Anti-meth bill passes Senate; limits monthly pseudoephedrine purchases to 7.2 grams a month and 24 grams a year

In an effort to curb methamphetamine production, the Senate passed a bill Friday that will limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be bought monthly and annually.

Senate Bill 3, approved 25-11, will allow consumers to buy 7.2 grams of medicine containing pseudoephedrine per month and up to 24 grams per year. The bill now goes to the House for consideration. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said House members generally support what the bill is trying to accomplish but want to study its details, report Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Right now Kentuckians are allowed to buy 9 grams per month and 120 grams per year. Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, sponsored the bill, which originally only allowed the purchase of 3.6 grams per month and 15 grams per year. That changed after Sen. Jerry Rhoads, D-Madisonville, filed an amendment that increased the limit to the 7.2 and 24 grams. (Associated Press photo by the late Ed Reinke of Sen. Stivers)

The bill also prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a drug-related offense from buying the drug for five years. Pseudoephedrine, which is in several cold and allergy medicines, is the key ingredient to make meth. The bill does not pertain to pseudoephedrine that comes in gel or liquid format; meth is more difficult to make using these formulations.

"I still don't think it's the best situation," Stivers said of the revised bill. "It's what we could get passed. Let's see what this does."

Opponents, namely the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, were "disappointed with the outcome of the vote," said Scott Melville CHPA president and chief executive. "CHPA is committed to working with legislators to win the battle against methamphetamine, but gaining the upper hand against meth producers and dealers does not require unnecessary restrictions imposed on many Kentucky families — particularly seasonal allergy sufferers — by burdening them with increased health-care costs, lost wages, and unnecessary trips to the doctor."

The CHPA represents makers of over-the-counter drugs and is continuing a vigorous and expensive campaign of lobbying and radio commercials to defeat the bill. (Read more)

House committee approves panel to investigate child-abuse deaths; findings would be closed to public

An independent panel of experts would look into the deaths of abused and neglected children and then give recommendations to state officials for how to improve its child-protection system. That was the proposal that was approved unanimously Thursday by the House Health and Welfare Committee.

In House Bill 200, "the group's meetings would be closed to the public, and its documents would remain secret," reports Beth Musgrave for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Jon Fleishchaker, a lawyer for the Kentucky Press Association, said there was no reason why the business of the panel should be secret. "We are all for a statewide panel," he said, "but the public needs to be able to see what the recommendations are."

The bill would also outline what information the Cabinet for Health and Family Services would be responsible for releasing to the public when "abused children who have had previous contact with the cabinet die or are severely injured," Musgrave reports. The legislation would allow the cabinet to "keep the names of children who suffered serious, non-fatal injuries and information that would identify siblings in the home," Musgrave reports.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has been embroiled in a lawsuit with The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader, which sued the cabinet in order to seek documents pertaining to child abuse deaths or near-deaths. A Franklin Circuit Court judge has twice ruled that the cabinet turn over its files, but it has appealed. (Read more)

Conway pushes for all states to track prescription drugs

As Kentucky lawmakers consider legislation that would tackle suspect pain management clinics, the issue is making waves in Washington as well. On Thursday, Attorney General Jack Conway, right, told the U.S. Congress "that every state in the nation needs a prescription drug tracking system like Kentucky's and that the states must be able to share the information they collect," reports James R. Carroll for The Courier-Journal.

"This issue knows no party — it's an American tragedy," Conway said.

Conway was joined by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who called prescription drug abuse "a national crisis." They were supported by Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, who said tracking systems "need to be real-time, and they need to be interoperable across states."

There are two bills that have been proposed to address the issue, one that would "require those prescribing drugs to be informed about the potential risks of pharmaceutical misuse," Carroll reports. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-5th District, is one of the co-sponsors. Rogers is also co-sponsoring a bill that would require that oxycodone only be prescribed for severe pain. The bills have been in committees for months and have not been voted on.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said almost 30,000 Americans die each year from prescription drug overdoses. The scourge caused at least 1,000 deaths in Kentucky last year. "If 30,000 Americans died every year from food poisoning, Congress would take action," Mack said. "If 30,000 Americans died from pesticide exposure, Congress would take action. For that matter, if 30,00 dolphins died and washed up on our beaches every year, Congress would take action. So why are the victims of prescription drug abuse treated any differently?" (Read more)

USDA launches online tool to link farmers with nearby consumers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has unveiled its newest tool to promote local food systems, an online instrument that lets viewers see what local and regional food projects are under way in their area and read case studies, watch videos and see pictures from the field.

The "Food Compass" is the latest effort in the "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" project, meant to expand the number of small, local farmers and ranchers who serve their communities. An interactive map lets viewers see USDA-supported projects related to local food systems in place across the country. That includes information about access to local meals, careers in agriculture and access to healthy food.

The written section includes stories about local food system projects, whether that pertains to farm-to-school, farm-to-hospital and farm-to-institution programs; local meat processing; hoophouses; urban farms; organic farms; and school gardens. Readers can see how people are putting their USDA funds to work to connect to their communities.

