Small Talk: Judge's Chambers

[Spunkygal]

10 hours ago, tiftgirl said:

Hi,

I don't post but this is one of the boards I read everyday.  Y'all make me laugh and rewatch to catch things I missed - and you all seem so nice and get along so well, if anyone would be so inclined, I could use any prayers and good thoughts for my cat.  

He is in congestive heart failure.  He is 15 years old and I've had him since before he was born (Momma was pregnant when she found me).  It's been an awful weekend being woken up about 2:30 in the morning Saturday with him gasping for breathe.  We've been between the ER, regular vet and ICU all weekend.  They were finally able to wean him off the oxygen last night and he is responding well to the Lasix.  We just got home a bit ago.  A local pharmacy was able to compound his Lasix to a liquid (Tuna flavored at that) that I put on his food and don't have to try to shove a syringe down his throat and he gobble that up!  So, he is doing better, but any good wishes/thoughts/prayers for that to continue will be greatly appreciated.

I return you to your regular grade A snark.  :)

PS - he has no tattoos and all his own teeth and has never asked me to borrow him cash!

Tiftgirl, sending prayers your way. That is amazing that your local pharmacy could compound the lasix to tuna flavored liquid. I need to remember that. My dog, age unknown since she is a rescue, has a murmur and the vet has been preparing me that it will turn into CHF. She passes out when she gets too excited and during the last episode, it was so strange. She screamed during the entire episode even though she had lost consciousness. The vet said this is not uncommon. "Vocalization during seizures." I had never heard of it. 

Back to you and your kitty.....Any kitty who has never tooken cash from you is a champ in my book. Tell him your JJ friends are thinking of him.

[momtoall]

Quote

Titgirl, sending good thoughts to you and kitty.

[Spunkygal]

37 minutes ago, momtoall said:

Quote

Titgirl, sending good thoughts to you and kitty.

Oops, I think you left a letter out of Tiftgirl's forum name! 

[Toaster Strudel]

On 10/22/2016 at 5:24 PM, Giant Misfit said:

OMG. I think I found the perfect breeding ground for future JJ litigants in the form of this show called The Super that's currently on Netflix. (I guess it aired on HDNet back in 2011/12? I never had HDNet so I never heard of it.) Anyway, the show supposedly follows around the Super from a property management company called Landmark Group in Omaha Nebraska. The company oversees something like 900+ rental properties mostly for low-income renters. 

Honestly, every episode (and there are 12 each season, two seasons total) there is an imaginary JJ case running through my mind. The squalor that some people live in is almost too much to bear. (Also, it's a pretty sad show underneath it all -- poverty + substance abuse + poor education + familial neglect + possible slumlordism = sociological nightmare.) 

I don't know if you remember... a few years ago there was a case with two families from Omaha and something about funerals and a bunch of drive-by shootings... it made me google crime stats for Omaha... it is rough out there on the prairie.

[momtoall]

3 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Oops, I think you left a letter out of Tiftgirl's forum name! 

OMG!!  My apologies TiFtgirl.

Edited November 22, 2016 by momtoall

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Toaster Strudel said:

I don't know if you remember... a few years ago there was a case with two families from Omaha and something about funerals and a bunch of drive-by shootings... it made me google crime stats for Omaha... it is rough out there on the prairie.

I did not! But I shall Google, thank you! I really was shocked what a hard life the residents of Omaha lived on that show. 

[tiftgirl]

Thank you ALL so much for the thoughts, prayers, kind words!

I cannot tell you how encouraging it is to hear of other kitties with CHF that led great lives for months and years.  While I hate y'all had kitties that had to endure that and you too, it does my heart good to hear these stories.  I don't mean to leave anyone out, but, you all have been so generous with responses, I am going to answer specific questions below, but, ALL of you have helped me greatly.

Giant Misfit - The ICU did do an ultra sound.  She saw minor heart and kidney disease - not bad enough to treat yet, but monitor she said and also, not too surprising considerng his age.  She said she didn't think the heart was enough to cause the CHF.  We are having a repeat in two weeks to see how things look compared to Sunday's scan.

