Holland & Hart Healthcare Law Blog

OKLAHOMA FEDERAL JUDGE AUTHORIZES SUBSTITUTE USE OF NEMBUTOL TO AID IN EXECUTIONS.

 

There has been a shortage of thiopetal sodium recently, the anesthetic of choice in executions by lethal injections, which has temporarily halted executions in a number of jurisdictions that unlike, Texas,  have not stocked up on the drug. The manufacturer of the drug Hospira, Inc. of Illinois has indicated that it has had manufacturing issues with the drug and replacement supplies would not be available until early 2011.  Hospira, which markets its drugs, under the tag line of “Advancing Wellness” has indicated that it does not favor the “off-label” use of its drug in state sponsored executions. Death penalty opponents have been objecting to the substitution of other drugs because of the potential for pain and suffering by the prisoner in potential violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

 

I ESCAPED FR0M A RAC [AUDIT]- A GUEST ARTICLE.

[Todays post is by Joan c. Ditges, RN, the principal in Legal Nurse Associates, Inc. a consulting company engaged in Medical Record Reviews, Summations and Analyis  and a consultant to this firm]

CMS couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate month for the initial nationwide roll out of the Recovery Audit Contractor permanent program. March is the month when many, even non sport’s fans,  are consumed by college basketball’s March Madness and find it difficult to concentrate on little else. March is the month when we begin escaping from the confines of winter as we get our first glimpses of spring only to be fooled by a late March snowstorm that seemingly blew in from no where and caught us totally unprepared. March is also the first month of the Roman Calendar and is named after Mars, the god of war. How apt that the RAC foot soldiers should wage war on our healthcare providers in March, some of who are consumed by a similar March madness in frenzied preparation for auditors, others who were lulled by the inactivity of winter and will be unprepared when the blizzard that is RAC blows into their facilities and practices.