THE TIMES, MARCH 3,2016 PAGE 8- Like us on Facebook
Heat'tfl ‘i' ,
Brett Favre may be drawn
into
ain cream scandal
By PEOF. RANDOLPH HOWES’ M.D., PhD
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Longtime medical columnist for The Times, the author is
an accomplished surgeon, medical inventor, and Country music recording
artist.
Dr. Howes grew up on his parents’ Ponchatoula strawberry farm. He is a
graduate
of St. Joseph, Ponchatoula High School, Southeastern, Tulane
two doctorates,
followed by a residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in plastic surgery.
He says
he is “retired” now in Kentwood. The doctor’s column appears on
facebook.com/the-
ponchatoulatimes and on facebook.com/theindependencetimes. It is also
available
online at ponchatoulaxom/ptimes)
Brett Favre’s name has surfaced in the latest chapter of the
federal government’s ongoing investigation into pain creams con-
cocted and sold by compounding pharmacies.
According to a report by Rob-
ert Lowes in Medscape Medical
News, Favre may be in trouble.
In January 2016, federal and
state law enforcement agents
raided compounding pharma-
cies in Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida, and Utah, according to
the Mississippi Bureau of Nar-‘
cotics.
Some $15 million in assets
were seized in the raids, includ-
ing 24 vehicles, f1ve planes, and
two boats. According to WAPT
TV, one of the pharmacies was
Aspire Pharmacy Compound-
ing in Jackson, Mississippi. The
Wall Street Journal reported
that the FBI was investigat-
ing a compounding pharmacy
in Jackson, Mississippi, called
World Health Industries, which
does business as Aspire Rx.
That company, a division of
Aspire Health, makes a com-
pounded pain cream called Rx
Pro that Brett Favre, new in-
ductee into the National Foot-
ball League Hall of Fame, has
promoted in television and
print ads.
For years, the Department
of Justice (DOJ) has been in-
vestigating compounding phar-
macies and their accomplices
nationwide that participate in
what one federal prosecutor
calls a “systemic fraud” against
TRICARE, the healthcare pro-
gram for members of the armed
services and their families.~
As revealed in a string of
civil settlements and criminal
convictions, physicians have re-
ceived kickbacks to write bogus
prescriptions ‘ for pain- cream
produced by compounding
pharmacies. At least one physi-.
cian receiving this tainted mon-
ey has wound up as a felon. In
June 2015, sports medicine spe-
cialist James Morales, MD, in
Toms River, New Jersey, plead-
ed guilty to accepting $60,000
in cash bribes for referring pain
cream scripts to a compounding
pharmacy in nearby Lakewood,
as well as falsifying health re-
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The involved pharmacies use
marketing companies to cold-
call TRICARE- beneficiaries
and pitch the use of the pain
creams and tell customers how
the insurance program covers
the cost.
Dr. Howes
The marketers collect TRI-
CARE information and the
name of the beneficiary’s phy-
sician over the telephone to
generate a prescription, often
delivered without an office visit
beforehand.
TRICARE has been billed as
much as $15,000 for a single
prescription.
VThe Department of Defense
has said that this pain cream
gravy train helps explain why
its spending on all compounded
drugs ballooned from $5 million
in fiscal 2004 to $514 million
in fiscal 2014. Another Florida
pharmacy disguised $70,000 in
kickbacks as speaker’s fees for
an Indiana physician.
The Institute for Safe Medi-
cation Practices warns these
pain creams can cause “CNS de-
pression or cardiac affects that
result in slow breathing, irregu-
lar heartbeats, and drowsiness
or loss of consciousness.”
In the America that I love,
we are always on the alert for
false medical claims that sound
too good to be true.
Remember, “Buyer Beware.”
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Perrin history
As the Campbell brothers
looked for a possible lOcation for
their brick plant they undoubt-
edly dug beneath the top soil
at prospective sites to examine
the type and quality of the clay
pan beneath the surface. Find-
ing the clay suitable, the broth-
ers purchased 45 acres of land
fronting the east side of the
railroad tract at Cow Branch
for $250.
