Charlotte's Mayor Foxx Threatens Stormy Weather Ahead

To contact us Click HERE
Things are looking rather stormy for the Charlotte City Council over the next few weeks. Council's two republicans and a number of democrates have dug in their heels over taxes and a new budget that would include a street car, a billion dollar project in the long run.

The Charlotte Observer ran a "cute" piece on Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and his strained relationship with a couple of Charlotte City Council members.

"Claire Fallon ... believes Mayor Anthony Foxx, a fellow Democrat, is trying to push her out of office for not backing a streetcar. Foxx is trying to secure enough votes to include a $119 million streetcar extension in the broader capital plan, which could reach nearly $1 billion."

Fallon is one of several "new" council members who stepped up to challenge the way City Council spends your tax dollars, and this has not set well with Mayor Foxx. Fallon voted against the streetcar in June. She has told both FOX Charlotte and the Charlotte Observer that she would not react to political pressure to back the streetcar.

“He never said it outright,” Fallon said. “It was inferred. You listen to the music and not the words. The inference was, ‘I’m not very happy.’ He certainly isn’t going to support me.”

In an interview earlier in the week, Foxx said he will likely run for his third term as mayor.

"When asked about candidates for City Council, and whether he would recruit other Democrats to run citywide, Foxx said only that he would give careful consideration to any endorsement."

The Observer's Kevin Siers chirped up with his view of Mayor Foxx and his Street Car Plan:



Cedar's Take: Got to love the "8" pies.

Then late in the week Foxx supporters sounded the alarm and ran to the mayor's side. James "Smuggie" told a local television news reporter that Mayor Foxx "doesn't operate that way" further stating that he has never known the Mayor to threaten anyone.

Whoa! Stop the presses, let's just flash back to November 14 of last year.  

"Early this year when the Mayor's staff told the Charlotte International Cabinet that unless they coughed up the cash for the Mayor's First Class upgrade on his trip to China, their funding would be up for discussion. "

"I am going to ask again that CIC reimburse Mayor for the cost of his first class ticket - $4,000...If its not reimbursed, please expect hell with your presentation to Council and next year's budget." a Foxx staffer told the Charlotte International Cabinet via email.

The Charlotte Observer story on Mayor Foxx and his CIC threat is here.

Foxx of course claimed that threat was done without his authorization. But it is clear that Mayor Foxx likes to throw his weight around and this is how he serves as Charlotte's Mayor.

You might recall a CMPD rookie who pulled the Mayor over uptown for making a illegal turn. Again Mayor Foxx reportedly threaten the rookie cop and a ticket was not issued.

Cedar Posts Story on Mayor Foxx and his Uptown driving habits is here.

FOX Charlotte rolled the video that included the following:

"While differences in city politics is a reality, several sources told FOX Charlotte that Foxx has taken it to the next level.
Despite having councilmen from Foxx's party that have voted against his budget proposal, it's Pickering and Fallon that the mayor wants defeated in next year's election. He's pushing for District 2 Councilman James Mitchell to run for an at-large seat.Fallon says bring it on.

Council member Beth Pickering said she has had “firm and frank” conversations with the mayor about the streetcar. She said she’s concerned about the streetcar because of the property tax increase.She said she has heard “rumors” that Foxx would support other Democratic candidates against her.
“When I heard James (Mitchell) may run at-large I thought that might be true,” she said.

The entire FOX Charlotte Report is here.
Cedar's Take: Mayor Foxx is a spoiled toddler. Frankly I think the street car is a great idea, I have a couple of street cars I would be thrilled to sell the City of Charlotte. But Mayor Foxx and prior City Council has spent tax dollars like drunken sailors, they need to work with what they have and forget the idea of raising taxes. Maybe it is time to tap into Jerry Orr's cash cow, the airport. Maybe it is time to ask Jerry Richardson to "pass the loot" or make a call to Brother "BO" and get a little "ear marked" cash for Charlottte.
Come on Mayor Foxx do your job! Make a few call and make it happen without putting another burden on the taxpayers.

THE WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND DOWNEAST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL ARE TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS APRIL 30 AT HANNAFORD SUPER MARKET

To contact us Click HERE
Machias Maine– On April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Washington County Sheriff's along with DownEast Community Hospital ] and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications to Hannaford Super Market US Route one Machias, The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds—121 tons—of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.
Four days after last fall’s event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA has begun drafting regulations to implement the Act, a process that can take as long as 24 months. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.


Sheriff Doniie Smith
Washington County Sheriff's Office

Explorers compete in Osceola County

To contact us Click HERE

  Sheriff’s Explorers traveled to Osceola County this past weekend to an Explorer Delegates event. The weather was perfect for the various competitions. The kids did very well shooting, with Kyle “Tyro”  Cassidy from Post 905 placing 1st shooting a .38 caliber revolver. The Explorer team placed second in the Officer Down competition using airsoft guns. This trip, the kids got the opportunity to shoot four different types of assault rifles. They also competed in many other types of events, including an obstacle course with dummy pulls, wall climbing, moving truck tires, etc.

The Safe Patient Project: Information About Medical Devices And The FDA

To contact us Click HERE
I've already posted here on the blog about the "compromise" FDA "Safety" bill and how it allows medical devices to be put on the market without clinical testing.

Which is alarming enough. But here's some more news.


FDA Tells Medical Device Manufacturers It Will Help Them Speed Up Product Approvals Source: Washington Post


A comment was on that last article that I, for one, would like an answer to:


I have been a patient advocate for 5 years, attended the FDA/OSHI/CDRH Patient Representative training, first MDUFA meeting, testified twice (TX and CA) at FDA/CDRH Town Hall meetings. I am a member of several national health consumer organizations. None of us were informed about the 12/3/12 Senate briefing until late Thursday.


