Signature Pharmacy Probe now targeting Rick Collins as well

[OuchThatHurts]

Good luck Rick.... what a mess. Can't believe they villianized him... he's probably like WTF?

 

[Golgo13]

Well, you just gotta look at who's paying their salary. I think it was 50% that comes from the government. Also, the media is owned by wealthy individuals and it's not public. Also, it was said that it's NOT against the law for the media to report false news.

That isn't the problem though... The problem is that hysteria makes people watch and read, and watchers and readers get ad space sold.

 

[Monte Brogan]

Rick is too smart and has too much to lose to operate outside the bounds of the law. Anyone that's had the pleasure of speaking with Rick knows he is passionate about his work, ethical and wicked smart. This will blow over and no charges will be brought against him.

Monte

 

[NinjaEd]

Lets take a look here and really see what is going on here in the grand picture of it all.....what took so long for these pharmacies and wellness clinics to be busted if they were such a problem as they are pointed out to be being?

As most of us know, the only reason steroids are a schedule 3 is because of congress after ben johnson won the gold. The DEA, FDA and American Medical Association were not in support of the steroid act of 1989. I think this gives us all the backgroud anyone really needs to know....we have a bunch of suits governing medicine instead of the FDA and the doctors.

When did the wellness clinics come into the picture you might ask. Jason Grimsley! He did not want wear a wire to rat out other baseball players, so the feds arrested him. As we know he went about getting his medications in a not so legal way, which ended up costing him. I remember the day that the news broke on him and that he got his meds from a wellness clinic, I turned to my friend and told him, "the next target is going to be wellness clinics so that they can get more names".

When Jose Canseco told the world that steroids were being used in baseball, it wasnt a surprise. I am sure we all knew that. All we had to do was look at McGwires acne and we knew. Look at Sosa's bowling ball sized shoulders. Bonds body growth. So anyone who as ever injected a needle, we all knew who was using it. Baseball knew too, but they casted Canseco off....he ended up putting a really nice mark on the game of baseball: The Steroid Whistle Blower. Notice that not ONE of the players in his book tried to sue him? Notice that the finger pointer at the hearing ended up testing possitive after Canseco said he used them? Canseco might be a prick, might need the attention, but he has been very honest about this topic.

Now back to bullshit case going on. I do not see how the pharmacy is involved here. If a legit doctor writes a script for a patient, and they fill it, whats the problem? They actually need to go after these pharmacies for the names of the people. It is MUCH harder to get the patient names when it is just getting them from the doctor.

From reading the article, this really bothers me:
The case is built around a New York law requiring a face-to-face consultation between a physician and patient before the doctor can issue a prescription.

It doesn't bother me that a face-to-face is required, but it is a NY law that pertains to NY. The case should be focused on the people in NY. Why should a professional athletes name be released to the public when he has never lived in NY for any period of time? Why should the names of these athletes be released to their respective leagues? THEY SHOULDN'T!

If these doctors and pharmacies were KNOWINGLY involved in illegal activities, then I say that they should be punished according to the laws. What I think is going on here is that so much money was invested into this steroid thing with baseball, barry bonds and balco, that the feds and govt had to find someone out of their umbrella to do this. I am sure the laws in NY State were probably the most favorable to what they want to accomplish, whatever that may be.

As for Rick Collins, he is an excellent lawyer who a few friends I know have used. There is a reason he is legal counsel to many different companies in the "bodybuilding" community. Someone mentioned that Rick has too much to lose to blow it away on some bullshit. I am sure this is the case. I do not think the $1,500 consult and and a hundred hours of legal time ($50k total) would be worth it for him to throw away his career. He is VERY complete in his work from what I have seen (just read ANY article he has written and you will see).

I think to sum this up it is very simple, and I am sure most will agree. If something illegal was done, punish those people who broke the law, but if this is being done to have names of people released so that congress can feel good about itself and find another reason to get involved with the private sector (yes, baseball is a private business, so is the NFL and NBA), we should start to pack our bags and move to a different country.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

I think to sum this up it is very simple, and I am sure most will agree. If something illegal was done, punish those people who broke the law, but if this is being done to have names of people released so that congress can feel good about itself and find another reason to get involved with the private sector (yes, baseball is a private business, so is the NFL and NBA), we should start to pack our bags and move to a different country.

Private sector? Is there such a thing anymore? The USA PATRIOT act comes to mind (which stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" LOL, it's true, that's really what it means). Even it's name suggests it has nothing to do with the USA or patriotism. Under the act, even Greenpeace can be labeled "domestic terrorists".

And what happened to HIPAA you ask? Maybe you haven't heard of it yet. Well, your doctor has. If you haven't yet, you will. HIPAA stands for "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act". Although a pain is the you-know-what for doctors, practices (trust me on this), and hospitals who wish to exchange patient information freely (as in the past), HIPAA is designed to PREVENT the disclosure of patient information from doctor to doctor, doctor to pharmacy, outside agencies, etc. It also provides you the ability to take legal action if you feel your PHI (Protected Health Information) was disclosed without your consent or knowledge. If you recently have been to your doctor and signed the acknowledgment, you should ask to see what is in that document and when and to who your PHI can be released without your consent or knowledge. I'm curious to see if HIPAA comes into question in this particular case. I wonder if those doctors had their patients sign an acknowledgment of the organization's HIPAA compliance procedures or if the HIPAA will give the patients any protection?