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  • #MyFavoriteMeds Hashtag Fights Psychiatric Medication Stigma

    #MyFavoriteMeds Hashtag Fights Psychiatric Medication Stigma

    People who rely on medication to keep their mental health in check sometimes experience judgment from others, but this social media movement is trying to change that.

    People who take pills for their mental health sometimes are chastised for pumping themselves full of unnatural chemicals in a last-ditch effort to hold themselves together.

    In truth, the pills can save those who take them. It’s yet another facet of mental health stigma that needs fighting, and the Instagram hashtag #MyFavoriteMeds is doing its part by giving users the opportunity to reflect on the positive impact these medications have had on their lives.

    The hashtag was started by Jen Gotch, who hosts a podcast about mental health called Jen Gotch is OK… Sometimes, after she posted a photo of a pill sitting in her open palm. Fellow podcaster Georgia Hardstark, who co-hosts My Favorite Murder, followed suit and posted a photo of her own hand full of the mental health pills she takes. 

    “Good morning from my crew. (Effexor & Wellbutrin) Inspired by @jengotch,” Hardstark captioned her post. “Show me yours, hashtag #myfavoritemeds (credit to @graceisgold). #hardstarking”

    Fans of the MFM podcast picked up on the hashtag and the movement took off. With the hashtag taking over in an online public space, Gotch and Hardstark hope to make others who also rely on such drugs feel safe to speak about it. Otherwise, those who really need these medications may hesitate to seek out a prescription because they feel ashamed and alone.

    “Taking medication for mental health has always been a normal thing amongst my family and friends, so I sometimes forget that it’s a taboo subject for so many people,” Hardstark told Bustle. “As soon as I saw Jen Gotch’s post showing her medication it hit me what a simple but powerful message it was to just say ‘I need a little help and I’m not ashamed of it.’”

    The “little help” the medications provide isn’t the whole solution, but it can be a critical component of some mental health treatment plans.

    “Medication is not a cure all. It’s important to have a holistic approach to your personal and mental wellness,” said Gotch. “But for those of us that suffer and are committed to doing everything we can to feel good, it is a vital part of the equation. Treating your mental illness is a major responsibility that should be approached with self awareness, emotional intelligence, knowledge, and qualified professional help.”

    The #MyFavoriteMeds hashtaggers want to push the message that medications aren’t a last ditch, desperate attempt to treat mental health issues by a weak person but an equally viable treatment used in tandem with therapies and lifestyle changes.

    “I think it’s important to let people know that having your shit together isn’t an easy thing, and attempting to make your life better through pharmaceuticals is something that demonstrates self-care, not weakness,” Hardstark shared. “I’ve read so many of the posts from the hashtag and it just fills me with hope, which is hard to come by these days.”

    Lately, many high-profile people with platforms have spoken out about their own struggles to fight the stigma that surrounds mental health. Ellen DeGeneres recently spoke about her fight with depression on the podcast Armchair Expert. Comedian Pete Davidson also has been candid about his own issues, and rapper Lil Xan publicly shared that he was going to rehab.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Zac Brown Band's New Video Tackles Depression, Using Alcohol To Cope

    Zac Brown Band's New Video Tackles Depression, Using Alcohol To Cope

    The video chronicles the various stages of a man’s life as he struggles to cope with trauma and depression.

    The holidays can be a hard time for many people struggling with depression, and now the Zac Brown Band has released a new video, “Someone I Used to Know,” to help people deal with the “Christmas blues.”

    Alexander Ludwig, who played Cato in The Hunger Games, stars in the video which first shows his character in his college football glory days. The character then goes on to join the army where he suffers the traumas of the battlefield. After coming home, he works as a coal miner, drinking to cope with his troubles. While the main character often appears isolated from others during the various stages of his life, toward’s the video’s end, he comes to the realization that there are people all around him who can offer him support. 

    While Brown told People he doesn’t suffer from holiday depression, he’s well aware that “the holidays are a time when people feel a lot of pressure, and I think it’s good to remind everybody that it’s okay to be human.”

    Brown has seen depression take down people close to him.

