QMedRx

QMedRx, Inc. est/était une pharmacie spécialisée et une société de services de santé aux États-Unis. Elle offre/offrait des médicaments transdermiques, comme des crèmes, des gels et des lotions pour les patients, guérissant douleurs, blessures et cicatrices; des thérapies pour les maladies de Lyme, incluant douleur et l'enflure articulaires, fatigue chronique, sautes d'humeur, douleur abdominale, esprit confus, maux de tête et dysfonction musculaire ; des services de podiatrie ; nébuliseur nasal, atomiseur et lavage des sinus pour le soin des sinus ; et des médicaments personnalisés composés. La société a/avait été fondée en 1990 et est/était basée à Maitland, en Floride.

Steven Harris a fait partie Comité consultatif scientifique de QMedRx depuis 2004 puis en est devenu président en 2012.

Dans l'affaire QMedRx Inc., il s'agit de fraude aux assurances santé gouvernementales, et, en ce qui les concerne, à celles que le Military Health System (Système de santé militaire) accorde aux militaires, aux ex-militaires et à leurs proches.

QMedRx soumettait aux programmes fédéraux de soins de santé, des ordonnances composées qui étaient entâchées [Psiram: frauduleuses?] au sens de la Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).

Le site web de QMedRx Inc. ayant disparu, il faut se reporter au forum de LymeNet Europe.

Sur le forum de LymeNet Europe en 2011 à propos de QMedRx

L'étude de Raphael Stricker de 2011

Tout d'abord, les blogeurs discutent d'une étude "Benefit of intravenous antibiotic therapy in patients referred for treatment of neurologic Lyme disease" de Raphael Stricker

Note what organisations the authors of the study are associated with:

Authors' associations:

Raphael B Stricker [1,3] Allison K DeLong [2] Christine L Green [1,3] Virginia R Savely [1,3] Stanley N Chamallas [1,4] Lorraine Johnson [1,3]

1. International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, Bethesda, MD, USA
2. Center for Statistical Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
3. California Lyme Disease Association, Marysville, CA, USA
4. QMedRx Inc, Maitland, FL, USA

I don't know much about 2, but 1, 3, 4 is: ILADS, CALDA and QMedRx Inc.

The most noteworthy one is Stanley N Chamallas, who is associated with both ILADS and QMedRx.

Let's look at the disclosure again:
Disclosure
Funding for institutional review board review, data collection, and statistical analysis was provided by QMedRx Inc and Turn the Corner Foundation. RBS (Raphael B. Stricker) and CLG (Christine L. Green) serve on the voluntary advisory panel for QMedRx Inc but have no financial ties to the company. SNC (Stanley N Chamallas) is a salaried employee of QMedRx Inc. AKD, VRS, and LJ (Lorraine Johnson) have no conflicts of interest to declare in this work.
(traduction: Divulgation. QMedRx Inc et Turn the Corner Foundation ont financé l'examen du comité d'examen institutionnel, la collecte de données et l'analyse statistique. RBS et CLG siègent au comité consultatif volontaire de QMedRx Inc. mais n'ont aucun lien financier avec la compagnie. SNC est un employé salarié de QMedRx Inc. AKD, VRS et LJ n'ont aucun conflit d'intérêts à déclarer dans ce travail.)

Not only is he a salaried employee, he is actually Executive Vice President at QMedRx. (source: http:// www.linkedin. com/pub/stanley-chamallas/5/aa1/bb1 )

So an Executive Vice President at a "Lyme-literate" infusion company (QMedRx) is co-author of a study that shows benefit of long-term IV therapy with antibiotics. Moreover, he is associated with a "Lyme-literate" association (ILADS) of MDs that often treat patients with long-term IV therapy with antibiotics...
(traduction: Ainsi, un vice-président exécutif d'une société de perfusion "Lyme-literate" (QMedRx) est co-auteur d'une étude qui démontre les avantages d'une thérapie IV [Psiram: par voie intraveineuse] à long terme par antibiotiques. De plus, il est associé à une association " Lyme-literate " (ILADS) de médecins qui traitent souvent des patients en traitement IV à long terme par antibiotiques....)