Spunkygal - they are a people pharmacy, but they do veternairy compounding too.  They make his Thyroid meds into a cream I rub in his ear and he just loves that.  When I tried to give him the pill for the Thyroid he growled at me (and he is very, very easy going) and I had an attack of my arrythmia - so anything not to have to pill him!  You know, when he was gasping for air, every few breathes he would scream or moan, not really loud, but you talking about them vocalizing sounds like the same thing I think.

momtoall - OMG - you made me snort!  I really needed that laugh.  And trust me, it would be in name only.  Y'all would not need to remark on my need for foundational support should I ever appear before JJ!  :)

He is doing so much better!  No struggling to breathe and he is acting like his regular self.  Well, if he sleeps what I think it too long, I tap him until I get a response.  That "quit waking me up glare" is wonderful to see!  :)

[califred]

Giant Misfit thx for the show Rec I started watching today.

[Guest]

Good news so far, tiftgirl! I also had kitties on the transdermal methimazole. I used a local compound pharmacy a long time ago but switched to Wedgwood (mail order) pharmacy for the last kitty who needed thyroid meds. They have a great pen that dispenses the meds! So, so happy he's breathing better though. Good thoughts he can maintain. :) 

You're welcome califred! I was so hooked into that show and am still conflicted as to whether I hated or liked Dave. 

[califred]

Yes it's like he's trying to be nice, but is still an asshole.

 

i wasn't a fan of their first company billboard in episode one that said if you aren't willing to work you don't get to eat.  That kind of soured me immediately.  I also thought calling the hoarders Packer Gnats was assholish however the woman was a typically victimized Hoarder so that bugged me less

[patty1h]

Anyone else constantly getting logged out of the forum?   I read the forum on 2 different tablets and on my laptop, and since Monday, I have to sign in every time come back to the site on all of these 3 devices.   This site is the only one that is having this problem.   Very weird.

[Guest]

On 11/23/2016 at 11:42 AM, califred said:

i wasn't a fan of their first company billboard in episode one that said if you aren't willing to work you don't get to eat.

Yeah, wasn't loving that either. Also odd considering that, what I read about him, he's a devout Christian so one would think he might be a bit more charitable than letting people starve to death.

[AngelaHunter]

2 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

he's a devout Christian so one would think he might be a bit more charitable than letting people starve to death.

Maybe he's the kind of Christian we see on this show, the kind who announces, "I'm a Christian! I go to church five times a week!" with their large crosses dangling on their necks even as we hear how they lie, cheat and scam their fellow man/woman.

[Guest]

Amen to that, AngelaHunter!

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, AngelaHunter said:

Maybe he's the kind of Christian we see on this show, the kind who announces, "I'm a Christian! I go to church five times a week!" with their large crosses dangling on their necks even as we hear how they lie, cheat and scam their fellow man/woman.

I've begun to think that the larger the cross, the less likely the litigant HAS, in fact, been in church for a long time.  

Edited November 26, 2016 by AZChristian
Can't spell. Pie overload.

[AngelaHunter]

22 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I've begun to think that the larger the cross, the less likely the litigant HAS, in fact, been in church for a long time.  

Being inside a church (even if it's seven days a week) means nothing, except that our devout litigants are not only scammers, liars and cheats but hypocrites too. Worse, their announcements of how devout they are - "I was on my way home/to CHURCH! How can I be guilty of that hit and run?" -  show that they think JJ is really dumb and naive.

[AuntiePam]

Re the SSA Disability system (offshoot of the episode with four litigants collecting disability, including an able-bodied 22-year-old).

My first husband was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis when he was 45, after 20 years of working in construction and inhaling concrete dust.  There's no cure and very little treatment for this disease.  He applied for disability and was denied.  (He was on supplemental oxygen at the time.)  He couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs. We retained an attorney and filed an appeal.  My husband died before the appeal could be heard. 

Almost everyone is denied when they first apply.  It's a given that a claimant has to hire an attorney and file an administrative appeal.  If the appeal is denied, then you go to court.

[SRTouch]

17 minutes ago, AuntiePam said:

Re the SSA Disability system (offshoot of the episode with four litigants collecting disability, including an able-bodied 22-year-old).

My first husband was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis when he was 45, after 20 years of working in construction and inhaling concrete dust.  There's no cure and very little treatment for this disease.  He applied for disability and was denied.  (He was on supplemental oxygen at the time.)  He couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs. We retained an attorney and filed an appeal.  My husband died before the appeal could be heard. 