MDIC Medical Device Innovation Consortium has done a poor job of engaging stakeholders when it charges $5000 for membership knowing that fee will eliminate patient stakeholders.


The timing of this briefing is suspect and I question the need for any nonprofit 501(c)3 to further the medical device industry profit goals while limiting access to harmed patients and consumers. FDA staffers and elected Senators must explain their participation in this exclusionary briefing.

Yeah, no kidding. Dianne Feinstein?
Yeah, I've tried writing to her before. Maybe I'll write her again.
Maybe I'll just keep writing letters to elected "reps" until I turn blue in the fingertips.



"What's for dinner?"
"Ribs"
image source: Wikipedia















Then there's this: "FDA warns Medtronic on manufacturing guideline violations"; source; Reuters. Date: 8/21/12.

And then this: FDA warns Medtronic over implantable drug infusion pump snafu; source; fiercemedicaldevices.com. Date: 8/21/12.

The FDA ...getting in Medtronic's face?
Trying to ...regulate?



The new panel the FDA put together to help speed up product approvals includes: .....want to guess?

Medtronic!!
Among others.


The Medical Device Innovation Consortium was created by LifeScience Alley, a Minnesota-based group that includes companies like Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc., the world’s largest medical device company. The group also includes research institutions like the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota.


Apparently, it doesn't include patient advocate groups. The patient advocate commenting above in the white text wants to know why she wasn't notified of the hearing until just a few days before it happened. She's right to be pissed. Or he.
Can't tell.

Here's another interesting thing. Every time I go to the Safe Patient Project website, SafePatientProject.org, their site looks different. The only, and I mean the only reason I found the article about the no-clinical-testing-required-Safety-Bill, is that I spotted my name in the lower right corner of the site where "most recent comments" are noted.

I was originally searching for the article in Google. Didn't find the right keywords, I guess, because it didn't come up. Then I searched for it on the site, just typing "FDA" into the search bar. I got a whole bunch of interesting results, a few of which I just linked above, but I couldn't find that article. The comments I left on the article said:



Reply
Cindi Burkey says:
September 14, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Please help me out with something here. It seems to me this article is saying that medical devices can be approved for sale with no clinical testing needed at all.
I’m sure I’ve misunderstood this. Could someone clarify for me?

It can’t be legal to sell medical implants that have not been clinically tested. Can it?

Reply
Cindi Burkey says:
November 8, 2012 at 6:40 pm
So…the sound of silence. Maybe no one’s looked at this site. I’m still wondering about this bill.



I wondered why that article didn't come up in the search results when I put in FDA.

But I was pleased to find it through the comment thingy.

And there's lots of good info on that site. In fact I like it a lot.

Take charge of your medical care....it's a jungle out there.

Going To The Doctor Could Make You Sicker: Safe Patient Project

To contact us Click HERE


I'm glad someone's doing something with those tax dollars......

CDC Warns Public About Deadly C-Diff Infections



14,000 Americans die every year from diarrhea-causing C. difficile (or C. diff for short) infections and 337,000 people are hospitalized, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unlike other healthcare-associated infections that have been on the decline over the past decade, C. diff infection rates and deaths climbed to historic highs and “pose threat across medical facilities,” adding at least $1 billion in extra costs to the health care system, said the CDC Director.

The people most at risk are those who take antibiotics and also receive medical care in any setting. This could include a nursing home, hospital, doctor’s office, outpatient surgery center, etc. Those most at risk include people who have been in a hospital or other health care facility and have taken antibiotics in the past three months, especially those over age 65. About half of all antibiotics that patients are given are not needed, raising the risk of C. diff infections.



Cindy comments:

In July I acquired c. Diff in the hospital. I was having a shunt replaced. I have been on three rounds of antibiotics. Flagyl, flagyl/vanco, and flagyl/vanco and questran. I cannot get rid of this. I have had a fever for days and a rash. I contacted the CDC but they will not investigate unless my doctor contacts them. The doctors do not want involved. I am 40 years old and can’t get out of bed. I do not eat and feel terrible.

Can't Add LinkedIn Recommendations

To contact us Click HERE
This apparently isn't a new problem.

How long does it take to fix this "bug"?

This isn't complicated software and it doesn't happen elsewhere.

Is it "incompetence"? As a friend just suggested?

Or are certain people who write and say controversial things targeted and hacked?




In this day and age of high-tech spying, cameras on the ceiling and in public, fusion centers and surveillance of communications----is it unreasonable or paranoid to feel like maybe there's a design, and it's not incompetent?


Because to not consider that, seems ......well, fuck, I don't know.

There's a really nice recommendation by a Baylor compadre, who said such lovely things that I wish his endorsement would show up on my profile. But it doesn't. It does show up in my list of recommendations, unlike the other rec's I've gotten notice on lately. It tells me to click a link to un-hide it. I do this, and it does ..nothing. Again and again. I cannot unhide this rec.

THE WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND DOWNEAST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL ARE TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS APRIL 30 AT HANNAFORD SUPER MARKET

To contact us Click HERE
Machias Maine– On April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Washington County Sheriff's along with DownEast Community Hospital ] and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications to Hannaford Super Market US Route one Machias, The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds—121 tons—of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.
Four days after last fall’s event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA has begun drafting regulations to implement the Act, a process that can take as long as 24 months. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.


Sheriff Doniie Smith
Washington County Sheriff's Office