Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Discusses How Kansas Pharmacists’ Association Is Ready And Willing To Help Practitioners Suffering From Substance Abuse

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Kansas Pharmacists Association recognizes that pharmacists, like doctors, dentists, and lawyers, are susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol. To the uninitiated, learning that a doctor or a pharmacist became addicted to drugs or alcohol sounds incongruent. After all, if anyone should know that abusing drugs is unhealthy, the professionals who understand the effects drugs have on the human body should be at the top of the list of people who would never abuse drugs. Doctors and pharmacists are human and can easily fall into the trappings of drug abuse. Drug abuse can lead to misconduct, malpractice, and even criminal behavior. Kansas professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger has represented numerous individuals facing professional discipline caused by substance abuse.

Pharmacists tend to use the drugs that are available to them rather than purchasing street level narcotics. One pharmacist wrote about his experience with abusing pharmaceutical drugs soon after he commenced his professional career. This pharmacist, Jared Combs from Lexington, KY who is a recovering addict, describes how he suffered for 11 years with an addiction until he finally got help. Mr. Combs stated that he took mood-altering drugs to combat stress in the new profession. He says he’s not alone among pharmacists. Mr. Combs’ research determined that forty-six percent of pharmacists have taken a prescription drug without a prescription. Meanwhile, sixty-two percent of pharmacy students used prescription drugs without a prescription. Finally, twenty percent of practicing pharmacists used prescription drugs without a prescription more than five times in their career. A recent study showed that approximately one out of every seven pharmacists would suffer substance abuse during their lifetime.

Mr. Combs is now a recovering addict. He related that wasting four years of his life and being arrested on two occasions brought a harsh reality upon him. Mr. Combs got clean and sober with the help of the Kentucky Pharmacists Association Recovery Network. Mr. Combs is grateful for the benefit of a second chance.

Kansas Pharmacists Association (KPhA) also has a recovery network dubbed “KsPRN.” The mission statement of KsPRN is to help pharmacists and pharmacy interns recover from substance abuse and mental health problems one step at a time. KsPRN’s goals are succinctly stated. The network’s goals aspire to protect the public and preserve the public trust, provide resources to people who need it, provide pharmacists and interns education on substance abuse, as well as encouraging voluntary participation in the program.  KsPRN encourages participants to seek treatment for their addiction issues and rehabilitate themselves through the program. KsPRN desires to protect the public from pharmacists and interns who cannot perform the necessary functions of a pharmacist. However, the program cannot work unless KsPRN maintains the anonymity of its participants.  KsPRN boasts that many of its participants continue to work while recovering from addiction.

KsPRN offers services related to treating addiction among its members. KsPRN educates pharmacists on prevention of drug dependency and impaired practice, education on how to recognize dependency, referrals to programs and associated costs, as well as help with personal and professional issues. KsPRN’s services are anonymous. Pharmacists’ participation in the program will not be reported to the Kansas Board of Pharmacy unless the pharmacist fails to follow the recommendations put forth by KsPRN.  While KsPRN has not promulgated statistics on recovery, one study showed that eighty-seven percent of pharmacists who entered similar programs completed them successfully and returned to work.  A significant component of the treatment plans involves relapse prevention. Consequently, treatment programs are structured to identify and prevent relapse among participants.

Seek Immediate Help From KsPRN if you are a pharmacist suffering from addiction

Contact Kansas Professional Licensing Defense Attorney Danielle Sanger if you are facing disciplinary action as a result of your substance abuse. She can help get you get your life back together. Call Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a consultation.

Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Reviews Disciplinary Decisions Of the Missouri Dental Board From The Second Half Of 2016

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The Missouri Dental Board (the Board) issued five disciplinary decisions in the second half of 2016. Periodically reviewing disciplinary decisions allows a licensee to learn how the governing body decides disciplinary actions. The Board’s decisions have some precedential value to them. Consequently, the Board should try to rule on disciplinary actions consistent with its decisional history. As an ardent advocate for professional licensees in both Missouri and Kansas, Attorney Danielle Sanger carefully scrutinizes disciplinary rulings from licensing boards so she can effectively represent her clients who are facing professional discipline before those tribunals.

A dentist who operated under several Limited Liability Company (LLC) names submitted a joint stipulation of facts as well as a joint disciplinary order. The state of Missouri and the dentist reached a settlement agreement related to allegations made by the state relating to Medicaid Fraud. An investigator from the Board interviewed some of the dentist’s patients and interviewed the dentist. The investigator found billing irregularities and infection control problems. The Board filed a disciplinary action, and the parties reached a settlement. The parties agreed that the dentist could continue to practice provided that the dentist passes a jurisprudence examination within 12 months of the ruling as well as agree to regular meetings with the Board as well as advise healthcare facilities with which the dentist was associated of the Board’s decision.

