Medical Disclaimers on Prime Time TV

Ben Vitale

Whenever I hear the Pharmaceutical company advertisement disclaimers, I shut off the sound on my TV. The disclaimers are distasteful, and I actually feel that they have a negative effect on the physical and mental wellbeing of the listeners.

Every night just as I am about to sit down and eat dinner, I find myself being forced to listen to medical disclaimers for Drug company products. The FDA forces the Drug companies to air these disclaimers by law. The drug companies simply do not have any choice! 

Every 15 minutes the drug companies keep telling us about the multitude of ill effects that we can get from using their product; diarrhea, severe stomach pains, severe nausea, vomiting, constipation, headache confusion, hallucinations, convulsions, Liver problems, urinary tract infection, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, and death. The drug companies are forced to recite the disclaimers to protect themselves  against FDA regulations and law suits.

What would happen if you were to advise a young child of hundreds of ways that he could get sick. Every ten minutes, seven days a week! It doesn’t take a college professor to come up with the answer! Honestly I have been brainwashed one too many times by the disclaimers.

I believe that the FDA should eliminate the vocal disclaimer, and replace it with a link to the disclaimer, on the Internet! Indirect disclaimer presentation would spare the general public, the inadvertent brainwashing effect of drug company advertisements.

I personally take control of my physical and mental well-being, by using the power of positive thinking! I absolutely do not dwell on anything negative, unless it is in the process of trying to develop a solution.  In my opinion I feel that these constant bombardments of medical disclaimers are interfering with the general public’s ability to deal with and control their own physical and mental wellness. 

I personally believe that the FDA should direct the drug companies, to present their disclaimers as Internet links as opposed to the current mandatory vocal presentation.  

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/PrescriptionDrugAdvertising/ucm072025.htm

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Patchogue Ambulance Free or Billed Service
Ben Vitale

Patchogue village is currently considering alternate ways to finance our "free" Patchogue Ambulance service. I would like to share one of my ideas with the VOP, in an attempt to minimize the burden on our residents. 

We are currently paying taxes to the village of Patchogue. Part of these taxes are being used to support the Patchogue volunteer Ambulance service. Every resident in our village will eventually use this extremely valuable service... Not one person is exempt! "Free service?" This sounds as bad as the "Social Security entitlement!" Entitlement... I paid a huge sum of money toward Social Security! The word "Entitlement" carries with it the connotation of a "freebie" which it is not! So... The Ambulance "Free Service," is not free; every village resident is indeed paying for it!

 I personally like the Ambulance system, just the way it is! Where have I seen this before? A government takes something that works, and turns it into a disaster! I am not against having the VOP look into other possible ways to subsidize the Ambulance service; only if it's cost is distributed equally on every resident. I am totally against putting more burden on the backs of hard working people that already pay $700. dollars a week to maintain health care for their families. Many working class families are on the verge of collapse, as we speak! 

May I suggest a voluntary system of subsidized support for our Ambulance service! The VOP should send an annual letter, suggesting three levels of Ambulance service support, to every PV Resident! The people that are able to pay will select a level of payment and send a check to the VOP. Hopefully at least some of this money could be used to benefit our valuable volunteers. I am definitely against forcing a hard working family into bankruptcy! 

Please read the comments from John Rocco:
Ben, as you so eloquently put it…. “Nothing is Free”. I agree the cost of Emergency Medical Services has risen like all healthcare for many reasons. Our profession has seen expenses accelerated by things like new complex medical equipment needed in the advanced care we provide to patients, our insurance premiums, medications, government mandates, clerical costs to perform reporting requirements, Vehicle equipment, compensation insurance, physical plant, vehicle replacement cost, services, fuel, lighting and so-on rise and will continue to rise. Comparing the services required of the Patchogue Ambulance Company of today with that of yester-year is like comparing an apple and an orange. Over my 45 years of tenure we have used every conceivable means possible to raise sufficient funds to resist dependence on government contracts for service and we like all other similar EMS entities in the past have come to the realization that a “charity” based approached that you propose was and is unrealistic.

Several decades ago I along with several Company and government officials crafted funding avenues for the operations of the Company and as such we have been able to survive with dollars received from the tax base.