Ponchatoula residents may
be excused if they are not fa-
miliar with Cow Branch even
though most of us have traveled
across the stream many times.
Cow Branch looks like just an-
other drainage canal when' it
flows under Range Road near
Fannaly’s Auto Exchange. The
stream flows further west un-
der the railroad tracks and
into Ponchatoula Creek. Ear-
ly Ponchatoula settler Lorin
Chapman had purchased the
land around Cow Branch in the
1850’s and began selling town
lots in what he hoped would
become the community of Cow
Branch, Louisiana. Only a few
lots were sold in Chapman’s
failed development and soon
the name of Cow Branch fell
from common usage in this
community.
The Campbell brothers were
natives of Mississippi with
Frank James Campbell being
born in August 1857 and Stone-
wall Jackson “Stone” Campbell
in April 1866. They were the
sons of Thomas J. Campbell
(1827-1906) a native of County
Tyrone, Ireland, and a Confed-
erate veteran, and Elvira Rai-
ley (1832-1893) a native ofAla-
bama.
Thomas Campbell was a
brick mason and he taught his
sons the same trade. Frank’s
wife Mary Mullins Campbell
was born 13 July 1863 and was
the daughter Of G. Mullins and
salenia Elliot. Frank and Mary
had four daughters before mov-
ing to Ponchatoula.
Soon after buying the Cow
Hardhide
FROM PAGE ONE
the past most of our forebears
fought so hard to protect us from,
back in World War II.
These idiots must think we are
filled with hate. Fear and loath-
ing, yes, but not hate.
Me? I just want to be filled
with perfectly-ripe strawberries.
I believe in Lennon.
John Lennon.
Hooray for the music venues
downtown at La Carreta and
Roux & Brew, with the Pon-
chatoula Pub sitting in on occa-
sion.
If you wish to gander at the
absolute finest kitchen on the
planet, visit the Wildewoods Fa-
cebook page.
Terry Wilde is the Michelan-
gelo of Ponchatoula, the creator
of fine churches, swift wooden
boats, and so much more. When
he walks through a forest, all the
supple fine woods beg him to take
them home. Those few who are
chosen are granted immortality.
That we have a Wildewoods,
and a Terry Wilde in our commu-
nity is a source of righteous Pon-
chatoula pride. '
FREE DELIVERY
FROM PAGE ONE
Branch property the brothers
began the construction of their
brick plant with dirt pits to
obtain clay, brick making ma-
chines, drying racks, four brick
kilns, storage sheds, a steam
engine and boiler, etc.
The Illinois Central Railroad
Company constructed a spur
line at the brick yard which
became known as Campbell’s
Switch. The road going across
the railroad tracks there was
called Campbell’s Crossing
{which today connects North
11th Street and Range Road},
and the area was simply called
Campbell’s.
The Campbell brothers began
making bricks in June 1891.
The Campbell Brothers Brick
Company was successful, and
Stone Campbell was also suc-
cessful in wooing a local girl,
Lela Louise Lange, daughter
of Ponchatoula pioneer settlers
Mr. and Mrs. Julius Lange, to
be his Wife. They were married
in 1892 at St. Joseph’s Catholic
Church, and a few years later in
1896 had a son, Thomas Stone-
wall Campbell.
Stone Campbell decided in
November 1893 to leave the
brickyard in Ponchatoula to his
brother Frank and strike out on
his own. Instead of being paid
for his interest in the brick com-
pany, Stone received as compen-
sation 362,500 paving bricks
that were ready for shipment.
Stone and his wife moved to In-
dependence and Stone started
his own brick company in 1895
in partnership with John E.
Millard. Stone bought out Mr.
Millard’s interest in the compa-
ny later that year and operated
his modern brick plant near
Independence for a number of
years. Stone also established a
large sawmill and planing mill
at the same location near the
railroad tracks.
Stone and Lela Campbell
moved their family back to Pon-
chatoula some years later and
reentered the local brick busi-
ness.
(CONTINUED NEXT EDI-
TION)
5/
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The Ponchatoula Times - Call 985-386-2877 - P.O. Box 743 — Ponchatoula,
LA 70454-0743 editor@ponchatoula.com
