You do a great job of informing the public and recording the issues at the Mental Health Commission last Tuesday the 15th. However I think you mist some key points of the discussion on brining back the older psychiatric meads to treat the uninsured.
Firstly: the new formulary will not give doctors more options but will restrict their prescription options to the older medications with more side effects. There is a provision in the proposal that would allow doctors, at there discretion, to fill out and summit a waver requiting that the county pay for a meads that are not on the formulary on an individual bases. Just paying for the added cost of labor of the doctors to sit around trying to decide if a particular patent should be entitled to a waver or not would cost more than any saving in its self. That is if the patients’ psychiatrist has the time or inclination to fill one out in the first place. As one consumer at the meeting put it “how long will the patent have to weight?? (for the waver)...tell we’re on our death beds??” If a waver is field out on every patient it would defeat the stated purpose of balancing the county’s budget on the suffering of its most vulnerable citizens.
Secondly: even thou the newer meads cost more pill for pill the over all cost to the County is less in the long run. That is because as, it is well known, the older medications have a tremendous amounts of more side effects. Which in many cases are the same as Mental Health conditions such as heightened psychoses, cognitive deficiencies and in some cease hallucinations. With all the added side facts of the older meads patents rotate in and out of psychiatric Hospitals at a much faster rate and are unemployed for longer periods at a time adding to the over all coast of the so call older so called “cheaper” meads.
What should be a mater of concern is that the medical director refused to discuses the actual meads on the proposed formulary, while the Independent was present, instead he talked about generic names verses name brand.
So your readers know witch meads are on the proposed formulary they are Haloperidol, Prolixin and other first generation antipsychotic. These meads all have uncontrollable grouse (in more was than one) body movements side effects. Like taung waging, uncontrolled rocking back and forth, lip smacking and a host of other bodily movements that society distant so badly in others. If this new formulary was to be in acted the County would then be spending resources on dealing the publics out cry about having such discussing individuals out in public.
With all the added hospital costs and longer and more frequent hospitalizations. The more you look at the new formulary the more it would cots the county. About the only benefit of the older meads would be to the Mental Health profession.
Previous Month
Posted on May 18 at 6:14 p.m.
Dear Chris,
You do a great job of informing the public and recording the issues at the Mental Health Commission last Tuesday the 15th. However I think you mist some key points of the discussion on brining back the older psychiatric meads to treat the uninsured.
Firstly: the new formulary will not give doctors more options but will restrict their prescription options to the older medications with more side effects. There is a provision in the proposal that would allow doctors, at there discretion, to fill out and summit a waver requiting that the county pay for a meads that are not on the formulary on an individual bases. Just paying for the added cost of labor of the doctors to sit around trying to decide if a particular patent should be entitled to a waver or not would cost more than any saving in its self. That is if the patients’ psychiatrist has the time or inclination to fill one out in the first place. As one consumer at the meeting put it “how long will the patent have to weight?? (for the waver)...tell we’re on our death beds??” If a waver is field out on every patient it would defeat the stated purpose of balancing the county’s budget on the suffering of its most vulnerable citizens.
Secondly: even thou the newer meads cost more pill for pill the over all cost to the County is less in the long run. That is because as, it is well known, the older medications have a tremendous amounts of more side effects. Which in many cases are the same as Mental Health conditions such as heightened psychoses, cognitive deficiencies and in some cease hallucinations. With all the added side facts of the older meads patents rotate in and out of psychiatric Hospitals at a much faster rate and are unemployed for longer periods at a time adding to the over all coast of the so call older so called “cheaper” meads.
What should be a mater of concern is that the medical director refused to discuses the actual meads on the proposed formulary, while the Independent was present, instead he talked about generic names verses name brand.
So your readers know witch meads are on the proposed formulary they are Haloperidol, Prolixin and other first generation antipsychotic. These meads all have uncontrollable grouse (in more was than one) body movements side effects. Like taung waging, uncontrolled rocking back and forth, lip smacking and a host of other bodily movements that society distant so badly in others. If this new formulary was to be in acted the County would then be spending resources on dealing the publics out cry about having such discussing individuals out in public.
With all the added hospital costs and longer and more frequent hospitalizations. The more you look at the new formulary the more it would cots the county. About the only benefit of the older meads would be to the Mental Health profession.
Chuck Hughes
Consumer Advocacy
Our Way Support and Advocacy
http://www.localcommunities.org/lc/sbcli...
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