Almost everyone is denied when they first apply.  It's a given that a claimant has to hire an attorney and file an administrative appeal.  If the appeal is denied, then you go to court.

Sorry to hear about your husband. The system really stinks as it stands, and it sounds like you came up against the worse part - the big stall. Seems to me the bureaucracy is set up to maintain itself rather than help those it was created to help. Not to surprising, since that's pretty much always been the case with any buraeucracy, not just in the government.

As you say, the first application is automatically denied - I wonder if any 1st application is ever approved? With the present system, the process is skewed so that if a person is able to work a little, their attorney tells them not to because it will give the buraeucracy added excuses to deny the claim.... and WTH an attorney needed so much that there are attorneys who specialize in getting disability applications through the system.

It's telling that the attorneys are willing to work for nothing until that big lump sum back payment arrives. Shows the system is stalling as long as possible. The attorney knows if you stick with it you'll eventually get approved. If you give up, even just delay for a month, the buraeucracy wins a little chunk of change and feeds itself. I wonder if that's how so many litigants end up on disability. The normal working person hates the idea of going on government assistance and being declared disabled, so when the system denies the claim they give up, only to refile after all their savings are gone and they're facing bankruptcy. But, when mom, dad, bf's mom - who knows, probably grandparents, all those folks are drawing a check, there's no real urge to get a job, and all kinds of time to follow your elders example and advice, well, you take the time and wait for the process to spit out you check.

I'm not usually this cynical, but watching my friend go through the stall tactics certainly has changed my viewpoint. Course, the stalling tactic doesn't just effect the person applying. My friend's dad, close to 70 and now his primary support, has come out of retirement and works part time as much as he can without going over the limits set by his railroad retirement. Selfishly, part of my frustration with the system is the fact that I loaned him money and forgave rent so that he owes me over 4 thousand. Right now I'm feeling the pinch and am thinking about coming out of retirement myself since the spare room isn't renting as fast as hoped. (hey, next month the place will be paid for, so at least my expenses will drop.)

[AuntiePam]

SRTouch, I don't think the stall is deliberate, at least not on the part of the attorneys.  They're allowed to charge 25% of the back payment, up to a maximum of $6,000, so the pay-off is much less than a personal injury case.  The SSA is definitely stalling -- many applicants will die while waiting for approval.

I think part of the problem is that the system is overloaded with applicants who see disability as a last resort.  They can't find work.  Like you said in the other thread, the unskilled jobs are mostly gone. 

[Maharincess]

A few years ago I fell off of a two story building.  I crushed two vertabra, shattered my pelvis and broke my hip in 4 places.  I've had 7 surgeries and am in a wheelchair.  I can walk but no more than a few steps at a time.  I was denied disability 5 times, had to get an attorney and appeal.  I won't get any better and still face more surgeries in the future.  Once I was finally approved I was only approved for three years because they say they think I'm going to get better.  So I get to do it all again when time runs out on the three years.  

Disability is nothing compared to trying to get pain medicine. I could fill up this page with stories about how hard the abusers have made it for people with legitimate pain to get their medicine. 

Edited January 20, 2017 by Maharincess

[AuntiePam]

Maharincess, that's outrageous.  I hope you do get better.  Keep that attorney's phone number, just in case.

[Jamoche]

The JJ scammers probably find it much easier to slog their way through the process because they aren't inconvenienced by being disabled.

[Maharincess]

Thank you @AuntiePam.  I have improved in a lot of ways. At first they said I would never walk,  I can't walk far at all but I can get out of my chair to walk a few steps,. If I use my walker I can go farther but it takes forever.  

I'm a dog groomer and I'll never improve to the point that I'll be able to work and support myself again.  I've been working since I lied about my age and got a job at McDonald's when I was 14 and I've been working steadily since then.  I WANT to work, I hate feeling useless and having nothing to do. 

Just like the drug abusers make it hard for people with legitimate pain to get pain medicine, the system abusers have made it damn near impossible for the people who truly need help to get that help. 

[SRTouch]

50 minutes ago, Maharincess said:

.... I could fill up this page with stories about how hard the abusers have made it for people with legitimate pain to get their medicine. 

