More Evidence of the Prescription Medications Crisis

Following Mondays post of my personal experiences last week,  I’ve been collating some of the evidence showing just how big a problem this is; the conditions below in Bold are just some of the Health problems affected :

Chemist dispensers complain shortages of Drugs are “killing” them

That is sad BUT ‘killing THEM? Let us focus on outcome of the sudden unavailability of a drug such as Adalat which controls blood pressure and angina and, or, Furosemide used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and oedema.

And just what will happen when  patients who rely on  Antidepressants, drugs for Chronic and Acute Pain Relief,  to control their Epilepsy,  and women taking HRT suddenly find themselves Without their Pharmaceuticals?

Hidden within another article regarding medication shortages – Medicine shortages force government to limit HRT drug exports  it was reported the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)  are allowing pharmacists to issue Different strengths of fluoxetine, better known as Prozac, used to treat  major depressive disorder, bulimia nervosa , obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder patients! This is despite one of the many warnings given by the drug information included inside packages: Do not take this medicine in larger or smaller amounts

So the UK Government is advising dispensers to Issue the Wrong dosage – This could quite possibly “Kill” People.

Despite the growing amount of evidence regarding the shortages of medication,  the Healthcare Distribution Association, (HDA) recently published this-

Representatives from the largest wholesalers will visit pharmacies across the UK to “dispel some of the misconceptions” around medicine shortages

Herein we are told “Although this problem has been referred to as ‘drug shortages’, often the real nature of the problem is the delay between a patient handing over their prescription and actually getting the medicines they need” !

They also produced an Infograph suggesting a plethora of other possible ‘reasons’ for these shortages, which remember don’t exist, including “Acts of God” !

So either God, or we patients are to blame;  NO this is completely untrue, it is not our fault, nor that of a deity that medication is unavailable

Martin Sawyer CEO of aforementioned HDA, wrote  “Hardly a day goes by without the reported shortage of a medicine – and rightly so. For one patient to have to wait to receive their medication is one too many.”   Sawyer proposes the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) “should enforce stricter laws on wholesale businesses hoarding supplies to help prevent medicine shortages”

Hmm, the HDA goes from a denial of shortages – to blaming patients and then  independent suppliers of pharmaceuticals for the problem in less than a week?

So just Why is this happening? According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DH)  these shortages in medication is something that happens “occasionally” and  “most shortages are because of problems in production” but absolutely it is Not down to Brexit!

Regardless of these claims, most worrying is Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s outgoing top adviser on health matters said yesterday “ministers could not guarantee that lives would not be lost due to a lack of resources“.

Given the evidence we have seen so far, I think it is justified to say some people are going to Die because of these shortages. And personally I strongly feel, that any life lost as a result of no, or the wrong dosage/type of medication; would be tantamount to State Manslaughter

 

 

Asking a Question, the Challenge open to us all

UPDATE – received replies from both @JuliaRampenMM and @realbritainros and positive conversation – THANKS to both

I know I’m not alone in becoming more ill, month by month, particularly hard is the growing feeling of defeat; don’t get me wrong I’m still striving, hence this post but…the slowness of publications speaks volumes.

I still try to read the news every day, I still work to support people with their disability issues through DEAEP, but the feeling of proverbially banging my head increases; when reading the columns of those journalists I still value, they also seem to feel fighting the Tory onslaught is futile.

What brought this home is the Mirrors 16 of the scariest things we just learnt about benefits reform, it writes of Sanctions, Hunger, Homelessness, Health, IT (crap systems) Debt and touches on Tory Lies; yet it fails to mention the ever-lengthening list of people who have DIED through Benefit Reform?

This is despite the growing evidence of what we all know, these deaths ARE related to said government Policy – “Nearly 90 people a month are dying after being declared fit for work ” according to DWP figures, “One in five benefit-related deaths involved sanctions,”also from DWP stats and when a Coroner finds “Suicide was ‘triggered’ by ‘fit for work’ test“, the proof surely is conclusive.

Yet this loss of countless lives fails to makes the scariest things – Why?

Have we all become so inured to these deaths, the fact Benefit Reform Kills is no longer news; or is it more like the reasons purported for the Lords U-Turn last night? Are the press so afraid of backlash from the Tories, they report the data that affects the smallest group, especially when they are the scroungers?

I’m fully aware this is nothing new, but each time another journalist goes for the ‘softer’ option is another kick to my seriously depleted energy; as is every scrap on social media with us targeting each other – and the question why bother continuing, screams in my head.