    “I’ve lost dear friends to suicide,” he explained. “Whatever was gnawing at them, whatever was eating at them that we didn’t know and couldn’t see, it obviously felt bigger to them than asking for help and having someone else go through it with them. It made me realize, too, that I don’t want to be that person that can’t face themselves and get to the other side so that I can be well for myself and for everybody else around me.”

    Brown also touched on the dissolution of his 12-year marriage.

    “I’m definitely in a spot in my life where I’m trying to face things that are hard so that I can be as well and healthy as possible,” he said.”It’s not the struggles that define you; it’s the fact that you can overcome those struggles that define you. It’s what makes you who you are.”

    At the end of the video, Brown tells the audience, “’Someone I Used to Know’ is a touchpoint to remind people that they don’t have to be alone in what they feel. . . . Pain and depression doesn’t discriminate. This song is me facing that part of myself of where I want to go and not where I’ve been. I would encourage people that when they feel like they have a need or they have a voice that’s telling them to face something, it’s a sign of strength to ask for help and to face the things that are really hard.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Demi Lovato Sets The Record Straight About Her Recovery

    Demi Lovato Sets The Record Straight About Her Recovery

    “I am sober and grateful to be alive and taking care of ME…All my fans need to know is I’m working hard on myself, I’m happy and clean and I’m SO grateful for their support,” Demi Lovato tweeted.

    For Demi Lovato, 2018 was a tough year. After six years of sobriety, Lovato admitted to the public in the song “Sober” that she had relapsed; then after the song’s release, the pop star suffered an overdose on July 24.

    Now she’s posted a series of tweets updating the world about her progress and her need for privacy as she continues her recovery.

    On December 21, the singer launched her tweetstorm by professing her love for her fans and her hatred for the tabloid press. “People will literally make up stuff to sell a story,” she tweeted. “Sickening. If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF. Otherwise people stop writing about my recovery, because it’s no one’s business but mine.”

    She also implored, “I still need space and time to heal,” and that “someday I’ll tell the world what exactly happened, why it happened and what my life is like today.. but until I’m ready to share that with people please stop prying and making up shit that you know nothing about.”

    Lovato added, “I am sober and grateful to be alive and taking care of ME…All my fans need to know is I’m working hard on myself, I’m happy and clean and I’m SO grateful for their support.”

    As the holidays approach, Lovato concluded, “I’m so blessed I get to take this time to be with family, relax, work on my mind, body and soul and come back when I’m ready.”

    Last month, it was reported that after she spent 90 days at an in-patient rehab facility, Lovato reached out to her ex-boyfriend, Wilmer Valderrama, for emotional support. She has also been spending time with a sober coach, as well as attending 12-step meetings.

    Lovato has always been open about her struggles with her mental health (the singer suffers from bipolar disorder) and sobriety. After her overdose, fans created a hashtag, #HowDemiHasHelpedMe, where many shared stories of how Lovato’s music and personal troubles encouraged them to get help themselves.

    As Lovato posted on social media in July, “I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction. What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Feds Will Prosecute Fentanyl Dealers More Harshly in Baltimore

    Feds Will Prosecute Fentanyl Dealers More Harshly in Baltimore

    The feds are set to crackdown on fentanyl sellers in Baltimore, where there is expected to be twice as many overdose deaths as homicides in 2018.

    As part of the Trump Administration’s tough-on-crime stance, federal prosecutors will begin trying more fentanyl cases in federal court. They will be utilizing stronger resources and mandatory minimum sentences in an attempt to deter people from selling the deadly synthetic opioids in Baltimore, where there are expected to be twice as many overdose deaths as homicides this year. 

    Writing in an op-ed for The Baltimore Sun, US Attorney for Maryland Robert K. Hur said that the tougher tactics will hopefully curb fentanyl sales. As of last week, all fentanyl arrests in Baltimore are being reviewed by federal prosecutors who will decide whether the case will proceed in the state or federal system. This is part of the federal Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS) initiative.

    “Federal prosecutors will pursue more cases involving fentanyl, bringing federal resources, laws and prison sentences to bear on those dealers who pose the greatest threat to public safety,” Hur wrote. “Word should spread that if you sell fentanyl on the streets, you run a very real risk of federal time.”

