Paducah woman went to veterinarians with dog to get pain pills for herself, police say; new twist in prescription drug abuse narrative

Law enforcement agencies are dealing with yet another way drug seekers are trying to get their hands on prescriptions pills — through their pets. In McCracken County, Tonya Rolison, 46, was charged with doctor shopping by taking her dog to several veterinarians, reports Lauren Adams of WPSD-TV in Paducah.

"The dog was diagnosed with something that would be treated with tramadol," said Ryan Norman, a drug detective with the McCracken County Sheriff's Department. The painkiller can be used by dogs and humans. When Rolison never brought the dog back for the required treatment, her vet became suspicious and contacted police.

That resulted in a month-long investigation that allegedly pointed to Rolison doctor shopping — going from everyone from physicians to veterinarians to gain prescriptions. "People get creative," Norman said. "They seek other ways to get what they need." (Read more)

Responding to complaints about new managed-care companies, state auditor asks for claims data; lawmakers threaten subpoena

With complaints piling up about the three Medicaid managed-care companies that coordinate care for 560,000 poor and disabled Kentuckians, lawmakers and officials are taking action to get to the bottom of the situation.

After health providers complained reimbursements have been wrongly rejected, delayed or ignored, state Auditor Adam Edelen asked to see the companies' claims-processing data, reports Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal. Legislators are threatening to subpoena the companies "after the state's 550 small pharmacists complained that they're being pushed out of business by the companies' low Medicaid reimbursements," Yetter and Mike Wynn report for the C-J. (C-J photo: Pharmacist Mac Bray at Capital Pharmacy in Frankfort)

Some providers said they are having to borrow money to offset the shortage until the claims are reimbursed. Others are worried they will go out of business because they can't afford to wait for claims to be paid.

Audit: Edelen told CoventryCares of Kentucky, Kentucky Spirit Health Plan and WellCare of Kentucky he wants the claims data by Feb. 17. He also asked for information from Passport Health Plan, which has long coordinated care for 170,000 Kentuckians in the Louisville area. No complaints have been voiced about Passport, but an Edelen spokeswoman said they want to get information to paint "a complete picture."

The move to managed care was the Beshear administration's answer to fill a hole in the Medicaid budget, but lawmakers have complained the transition has been bumpy. "They never know when they are going to get paid," said Sen. Joey Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville. "I can see why it saves money — if you don't pay your bills, you have more money." (Read more)

Pharmacies: The House-Senate Program Review Committee has asked officials from the three companies to appear Feb. 13 to answer questions. If the committee doesn't get the information it seeks, it will issue subpoenas. "This is a drastic measure, but they are putting our independent pharmacists out of business," said Sen. Jimmy Higdon, a Lebanon Republican who co-chairs the committee. "You can't see things for less than they cost and stay in business."

With traditional Medicaid, "pharmacists were paid a dispensing fee of $4.50 to $5, plus the cost of medication, based on an industry formula called the maximum allowable cost," Yetter and Wynn report. "But two of the three companies under contract with the state have cut the dispensing fee to $1 to $3. And pharmacists say that under managed care, the maximum allowable payments don't cover their costs of buying the drugs from the wholesaler."

The committee has not used its power to issue subpoenas in more than 10 years, Higdon said. (Read more)

Health and family cabinet continues to withhold more information in copies of child abuse records than judge allowed

The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services released three more death and near-death cases involving child abuse or neglect Friday under court order, but continued to withhold critical information. It has appealed the order.

The 2009 cases involve two babies who died from suffocation while the parents were impaired. A third case involves a 2-year-old girl from Lawrence County, who was injured after she was reportedly kicked in the head by a horse while unsupervised.

The cabinet "continues to withhold, or redact, far more information" than was allowed under the Jan. 19 order of Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd, reports Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal. Shepherd said the cabinet could withhold the names of children seriously injured by abuse or neglect, names of private citizens who report suspected abuse, the names of minor siblings in the home and the names of minor perpetrators.

But the cabinet is withholding more information than that. "For example, in the case of the girl injured by the horse, the cabinet deleted the name and relationship of the adult who was watching her, even though the adult is named and identified as her grandfather in a separate internal review of the case," Yetter reports. "The cabinet also withheld juvenile and family court records in that case and the names of all adults involved." The girl recovered from the skull fracture sustained by the horse.

Gavin Villarreal never woke up after he was found with a plastic bag over his head in his crib, possibly placed over the 5-month-old's head by other young children in the home. His parents both tested positive for drugs on the day of his death and were convicted. In the third case, a month-old baby died after his father apparently rolled over him in his sleep. Both parents admitted they had been drinking and used marijuana before they went to bed. (Read more)

Certified personal trainers give tips on how to revive New Year's health resolutions or keep them going

By Tara Kaprowy
Kentucky Health News

As the resolve of New Year's resolutions fades with January passing into February, fitness experts Sheila Kalas and Laura Coombs, right, offered some useful tips for how to stay motivated about getting healthy on KET's "One to One" program with Bill Goodman last week.

The first thing, they said, is to come up with a realistic plan — and trash the one in place if it's set up for failure. "One of the things that I think is a mistake is if you jump into action in January and say, 'I'm going to get up, and I'm going to work out at 6 every morning' and you're really not a morning person. Chances are, that's going to fade," said Kalas, owner and founder of Fitness Plus in Lexington.