It is important to understand however that we are not controlled by local government and only have a contractual relationship with local government to supply needed funding. The Patchogue Ambulance Company since its inception in 1934 has been and always will be an independent non-governmental 501 C3 Not-for-profit entity charged with providing Emergency Medical Services in our catchment area.

So you may ask what has changed that is causing us to look at alternate means of funding. The Governor and State Legislature invoked Tax Cap which limits local Government from increasing taxes beyond the percentage evoked by the State. All Government is now responsibly looking for alternate funding streams to keep services from declining. We of course face many challenges to providing the service as our funding stalls our expenses do not. No State cap was imposed on vendors who we do business with, supplies and services we require are not capped and we become faced with the issue of keeping pace with the ever increasing demand put on us by an aging and growing community with diminishing resources.

Ben, Government simply does not have the additional funding required to keep all its programs in tact without piercing the tax cap (raising taxes), something they are loath to do.

What makes our situation special is that we have long ignored what the rest of the country does which is to charge a fee for service. While you may think this punitive in some way I can’t think of a more practical way to insure adequate funding for the users of EMS then to require those who make use of the service help pay for the service. In fact we here on Long Island have only served to make the coffers of the insurance companies a little richer by not billing for something we are already paying for in our insurance premiums! There is no special policy rate for those whose ambulance service costs are bourn totally on the back of the tax payer alone! We who do not bill in fact must be quite an oddity (if not a laughing stock) in the board rooms of most health insurers when they see that their policy holders in this area never get billed for service where all the rest of their customers outside of our geographical area do. The reality is that if you fall on the street in most every town in the USA the local EMS agency will show up, render care, transport you to a hospital and bill you for the service. This is the norm, not the exception! Go to Nassau County and be treated by the Nassau County PD EMS or go to New York and have any EMS agency (of which there are many) respond and render treatment and yup… you’re going to get billed. Most every jurisdiction in our country works in this manner.

Ben, a fee for service will not pay for all the costs for providing EMS because as you rightly noted there are the poor, the indigent, and the uninsured and just as these folks don’t pay for medical services at the local Emergency Rooms, they’re not going to be paying for EMS either. Traditionally the cost is paid by me and you through some tax revenue (in the case of EMS) or the famous $25.00 Dollar Aspirin (in the case of the emergency room) so that we like all health care professionals can treat all people equally without regard to whether they have the means to pay or not.

Ben, we know that the future for EMS is ever growing and changing. Our members responded to almost 3000 calls for EMS services last year. We do this quietly, without fanfare and expect very little in the way of accolades for the many lives we impact and save daily. Our members spend countless hours training in class, in the field, and on calls for help from a broad diverse community and this will not change going forward. What will change and continues to change are new and exciting procedures and techniques to preserve life, this as well as new onerous mandates from Federal, State and Local government will continue to increase is the cost of EMS and it’s a price that someone has to pay. We are not alone in this issue as all folks associated with providing health care seem to be in the same quagmire, but the very nature of being in the life saving business does not afford us the option of diminishing our level of service in order to meet a decreasing budget.

We’ve all heard of the heroin addiction problem plaguing our community, here’s just one item to think about…. 4 Years ago the cost of Narcan (the drug we use to reverse the effects of an opiate or heroin overdose) cost about $4.00 a dose, today it’s North of $45.00 a dose.

Ben if we could ask the taxpayer to dig in and pay more we would be justified…. But also we would be negligent if we didn’t first find all sources of income to defray the cost of providing service. The Village fathers are right in asking the question of us to consider helping defray these costs by any means possible after all I like you am a tax payer too and unless I were selfish and had a ton of Health insurance company stock in my 401K not making the insurance companies pay is just plain wrong.

As to the idea of a voluntary suggested level of service payment; every year the Patchogue Ambulance Company sends out several letters for donations to pay for those items not paid for by contract dollars. We indeed suggest a level of donation to help defray some of the cost of running the Company side of our business. We consistently receive less and less each year even though we have more and more recipients to send these requests to. If this was our only funding mechanism to fund the Company we would be in business for about 10 days and then have to close the doors.

The realities of a modern EMS system are very different, complicated and costly compared to the old days of a simple ride to the hospital.

John V. Rocco
Chief Executive Officer
Patchogue Ambulance Company

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Visit Santa in the North Pole

Ben Vitale

You might want to bring your children to your computer and show them this site. Santa is providing a live video feed from his ranch in the North Pole. “Reindeer Cam,” is Santa’s official live feed on the Internet! 