Which of course is part of the problem with the difficulty of getting disability. With so many scammers, the folks who approve things go into it thinking they're being lied to.

[momtoall]

One of my dear friends was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1980.  She has been in wheelchair for years.  When her daughter died in 1995 her daughter's children came to live with her.  My friend lives in section 8 housing.  After the grandchildren finished high school, she was told she had to move to a smaller house because she was one person and the house she lived in was a three bedroom.  She tried to fight section 8, telling them that the grandchildren would be coming home for holidays and during the summer but to no avail.  She had to move to a one bedroom apartment.  I don't understand how the scammers we see on TPC and JJ can have homes and apartments big enough to rent out rooms, meanwhile my friend's grandkids have to sleep on a sofa bed and air bed when they come home. 

Edited January 20, 2017 by momtoall

[SRTouch]

9 minutes ago, momtoall said:

One of my dear friends was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1980.  She has been in wheelchair for years.  When her daughter died in 1995 her daughter's children came to live with her.  My friend lives in section 8 housing.  After the grandchildren finished high school, she was told she had to move to a smaller house because she was one person and the house she lived in was a three bedroom.  She tried to fight section 8, telling them that the grandchildren would be coming home for holidays and during the summer but to no avail.  She had to move to a one bedroom apartment.  I don't understand how the scammers we see on TPC and JJ can have homes and apartments big enough to rent out rooms, meanwhile my friend's grandkids have to sleep on a sofa bed and air bed when they come home. 

Good question. Like I said earlier, for some of these litigants it's a family business. Today's applicant can go ask granny, dad, aunts, uncles, whole generations about the ins and outs of any shortcuts, and just what cousin Joe said to cut months off his approval.

[Christina]

I tried to come up with a Too Long:Didn't Read for this, but can't. I've also removed three paragraphs, so it is just a long bitch session:

There was a really large investigative piece done by one of the major newspapers years ago, where they delved into all of the theories of scamming the government. The first one I read was on the food stamp system, and the belief that people had of people buying steak and lobsters, beer, cigarettes, being illegals but collecting benefits, etc. They thoroughly disproved almost everything, except people purchasing mostly junk food, because the number one store to receive food stamps was Walmart, and they would not release their records. The major store chain, Kroger's I think, released theirs, and it just didn't happen there. They also showed how it would never change because the junk food and beverage companies were major lobbyists in the political world. 

The majority of the food stamp scams were where the store charged for food but actually gave back cash in a lesser amount. For instance, they would submit to the state that a person purchased $100 in groceries, but in actuality, they didn't purchase anything, and the store gave them $20 in cash and kept the rest. Those stores were all the smaller mom and pop grocery stores or some of the independently owned convenience stores. When caught, the person receiving benefits lost them, and the stores were prosecuted. Rarely were the beneficiaries prosecuted because they didn't have anything to recover and therefore, it wasn't worth it.

The other reports for things like people being in jail and still receiving Social Security benefits were not as thoroughly reported, because they just couldn't get anyone to cooperate. What they did find out was that, like with the food stamp frauds, they were not prosecuted because it wasn't worth it. You are not supposed to get Social Security if you are in jail for over thirty days, I think, it may have been sixty, but if you are living in an assisted living apartment building, or have a mental disability, your SS is probably being distributed by another person, who can be a complete stranger and doesn't know you were in jail. If your rent wasn't paid, they now have a homeless person in a worse position than before they went to jail, and still don't have the means to recoup their money.

The funds that required drug testing before they would be dispersed, such as food stamps and welfare in some states, cost more to administrate than they were able to recoup from not paying the people who failed. It just wasn't the problem that it was thought to be, and now you had homeless children.

I don't foresee any changes being made to any of these programs that will actually benefit society, because the problems they try to address, such as fraud, just don't exist on the wide scale, and the assistance that does help, such as job training and alternative sentencing instead of jail time for petty infractions, don't get funded. Improve the education system? Fund mental health programs? Actually treat and not incarcerate addicts? HAHAHAHAHA. There is no one to shame as an "other" in those scenarios, which seems to be the way our political system works. No one wants their tax dollars to go to something they don't agree with, which is why so much money is continually spent on the abortion debate and trying to change laws because people find it abhorrent, even though their tax funds don't pay for it. There are many people who feel it is their religious obligation to keep those debates happening, and therefore their obligation to fund the campaigns. I don't see that ever stopping; people are always going to have strong opinions.