    Federal drug charges carry mandatory minimum sentences. Someone convicted of distributing 400 grams of fentanyl will face 10 years in prison; 40 grams will carry a five-year sentence. If the fentanyl is found to be involved in a death, there is a 20-year sentence. Because federal sentences are served in prisons far from home and have no possibility or parole or suspension, they’re seen as more harsh than state sentences. 

    “But criminal enforcement is essential to ending this crisis,” Hur wrote. “We need to target street dealers as well as corrupt pharmacists and medical providers. Treatment and prevention alone won’t stop the sellers, who are driven by profit and greed.”

    Hur shared the story of a 35-year-old woman who died of a fentanyl overdose. Before her death she texted a friend, “I don’t want to [be] this way. I worked and fought too hard to throw it all away. I almost overdose[d] the other night. I don’t know what to do.”

    “Law enforcement organizations know what to do in order to prevent more of these tragedies, and we are resolved to do it,” Hur wrote. 

    Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions first announced the SOS initiative in June, starting the program in 10 districts that were hard-hit by the opioid epidemic. 

    “We at the Department of Justice are going to dismantle these deadly fentanyl distribution networks. Simply put, we will be tireless until we reduce the number of overdose deaths in this country. We are going to focus on some of the worst counties for opioid overdose deaths in the United States, working all cases until we have disrupted the supply of these deadly drugs,” Sessions said in a press release at the time.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Opioid Vaccine Shows Promise in Early Testing

    Opioid Vaccine Shows Promise in Early Testing

    Alongside its potential use as an opioid vaccine, the experimental medicine may also help first responders who accidentally come in contact with synthetic opioids. 

    Researchers have reported that a newly developed vaccine that could combat both opioid dependency and overdose has yielded what appear to be positive results in animal testing. The vaccine, which uses monoclonal antibodies – antibodies made by identical copies of immune cells – appeared to block both the analgesic properties of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, as well as their high propensity of producing a fatal overdose, when administered in preliminary tests.

    The researchers have begun developing antibodies in the hope of testing their vaccine on humans.

    Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, which conducted the tests, presented their findings on December 13 at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. The study detailed the creation of the monoclonal antibodies as well as two tests of their efficacy involving mice.

    In the first test, the research team measured pain response using a heated beam of light that was applied to a mouse’s tail. An immediate response – specifically, the mice removed their tail from the light – suggested that the animal experienced a degree of pain, while a delayed response suggested that the pain had been dulled.

    Mice were then given a synthetic opioid such as fentanyl and exposed to the light beam, which produced a longer response time due to the pain-dulling properties of the drug. However, when given the antibodies, the researchers found that the mice withdrew their tails at a faster rate, which suggested that the vaccine had blocked the drug’s analgesic effect.

    In the second test, mice were given the vaccine, followed by a dose of fentanyl that had proven fatal in other test animals. According to the study, the mice did not experience overdose. In both tests, the antibodies proved effective against seven other synthetic opioids, including carfentanil, which the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) described as the “most potent fentanyl analog detected in the United States” and which has been linked to a number of overdose deaths.

    As US News and World Report noted, research of this nature involving animals does not always produce the same results in human test subjects, so the study authors are in the process of developing human antibodies and hope to test them in the future.

    “Antibodies persist longer, and thus have enormous promise for addressing both opioid addiction as well as overdose,” said study leader Kim Janda in a press release.

    In addition to the vaccine’s possible use with drug users, Janda and his fellow authors believe that it may have a practical application as a safeguard for individuals who may come in contact with synthetic opioids. “These antibodies could be used to protect police, EMTs and other first responders from inadvertent acute fentanyl exposure,” he said, adding that a canine version could also be applicable for drug-sniffing dogs.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • DEA, Drug Distributors Failed To Protect West Virginia, Report Says

    DEA, Drug Distributors Failed To Protect West Virginia, Report Says

    A new report highlighted the way millions of opioids flooded small towns in West Virginia over a 10-year-period with ineffective government oversight.

    Despite the fact that “inordinate volumes of opioids” were flowing into West Virginia between 2006 and 2015, drug distributors continued to fill outrageous orders, and the Drug Enforcement Administration took ineffective measures to enforce regulations that could have slowed the flow of opioids, according to a federal report released last week. 

