Blog

May 27 11:26 AM

On the first day of the roll out of the One and Only Campaign, we had 192 requests! Notices of the release of the video appeared in over 100 web postings. Thanks again to the SIPC for all your hard work and dedication!

May 26 6:22 PM

Something I can cross off my bucket list: I was on the Tom Becka Show today on KFAB in Omaha. And part of an article that appeared in the Omaha World-Herald today - and one that will be out in the Las Vegas Review-Journal - all of the debut of the One and Only Campaign video. I believe Dr. Michael Bell, narrator of the video, will also be part of the Las Vegas story, written by reporter Paul Harasim. KETV 7 in Omaha has invited us to be part of a story; we will likely see them tomorrow or Friday. Many thanks to members of the Safe Injection Practices Coalition for allowing me to be one of the spokespersons for our campaign!

May 26 8:32 AM

On behalf of our coalition partners - and many others who helped brainstorm and develop the One & Only Campaign video - I am very proud. This video depicts many of the issues that have affected people throughout the United States, including 99 of us in Nebraska. There is also a section on myths of injection practices. I am grateful for the dedicated work of our Safe Injection Practices Coalition, and welcome the opportunity to discuss this video with members of the media and others.  This morning's press release is included below.

May 20 1:16 PM

Good news from our partners on the Safe Injection Practices Coalition: At 9 AM EST on Wednesday, May 26, a multimedia version (video, web site, etc.) will go out on the wire to all editors! Along with Dr. Bell, I am one of the spokespersons. We anticipate a lot of interest from media and the public on the importance of One Needle, One Syringe, Only One Time!

May 18 3:14 PM

Evelyn and Tom McKnight will attend the Safety by Engineering meeting Monday at the CDC. Rich Caizza, an HONOReform Foundation advisor whose background is in injection engineering, will join them. Working with industry leaders and public organizations to have injection devices that can only be used once distributed throughout the United States is high on the list of HONOReform's priorities.

May 11 10:55 AM

We are monitoring this lawsuit filed by Ms. Fleisher against Rose Medical Center. We are in support of all patients and families in Colorado. The outbreak in Colorado clearly underscores how necessary it is to engineer safety into the healthcare system. Tom and I and Rich Caizza will attend the Safety by Design meeting on May 24 at the CDC. More information on the lawsuit:  http://www.outpatientsurgery.net/news/2010/05/5

May 3 9:12 AM

At the core of so many of the issues HONOReform addresses is the reuse of the syringe. This situation in Indiana is yet another example of of what we and our partners in the One and Only Campaign are working hard to prevent.

INDIANAPOLIS (April 30, 299010) -- A Bloomington doctor accused of using the same syringe on
multiple patients is now suspected of contributing to the deaths of five
people he treated.

The attorney general's office on Friday filed a complaint against Dr. Kamal
Tiwari, accusing him of overprescribing medications to at least nine patients
and providing prescriptions to patients who he knew were selling their
medication and using illegal drugs, 6News' Rafael Sanchez reported.

The state says that four men and one woman died after abusing or overusing
drugs prescribed by Tiwari between August 2003 and February 2009.

"This particular physician should have known dangers of prescribing practices
and he didn't act on that," said Deputy Attorney General Abby Kuzma.

Tiwari, an anesthesiologist, treated patients with serious spine and back
pain in a number of offices in Greenwood, Jasper, Bloomington and New Albany,
state officials said.

On Friday, Sanchez went to the Pain Management Center at 2920 McIntyre Drive
in Bloomington, where staff members declined to comment about the
allegations.

An employee at the Pain Management Center at 3162 National Road in Columbus
said Tiwari hadn't seen patients there for at least three months.

In 2007, Tiwari was accused by the state of using the same syringe on
multiple patients at another Bloomington facility.
Needles were changed between patients, but the syringe was not, according to
the Indiana State Board of Health records.
Officials said that issue remains under investigation and is now part of the
current complaint.
Tiwari's attorney, Arend Abel, said none of the allegations are true.

"This is the latest step of a concerted campaign of harassment that Tiwari
has undergone," he said. He declined to discuss the specific merits in the
state's 54-page complaint.

Tiwari can still practice medicine in Indiana, but is banned from writing
prescriptions.
The Indiana Medical Licensing Board will likely take up Tiwari's case in
September.