I actually tried to avoid most election news and social media posts, because it got to be too much for me. But, was education even discussed this time? It seems that every election cycle, whether for President or at the state level, results in huge debates about education here in Ohio, with the Teacher's Union and actual teachers disagreeing, studies reported, failures acknowledged, and no changes being made. It's like we as a society acknowledge there is a problem, but we can't agree with how to fix it, and things just continue along the same path. 

Judge Judy's treatment of everyone on disability or that has a medical marijuana card is disgusting to me. She should know better. There is no doubt that she has seen scammers in her time in the actual court system and on the show, but she leads with the assumption that they are all trash. Her belittling of a woman who was working while collecting SSI, calling her a scammer and threatening to report her had me furious. I hope she did try and report her and was informed by SSA that she is allowed and encouraged to work! They want to get people back to work, if possible. 

Many people have benefited from medical marijuana yet some people get a card who don't need it, but want it, so to JJ everyone who isn't dying of cancer is obviously a scammer. She doesn't see her prejudices because she is so used to thinking she is the smartest person in the room, and sometimes actually being the smartest person in the room. Heaven forbid she may actually be wrong about something? Now she's not only not kept there because she's beautiful, she may not be as smart as she thinks, even though smart people tend to know that they don't know everything. But it's her name on the show, and therefore, her opinion is all that matters.

[SRTouch]

On 1/20/2017 at 1:46 PM, AuntiePam said:

SRTouch, I don't think the stall is deliberate, at least not on the part of the attorneys.  They're allowed to charge 25% of the back payment, up to a maximum of $6,000, so the pay-off is much less than a personal injury case.  The SSA is definitely stalling -- many applicants will die while waiting for approval.

I think part of the problem is that the system is overloaded with applicants who see disability as a last resort.  They can't find work.  Like you said in the other thread, the unskilled jobs are mostly gone. 

ITA and thank God for the attorneys, otherwise no one would ever get what they deserve. Actually, the bureaucracy is probably filled with good people doing their best. The massive overload on the system, not being able to help when you KNOW an applicant needs it, and the inevitable scammers trying to game the system - anybody could be forgiven for seeming to be uncaring at times.

[Guest]

On 1/20/2017 at 4:00 PM, Maharincess said:

 Once I was finally approved I was only approved for three years because they say they think I'm going to get better.  So I get to do it all again when time runs out on the three years.  

Oh, man. I am really sorry to hear your story, Maharincess. And I'm sorry that you have to go through all those ridiculous hoops in order to take advantage of our country's social safety network which was designed for people exactly in your circumstances. You shouldn't have to beg and fight for those benefits -- at all. It hurts my heart that good people in need have to go through this. 

On 1/20/2017 at 6:51 PM, Christina said:

But, was education even discussed this time? It seems that every election cycle, whether for President or at the state level, results in huge debates about education here in Ohio, with the Teacher's Union and actual teachers disagreeing, studies reported, failures acknowledged, and no changes being made. It's like we as a society acknowledge there is a problem, but we can't agree with how to fix it, and things just continue along the same path. 

It was never discussed during the election cycle (don't get me started). Regardless, you might want to Google Betsy DeVos who is the current nominee for EdSec to see where public education could be headed in the very near future. (Spoiler alert: into the toilet.)

[Maharincess]

1 hour ago, Giant Misfit said:

Oh, man. I am really sorry to hear your story, Maharincess. And I'm sorry that you have to go through all those ridiculous hoops in order to take advantage of our country's social safety network which was designed for people exactly in your circumstances. You shouldn't have to beg and fight for those benefits -- at all. It hurts my heart that good people in need have to go through this. 

 

Thank you so much, that's so sweet of you to say. 

I wish they were right and that I would get better to the point that I could go back to work.  I miss working and having a purpose, I feel worthless just sitting and laying around all day.  It's also boring as hell, there's only so many books to read, TV shows  to watch before I start going crazy from boredom. I don't know how people can play the system because they don't want to work, what the hell do those people do all day?!  