This is not a request for neither do I need sympathy for my personal position; I’ve accepted its unlikely I’ll be here to witness the end of the fallout, which has to follow the demise of the cruellest and most brutal Government in the past 50 years. However, hopefully in 15 years or so, my grandchildren will be privileged to live as young adults in a world where, having a warm home with a full cupboard, won’t depend on them winning a lottery. This is my reason to keep on banging my head, to scrape up enough energy to occasionally write, or most importantly keep challenging.

Given this I’ve asked the article writer via @JuliaRampenMM and @realbritainros who promoted this piece, WHY the 16 Scariest things don’t include DYING? Now Will You?

Another Government ‘Fag packet’ proposal for Benefit Sanctions & Cuts ?

Rarely do I come across a Tory Policy proposal that makes me both Smile (albeit at the irony) and Shudder (with fear); but today’s report in the Telegraph does exactly this; “Hundreds of thousands of benefit claimants face being stripped of their state allowances if they refuse to undergo treatment for anxiety and depression“, this worries me on several levels.

The article quotes their source as saying “We know that depression and anxiety are treatable conditions. Cognitive behavioural therapies work and they get people stable again but you can’t mandate people to take that treatment“; I totally agree with the closing proviso but the apparent claim CBT works for depression and anxiety is False.

Firstly Depression is not a ‘one size fits all’ disorder, there are different types of this debilitating illness, and a notion it can be conveniently summed up to enforce potentially damaging treatment is downright dangerous as well as being futile.  This position applies equally to Anxiety, again there are different types of Anxiety disorders which require different specialist treatments; therefore this all embracing decision, being discussed by Politicians based upon saving money is, to me, terrifying.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy works to enable people understand the relationships between their feelings, thinking, behaviours and environment, and to identify ways in which these can become problems; ergo CBT only works when depression and, or anxiety arises from internal conflict. Personally I have found CBT to be of little or no use when clinical issues, i.e. schizophrenia, is  the primary causes of the disorder; further where external factors are reinforcing the disorders, I personally have found CBT only has limited benefits.  I am not purporting CBT has no use in supporting depressive or anxiety sufferers, but it is not the only form of treatment necessary for enabling improved mental health. Given the mandate for this scheme is the ” loads of people who claim ESA (for Depression and Anxiety) who undergo no treatment whatsoever“, it is difficult to understand how the Government is to utilise fully trained CBT workers anyway?

Minsters are already piloting different ways of implementing this scheme, four JobCentres are currently “combining “talking therapies” with employment support“; soon we will witness  “group work” to help build the “resilience” of individuals who are out of work and suffering with poor mental health” the “hiring specialist private organisations outside the NHS and welfare system to take control of providing a combination of psychological and employment support to claimants” and finally “online tests and therapies at improving individuals’ health and job prospects“. These four trials will then be assessed, presumably with cost effectiveness, being the primary focus’ so no prizes for guessing which ‘approach’ the Government will adopt – more work for the nudge unit coming up?

These trials are a joint effort between the DWP & Dept of Health, and emerge from the report Talking Therapies: a four year plan of action  and initially was targeted at people 18-65  as an “economic case on which it was based showed that providing therapy could benefit not only the individual but also the nation, by helping people come off sick pay and benefits and stay in or return to work“. There we have it another quick fix based on Finance First and presumably will form the basis of yet another area of Cuts in Welfare; but once again aimed at sick and disabled people

As I acknowledge at the beginning of this post, the Government Ministers making these decisions about how mental health sufferers should be treated, deny participation in these trials will be mandatory, seeming to recognise willingness to participate is central any talking treatment working. However the Telegraph states “Conservatives could include the proposal for mandatory treatments in the party manifesto next year as part of the next phase of reforms to the welfare state” and I can’t help but think they are probably accurate in this.

Will this turn out to be yet another example of how the Government says one thing and then does another? If you agree with me in this Join the TRUTH campaign

#NOWPetition #ImpeachDWP

Attending ATOS? WE Can Help:

Disability Enabling and Empowerment Project (Leic’s) (DEAEP) was set up in 2013 in response to identified needs; disabled, chronically sick and vulnerable people are increasingly required to demonstrate their need for the financially support necessary to survive, both often in employment, as well as not.

DEAEP is a social not for profit business that offers accredited training to  sick and disabled people, unemployed, and other vulnerable individuals. The training experience enables participants to, knowledgeably and confidently, actively support others during times of extreme stress; this could be attending ATOS assessments and, or to participate in social and community engagement.

