Hello, Oklahoma.
In the midst of the teacher walkout this week, this blog is aimed at enlightening folks about something that could potentially save the state millions of wasted dollars.
Does this perk you up? Grab your coffee and consider this...
What if there were a simple mouth swab test, covered by Medicare Part B with zero copay, that could be administered to the state's most chronic mentally ill, that would tell caregivers how that particular patient's body metabolizes their medications? To clarify, a test that determines if a patient's DNA can tolerate any of the drugs related to mental health! And on the converse, it would inform caregivers if the patient CANNOT tolerate the drug?
I pose this question, due to the rising statistics of "mentally ill" since the advent of all the new pharmaceuticals and expanded diagnoses. Shouldn't the numbers be going down? To quote Robert Whitaker: "Do the medications help people stay well? Function better? Enjoy good physical health? Or do they, for some paradoxical reason, increase the likelihood that people will become chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical illness?"
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-whitaker/anatomy-of-an-epidemic-co_b_555572.html
In the life of my brother, whose life has been usurped by the grind of a system that has not even come close to curing him, and more truly has made his life a living hell... The forced medications have caused fixed delusions that tell him we are not his family, and adverse physical effects such as weight gain, diabetes, poor vision, and a plethora of scary symptoms specific to neuroleptics that could become permanent, like Akathasia https://mddk.com/akathisia.html or Tardive Disconesia https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/tardive-dyskinesia-nord
God forbid!
Jeff is so intelligent. He has been smart enough to save himself from more misery by refusing drugs that are not "fixing" his thoughts, but that ARE causing him to be more disabled.
That brings me back to the original question. Wouldn't caregivers WANT to know if their patient is getting worse due to their own DNA not being able to process certain drugs? It seems like a no-brainer. But sadly, it's being resisted by mainstream professionals.
Let's have some fun crunching numbers.
Hypothetical situation:
A mentally ill patient is in crisis. The state facility administers a forced injection of Invega Sustenna®, which - depending on the facilty's contracted price might be $1,700-ish but could be as much as $3,100.00 for ONE SHOT that lasts a month.
(INVEGA SUSTENNA® (In-VEY-guh Suss-TEN-uh) (paliperidone palmitate) Extended-Release Injectable Suspension is a prescription medicine given by injection by a healthcare professional.)
Many times this drug is used in conjunction with other RX (all very pricey).
Let's take a low average, and say this monthly injection at a public trust hospital in Oklahoma costs $2,000.00. The annual cost: $24,000 for one med. Keep in mind, this pretend person is INPATIENT, so we know the cost of hospitalization is way more than the cost of one medicine. Inpatient costs about $40,000 PER MONTH! That x12 is $480,000.00! Of course, most folks aren't inpatient a full year...but still, you get the picture. Do the math.
This is example of one person - a fiscal perspective.
Furthermore, shooting low -
Let's pretend this chronic "mentally ill" person is inpatient for three months.
That's a long stay, but there are many in Oklahoma that stay these lengths at state facilities.
So:
Three months hospitalization x $40K = $120,000.00
Three months (example of one RX) Invega Sustenna® x $2K - $6,000.00
That's $126,000.000 for one patient, on one drug for three (3) months.
If this patient were inpatient for six (6) months, double that to a quarter million dollars!
The chronically mentally ill are not able to pay these bills.
The hospitals absorb the costs.
The state loses money.
How many patients and how many variable stories like this are coming out of
OKLAHOMA?
I can tell you more than fifty (50) in Tulsa, most of them getting criminalized
(I'm not going into cost of incarceration, but it's astronomical).
And if there are fifty chronically mentally ill in Tulsa, there are at least that many in OKC.
50+50=100
Oklahoma's two biggiest cities.
Let's play with these numbers.
One hundred (100!) severe cases, costing $250,000 for six months.
That's TWENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for six (6) months!
$25,000,000.00 !!!!!!!!!!
for 100 chronic patients
for 6 months...in this hypothetical situation.
HALF A YEAR that can't be paid by the patient.
Yeah yeah, pretend scenario, but it's realistic.
How many MORE THAN 100 are there across the state.
The state is BROKE.
A cost benefit analysis needs to be done
to see how much money is being wasted,
when the drugs may be making the patient worse
and more chronic.
In comes the simple SWAB TEST...
Developed at the Mayo Clinic,
this test IS covered fully by Medicare Part B because it SAVES MONEY by giving the doctors information that could prevent causing damage to patients.
There are only five facilities in Tulsa that are registered with Genesight. I was told that the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) isn't interested in using this swab test, because not everyone has Medicare Part B, and some would have to pay for it. They'd rather allow these most serious cases to possibly be damaged by drugs their bodies can't metabolize? They are okay with the money being wasted not having this valueable tool to know if their "treatment" is helping or hurting? That's what I'm getting from this.
Why not offer it anyway? I'll bet some would like to KNOW about it, and would be willing to pay to have this information that could save them years of heartache, pain and damage.
If even one patient is helped by this test,
especially if it's free for that patient,
this test should be
mandated by the state!
It feels like discrimination. Just because someone is SICK ENOUGH to qualify for Medicare Part B as a young adult, that means aren't offered a tool that gives information that could potentially help them get better? Another level of backward, shameful, hard-to-believe-how-wrong-this-feels attitudes that fall under the "culture of arrogance" I mentioned in last month's blog.
(BTW, I think AssurexHealth offers a sliding scale set payment according to income. This chart was given to me in 2016, so not sure how current it is, but one can hope.)
If your loved one or patient isn't responding to any of the drugs listed below, please urge the facility and/or doctors get registered for this swab. It would be worth paying the full price to KNOW if you're being damaged by the medicines you are being prescribed!
Let's get with it, Oklahoma. This swab is easy. We CAN turn this sinking ship around...with some new ideas, and new ways of thinking. Time is of the essence. What say you?
Brand Generic
Abilify® aripiprazole
Ambien® zolpidem
Anafranil® clomipramine
Ativan® lorazepam
Brintellix® vortioxetine
BuSpar® buspirone
Celexa® citalopram
Clozaril® clozapine
Cymbalta® duloxetine
Depakote® valproic acid/divalproex
Desyrel® trazodone
Effexor® venlafaxine
Elavil® amitriptyline
Emsam® selegiline
Fanapt® iloperidone
Fetzima® levomilnacipran
Geodon® ziprasidone
Haldol® haloperidol
Inderal® propranolol
Invega® paliperidone
Klonopin® clonazepam
Lamictal® lamotrigine
Latuda® lurasidone
Lexapro® escitalopram
Librium® chlordiazepoxide
Lunesta® eszopiclone
Luvox® fluvoxamine
Mellaril® thioridazine
Navane® thiothixene
Norpramin® desipramine
Pamelor® nortriptyline
Paxil® paroxetine
Pristiq® desvenlafaxine
Prolixin® fluphenazine
Prozac® fluoxetine
Remeron® mirtazapine
Restoril® temazepam
Rexulti® Brexpiprazole
Risperdal® risperidone
Saphris® asenapine
Serax® oxazepam
Seroquel® quetiapine
Sinequan® doxepine
Tegretol® carbamazepine
Thorazine® chlorpromazine
Tofranil® imipramine
Tranxene® clorazepate
Trilafon® perphenazine
Trileptal® oxcarbazepine
Valium® diazepam
Viibryd® vilazodone
Wellbutrin® buproprion
Xanax® alprazolamZoloft® sertraline
Zyprexa® olanzapine
**********************
Jackie Welton DiPillo
#forJeff
obo: the family
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