Can't Blumenthal investigate all this for possible conflicts of interest?!

BTW: To my surprise the publication is also listed in PubMed: http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/21941449 So apparently it unfortunately doesn't mean that much if a study is listed in the PubMed database.

UPDATE: A coughing man in a raincoat passed a note to me saying that Allison K DeLong is also an ILADS member. (Google search) Odd that this isn't disclosed. This implies that all authors are ILADS members. (or she must have cancelled her membership very recently, which would not be less curious).

Ce qui figurait sur le site de QMedRX

The mysterious business of chronic Lyme disease

Reading the latest piece of chronic Lyme disease propaganda from Stricker, et al. last week, I noticed the little disclosure statement at the end of their poorly constructed fairy tale. The disclosure noted that Stricker and Christine L. Green of the California LD Assoc. (CALDA) have a non-financial relationship with QMedRX by virtue of their serving on its advisory board.

I was curious about that relationship, and just what kind of business QMedRx is that they would want these two people on some kind of advisory board. Well, Stricker is one of those so-called “Lyme literate” docs who think Lyme disease is a chronic (sometimes eternal) infection that must be held in check with the steady drip of expensive antibiotics over many months or years. CALDA peddles much of the same philosophy to its members and the public.

So it’s perhaps no surprise an i.v. infusion company that bills itself as “Lyme literate” would be interested in self-described Lyme docs and Lyme activist group. Here’s what the QMedRx website says about itself:

1. QMedRx: The Lyme Company
   
   info@QMedRx.com
   QMedRx, Inc.
   630 N Wymore Rd Suite 370
   Maitland FL 32751
   Telephone 877.339.6593
   
   QMedRx, is a company exclusively dedicated to the Lyme community. Through our pharmacy Home Care Solutions, we provide all components of service required by the Lyme Patient and the referring physician including: Case Management, Homecare Nursing, Insurance Reimbursement and IV Products and Supplies.
   
   The QMedRx "Lyme Literate Team", are made up of clinical staff of pharmacists, nurses, pharmacy technicians, case managers, and insurance specialists who have years of experience managing and helping Lyme patients in the comfort of their own home. They follow the referring physician's protocol, coordinating a comprehensive approach to the medical management of Lyme disease and associated illnesses and infections that are treated with specialty compounds, and IV antibiotics.
   
   The QMedRx Insurance Reimbursement Department is a dedicated team of full-time insurance specialists adept at initiating, negotiating and managing the challenges of claim approval from third party payers. As patient advocates, our insurance specialists keep you the patient informed every step of the way while following through with the appeals process (BEYOND 30 days [their emphasis]) for intravenous antibiotic therapy.
   
   The QMedRx Lyme Advisory Scientific Committee is comprised of Lyme patients, Lyme-literate physicians, Lyme-literate pharmacists, Lyme-literate nurses and Lyme-literate insurance reimbursement specialists.
   
   Our goal is to simplify and increase the quality of patient care while offering the very best medical treatment and patient support possible.
   
   We regularly visit and speak with Lyme patients and support groups to learn more about patient care from the patients’ point of view.

I’ll bet they do. Great way to drum up business. But back to the advisory committee made of Lyme quacks and patients. It would be interesting to know who is on that committee. I’d call or email them, but I’m pretty sure they’ll just tell me to go to hell. Perhaps some other curious, upstanding citizen can give it a try. Probably any forthcoming list of members will not, however, contain too many surprises.

The QMedRx website also provides links to ILADS, that small collection of self-described, for-profit Lyme docs; LymeNet, the wacky forum for chronic Lyme patients; Public Health Alert, a publication put out by some crazy women who think Lyme disease is the product of government conspiracies and biological warfare, and which is paid for by alternative medicine ads; the Lyme Disease Assoc. in NJ; and a website full of other links to Lyme groups and related nonsense. QMedRx obviously did not create the existing state of hysteria about Lyme disease or the nonsense about chronic Lyme infections, but they certainly seem committed to taking advantage of it and directing visitors to their website to these same sources of disinformation and lunacy.