So far we have a 100% success rate with people we’ve represented

The rationale behind DEAEP:

Anyone who’s disabled or chronically ill in the UK 2013, is only to well aware of the devastating effects of The Welfare Reform Bill, whether it be someone on Incapacity Benefit (IB) waiting for the dreaded assessment onto Employment Support Allowance (ESA); a new claimant for ESA after losing their job, or a current ESA recipient  who’s almost at the one year cut off time. It might be a Disability Living Allowance (DLA) recipient waiting for the claim form to apply for the new  Personal Independence Payment (PiP)

These are just some of the ways that Welfare Reform is affecting those of us too ill to work or live with the ever increasing costs of being disabled.

What these changes all have in common is the growing number of ‘assessments’ we’re all forced to undergo.

Many of us who have already experienced the cold, inhumane and in some cases, downright dangerous process of being assessed by ATOS,  know the associated costs these visits have on our health; from waiting for that now dreaded brown envelope, the energy it takes to complete the overly long complex claim form, the stress caused by actual ‘assessment’, through to the wait for the decision made at the DWP by a low level civil servant who might have had two days training in disability!

None of this is news to many of us, and many more disabled and sick people will soon be au-fait with this ever rotating process.

Many people on social networks like Facebook & Twitter have expressed the view that when  having someone to help them through this experience,  be it form filling, support at ‘assessments’ or at appeal it has helped them; and it is this what we at DEAEP aims to do.

We  offer free accredited training for people to skill them up, to then act as peer supporters for others going through this process.

We also can help with support at hospital/GP visits or in fact anywhere sick and disabled people feel having someone at their side to prompt them tell their story and get the truth across.

The training programme will also help participants in other areas, and can open doors to further education or even employment.

So if you are interested or require our help please contact us athttp://www.deaepleicester.moonfruit.com.

All personal and medical data disclosed is destroyed on conclusion of case

 

Your chance to #haveyoursayIDS

As you know from yesterdays blog we are going to meet with Liz Kendal and Kate Green on the 18th of November to submit our Petition about IDS & the DWP’s misuse of statistics, and asking the Work and Pensions Select Committee to hold Ian Duncan Smith to account for this and how it paints a dark and inaccurate picture of those on benefits, especially those on DLA and ESA.

As well as inviting those of you who signed our petition all 104,696 of us to attend the submission; we would like you to make a comment about how this misuse of Stats by the DWP has affected you, whether that’s emotionally, physically or if you have been a victim of hate crime associated with the media attacks fuelled by these Lies.

If you would like to make a comment please use the same email as before –  disabilitywatch@gmail.com and we will print out as many as we can, to bring with us to the hand over…

Lets tell the committee how we feel about what is happening… Please keep it clean, we don’t want to edit, we want it to be in your own words but we don’t want to lose the sympathy of the committee by being abusive…

Without all of you this campaign wouldn’t be going anywhere, it’s your voices that are important to us…

Jayne and Debbie xxx

A Tory plan to reintroduce the Workhouse

Rarely if ever have I read anything that has made me physically sick; this morning I came across a Government Report via fellow blogger johnny void that openly calls for “Residential Training is intended to help unemployed adults with disabilities, particularly those at risk of exclusion from the job market, to secure and sustain employment or self employment”  which to my mind describes nothing more than a workhouse.

Reading through this Report I went from Hot to Cold and back again as I rationalised the contents, from the executive summery to the Recommendations. The emphasis throughout is to stress the ‘benefits’ of the Residential element and attempts to demonstrate how that could apply to people on Work Programme which “provides support, work experience and training for up to 2 year” and Work Choice for people “ disabled and find it hard to work“.

The report also repeatedly recommends how this Residential programme might particularly suit people with “people with mental health issues” so much as the authors find it necessary to link unemployment rate figures against differing mental health ‘issues’ “phobia, panics, nervous disorders (14% employment rate) and depression, nerves/anxiety – (33% employment rate)“!

I suppose in order to provide a fair analysis I must also note the reports willingness to be inclusive, therefore I also note the authors desire to ensure this Residential training is also open to those the DWP deem to be “non-disabled people who are long term unemployed”. Although this is because “the unit cost of provision would then be driven down” rather than the programme suiting these potential trainees.

I can not here begin to offer a full analysis of this Report but I strongly urge you to take a look and if you can’t bear to read it all at least read the the 3 Case Studies which focus on opiate addiction and mental health issues, Scoliosis, Asthma, Autism, Aspergers, ADHD and Depression and severe mental health issues, alcohol abuse and long-term unemployment; these alone demonstrate the ‘type’ of individual the authors feel ought to be in Residential programmes, and then tell me this isn’t a case for a return to the Workhouse??