Another dentist and the Board agreed upon waiving a hearing before the Administrative Hearings Commission as well as the Board and approved a resolution. The Board received a complaint from a pharmacy in Kansas City regarding prescriptions for hydrocodone. The Board employed an investigator to perform a sweep of pharmacies and the dentist’s history of writing prescriptions. The investigator found that the dentist wrote prescriptions for patients who did not require them or a family member of an employee. The dentist claimed the prescriptions were for dental pain, except one prescription. The investigator learned that the dentist diverted the prescriptions to himself. The dentist subsequently admitted having a drug and alcohol problem. He attended treatment programs voluntarily. The parties agreed the dentist should be on probation for five years. The dentist agreed to continue with the Board’s wellness program as well as submit to random drug testing and alcohol screening.

The Board revoked one practitioner’s license. According to the order issued by the Board, the dentist defaulted at the administrative hearing after being duly served with notice to appear. The dentist failed to appear. Additionally, the dentist failed to appear before the Board for a final hearing. Accordingly, the Board entered an order of default and consequently revoked the dentist’s license to practice in Missouri.

In another disciplinary action, the dentist and Board entered into a joint stipulation. The factual allegations involve the dentist prescribing a drug for his wife that was beyond the scope of his practice.  This lead to an additional investigation. The investigator found that the dentist wrote prescriptions that were not properly recorded. Additionally, the investigator found the dentist did not conduct weekly spore testing and did not have sufficient continuing education credits. The dentist rectified the deficiencies in his record keeping. Accordingly, the parties agreed that the dentist should be censured for his failures.

Lastly, a dentist and the Board agreed to a censure when the dentist did not document all prescriptions written for her patients. The prescriptions were either not documented at all or insufficiently documented, thus requiring censure.

Do Not Face Any Disciplinary Board Alone

A professional licensee must not take the threat of disciplinary action lightly. You must consult an experienced and successful professional licensing attorney before even responding to the allegations or an investigator comes to speak to you. Call Kansas Professional Licensing Defense Attorney Danielle Sanger at 785-979-4353 if the Board contacted you. Attorney Sanger is dedicated to protecting the livelihood of dentists and other professional licensees in Kansas and Missouri.

Kansas And Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Discusses A Physician’s Responsibility To Debunk “Fake News” Presented By A Patient

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One does not have to search too hard today for claims of “fake news” passed off as actual events. Social media has been rife with false claims of factual situations for some time. Unfortunately, such claims crept into our Presidential election, and mainstream media suffered accusations of passing off fake news as fact. The medical profession is not immune from patients being misled by fake news stories. A simple “Google” search can yield seemingly official results, marked with an imprimatur of legitimacy. Internet search results should inspire a person to ask their physician questions and not accept the results as a substitute for a trained medical professional’s opinion.  Consequently, doctors and other healthcare professionals must take care to debunk misinformation presented by their patients. Their failure to do so could lead to claims of unethical behavior and malpractice. Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger represents healthcare professionals facing allegations of unethical conduct.

The notion of fake news is baffling in many ways. Why promulgate false information? To what end? Joel Cooper, D.O. suggests that people or institutions who generate fake news are trying to manipulate people financially, economically, or politically without regard for the potentially harmful consequences people who believe the fake news can suffer. No one is immune. Dr. Cooper related how the medical device company Theranos created an impression across the medical community that their new product could somehow deliver accurate blood analysis without drawing as much blood from patients as typically required. The claims proved false, yet before Theranos’ claims could be disproved, doctors and other healthcare professionals were buying in.

If physicians can buy into fake news, it is not hard to imagine that a member of a vulnerable population could suffer the same fate, with potentially disastrous consequences.  People who suffer from chronic or fatal diseases, desperate to find a cure, could easily be trapped by unscrupulous claims for a substance providing a miracle cure. Another good example and one which garners much debate is the question of childhood vaccinations.  Many sources claim conclusively that traditional childhood vaccinations cause autism, according to Dr. Cooper, notwithstanding the fact that scientific research proves the hypothesis wrong. Similarly, Dr. Cooper relates that many people in need of taking a cholesterol drug refuse to take a statin only because someone on social media claimed that someone they know suffered a rare side effect from the medication.  Because of the misinformation, the patient refuses to take the drug that can prevent heart disease leading to an early death.

