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Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle
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04-03-2006 Quote of the day: "Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch. " Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Mansfield Park
Drug Savings Time? Spring ahead…Fall back. You did set your clocks on Saturday night or were and hour late for any Sunday morning appointments. What this exercise in “time management” is all about is a general agreement by (ALMOST) everyone in the country (wake up AZ and IN) to get up an hour earlier each day. Imagine if we could have a Money Savings time where we all put aside a little something from our paychecks into savings. How about a Flab Saving Time when everyone agrees to eat less and exercise more? Maybe a Drug Saving Time would be the best idea: use generics when available, use older/cheaper therapy instead of the “latest/greatest/most expensive” drug on the market, and maybe actually take all of the medications prescribed. It would take a lot of peer pressure but if the country ever tried some of these alternative “savings times” for 6 months some might change habits. I almost forget to remind you to check the batteries in your smoke detectors. This just might be considered Life Saving Time. =================================================== ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "I think I'm late!" (parishioner arriving as services ended)
pps. Occasionally, some of the links require FREE registration.... I'm sure you can handle THAT slight inconvenience. ------------
1) New York dons dentures! New York physicians could override the drug formulary…until now! This puts the teeth back into a useful tool for drug cost management. State to save an additional $35 million if they are allowed to carry on.
2) Rabid rabbbit robbers roam: Reward Oxycontin crooks who leap over the prescription counter are caught on tape but still at large in Philly area. A $10,000 reward has been posted. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11992199/
3) Prevent AIDS with a pill? Primates who did not have HIV infections were given a combination pill of two available AIDS drugs and exposed to the virus. Drugs appeared to prevent infection. While this may be useful in Africa where women are getting HIV from their promiscuous husbands it does not make sense elsewhere. Other measures are necessary to prevent the spread in other populations. The HIV drugs are not benign and may lead to a false sense of security (as does the use of condoms which are not 100% effective… even in preventing pregnancy.)
4) FDA breaks an arm… FDA is patting itself on the back for how well it did in 2005. Must not be able to spell (Vioxx) or count (the smaller number of approvals or the increases in "users fees"), http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2006/NEW01342.html
5) Big vaccine doses needed for bird flu. Doses required for protection may be 12 times greater than other influenza vaccinations. (This would mean that there would not be enough to go around.) We still have time on this one so don't panic.
6) What is so exciting about sleep? As competition heats up we may see even more ads for sleep aids. ZZZzzzzz! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032901976.html
7) Not Mary Tyler Moore but MTM almost ready for prime time. A week from today all Medication Therapy Management programs for Medicare Part D are due for 2007. If you haven’t been working on it until now I would bet it is almost too late. http://www.amcp.org/data/nav_content/MTMP%20Submission%20Announcement%20031506%20CY2006.pdf
Have a SUPER-FANTASTIC week. Steve Disclaimer: "Pepin's Pharmaceutical Prattle" (AKA "The Prattle") is the property of PHARMWORKS, LLC and Steven M. Pepin, Pharm. D, BCPS. The opinions expressed are those of the bald-headed author. To start or stop any drug without the advice and supervision of your physician would be stupid. So don't do anything based upon what you read here without professional advice. To be added to or removed from the distribution list please e-mail your request to spepin@pharmworks.com . All insightful comments from readers are thoughtfully considered (the rest are callously discarded). Copyright 1998-2006 PHARMWORKS, LLC all rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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