The trick is to come up with a plan that works, along with 10 reasons for why it's imperative to stick to it this year. "That way, you're more invested," said Coombs, a certified athletic trainer.

The cornerstones of good health are a nutritious diet and an exercise regime, which, Kalas pointed out, is unavoidable. "It's OK for you not to like exercise," she said. "But it really doesn't get you off the hook from needing to do it." As such, it's important to remove the biggest barrier that stands in the way of a fitness regime: a lack of time, which is often only a perceived barrier, and can be removed if there is a commitment to devote proper time to exercise, Kalas said.

Also important is coming up with activities that are entertaining or even practical. Coombs described a "fit deck," playing cards that each describe a different kind of exercise. The goal is to draw five cards a day and perform the exercise in turn. For those uninterested in formal exercise, Kalas suggested getting a post office box to which a person would have to walk each day to get mail. She added that one of the best tools to use is a pedometer, which allows people to monitor how much they've walked that day and alter their workouts and menus accordingly.

Coombs advises being active seven days a week for 30 minutes each day, whether that involves walking, gardening or playing with the dog. "If I only have to do something three days a week, I'll do it on Monday," she said. "Then on Tuesday, I'll be so proud of myself, I'll put it off." If the exercise doesn't get done by later in the week, the tendency is to just put it off to the following week, Coombs said. Consistency of exercise is more important than the kind of exercise being done, she said.

As for eating, both Kalas and Coombs said it's important to monitor food intake carefully, particularly when it's coupled with a new exercise regime. "Beginner exercisers reward themselves for a single bout of exercise that day," Kalas explained. That person will decide, for example, that, since they've walked on the treadmill that day, they deserve to have dessert. But then they'll decide, "I'm going to walk tomorrow so I'm going to eat more tonight," Kalas said. "A lot of time there's one bout of exercise and two rewards built in."

As for what to eat, choose items that come "from the earth that are not prepackaged," Coombs said. "We have to be sensible and stop looking for shortcuts and stop looking for magic foods and magic numbers," she said. Kalas also suggested counting calories using phone applications or referring to the book, "Eat This, Not That," which suggests swapping one food for another at restaurants in order to avoid excessive calorie intake.

To get children motivated, the best thing to do is to remove sedentary activities by setting limits on TV and computers. And it's important to start introducing the importance of fitness and nutrition while kids are still young. "If the household values healthy eating and exercise, it will trickle down to your children," Kalas said.

Ultimately, when it comes to being successful at making changes, a person needs to accept responsibility for their choices and that they're "the only person that can make it better or worse," Kalas said. "If you're going to have the French fries, the only person that's going to have to burn off the calories is you."

To watch the program online, click here. For the full program archive, go here.

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. 

Facebook app personalizes message to women about getting cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccine

To raise awareness about cervical cancer and ways to avoid getting it, the Cervical Cancer-Free Kentucky Initiative has created a Facebook application that "incorporates pictures of users' Facebook pals into an educational video on cervical cancer," reports Darla Carter of The Courier-Journal.

"We want to get the message [to] where we know people are getting their information, and Facebook, Twitter and websites are 'the things'," said Dr. Baretta R. Casey, director of the University of Kentucky initiative.

The application can be found at www.causethemovement.org. "Their friends' and family's faces will actually come up into the video," Casey said, to make the subject resonate more with the viewer.

The goal is to educate women about cervical cancer, which can be prevented through screening and the HPV vaccine. The disease is more likely to occur in women over the age of 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are 12,170 new cases of cervical cancer each year and 4,220 deaths, according to the National Cancer Institute. The American Cancer Society states there will be 180 new cases in Kentucky this year.

The most common cause of the cancer is the human papilloma virus, which is transmitted sexually. Two HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"Right now, this is the only vaccine on the market that can prevent a cancer," Casey said. "I have a daughter and I have a granddaughter, and they have both received the HPV immunization because I don't ever want them to come and look at me and say, 'Mom, why didn't you give me this shot? I wouldn't be going through treatment for cervical cancer now.'"

Women can be screened for the disease with a Pap test, which detects abnormal cells that could lead to cancer. (Read more)

Kids eat more veggies when school lunch trays make suggestions

Kids are more likely to choose vegetables from the school cafeteria line — and eat them — if their tray contains pictures that subtly suggest the dining option.

That was the result of a University of Minnesota study, in which researchers placed pictures of green beans and carrots in the slots of the partitioned cafeteria trays at Richfield Elementary School.

On a typical day, 42 students took green beans and each student who chose them ate about 19 grams of them, reports Jeremy Olson of the Star Tribune. On the day in which the images were placed in the cafeteria trays, 96 students chose green beans and each student that took them ate about 19.1 grams.

When it came to carrots, 77 students took them and ate 31 grams of them on a typical day. On the day of the study, 238 students took carrots and ate about 27.1 grams. "That means that the students who always took carrots probably ate their usual amount, but that the students who took them for the first time ate less," Olson reports.

"Kids . . . don't want to do what they're told," said Traci Mann, a psychologist and one of five faculty members leading the study. "What kids want to do is . . . what their friends are doing or what they think their friends are doing." (Read more)