The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers and health care professionals about a counterfeit version of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ Adderall 30 milligram tablets that is being purchased on the Internet. Adderall, which is approved to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and narcolepsy, is a prescription drug classified as a controlled substance – a class of drugs for which special controls are required for dispensing by pharmacists.
FDA’s preliminary laboratory tests revealed that the counterfeit version of Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets contained the wrong active ingredients. Adderall contains four active ingredients – dextroamphetamine saccharate, amphetamine aspartate, dextroamphetamine sulfate, and amphetamine sulfate. Instead of these active ingredients, the counterfeit product contained tramadol and acetaminophen, which are ingredients in medicines used to treat acute pain.
Currently on the FDA’s drug shortage list, Adderall is in short supply due to active pharmaceutical ingredient supply issues. Teva continues to release product as it becomes available. Consumers should be extra cautious when buying their medicines from online sources. Rogue websites and distributors may especially target medicines in short supply for counterfeiting.
The counterfeit Adderall tablets are round, white and do not have any type of markings, such as letters or numbers. Any product that resembles the tablets or the packaging in the photos below and claims to be Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets should be considered counterfeit. The counterfeit versions of Adderall should be considered as unsafe, ineffective and potentially harmful.
Authentic Adderall 30 mg tablets produced by Teva are round, orange/peach, and scored tablets with “dp” embossed on one side and “30” on the other side of the tablet. Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets are packaged only in a 100-count bottle with the National Drug Code (NDC) 0555-0768-02 listed.
In the news: Youth recovery court starts in Winnebago County
Judge Janet Holmgren, presiding judge of the Juvenile and Specialty Courts Division of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court, smiles while distributing state certificates for Rosecrance’s crisis intervention training (C.I.T.). in February. Judge Holmgren presides over a special youth recovery court for juvenile offenders with mental heath or substance abuse issues.
WREX-13 published an article over the weekend about a Rosecrance-affiliated recovery court for juvenile offenders with mental health or substance abuse issues.
The court system is designed to provide an alternative to jail and is presided by Judge Janet Holmgren, presiding judge of the Juvenile and Specialty Courts Division of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court.
From the WREX-13 article:
Experts know when some people commit crimes, the behavior can be out of those people’s control. Maybe substance abuse or mental illness are a problem.
It’s called Youth Recovery Court, a partnership with Rockford’s Rosecrance. Five young adults are eligible for the program now. There’s room for nearly 40. The idea began to take shape in 2011 when the county won a 250 thousand dollar federal grant. Supporters hope this meets a need for troubled kids in the community.
Youth have to have mental or substance abuse problems and non violent offenses to get into the program. Rosecrance staff will test potential participants to see if they’re good candidates for treatment.
Orland Township officials pool resources for substance abuse recovery
Today on the Tinley Park Patch is an article about officials in Orland Township pooling their substance abuse prevention resources in the wake of recent heroin-related incidents.
From the article:
In March, area law enforcement, mental health, school and government officials met to pool resources in the wake of a noted rise in heroin-related arrests and deaths. They determined that although a great deal of varied treatments, counseling and programs are available in the area, people who need help aren’t connecting with those treatments.
So on May 2, a Community Link Symposium will be held at Carl Sandburg High School to introduce people to local drug and alcohol support services.
Orland Township is inviting a wide range of educators, mental health practitioners, law enforcement officials and community groups to gather next week to help link drug addicts to the help they need.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), the first and only non-invasive treatment for depression approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was featured Wednesday, March 14, on the Dr. Oz program.
TMS is a non-medicinal treatment for major depressive disorder. It is managed by board-certified physicians and features no systemic side effects, such as weight gain or sexual problems. TMS was approved for use by the FDA in Oct. 2008.
“TMS is an exciting addition to Rosecrance’s armamentarium in our battle against depression,” said Dr. Raymond Garcia, M.D., medical director at the Rosecrance Harrison Campus.
Dr. Oz has the newest revolutionary therapies for pain, depression and weight loss. The controversial cure for back pain, the controversial weight loss shot – what works? Is your pain all in your head? Or are you missing the warning signs of fibromyalgia? Surprising solutions you haven’t heard!
Aspen Counseling & Consulting is the only provider of TMS in Rockford. Call Aspen at 815-399-9700 for more information or a free consultation.