What can be done to combat this problem? Dr. Cooper suggests honest and open communication with their patients and spending time with them to dispel their fears and concerns. Failure to do so can undermine the doctor’s ability to treat the patient with “evidence-based” diagnostic and treatment modalities. Dr. Cooper does not discourage patients from asking questions. In fact, he wants to foster good communication to address his patients’ concerns. Dismissing the patient’s question can be seen as arrogant by the patient cause the patient to refuse to communicate with their physician. Dr. Cooper argues that communication and fostering a higher level of trust is the antidote to the poison of misinformation. Dr. Cooper also argues that doctors owe a duty to the public to work hard to dispel fake news stories. He suggests taking to social media as a method of opening the lines of communication between the public and medical profession.

Failure to Dispel Fake News Stories Early Can Cause Future Problems

Encourage your patients to ask questions. Open, and frank dialogue builds trust between patient and healthcare provider. Failure to do so can result in claims of malpractice and unethical conduct. If you have fallen victim to claims of unethical conduct, call Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger today at 785-979-4353 today to schedule a consultation. Attorney Sanger has devoted her professional life to defending professional licensees who face discipline.

The United States Surgeon General Addresses Healthcare Professionals’ Obligation To Combat Opioid Abuse

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In August of 2016, Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A., the United States Surgeon General, circulated an impassioned letter to physicians and other healthcare providers in the United States imploring practitioners to work diligently to combat the opioid epidemic endangering our nation. There can be little debate something must be done to stem the tide of overdoses and deaths in our neighborhoods. This problem affects us all because socio-economic status does not limit opioid abuse. Consequently, practitioners must be acutely aware of over-prescribing painkillers and remain vigilant about detecting drug seeking behavior. Failure to do so may lead to claims of unethical prescribing of medication and malpractice allegations. Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is dedicated to fighting claims made against health care providers for unethical behavior.

Dr. Murthy’s letter succinctly lays out the recent history of the progression of opioid abuse in our country.  In the 1990s, physicians received encouragement to treat patients’ pain with prescription medication aggressively. While the source of information is unclear, Dr. Murthy criticizes drug companies for an extensive and misleading marketing campaign claiming that prescription opioid-based narcotics were not habit forming.  Data reveals that physicians’ efforts to treat their patients’ pain with prescriptions were unsuccessful. Since 1999, opioid-related deaths have quadrupled, and the number of prescriptions for painkillers has risen concurrently. Regrettably, physicians’ attempts to reduce or eliminate pain have failed. Americans statistically report the same amount of chronic pain today as twenty years ago. Dr. Murthy states that 2 million people in the United States suffer from opioid addiction disorder. The rise in this number causes an attendant increase in heroin abuse, HIV, and hepatitis C infections among intravenous drug users.

Dr. Murthy writes that solving the problem is not easy but argues that physicians and healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to reverse opium’s grip on our society. Combating the problem, Dr. Murthy opines, begins with clinicians balancing treatment for the patients’ pain with the prospect that any patient can become addicted.  Dr. Murthy divined a three-part plan to treat pain effectively while preventing or deterring addiction.  First, healthcare providers must educate themselves on opiate addiction as it relates to prescription narcotics and methodologies for treating pain. Secondly, medical practitioners must screen their patients for opiate addiction and refer them to appropriate treatment plans. Lastly, Dr. Murthy advocates treating opiate addiction as a medical problem like a chronic illness rather than a moral failing on behalf of the affected individual.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a pamphlet designed to educate practitioners as to the best practices for treating pain, detecting drug-seeking behavior, and options for patients exhibiting symptoms of opioid use disorder. Dr. Murthy suggested that healthcare professionals avail themselves of the CDC’s reference materials to assist clinicians with prescription issues, both long and short term, and treatment options. The CDC recommends treating acute pain with opioid-based medicine for a course of three days, but no longer than seven days. The real balancing act enters the equation when patients are claiming they suffer from chronic rather than acute pain. Physicians must counsel their patients that long-term painkilling medication is not effective to treat the symptoms and can lead to addiction. Dosing also requires the physician to analyze the patient’s prognosis carefully. The doctor should prescribe the lowest dose and avoid contemporaneous prescriptions of benzodiazepines while a patient is taking opiates for pain.

For More Information, Contact the Sanger Law Office today

If you are a healthcare professional in Kansas or Missouri and are facing professional discipline, rely on Missouri Professional Licensing Defense Attorney Danielle Sanger to vigorously and aggressively defend you. Attorney Sanger possesses the skill and experience to defend your license to practice medicine. Contact Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a consultation.