So QMedRx is in the business of pumping i.v. drugs into people (probably a very good business in Florida where the average age is about 80 and everyone seems to have at least two serious illnesses). As they mention on their website, QMedRx has a pharmacy called Home Care Solutions. HCS, which is at the same address as QMedRx, apparently provides the antibiotics and the delivery equipment and personnel.

QMedRx.jpg QMedRx - Connection Visualizer QMedRx.jpg (10.54 KiB) Viewed 5783 times Then there’s QMedEx, LLC., which is also at the same address as QMedRx (630 N Wymore Rd Ste 370, Maitland, FL 32751). It appears to be a franchise business—a kind of McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts for drug infusion therapies. According to the website, QMedEx and its parent company (would that be QMedRx?) have “developed proven IV antibiotic treatment protocols…for podiatric infection, Lyme disease and chronic sinusitis….” “We are well known in the three disease state markets. Our unique sales and marketing approach will enhance your ability to penetrate the market and grow your business.” spiderweb.jpg QMedRx - Connections WTF!? spiderweb.jpg (8.04 KiB) Viewed 5783 times And then things get really complicated really quick. At the Corporation Wiki website for QMedEx, clicking on “nearby businesses” gives the following list: Companies at this address: Qmedrx, Inc. Barker, Osha & Anderson, Inc. Wcg, Inc. Home Care Solutions, Inc. Glace and Radcliffe, Inc. Sinucare, Inc. P & G Properties of Central Florida, LLC Glace & Radcliffe, Incorporated Wcg 1, LLC Qmedex, LLC Entent, Inc. Entent Care, Inc. Beachcube Properties, LLC

People at this address: David L Wright Kevin C Powers Peter W Jones Andrew W Miller Karen Keene Trish Smith Betty Jaibor Trish Niedergueses

Suites, apartments, etc. at this address: 630 N Wymore Rd Maitland, FL 32751 630 N Wymore Rd Ste 300 Maitland, FL 32751 630 N Wymore Rd Ste 310 Maitland, FL 32751 630 N Wymore Rd Ste 320 Maitland, FL 32751 630 N Wymore Rd Ste 330 Maitland, FL 32751 Wow! How do they know what phone call to answer with what corporate name??? Though it must be easy on the mailman: one mailbox for a dozen companies.

What’s going on here? And who is this handful of people connected to all these companies and the business of treating “chronic Lyme disease?”

I haven’t a clue. It’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a single address in Florida. I think it would take some financial reporter a good deal of time and effort to find out who’s who and what’s what down there.

Which brings me back to the disclosure statement about not receiving money from QMedRx. I assume that’s true. However, given the various connections between the above people and companies at 630 N Wymore Rd., Ste 300 in Maitland, FL, it probably won’t be too hard, or illegal, to write someone a check from some other company account. So if you do something for Entent, Inc., for example, and the president of QMedEx gives you some money, you can probably say you didn’t get any money from Entent even though the check writer in question might be the CEO of both companies, which might be housed at the same address. Different pots of money are just that: different pots of money; or so any lawyer or accountant will tell you. An ethicist might draw a different conclusion, however.

Money aside, one can still be compensated (or rewarded) by other means. “In kind,” for example. A company might pick up your hotel and airline tickets, or give you a brand new laptop. It might pick up your registration costs for a meeting, or buy a tradeshow booth at a meeting of like-minded physicians and activists. It might even buy a hundred subscriptions to an organization’s newsletter or magazine. The point is, there are lots of ways to give people valuable things without necessarily giving them cash.

Perhaps for the average “Lyme literate” doc or Lyme activist, the one-sentence disclosure statement should be expanded to a page or two of carefully worded questions.

Liens externes

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Claims_Act (Redirected from Anti-Kickback Statute)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricare

cet article est une ébauche