I also think it's hilarious that my surgeons and primary doctors all say I won't get better and they're shocked I have progressed as far as I have but the people who work at Social Security think they know more about my condition than my doctors do.  

One more thing about Social Security and I don't know if this is just my local office or of its this way everywhere. I'm always told that if I have any questions about anything that I can call either the office or my official case worker but they NEVER answer or call back.  Last year I had an appointment with them, since its hard for me to get places they usually let me do my appointments on the phone. This last appointment was a face to face interview and I couldn't get there. I called to switch it to a phone appointment a couple of weeks before it was scheduled.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I called my worker 18 times over a 2 week period and left messages each time and she never called me back. I also called thr office a bunch of times, told them what was going on but never got a call back from them either.  My letter said if I missed the appointment I could be cut off and would have to appeal.  I'm freaking out and calling every day but nobody will help me. On the day before the appointment I finally get through to somebody and just as shes going to transfer me to my worker I started crying my eyes out and this lady felt bad for me and I finally got help. It took her three seconds to change the appointment.  I made a complaint about them not returning calls but nothing has changed.  I don't understand how these people can do things like that and still keep their jobs. 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Maharincess said:

I also think it's hilarious that my surgeons and primary doctors all say I won't get better and they're shocked I have progressed as far as I have but the people who work at Social Security think they know more about my condition than my doctors do.

I'm sure there's some 4,000,000 page handbook that dictates every little nuance for handling claims. No one's treated as an individual -- just a number. It's like an insurance company - but only 1,000 times worse. 

I wish there were professional advocates in everyone's region that could help the disabled deal with the system. It's unfortunate enough you have a disability -- you don't need any more added stress. 

Big hugs to you. 

[momtoall]

13 hours ago, Maharincess said:

Oh, man. I am really sorry to hear your story, Maharincess.

Maharincess, what is happening to you is a disgrace.  I hope you get a just resolution soon.

[AngelaHunter]

On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 4:00 PM, Maharincess said:

A few years ago I fell off of a two story building.  I crushed two vertabra, shattered my pelvis and broke my hip in 4 places.  I've had 7 surgeries and am in a wheelchair.  I can walk but no more than a few steps at a time.  I was denied disability 5 times, had to get an attorney and appeal.  I won't get any better and still face more surgeries in the future.  Once I was finally approved I was only approved for three years because they say they think I'm going to get better.  So I get to do it all again when time runs out on the three years.  

Disability is nothing compared to trying to get pain medicine. I could fill up this page with stories about how hard the abusers have made it for people with legitimate pain to get their medicine. 

So very sorry to hear this. This is infuriating, moreso because of the scammers we see on this show who can't work, but can conceive, carry and give birth to a bunch of babies, or can't get any paying job, but can refit boats/do construction/landscaping etc. under the table, of course! Don't want to mess up their benefits.

[Brattinella]

Yeah they are "fixing" the problem of being addicted/overdosing on pain meds by NOT prescribing them!  Perfect!  I DO know about this problem, there is one doctor in my town who brags that he NEVER writes a prescription for pain killers.  Ever.  I just don't know what they are doing with all the opium they get from Afghanistan and Pakistan;  it has to be going SOMEWHERE.

Maharincess, I am so sorry for your predicament.  I hope the new administration does something a little more positive for the people like you, who are truly in need of pain relief.

[AngelaHunter]

33 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

Yeah they are "fixing" the problem of being addicted/overdosing on pain meds by NOT prescribing them! 

I was given a giant bottle of pain killers recently after a minor surgery. I didn't even ask. But then I saw I couldn't drink while on them, so I debated: Pain or wine? I chose pain and never took a pill. Maybe painkillers are "out" but turn on the TV and you'll see wall-to-wall drug pushing. I"m sure many people have babies now whose first words will be, "Ask your doctor."

[Brattinella]

33 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I was given a giant bottle of pain killers recently after a minor surgery. I didn't even ask. But then I saw I couldn't drink while on them, so I debated: Pain or wine? I chose pain and never took a pill. Maybe painkillers are "out" but turn on the TV and you'll see wall-to-wall drug pushing. I"m sure many people have babies now whose first words will be, "Ask your doctor."