SAMHSA: 7.5 million children live with a parent with an alcohol use disorder
The report is titled Data Spotlight: Over 7 Million Children Live with a Parent with Alcohol Problems. The report is based on data from SAMHSA’s 2005-2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
The reported numbers are higher for children living in two-parent households (11.6 percent) compared with children in single-parent households (7.2 percent).
From the SAMHSA news release:
According to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 6.1 million of these children live with two parents—with either one or both parents experiencing an alcohol use disorder in the past year.
The remaining 1.4 million of these children live in a single-parent house with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year. Of these children 1.1 million lived in a single mother household and 0.3 million lived in a single father household. This study is done in conjunction with Children of Alcoholics Week, February 12-18, 2012.
Vets project highlights role of Rosecrance experiential therapies program
February marked the inauguration of Therapeutic Recreation Month, a national campaign that highlights how therapeutic recreational therapy can improve quality of life, increase independence and promote health and wellness for people in recovery.
Rosecrance embraces these concepts as part of a nationally recognized experiential therapies program at both the adult and adolescent substance abuse campuses.
Kari Fager, Certified Recreational Therapist Specialist (CTRS), said that the skills patients learn in treatment can help them sustain recovery when they return home. Fager is the therapeutic art and recreation supervisor at the Harrison Campus, the adult treatment center.
“We specifically help them to explore the benefits of leisure, physical activity, and relaxation skills through learning yoga and other meditation techniques, as well as teaching the connection between wellness and recovery,” Fager said.
Art therapy – while different from therapeutic recreational therapy – also is part of the experiential therapies program at Rosecrance, and offers many of the same benefits to people in recovery.
“Patients take a metaphoric look at themselves, their future goals, current road blocks, subconscious thoughts and current feelings,” said Jada Miller, art therapist at the Harrison Campus . “Patients come to embrace learning about themselves and their recovery in a visual way.”
Art therapy gives patients tools to help them better understand their own motivations and behaviors, Miller said.
Valentines for Veterans, a Valentine’s Day project at Rosecrance Harrison Campus, highlighted the impact of the experiential therapies program.
More than 120 hand-made cards were created as part of Valentines for Veterans. Some were presented to vets receiving care through Rosecrance, and the rest were delivered to the VFW Post in Loves Park, which participated in the federal program to distribute the cards.
The project allowed patients receiving inpatient treatment at Rosecrance’s adult substance abuse treatment campus to work on their own recovery while reaching out to thank veterans who otherwise might be forgotten on Valentine’s Day.
“Projects like Valentines for Veterans give patients an opportunity to show their gratitude for the things in life they may not have thought about during their active addiction,” Miller said. “It gives them a chance to look at the bigger picture in sobriety, while also feeling a sense of pride in helping others”
Rosecrance responds to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's budget address
In his Feb. 22 budget address, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced plans to close Rockford’s Singer Mental Health Center. He did not indicate where residents would be relocated.
Rosecrance Health Network President/CEO Philip W.Eaton has issued a response:
We understand the closing of Singer, and it appears to make sense considering the critical financial condition of the state of Illinois. However, we are concerned about a transition plan for these individuals to proper care or to services in the community.
We learned from the round of hearings last year when the closure idea was first proposed that citizens of this state want appropriate care for this population. The committee that was charged with making the recommendation on closure concluded that the state was not ready with a transition plan.
Now, it is critical that the state and appropriate parties in communities begin making a solid plan to care for this vulnerable population.
We are ready to play a role in creating a transition plan for individuals who need the services that currently are being offered at Singer. We desperately need those services in our community and the ramifications of not having them will be dramatic.
Without appropriate transition services and ongoing community-based care, there is great danger of very vulnerable people falling through the cracks. We can expect more and more people to start showing up in emergency rooms, in the backs of police cars or ambulances.
Other portions of the budget speech announced significant cuts to an array of state programs and services. The state currently owes Rosecrance $9 million for mental health and substance abuse services already given to clients.
Rosecrance Chief Financial Officer John Schuster issued a response to the cuts:
Just Medicaid alone is a significant cut. The governor proposed an 18 percent cut. That would be a cut of about $1.8 million for us. And then he proposed 40 percent cut in mental health grants. How bad that is depends on how it’s implemented, whether it is a mix of rates and eligibility and types of services covered. The bottom line is it hits the most vulnerable people.