    The report, “Red Flags and Warning Signs Ignored: Opioid Distribution and Enforcement Concerns in West Virginia,” was prepared by House Energy and Commerce Committee.

    It found that in 10 years, 20.8 million opioids were sent to pharmacies in the town of Williamson, which has a population of just 3,000. Another town, Kermit, which has a population of just 364 people, received 9 million. Overall, between 2007 and 2012, West Virginia pharmacies received more than 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills.

    “These troubling examples raised serious questions about compliance with the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), administered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),” report authors wrote. 

    The report reviewed the practices of drug distributors, who are responsible for filling orders by pharmacies. Five companies, including the three largest in the country and two regional distributors, were reviewed. These were AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., H.D. Smith Wholesale Drug Co., McKesson Corporation, and Miami-Luken, Inc. 

    The companies have a legal obligation to alert the DEA when they suspected that drugs were being diverted into illegal use. However, case studies reviewed in the report “raise sufficient concerns as to whether these companies fulfilled their legal obligations to prevent drug diversion.”

    In fact, “the extraordinary volume of shipments in West Virginia was a signal of possible breakdowns in distributors’ oversight of their customers, including their suspicious order monitoring systems. Yet the actions taken by both distributors and the DEA contributed to — and failed to stop — this problem,” report authors wrote. 

    The report also found that the DEA’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System, which is meant to help detect abnormal drug distribution patterns in real time, was not used to monitor distribution, but only to reinforce cases after they’d been flagged through other means. Additionally, the agency revoked the registration of fewer doctors and pharmacies thought to be contributing to drug diversion during the height of the pill crisis. 

    Authors of the report said that the findings could help explain how the opioid epidemic unfolded across the nation. 

    “Taken altogether, the Committee’s report outlines a series of missteps and missed opportunities that contributed to the worsening of the opioid epidemic in West Virginia,” they wrote. “This investigation identified flaws limiting the effectiveness of the distributors’ compliance programs and DEA’s enforcement. While focused on a narrow part of West Virginia, the report raises grave concerns about practices by the distributors and the DEA nationwide.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Overdose Survivors Struggle After Their Trauma Goes Viral

    Overdose Survivors Struggle After Their Trauma Goes Viral

    Survivors of viral overdose videos recount the incidents and the aftermath of their trauma becoming a public spectacle.

    It’s difficult, if not seemingly impossible, to rebuild your life once your drug addiction becomes public knowledge. That’s the message of an emotional feature by The Hamilton Spectator, which follows several overdose victims whose “bleakest moments now live online.” 

    Kelmae Hemphill, for one, struggled for 11 years with drug addiction before her heroin overdose was uploaded to YouTube. Her addiction was “now everybody’s business, splashed across the news and social media with a new genre of American horror film: the overdose video.”

    Hemphill overdosed on a New Jersey road while a stranger tried resuscitating her — all of which was filmed by her own drug dealer.

    Even more unsettling than Hemphill’s video is the fact that overdose videos are becoming more common by the day. Thanks to the opioid epidemic, law enforcement agencies nationwide have equipped their officers with cameras. The result? “[R]aw, uncensored images of drug users passed out with needles in their arms and babies in the back seats of their cars,” the feature answered. “The videos rack up millions of views and unleash avalanches of outrage.” 

    According to The Spectator, Hemphill’s video elicited such cold-hearted comments as “[w]hy bother saving her?” and “I would’ve let her die.” Now, Hemphill continues to struggle to emerge from the shadow of her overdose video: “When you type my name in [YouTube], that’s the first video that pops up — an overdose video,” she said. 

    Mandy McGowan of Lawrence, Mass. has a similar story after the town’s police chief released a video of her collapsed in the toy aisle of a Family Dollar while her two-year-old daughter tugged at her arm. McGowan instantly became known as the “Dollar Store Junkie” after the video went viral and landed on news channels like CNN and Fox News.

    “For someone already dealing with her own demons, she now has to deal with public opinion, too,” said Matt Ganem, who is the executive director of Banyan Treatment Center. “You’re a spectacle. Everyone is watching.” Banyan provided McGowan with six months of free treatment.)

    “I know what I did, and I can’t change it,” McGowan said, lamenting that she’s since lost custody of her daughter. “I live with that guilt every single day. But it’s also wrong to take video and not help.”

