The most important thing in life is to see to it that you are never beaten.

We reach the 3 year anniversary of the attack on America we know as 9/11. The American inclination is to find someone to blame. While some would blame the government for not protecting us I have to point out the obvious…. the 20 individuals who hijacked and crash the planes were the one responsible. Truth be told… it is virtually impossible to protect yourself form a person who does not value their own life. Can we do more to protect ourselves… yes.  The 9/11 commission has many recommendations. It is interesting that about two thirds of those polled would rather go slowly and get it right rather than hastily implement all of the changes suggested to date.

One thing that we can do and are doing is rebuilding at ground zero. Check out the time-lapse photos of ground zero. If all goes well, the tallest building in the world will stand at the site…. the Freedom Building. Right now a film maker is taking time-lapse photos of the site from 6 different cameras. If you were to watch the film he has already taken it would take over 3 hours to watch. Catch some of the pictures at this site. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/08/arts/design/08rebi.html?th   or http://www.projectrebirth.org

American may be quite a mixture of beliefs but one thing holds true… you can not quash the American spirit or the desire to achieve. This building is more than brick and steel… it represents all that is heroic in American… a striving… a refusal to accept defeat and the resolve to start anew and achieve even greater heights.

1) Mega-blockbuster- "Godzilla-is-a small bug"- drug

While not released yet, Acomplia, s likely to turn the pharmaceutical world on its ear. It works against both obesity and smoking. This is probably the best example of a “lifestyle” drug I have seen to date. This will be a huge issue and the drug likely to be a MEGA-BLOCKBUSTER (but one for which members would likely pay cash).

From a large employer vantage there is little risk. The advantage is that most plans that do not cover smoking cessation ALSO do not cover weight loss drugs. These clients would not be adversely effected by the release of this drug if it is properly coded by First Data Bank. (The drug should also be listed in the logic of BOTH classes of drug: smoking and obesity.)

It is simply “not a covered benefit”.  Clients may wish to state this explicitly in their SPD benefit explanations to employees when the drug is finally released..

For those clients who DO offer either a smoking or obesity benefit we might have to use a stepped approach. Criteria could “grandfather” anyone who has a past claim for a prescription smoking cessation drug, . If used for smoking then a time limit would be in order. If for weight reduction then some BMA calculation logic could be applied.

http://www.fitforsummer.com/acomplia1.htm

2) Dangerous drugs precipitate "Sudden Cardiac Death"…

Erythromycin, especially combined with some other cardiac medications, resulted in more deaths that those who took neither. This interested me because of my past experience as the drug interaction editor for Medispan.. The erythromycins have been implicated in many cardiac rhythym problem in the past so it is not shocking to me. Read on to find out the other culprit drugs….

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/488921?src=mp

or http://www.newsday.com/news/health/wire/sns-ap-antibiotic-deaths,0,7134711.story?coll=sns-ap-health-headlines

3) Feeling restless?

Requip, an anti Parkinson's drug, has been tested for "restless leg syndrome".

Have you ever been in a meeting with someone who can’t stop bouncing his leg or legs up and down? He could be suffering from “Restless Leg Syndrome”. It definitely burns calories but at the expense of social stigma.  If this is approved it would be the first for RLS. Not a potential blockbuster…but interesting.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh96716_2004-09-06_13-59-40_l06347324_newsml

4) Another one bites the dust…

FDA does NOT approve the anticlotting drug,  Exanta….Cardiovascular risk and that of liver failure are too high. Back to the drawing boards…. Note: the drug company will have to recoup the cost of the development of this drug somewhere…. They need the freedom to price accordingly or the US will take the place of Europe as an area where new drugs USED to come from. (IMHO…. see last article foe the translation(

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6208988

 5) More on fake drugs….

This one is long but hits on all aspects of importation and other dangerous drug issues.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040920/health/20internet.htm?track=rss

6) PPPP? (Pepin's Pet Pharmaceutical Prattle)

Heartworm drug, ProHeart 6, recalled. I include this because you may have a pooch on the stuff and not have any other source for this information. Pets are part of the family and need protecting too.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=534&ncid=534&e=15&u=/ap/20040903/ap_on_re_us/recall_dog_heart_drug

7) IM & LOL

Some abbreviations used in instant messaging that could come in handy.

I'll have to start using IMHO….. TTFN

http://tech.msn.com/guides/832482.armx