The overall impact is difficult to determine right now, but on the face of it, it appears that we would see a reduction of about $3 million in state funding that Rosecrance uses to serve the most vulnerable people.
This is a starting point for our planning, but we still have to see what the Legislature does and how Department of Human Services implements the inevitable reductions.
The two-year study of more than 6,500 American kids, ages 10 to 14, also found that teens who are exposed to alcohol-fueled movies are more likely to progress to binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row) HealthDay reports.
Study findings show that the proportion of kids who started drinking alcohol more than doubled from 11 percent to 25 percent, and the proportion of those who started binge drinking tripled from 4 percent to 13 percent.
Teens being exposed to movies that feature alcohol use led to 28 percent of kids drinking alcohol and of those teens, 20 percent moved on to binge drinking, noted the survey. Researchers also underscored that the association was not only seen with movie characters who drank on-screen, but also with alcohol product placement throughout the movies.
February is Therapeutic Recreation Month at Rosecrance. Along with improving quality of life, therapeutic recreation also has many other benefits:
1. To promote and enhance quality of life 2. To offer activities that are meaningful to each client 3. To enhance or maintain cognitive abilities 4. To enhance or maintain physical abilities 5. To promote emotional and psychosocial well-being 6. To provide opportunity for socialization 7. To offer opportunity for creative expression 8. To offer opportunity for decision making, choice, and responsibility 9. To offer opportunity for spiritual expression 10. To offer solace and relaxation 11. To provide opportunity for fun, pleasure, and enjoyment 12. To offer opportunity to share common interests, cultures, and experiences 13. To promote independence and decreased learned helplessness 14. To provide opportunity to learn new skills, adapt old skills, and enjoy new leisure experiences
A new partnership between Rosecrance and Crusader Community Health signals important progress toward integrating behavioral health and primary health care to better serve the comprehensive needs of patients.
Rosecrance has embedded a mental health counselor at Crusader’s clinic on West State Street in Rockford to take on-the-spot referrals for mental health services from nurse practitioners and doctors who see patients for their medical issues. The next step is for Crusader to assign a staff member to the Ware Center to serve clients who go there for services but whose overall health could benefit from primary care services. Crusader officials say they intend to expand the program soon.
Will Holm, a licensed clinical social worker for Rosecrance, is the first staff to be assigned to the program full time. Holm sees up to a dozen Crusader patients daily for mental health assessments or to provide solution-focused brief therapy for conditions such as stress or anxiety. When necessary, Holm has immediate access to the psychiatrists at the Ware Center to consult on a patient’s medication needs. He can make referrals to the Center for individuals with severe mental illness in need of ongoing services.
The arrangement exemplifies a national trend toward integrated care, which means treating the whole person. The collaboration for what is being called “bi-directional care” is among less than a handful of such programs in the state.
“For so long, behavioral health services have been kept at arm’s length from primary care,” Rosecrance President and CEO Philip Eaton said. “Think of how much better we can serve patients who enter the doors at Crusader or Rosecrance if we truly listen to them and assess their emotional needs right alongside their physical health needs. This is very important to the continuum of care in our community.”
Research has shown that individuals with severe mental illness live an average of 25 years less than the average for the rest of the population. That alarming statistic is one of the driving forces behind the collaboration between Crusader and Rosecrance.
The patient referrals to Holm at Crusader are entirely voluntary. Crusader staff members report minimal patient resistance to seeing Holm and talking about their possible mental health needs.
“The demand is greater than we’d anticipated,” said Mark Kendall, Crusader’s chief operating officer. “Our primary care providers barely have time to diagnose the physical needs and a mental health diagnosis takes even longer.”
Contact:
Judy Emerson
Director of Communications
Rosecrance Health Network
1021 N. Mulford Road
Rockford, IL 61107
815.387.5605 (office); 815.262.4685 (cell)
jemerson (at) rosecrance.org
About Rosecrance
Rosecrance is a private not-for-profit organization offering behavioral health services for more than 14,000 children, adolescents, adults and families each year. Rosecrance provides addiction treatment through inpatient and outpatient programs in Rockford, IL, and services at six satellite offices in Chicagoland. In addition, Rosecrance offers community mental health services in Rockford and Belvidere. The organization was founded in 1916.
