trajectory than citizens of other countries.

Click for link.

It's a Matter of Conscience: Tackling Greed, Holding Healthcare to a Higher Standard to Protect America's Future. Adolescent Depression and Early Life Stress Linked to Impaired Reward Circuits

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And that is, as you know, in our country, we pay, by far, the highest prices on prescription drugs. As I understand it, about 1 out of 5 Americans cannot afford to fill the prescription that their doctors are writing for them." Bernie Sanders questions FDA Commissioner nominee

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"Indeed, some Egyptian patients seem mystified by their good fortune.
”Do you Americans love Egyptians more than yourselves?” asked Hany Tawfik, 66, a private equity specialist who in 2014 was the first Egyptian to receive sofosbuvir. “Why aren’t you putting pressure on Gilead to sell to you at a reasonable price, too?”