You will see Santa’s Reindeer when they come out of the barn.

Santa will make personal appearances at 6PM and 9PM Eastern Standard Time. During these appearances, Santa usually tells stories! LOL! Your children will love this!

Once you click on the link below you will see the live feed from Santa’s workshop farm in the North Pole. Double click the video, and it will go to full screen mode. Press escape to return to the original mode.

Make sure that you children are not startled by the Elves, talking in the background every few minutes!

Have a very merry Christmas, a Happy Hanuka, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy Holiday!

Click the link below.

When the site appears be sure to click the “Play Music” icon on the lower left side of the screen!

https://reindeercam.com/

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Library in the lobby
Ben Vitale

The Patchogue Medford Library and the Patchogue Theatre for the performing arts are now working together to host a literary event called “Library in the Lobby.” Area residents will have the opportunity to interact with authors, and participate in writing workshops.

The first in this series of events is scheduled for Sunday, January 10, 2016. This series will be held in the lobby of the Patchogue Theatre.

John Ashline, the Executive Director of the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts has determined that more literary type events are needed because of the monumental success of the author event that was hosted at the Patchogue Theatre in October, featuring Dr. Bob Brier the mummy expert. 

  

The first "Library in the Lobby" event will be in the new year on Sunday, Jan. 10, at 3 p.m., and will feature a book discussion & signing with Long Island University (LIU) political philosophy professor and author Michael Soupios, Ph.D. Soupios will give a 45-minute lecture on his latest book, "The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership:" Classical Wisdom for Modern Leaders" (AMACOM), co-authored with LIU economics professor Panos Mourdoukoutas, Ph.D. This is an event for anyone looking to strengthen their leadership skills in the workplace and beyond.

There is no admission charge for "Library in the Lobby." Reservations are strongly encouraged as there is limited seating, which is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are three ways to make a reservation for "Library in the Lobby": patrons can visit the Patchogue Theatre box office across from the Patchogue-Medford Library at 71 East Main Street, call the box office at 631-207-1313 or email boxoffice@patchoguetheatre.org. For more information on "Library in the Lobby" and upcoming LITL events, visit PatchogueTheatre.org/Lobby or PMLIB.org.

This article was written from information provided via a Press Release, by Bernie Fabig, PR and Marketing Director for the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts. 

http://patch.com/new-york/patchogue

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Michael Sorrentino Founding Editor of Patchogue Patch Writes for Pat Med Library

Ben Vitale

Your friend and mine Michael Sorrentino, founding Editor of Patchogue Patch, has been asked to write articles for the Patchogue Medford Library. Actually Michael has been writing article for the PM Library for an extended period of time… Unfortunately I did not know about his articles in the PM Library.

During Michael’s tenure as founding Editor and reporter for Patchogue Patch, Michael made many friends; one of them being Paul Pontieri, Mayor of Patchogue Village! Paul told me that he liked Michael’s diligent and fair reporting on Patchogue issues.

Please click the link below to see some of Michael’s articles that have been published to the PM Library web site. 

 http://www.pmlib.org/author/msorrentino/


Please read the intro article.

http://www.pmlib.org/2015/01/24/michael-sorrentino-now-community-blogging-patchogue-medford-library/

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Please Donate a Turkey to the Lighthouse Mission

Ben Vitale

The Lighthouse mission distributes food to about 5,000 people every month. During the month of November, with Thanksgiving just a few days away, the Lighthouse Mission distributes Turkeys to needy families. I have personally seen the miraculous things that happen when you show homeless adults and children that you actually care about them!

The lighthouse Mission is currently collecting Turkeys that will be distributed to families that have fallen upon hard times. So far the Mission has collected 800 Turkeys, but 1600 Turkeys are needed. If the LM fails to meet their target number, 800 families with children will be without a Turkey for Thanksgiving!

Turkeys can be dropped off at the Lighthouse Mission, during normal hours of operation which are:

M-F 9:00am - 4:00pm

Sat 10:00am - 3:00pm

Phone #: 631-758-7584

The lighthouse Mission is located 1543 Montauk Highway Bellport, NY 11713

Details are also available on their Web site.     www.LighthouseMission.net

Please bless our less fortunate children and adults with your contribution. It would be wonderful if you would share this article with your friends and family! 

