The NASCSA Podcast

From NASCSA's 40th Anniversary Conference in Greenville, South Carolina, a conversation with NASCSA sponsor, Lighthouse AI founder and CEO Sumeet Singh on the use of Artificial Intelligence to solve problems in the pharmaceutical industry.

NASCSA host Alan McGill and founder of Invistics, Tom Knight, discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to detect and prevent Drug Diversion in Healthcare.

How do you find a legitimate pharmacy online? How many are fake? How dangerous is the online pharmacy market? Libby Baney of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies answers these question and more in a discussion with NASCSA President Alan McGill so that you can get a better understanding of the challenges we all face when searching for cheaper medications.

This episode explores the past present and future of the legal Cannabis Industry in regards to finances. VP of Knowledge for GreenCheck, Paul Dunford, explains the history and future of banking in this field.

The final in our three part series regarding the use of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of mental illness and traumatic brain injuries. This episode features a conversation with Andrew Marr, former Green Beret, who had personally benefited from this treatment. Andrew gives his insight into the therapy, its use, and how it benefits so many. 

Part 2 of the discussion with Dr. Lynnette Averill from Baylor College of Medicine. In this segment, Dr. Averill details the various drugs, challenges, and how the treatment generally is performed. 

Limited Series on the use of psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD, Ketamine, and others for the treatment of various mental health conditions. Part 1 of the conversation with Dr. Lynnette Averill, a clinician and researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and Captain Sean Belouin of SAMSHA who discuss the drugs, treatment methods, and promising future of these medications in helping those suffering with a variety of conditions such as PTSD, Depression, and others.

Overdose Prevention Coordinator, Josh Schneider, for the City of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania discusses their pilot program of dispensing buprenorphine as a harm reduction strategy. This program allows paramedics to dispense the medication under certain conditions. It is designed to expand access to treatment options in response to the opioid crisis.

NASCSA President and host Alan McGill interviews Emporium Police Chief Dave Merritt and Cameron County District Attorney Paul Malizia about a case involving tainted candy given to two children. In October 2020, two elementary school children were given Pez Candy coated with a designer benzodiazepine type drug known as Etizolam. This episode explores how the drug was obtained, how it nearly killed two small children, and the prosecution that followed.  

Everyone knows an armed robbery can be deadly. And diversion of medications at a healthcare facility can have substantial risk of harm to a patient. As if this is not enough, the COVID Pandemic has added additional risks. They can be financially devastating in addition to be deadly. In this episode we discuss some of these issues and more with a leading industry expert.

Ten years ago, the CDC declared the United States had an opioid epidemic but the COVID-19 Pandemic has drawn our attention away from the opioid crisis.  On this podcast, we discuss the opioid crisis with Samantha Osterlof, an outreach coordinator and college instructor with a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice and Behavioral Management. Samantha is also in long term recovery from opioid addiction. When she was 22 years old, she nearly died from an infection that spread to her heart due to intravenous drug use. Placed on a ventilator, she was given a 10% chance to live, but this was still not enough to stop her drug use. However, one Christmas Eve, the kindness of one police officer started her journey of recovery and a lifetime of helping others. Samantha's story is compelling and poignant. We discuss not only her recovery, but the current state of the opioid crisis faced, the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on those suffering with SUD and the looming shadow of a possible third epidemic, a mental health crisis.

A conversation with Tom Knight, President and CEO of Invistics. Tom explains the differences and how computer software learns to detect patterns of drug diversion in healthcare facilities to help predict and detect when medications are at risk from being stolen or diverted from patients. This isn't Skynet or K.I.T.T., tune in and find out the differences between AI and Data Integration.

The argument for keeping State prescription drug monitoring programs and dispelling the myths about interoperability between states and other outdated reasons to enact a federally run PDMP. A conversation with Steve Schierholt, the Executive Director of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and Jason Slavoski, the PDMP Administrator for the Delaware Division of Professional Regulations. They discuss the states sharing data through Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange or PMIX it's success which dispels one of the myths for the push to have a national database. They also discuss other issues and correct the record about state run PDMP's.

NASCSA Executive Director Kathy Keough and President Joe Fontenot discuss what the Executive Board has been doing for the membership so far this year, including making contingency plans as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. They also explain NASCSA's various committees, what they do and how they function to lead NASCSA on a yearly basis.  Kathy and Joe also discuss NASCSA's annual conference and it's importance to the  organization including the regular and associate members.

A conversation with Dr. Lynn Webster about the Coronavirus Pandemic's affect on pain management and addiction therapy. Also discussed is poly-drug use, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs. Having conducted extensive research and authoring over 300 scientific publications and abstracts as well as authoring the award winning book, The Painful Truth, Dr. Webster shares his expertise and incite on this issue. 

CEO of the Esper Treatment Center, Jennifer Esper, shares her nearly 20 years of experience in providing MAT or Medicated Assisted Treatment to those suffering with Opioid Use Disorder. She discusses the deadly combinations of drugs seen today, deadly consequences of quitting "Cold Turkey" for some drugs, and other issues. She also reveals something called "Methadonia" and explores how Opioid Use Disorder has morphed into the use of any and all drugs which is the basis for the term "Garbage Can Addicts".  This podcast was recorded prior to the Coronavirus Pandemic and the CDC recommendations of Social / Physical Distancing.

The importance of destroying unused medications cannot be overstated. As a pharmacist with a law degree and former director of the Office of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in Delaware, Dave Dryden takes a look back at one of the first drug take back programs in the United States and discusses some ways individuals can prevent medications from falling into the wrong hands. We also speak with Kari Miller from Rx Destroyer as they provide simple, safe and affordable solutions for the average person to discard unwanted or unused medications.

On this episode, we discuss the ACE Study or Adverse Childhood Experience Study with Dr. Susan Maloney of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Maloney is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. The ACE Study has been called the “The single most important public health study that most healthcare providers don't know about”. The study revealed the damaging effects of trauma on children, which results in long-term negative health affects, including the startleing statistics regarding a vulnerability to drug and alcohol addiction.

Interviews with Kathy Keough, John Gadea and Danna Droz as they share memories and pay tribute to their longtime friend and colleague, Bill Ward. Bill was the former Director of Connecticut's State Controlled Substance Authority and a long-time member of NASCSA who contributed so much to NASCSA and his colleagues.