    She’s since begun to rebuild her life through AA and NA meetings as well as counseling. “It’s going to be a long road for me. You don’t just get clean and your life is suddenly all put back together,” McGowan added. 

    Similarly, when June Schweinhart and a friend snorted heroin and passed out with their infant children in the backseat, videos from police body cameras became public and went viral. “It looked like a whole different person,” Schweinhart said. “It was a reality check … It made me sick to my stomach. It still does.” And while Hemphill, McGowan and Schweinhart are all sober now, their overdose videos live online. In many ways, it calls into question whether it’s ever truly possible to survive addiction if your lowest point in life survives, too. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kid Cudi Details Why He Hid His Mental Health Struggles

    Kid Cudi Details Why He Hid His Mental Health Struggles

    Kid Cudi opened up about his mental health struggles on a recent episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook series, Red Table Talk.

    During a preview of Jada Pinkett Smith’s interview series Red Table Talk, Kid Cudi admitted to being “ashamed” to discuss his struggles with mental health. Born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi in Cleveland, Ohio, the “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper argued that there is a persistent, dangerous stigma around mental health in the black community. 

    Cudi added, that stigma keeps many people from getting the help they need. “I was really good at keeping my troubles hidden … even from my friends,” Cudi told the Facebook show’s hosts Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Jones and Willow Smith. “I really was good with that. And it’s scary because you hear people say, ‘I had no clue.’ I really went out of my way to keep what I was going through hidden because I was ashamed.” 

    Jada Pinkett Smith echoed Cudi by revealing her own struggles with mental health. “I was severely depressed, severely, and that was something that I battled with for years. Waking up in the morning was like the worst part of the day. And it would take me hours [to adjust]. By the time the evening time came, I was at least like: ‘Okay, I’m good.’ But then you go to sleep again and you gotta restart.” 

    Over the last couple of years, Cudi has been open about his mental health struggles. In October 2016, Cudi checked into a rehab facility for “depression and suicidal urges.” The day after he started treatment, he wrote an open letter that detailed his issues. 

    “I am not at peace,” he said. “I haven’t been since you’ve known me. If I didn’t come here, I would’ve done something to myself. I simply am a damaged human swimming in a pool of emotions every day of my life. There’s a raging violent storm inside of my heart at all times. Idk what peace feels like. Idk how to relax. My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it. I can’t make new friends because of it. I don’t trust anyone because of it and I’m tired of being held back in my life. I deserve to have peace.”

    According to data collected by the National Institute of Mental Health, over 6.8 million black Americans had a “diagnosable mental illness” in 2018. Similarly, writer Hafeez Baoku wrote in a blog post for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) that the black community’s stance on mental health needs to evolve. 

    “If we are unable to remove the negative stigma surrounding mental health in the black community, we are willingly allowing another generation to grow up without access to counseling and mental health improvement resources that can help them live a happy, healthy life,” Baoku said. “You are not alone in your pain and you are not ‘weak’ or ‘less than’ because you are hurting. It’s time we reach out and ask for or offer help — because that’s what it takes to achieve the true healing we need.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Meth, Opioid Abuse Intertwine In Pennsylvania

    Meth, Opioid Abuse Intertwine In Pennsylvania

    “They go hand-in-hand. Many are literally just making meth, just to sell it, and support their heroin habit,” said a Pennsylvania police chief.

    As the nation focuses on the dangers of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, use of methamphetamine has continued to rise around the country. However, in rural Pennsylvania, law enforcement said that there is no sense in parsing the issue because opioid abuse and meth abuse are so closely tied. 

    “They go hand-in-hand. Many are literally just making meth, just to sell it, and support their heroin habit,” Berwick, Pennsylvania Police Chief Ken Strish told The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

    In Berwick, 46% of drug arrests over the past six years have involved meth. And it’s not just the much-talked-about meth coming from Mexican cartels. Strish said that small shake-and-bath meth operations are still detrimental to his community. 

    “We’ve seen a four-apartment complex burn to the ground relatively quickly because of a meth fire,” he said. 

    The problem is so widespread that the town has earned the nickname “Methwick,” Strish said. 