 

A Call for Impact Assessment on Disabled people to be debated by Parliament

It seems that every day there’s a new call to action, another petition to sign, a blog to RT, and so on; & I’m sure I’m not alone in having to make conscious decisions, often at an hourly rate about which new campaign to endorse.

Well for this one I’m making NO excuses, on Wednesday 10 July Labour is using Opposition Day to “debate the changes they have made that affect disabled people, and at about 16:00 we will force a vote to demand a Cumulative Impact Assessment by October  2013 at the latest”

YES, at last the tireless work of Pat’s Petition, WOW, Spartacus and many many others has finally been recognised, but…this alone is not enough!

Between now & then we can all help make sure this debate is not lost; so please everyone

• Write to your MP and ask them to back the motion
• Write to your local paper and explain why we urgently need a cumulative impact assessment
• Tweet your support using #MakeRightsReality

& do everything we can to make sure this vital motion is carried -“That this House believes that the Government should publish a cumulative impact assessment of the changes made by this Government that affect disabled people (to be published by October 2013).”

What is the Tory’s REAL End Game?

Please Note:There are no references in this blog merely my personal musings.

Am I alone in wondering just WHAT the Tories are thinking of? They seem to be intent on self-destruction; their Economic & Welfare Policies are isolating more and more people on a daily basis, their destruction of the NHS is infuriating people, their Education Polices are causing academics to scream, and so on. Outside of the UK their approaches are being criticised by Europe & the USA also.

I like many others have regularly questioned the mind set of the Coalition Cabinet but seriously, just WHAT do they think they will achieve by their actions?

I can’t help wonder if this particular set of Millionaire Politicians have deliberately set out to destroy the post WWII improvements to the standard of living for most UK citizens, whilst  whilst feathering their own nests. Their rationale, to ensure they achieve their perception of the true Status Quo – The Ruling Classes return to their position of total authority and the rest of us exist merely to serve.

I really don’t see any other reason for a Government to commit what seems to be Political Suicide unless, it is to decimate the Welfare State and the last bastion of equality the NHS, and to return education to a situation where our children are taught their place??

DWP staff soon able to see you Fitter?

Over the past few days whilst being snow bound, a couple of articles published online, by established Media outlets regarding Mental Health have alarmed me.

Philip Hensher, a professor of creative writing offered us his ‘Expert opinion’ in the Independent on Friday by opining how ” depression is incapacitating only for months, or even weeks”, http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/some-people-on-disability-benefits-are-fit-to-work-8457851.html?origin=internalSearch.. Then on Saturday the BBC ran with the Headline “Self-help books ‘treat depression'”  based on a study of 200 patients diagnosed with depression by their GPs which informed us “”Depression saps people’s motivation”, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21083458.

The reason for my concern is both articles make sweeping statements and totally disregard the true debilitating effects of depression. Further, the publication of such articles at this time when The Government are due to make changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) on January 28, which will mean claimants are assessed separately for Physical and Mental Health is doubly worrying.

If these ‘amendments’ go through, when we’re reassessed for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) in the future the impact of our physical health on our mental health, or vice versa, will be totally ignored.

I can’t imagine how that’s going to work, anyone with a chronic Physical/Mental Health condition knows that one affects the other; my Fibro flare up’s certainly impact on my Depression, and during a bout of Depression my pain & fatigue levels of increase.  But the folk at the DWP believe they can determine what my numerous specialists can’t; which of my many symptoms, are caused by which of my ailments!

This is clearly wrong, but it gets worse still. We all know what problems ATOS assessors and DWP decision makers currently cause; just imagine what trouble they’re going to make of their new found abilities. If these ‘amendments’ go through the’ll be given the powers  to determine whether our problems are caused by our physical or mental health and whether or not we would be as ‘unfit’ if we used an ‘aid’ to assist us. That’s it, the clever assessors will be given free reign to imagine if we would be ‘fitter’ using a wheelchair for example! A briefing paper on the full changes can be found at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/files/esabriefing-full.pdf.

There is a specific issue here in the fact that particularly regarding Mental Health, there is already a strong scepticism; and as a lifelong sufferer of Depression, my experience tells me Mental Health is often not understood, even within the Medical Professions. Further I know that once a diagnosis is reached, it’s too easy for health practitioners, to use it as a handle to hang any health issue on; something Rae Earl shares “Mental Health patients get physical illnesses too, you know. Current research even suggests that my extreme OCD is partially caused by genetically reduced serotonin levels”  http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/21/mad-fat-diary-rae-earl-childhood-mental-health?CMP=EMCSOCEML657

If we as those living with Ill Health don’t know where one problems starts and another one ends just how can ATOS assessors or DWP decision makers/

#esaSOS Take Action NOW!