Yes, it is wall-to-wall drug pushing, but for VERY expensive new drugs; drugs for psoriasis, heart failure, constipation, anxiety, et al.  There is a new drug to cure Hep C.  It will cost you $1800 a DAY for 12 weeks. You don't see ads for codeine or morphine or hydrocodone, because they are OLD and CHEAP and they are addictive.  I am SO sick of all the drug ads, and the list of side effects for each one doubles the length of the commercial!  I am glad in Canada you still have access to painkillers if you need them.  There is a booming black market on them now, and it is getting worse.

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

Yes, it is wall-to-wall drug pushing, but for VERY expensive new drugs; drugs for psoriasis, heart failure, constipation

Ironically enough, the new drug for constipation is a drug specifically designed to alleviate constipation in chronic opiod users. 

It's outrageous that people who need pain medication can't get it. 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Guest

[AngelaHunter]

Quote

I am SO sick of all the drug ads, and the list of side effects for each one doubles the length of the commercial! 

Ever listen to some of the side effects? One drug, for something fairly minor, can give you an irresistable urge to GAMBLE! You might end up living in your car  and eating dog food, but at least you won't be bothered by that pesky "restless leg syndrome." Might be helpful considering the limited space.
 

 

3 hours ago, Brattinella said:

I am glad in Canada you still have access to painkillers if you need them. 

I have friend in the US who asked me to buy some 222s for her, as she cannot get them in her state.  She CAN get a drug that claims to cure flu, but the side effects include headache, nausea and diarrhea. I watched that and exclaimed aloud, "That IS the flu!"

[lovesnark]

Another chronic pain patient here. My primary care doc prescribed my meds for 8 years. Last year, the corporation he works for decided to open a gazillion dollar 'pain management pavilion' and, in their infinite wisdom, also opted to stop treating patients with opioid medications. The shiny new pavilion offers physical therapy, hypnosis, massage, spinal/joint injections and all sorts of other things. But, no meds, no how. He gave me a list of pain management docs he knew because I've had all the injections, the physical therapy, etc and they don't help  degenerative disease for more than a couple days and the spinal injections actually made the pain worse.

I had to wait for nearly three months to get into the clinic I chose because of a huge influx of new patients due to so many doctors and clinics opting out of prescribing pain meds. I've been seeing a pain management doc for about a year now and the thing I like about him the most is that he hates the DEA with the fire of a thousand suns. But, you do have to jump through hoops until the powers that be (the DEA) deems you trustworthy. For the first three months, I had to go in for an appointment each month, take my meds so they could count them and pee in a cup to make sure I'm taking my meds. He let me know it was nothing personal and that he'd read all of my records from my primary care doc and knew I was low risk. But, it's what the DEA mandates. After that period, I go to an appointment every three months and get three months worth of prescriptions at a time. Thankfully, the local pharmacy will take all three prescriptions and hold them for me and fill them on the date written by the doctor. Some pharmacies refuse to hold the paper prescriptions in their safe and you have to take them in on the day of the scheduled refill. And, even though I'm nearly 60 years old and  have never even had a traffic ticket, I'm in a database that law enforcement can access if they want to.

[Brattinella]

1 hour ago, lovesnark said:

hates the DEA with the fire of a thousand suns.

Same here.

[Guest]

UGH! I'm sorry, @lovesnark. That's absolutely awful. 

The DEA would do better to regulate the unscrupulous drug companies and their wholesalers than the people who need the medication to get through the day without agony. I thought this article about the epidemic of opiate abuse in West Virginia was pretty eye opening: 

Quote

Over five years, out-of-state drug wholesalers shipped more than 200 million doses of two popular prescription painkillers to West Virginia, while turning a blind eye to suspicious orders from “pill-mill” pharmacies, according to the latest filing in a state lawsuit against the companies.

The release of the pill numbers follows a bid by the drug wholesalers to toss out the lawsuit.

Between 2007 and 2012, 11 drug distributors shipped 59.9 million oxycodone pills and 140.6 million hydrocodone pills to West Virginia, according to the filing by lawyers representing two state agencies. 