    “Yes, our numbers were very intense for a community of 10,000,” he added.

    Still, while 55 people had been arrested for meth possession in Berwick this year, 86 were arrested for heroin possession. 

    In Dubois, Pennsylvania, another rural town, law enforcement and community members gathered at a fundraiser for the family of Officer Patrick Straub, who was killed in September during a head-on crash with a driver who had “off the charts” amounts of methamphetamine in his system. 

    “He was a good person that deserved better. He loved his wife, loved his child,” DuBois City Police Cpl. Matthew Robertson said. “Always spoke about his child. Beautiful little girl.”

    The driver, 32-year-old Corey Alan Williams, was also killed in the accident, leaving behind two daughters. The tragedy was just the latest meth-related incident that has left DuBois families reeling. 

    Speaking at the fundraiser, DuBois Police Chief Blaine Clark said that the city has seen a 129% increase in drug reports, driven by meth use. 

    “It’s crazy. I’ve never seen something boom as quick as it did,” he said. 

    Clark said that he sees long-time users turn into “zombies,” leaving their kids uncared for. “You go into these houses and there’s kids and, like, three or four meth heads laying around,” he said.

    Both Dubois and Berwick are along a major highway that makes it easy for dealers and drug users to travel to and from the surrounding states with drugs. 

    “We’re getting a lot of local people going down to Akron, Ohio. That’s a big hot spot,” said Clark. “They’re going to Johnstown area, and they’re going to Philly and Pittsburgh.”

    That’s why law enforcement has been targeting dealers who are bringing drugs into the area. 

    “We want to get the dealers who are bringing this poison in, that’s who we’re after,” Clark said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Doctor Accused Of Prescribing Pills Linked To Overdose Deaths

    Doctor Accused Of Prescribing Pills Linked To Overdose Deaths

    The doctor’s prescription writing was allegedly so extreme that a local CVS stopped accepting prescriptions he wrote. 

    There’s a lot of attention on the so-called “third wave” of the opioid epidemic, synthetic opioids, but the arrest of a California doctor this week for allegedly illegally distributing prescription pills shows that medications are still a dangerous part of the epidemic.

    Orange County doctor Dzung Ahn Pham, 57, who owns Irvine Village Urgent Care was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly providing prescriptions to patients whom he never actually examined, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    He is facing two charges of illegally distributing oxycodone. At least five people who reportedly received medications from Pham overdosed, and another man who was allegedly using pills from Pham was involved in a fatal car accident.  

    “This case clearly and tragically illustrates the dangers of drug dealers armed with prescription pads,” United States Attorney Nick Hanna said in the press release. “This doctor is accused of flooding Southern California with huge quantities of opioids and other dangerous narcotics by writing prescriptions for drugs he knew would be diverted to the street. Prosecutors in my office, working with their law enforcement partners, will tirelessly pursue everyone involved in the trafficking of opioids as part of our persistent and ongoing efforts to stop the trail of misery that follows these dangerous drugs.”

    Pham’s prescription writing was allegedly so extreme that a local CVS stopped accepting prescriptions he wrote. 

    According to an affidavit, Pham provided medications including Adderall, oxycodone, tramadol, sSuboxone, norco, soma, alprazolam, and hydrocodone bitartrate-acetaminophen to patients who requested them via text message. At least 84 patients had prescriptions within a day or two after sending texts. 

    Last summer, undercover agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration also reportedly received pills from Pham, including a “Holy Trinity, [which] is the combined use of an opioid (such as hydrocodone), a benzodiazepine (such as Valium), and carisoprodol (a muscle relaxer like Soma),” according to the press release. The doctor then reportedly sent the undercover agent to a specific pharmacy that still accepted his prescriptions. 

    The pill mill operation was reportedly lucrative for Pham, who is believed to have deposited more than $5 million into personal accounts over the past five years. He also reportedly deposited $1.7 million into a business account. Investigators say he was charging $100-$150 per visit; it’s not clear how patients who requested prescriptions via text were charged. 

    William D. Bodner, DEA Los Angeles Associate Special Agent in Charge, said that targeting doctors who write prescriptions irresponsibly is a priority. 

    “This arrest should serve as a warning to any physician who utilizes their position to traffic opioids,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com