Reposted From http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk

#esaSOS: YOUR HELP NEEDED URGENTLY!

On 28 January 2013 the UK government is due to make a set of changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The WCA is the flawed ‘fitness to work’ test which assesses whether sick and disabled people can get Employment and Support Allowance (ESA): a benefit designed to help and support very unwell or profoundly disabled people into work.

Although these changes have been advertised as small ‘amendments’, they will in fact have a huge impact on the way people’s illnesses and disabilities are assessed. Many vulnerable people’s needs will suddenly be able to be overlooked or ignored, meaning they could end up losing the support they desperately need to manage their conditions.

Hundreds of thousands of sick and disabled people across Britain need your help to fight these changes!

PROBLEM 1: FALSE ASSUMPTIONS

In the fitness to work test, your needs are assessed by a ‘healthcare professional’ employed by the French private company ATOS. This assessor doesn’t just need to look at your current difficulties. For example, they can also imagine how using an aid (e.g. a wheelchair) might improve your ability to work and make a judgement based on that –without even asking your opinion!

However, soon this “imaginary test” will be able to be used for many more aids (including guide dogs and false limbs!). This means that soon thousands more people could be judged as fit to work, without being consulted, on the basis of an “imaginary” aid they don’t own or may not be able to use!

It gets worse. Even if returning to work may clearly put you at risk, these changes will mean you can still lose your disability benefit – as long as the assessor believes that trying a new therapy or treatment might reduce that risk. There’s no need for evidence that the treatment will help: you will lose support either way, making it much harder to manage if the treatment doesn’t work as hoped – let alone if it ends up making things worse.

>>> Imagine Bert, who suffers from severe schizophrenia, but is found fit to work and made to take behavioural therapy in the hope of improving his condition. He will lose his disability benefit, without the assessor having to look at several vital questions: how hard it would be for Bert to contact a psychiatrist? How long would an NHS appointment take to organize? Are there private options in his area – and could he afford them if so? What if the therapy doesn’t work, or takes a long time to adjust to? <<<

If the government’s rule changes go through, people like Bert who are desperate to work will find it nearly impossible to get an accurate assessment, affecting the quality of their support and actively preventing their efforts to get back into work.

PROBLEM 2: SEPARATING PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH

The government is also trying to change the way people’s conditions are assessed bydividing health problems into two separate boxes: ‘physical’ and ‘mental’. When looking at what tasks people can do, only the ‘physical half’ of the test will apply to those withphysical disabilities. The same goes for the effects of treatment: for e.g., if you’re takingmental health medication, only mental health side-effects will be looked at.

This completely fails to understand the way that many disabilities and illnesses can lead toboth physical and mental effects. This is also the case for many common treatments: such as those for schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

>>> Think of Emily, who suffers severe, chronic pain because of nerve damage to her leg. Emily is among the 49% of chronic pain sufferers who also suffer depression as a result of continuous pain. An assessor may see Emily as able to do some work as long as she takes strong painkillers for the rest of her life, meaning she could pass the ‘fitness’ test. Yet the painkillers may not deal with the depression caused by her condition. Painkillers have also often been shown to affect people’s wakefulness and decision-making. So taking the medication may affect Emily’s ability to do a job in a completely new way – yet because these new problems are cognitive, they would not need to be looked at by the assessor when making their decision! <<<

Pretending the effects of illnesses and disabilities can be separated in this way goes against all medical practice. Going even further, and using this method to ignore sick and disabled people’s needs, is at best hopeless policy, and at worst deliberate cruelty. We cannot let the government treat some of the most vulnerable people in British society in this way.

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The main way you can help is by spreading the message about these changes to ESA. The government have tried to sneak them under the radar – the last thing they will want is people talking about them!

Here are some great ways you can raise awareness:

1) Email your MP (you can search by name or constituency athttp://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/);

2) Share this blog post on twitter (using the hashtag #esaSOS), Facebook and other social media; CLICK ON THE BUTTONS BELOW THIS POST TO SHARE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK

3) Email your friends and family a link to this post – or simply talk to them about it!

Again, the main way we can get the government to reconsider is by getting people to talk about the injustice of these changes. So please spread the word as far and wide as you can!

Thank you so much for reading this far. Now let’s make sure these unwanted, damaging benefit changes never see the light of day!

If you want to do more, please sign #WOWpetition and call on the government to think again. 
Sign here http://wowpetition.com – and ask all of your friends to sign too!

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THE FULL #SPARTACUS PRESS BRIEFING ON THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO ESA CAN BE FOUND HERE: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/ESAbriefing