“That’s an extraordinarily high number of medications in a state with less than 2 million people,” said Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, a retired pharmacist. “If I would have been the firm shipping those drugs or seeing those shipping records, I would have looked at that and said, “What’s going on here?’ ”

 

[Spunkygal]

I don't know if this has ever been discussed, but if you're the plaintiff and you want your case on JJ, how can you make the defendant agree to appear? I wonder if there is a subpoena type notification? I ask for two reasons. One, I am constantly amazed at the morons who agree to appear. Also, a neighborhood dog  was viciously attacked by another and died, resulting in vet bills of about $500. The owners of the attacked dog got a ruling in their favor in small claims court but of course defendant ignored it. I told plaintiff they should have gone on JJ instead...she'd give them the money. They said they didn't think about it and doubted that defendant would agree to go on. Anyone know how this works?

[AZChristian]

According to Wikipedia, " All parties involved must sign contracts agreeing to arbitration under Sheindlin."

[Jamoche]

4 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I don't know if this has ever been discussed, but if you're the plaintiff and you want your case on JJ, how can you make the defendant agree to appear?

I'd guess most of them are so clueless that as soon as the JJ delegation says the magic words "TV" they jump on it.

[AZChristian]

34 minutes ago, Jamoche said:

I'd guess most of them are so clueless that as soon as the JJ delegation says the magic words "TV" they jump on it.

And then there's the free trip to California and the promise of at least an appearance fee.

[SRTouch]

Spent the last couple days messing with a potential tenant for my empty bedroom. Sounded great at first, but more and more red flags started coming up. I was already questioning things, and then there was "THE CHECK." You see, she was supposedly a 24yo recent graduate from her hometown college in Winnipeg. Seemed odd to me that she would take a room, sight unseen, with some old retired dude. But, hey, people do crazy stuff. After a series of emails back and forth, I give her my phone number and tell her to call me with any questions - she never calls. Little things like that, but I was starting to doubt her story. Then, THE CHECK arrives. She told me her daddy was footing the bills, and he would be sending a cashiers check. The check arrives and ... not a cashiers check - not even a personal check ... written for two thousand more than she needs ... and get this, written on a YMCA of Cental Maryland account - and no, I left out the "r" on purpose, that's the way "central" was spelled on the check. Now I'm really smelling something fishy. I took it to my bank and asked a supervisor to put a hold on the money. The Maryland bank wouldn't tell her why over the phone, just said they wouldn't hold the funds, and would not confirm or deny the existence of the account. I came home and played detective on my own. I got online, found the Maryland YMCA, and gave them a call. Got the email address of someone in their accounting office, and scanned the UPS shipping label and the check, and emailed it to Maryland. While I'm doing that I get a text from the tenant saying she sees the check has arrived according to UPS tracking - so obviously she received my number. This morning I get this in reply.  "We have taken a look at the check you scanned over to us and it is fraud and will not clear our bank...  We know that the package originated in Florida with a return address of Maryland and your text message came from Tennessee..." Anyway, I like to think I wouldn't have fallen for the scam anyway, but court TV definitely helped me spot it early.

[lovesnark]

Wow! You dodged a bullet there! I bet she was going to give you a song and dance story about the extra 2k. Something like asking you if you'd just get the cash from your bank and give it to her since she's new in town and doesn't have a bank account yet and it would be fine once the check was cleared and in your account. Then she'd vanish. Good sleuthing :)

[Brattinella]

@SRTouch, so proud you caught that!  Hope she/he gets REALLY caught and punished for this.

[AuntiePam]

SRTouch, after watching all the landlord-tenant cases on JJ, if I had spare rooms, I'd rent them out for storage space, not people.  Or put in some grow lights, and you know --

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, AuntiePam said:

SRTouch, after watching all the landlord-tenant cases on JJ, if I had spare rooms, I'd rent them out for storage space, not people.  Or put in some grow lights, and you know --

lol yeah, my last tenant spoiled me. Lived here 7 years as a month to month tenant, never had anything in writing, and no doubt would still be here if this place was a little more wheel chair friendly. Oh, and he was also my first tenant. Hmmm truth be told, more friend than tenant, since I carried him for quite awhile when he started his health problems on the promise that I would be paid when/if his disability ever kicks in. Actually, the "never had anything in writing" is incorrect - he insisted on a promissory note when he started owing me money.

This fiasco with the scammer convinced me to slow down and be much more choosy.