The compass notes that buying and selling food at the local, rather than mass consumer, level is a growing trend. In 2011, more than 85 percent of customers asked by the National Grocers Association said they chose to shop at a grocery store based in part on whether it carries food grown from local producers. More than 2,000 schools across the country have farm-to-school programs, and more than 7,000 American cities and towns have farmers' markets. The growing trend is a positive thing since it is "spurring job growth, keeping more farmers on the land and more wealth in rural communities," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. To view the compass, click here.

Effects of concussions outlast symptoms, UK prof finds; another study says they affect thinking of teenagers more than others

A University of Kentucky assistant professor has found that the effects of a concussion may last longer than the symptoms, a finding that could influence how and when athletes are allowed to get back into a game.

Scott Livingston (UK photo), director of the UK Concussion Assessment Research Lab, used an electrophysiological measurement to arrive at his conclusion. With 18 college athletes, he placed electrodes on a limb while a magnetic-stimulating device was put over their head. They then received a brief pulse of magnetic stimulation to their brain. The amount of time it took for the athlete's limb to receive the response from the brain after the stimulation was then recorded. Nine of tyhe athletes had gotten concussions in the past 24 hours and nine had not.

The athletes were evaluated for 10 days, based on self-reported symptoms such as memory loss, headache and confusion; a computerized neurocognitive test; and the electrophysiological measurement. While symptoms from the concussion were greater within 24 to 72 hours after the injury and lessened over time as measured by self-reporting and neurocognitive testing, electrophysiological measurements show physiological changes increased as symptoms decreased.

Further investigation is needed, "especially to assess how long the disturbances in physiological functioning continue after those initial 10 days post-injury," Livingston said. "But in the meantime, sports medicine personnel caring for concussed athletes should be cautious about relying solely on self-reported symptoms and neurocognitive test performances when making return-to-play decisions." (Read more)

Meanwhile, a study at the University of Montreal has found that "Concussions affect the thinking of teenagers more than they do that of adults or children," reports Nancy Shute of National Public Radio. "But all three age groups show lasting problems with working memory after sports concussions." (Read more)

Compromise meds-for-meth bill clears committee; third drug-related bill to pass this week

Update, March 2: Just hours after the committee approved the bill, Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, "declared its future uncertain," reports Jack Brammer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Stivers said there is "a very successful lobbying campaign" against Senate Bill 3 and said he did not "want to subject lawmakers to continued pressure by the makers of pseudoephedrine," Brammer reports. Though he wouldn't call the bill dead for this year, Stivers said he would decide soon on whether he would continue to pursue the bill's future. (Read more)

The compromise bill that will require a prescription to buy pseudoephedrine after a monthly or annual limit is reached passed 7-4 in the Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon.

Senate Bill 3 will allow people to buy up to 3.6 grams of the drug a month and a maximum of 15 grams per year. After those limits have been reached, patients will have to see a doctor to obtain a prescription for more. The intent of the bill is to curb methamphetamine production — pseudoephedrine is the key ingredient to make the drug.

Now, people are limited to buying 9 grams per month and 120 grams per year.

Today, the committee approved an amendment to the bill, which will allow patients to buy 7.5 grams per month if a doctor says that amount if required, which amounts to 90 grams a year under these special circumstances.

The bill also prevents anyone who has been convicted of any drug-related crime — whether the crime was related to meth or not — from buying pseudoephedrine without a prescription for five years.

Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, made an impassioned argument for the bill, which he introduced earlier this week. He said the compromise works because "any box you look on will tell you that you should take this for no more than 14 consecutive days without seeing a doctor." The 3.6-gram monthly allotment will allow for 14 days' use.

As for the criticism that the reduction won't be enough to cover whole families who may be suffering from allergies or cold, Stivers argued "anyone who is subjecting a child to this continuous use on a repetitive basis is not really taking care of the child or the symptoms that cause their problems."

Carlos Gutiérrez of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which represents makers of over-the-counter medicine, said it is "adamantly against" the compromise bill, saying "we feel very strongly about the rights of consumers to buy a legal product." He pointed out if a chronic allergy sufferer takes 1 pill a day, that adds up to 7.2 grams per month.

Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, questioned Guetiérrez and had him confirm that 84 percent of people who buy pseudoephedrine use less than 15 grams of the medicine per month, according to 2010 figures. He further established that the remaining 16 percent of people are buying 60 percent of all the pseudoephedrine sold in Kentucky.

More Americans dying from hepatitis C than from AIDS

More people are dying in the U.S. from hepatitis C than from AIDS, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. More than 3.2 million Americans have the hepatitis virus, which can cause chronic infection of the liver and eventually lead to liver failure.

Hepatitis C death rates climbed to almost 5 per 100,000 in 2007, from fewer than 3 per 100,000 in 1999. In the same time period, the HIV-AIDS death rate dropped to slightly more than 4 per 100,000 from more than 6 per 100,000.

"The declines in HIV reflect the accomplishments in building a public health response to the epidemic that improved screening and provided means of access to effective treatment," said Dr. John W. Ward, director of the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the CDC and author of the study. A similar program for hepatitis C would be similarly helpful, he said.

The disease is most commonly spread by exposure to infected blood. Intravenous drug abuse is the most common method of transmission, reports MedicineNet.com.

Ward said there is now a treatment "that was about 70 effective at clearing the virus from the body, but, he said, most infected people are unaware of their condition and do not receive treatment," reports Nicholas Bakalar for The New York Times. (Read more)