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Scam Alert From the Federal Trade Commission

We heard about a new house alarm scam at the FTC’s recent Common Ground conference in Utah. A sales agent knocks on your door, claiming he’s there to upgrade or update your house alarm or home security system. It seems like he’s with the company you use – only he isn’t. Here’s what to look out for to avoid this scam.

House alarms can’t stop scammers | Consumer Information

We moved into our house and immediately installed an alarm system to keep us safe from the bad guys. But even the best house alarms can’t stop everything – like a scammer walking through your front door.

CONSUMER.FTC.GOV

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Ghost Peppers Hot Hot Hot 
Ben Vitale

Some patrons at a local Spanish restaurant, were amazed that I was able to eat a "Ghost Pepper Burrito”   The only thing hotter than a ghost pepper is a Propane Torch! LOL! Just for fun, I told the customers that the older I get, the hotter I like my food! This is true! I told them that I was an Italian, who is slowly turning Spanish! I got lots of laughs! LOL!

The peppers in the photo above were grown by my wife with her little hands; I have no idea what kind of peppers they are. A ghost pepper looks similar to these peppers but is usually a lot thinner.

I was fascinated with the fact that fast food businesses, and others in the food industry have recently been making ghost pepper burritos available to the general public. Hummm… I asked myself; could I survive eating one of those ghost pepper burritos? The New York Post reports: that the Ghost Pepper is 107 to 417 times hotter than a jalapeño and 10 times hotter than a habanero pepper. Wikipedia reports that In 2007, Guinness World Records certified that the ghost pepper was the world's hottest chili pepper; 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.

Please permit me to give you some background material that will help you to understand my lifelong quest to conquer the art of eating hot food. Many decades ago, my brother-in-law Jack Mistler and his friend Joe Mendoza, conspired against me in an attempt to embarrass me into eating one of the hot peppers that are sent to Joe, every year, by his mother that lives in Mexico. One day I succumbed to the pressure and actually took a bite out of one of Joe’s hot peppers; I thought I was going to die! LOL! : - ((

I went to Atlantic City, NJ, and passed many Spanish Restaurants. My fascination with hot peppers prompted me to ask the local Spanish residents, questions about ghost peppers. I asked one young Hispanic lady if she liked ghost peppers… She quickly took a defensive position by displaying both of her palms from the left side of her body. While looking at me over her left shoulder she said, I can’t eat those peppers!  Another young lady asked her boyfriend to answer my question about ghost peppers, because he was a Chef! He replied… I thought they were illegal in the United States! LOL! Wow! These peppers must really be hot!

And now comes the test that I have been working toward for a lifetime; I will attempt to eat a burrito that contains the "king of hot peppers;" the ghost pepper. I took my first bite and I immediately realized that the ghost pepper burrito was really hot… I was now in the “big league” of culinary pepper consumption! LOL! I took my second bite and then I realized that I actually liked the very hot ghost pepper burrito! Wow! I really liked eating the “hot” burrito! LOL!

So… I actually survived eating what is known to be the hottest pepper in the world! An Italian eating a hot ghost Pepper burrito that even some Spanish people refuse to eat! So… I am very proud of myself surviving the consumption of a ghost pepper. Yesss… An Italian, who was slowly turning Spanish, has finally arrived! LOL! I feel like I have just climbed Mount Everest! LOL! : - ))

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Veterans Scam Advisory 
Ben Vitale

United States Veterans are warned to beware of unscrupulous companies that are taking advantage of veterans. Older Veterans are approached by scam artists with all sorts of schemes to bilk money from our service men. The Federal Trade Commission indicates that there are many scam artists that are taking money from our veterans, and not advising them of the consequences of their actions. 

Please read details by following the link below 
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/veterans-dont-let-scammers-bilk-your-benefits

Please forward this advisory to everyone that you know who is a veteran.

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Message from the Suffolk County Police Department Fifth Precinct

The Fifth Precinct Open Community Meeting is scheduled for:

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Suffolk County Police - 5th Precinct
125 Waverly Ave
Patchogue, NY 11772

You do not have to be a representative of any organized group to attend this meeting. The meeting is a forum for community residents to interact with members of the Fifth precinct and discuss issues and/or recent crime trends within their communities. All community members are welcome to attend.

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