Doctors That Harm: The Real Stories Insurance Companies Against Prop 46 Don't Want You To Know, From Consumer Watchdog Campaign Series
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Records show that Dr. Kuemmerle, a methamphetamine addict, was the most prolific prescriber of Adderall and the second-highest prescriber of narcotics in the state. His reckless prescribing went uninvestigated until a drug dealer Dr. Kuemmerle was selling prescriptions to was arrested by an undercover officer. The police investigation found that Dr. Kuemmerle was writing prescriptions to people he had never met, with full knowledge that the drugs were being sold. Dr. Kuemmerle told his "patients" to visit pharmacies far away from his office in order to avoid detection. Dr. Kuemmerle also wrote prescriptions with no medical justification and sold them for cash to undercover officers. Dr. Kuemmerle then used this cash, according to some news sources, to fund his meth addiction.
According to California's CURES database, Dr. Kuemmerle issued 2,382 Adderall prescriptions in 2009, more Adderall prescriptions than any other doctor in California. According to the Medical Board, this is roughly 3.5 times as much as the number two prescriber of Adderall in the state. Dr. Kuemmerle was writing an average of 15 prescriptions per day over a four-year period.
Dr. Kuemmerle pled guilty to felony drug dealing but in May 2011 was sentenced to only three years probation. Under an agreement with the Medical Board in February 2013, Dr. Kuemmerle should have received his medical license back within a year -- but he has not yet fulfilled the terms of his probation.
Source: http://www2.mbc.ca.gov/BreezePDL/default.aspx?licenseType=A&licenseNumber=89368, http://bhcourier.com/former-psychiatrist-gets-probation-in-pill-mill-case/, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/14/local/la-me-doctor-arrest14-2010apr14
Proposition 46, the Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act, will enact the first law in the nation to require random drug and alcohol tests of physicians in hospitals, modeled after the Federal Aviation Administration testing program that has successfully reduced substance abuse by pilots. If Prop 46 had been in effect, Dr. Kuemmerle's meth addiction would have detected, possibly preventing patient injuries in the process.
Hall of Shame: Insurance Companies Backing No on 46
| Cooperative of American Physicians |
$10,161,489.04 |
| The Doctors Company |
$10,000,000.00 |
| NorCal Mutual Insurance Company |
$10,000,000.00 |
| Kaiser Foundation Health Plan |
$5,000,000.00 |
| Medical Insurance Exchange of California |
$5,000,000.00 |
| The Dentists Insurance Company |
$1,620,000.00 |
| The Mutual Risk Retention Group |
$1,000,000.00 |
| All Insurers: |
$42,781,489.04 |
| Total: |
$56,767,499.19 |
Insurance companies have spent nearly $43 million to oppose Prop 46 in order to shield dangerous doctors like Dr. Kuemmerle from punishment, at the expense of patient safety, in order to protect their already substantial profits. In total, the opposition to Prop 46 has over $56 million in their warchest, outspending consumer and patient safety advocates who support Prop 46 nearly 10:1.
Learn more about Proposition 46 and the campaign for patient safety at: www.yeson46.org.
Paid for by Yes on Prop. 46, Your Neighbors for Patient Safety, a Coalition of Consumer Attorneys and Patient Safety Advocates - major funding by Consumer Attorneys of California Issues and Initiative Defense Political Action Committees and Kabateck, Brown, Kellner, LLP.
SOURCE Consumer Watchdog Campaign
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