ppp 11-03-08

Quote of the day: Under every stone lurks a politician.

Aristophanes (450 BC - 388 BC), Thesmophoriazusae, 410 B.C.

Whatever else you do on Tuesday… get out and vote (unless you already voted by absentee ballot or during the early voting allowed in some states.) I don’t care which candidates you will choose (I really care but won’t say) … it is important that you exercise your RIGHT and DUTY to vote. Wars have been fought so that you can go to the polls and express your preference for governance. Don’t let the sacrifices of those who have gone before you go to waste. It offers them a disservice. You should stop voting when you die (Hear me Chicago and Texas?)

Mayor, council member, commissioner, judge, state house and senate, and Congress are ALL important. A few of you will be faced with decisions on state constitutional amendments, tax levies, and maybe even dog catcher. You may not agree with the final choices made by the body politic (voting citizens) but you will have to live with the results… at least until the next election cycle when you can caucus, nominate, and work to elect those you favor and advance amendments or planks in the party platforms more to your liking.

One vote may not seem like a lot but Florida was decided by less than 1000 votes 4 years ago. Besides… the vote you cancel just might be mine.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "I am doing OK...not great but OK!"

pps. Please note that some of the links may not be up for very long and that you should capture or print anything that you may wish to keep.

Bayer has manufactured and sold low dose aspirin combined with calcium or phytosterols. They missed that little detail about getting FDA approval and will be dealt with severely (if the FDA wants to maintain any enforcement credibility). Expect the drugs to be pulled off the shelves, either voluntarily or … ELSE.

Diabetes doubled in the last 10 years. Much to do with waistlines. Too many Twinkies and not enough exercise is to blame. (Just how much Halloween candy did you down?)

The debate is over whether the increased expense of using the newer antidiabetic drugs is justified over the use of the older, cheaper ones. Strategy: 1) stay slim and fit (diet and exercise and avoid diabetes) 2) start with the less expensive, older, generic drugs 3) more to the newer drugs if the old ones don’t work. (Just a concept… I could be wrong)

Questions arise whether the public could handle the storage, appropriate use, and dosing of drugs in a home pandemic kit. The Y2K home storage of water and food was simple enough… if everything did not fall apart then you simply ate the food and drank the water. I would be most concerned about shelf-life and drug resistance. Maybe overuse would be curtailed if citizens had to pay for each kit. Giving them away for free imparts no intrinsic value. If the poor have to pay even $1 for a kit, it then has value.

Festerodine (Toviaz) was FDA approved for overactive bladder. It works like Detrol. Expect the anticholinergic effects to produce pseuo-Alzheimer’s symptoms in many elderly. (Just an educated guess based on the pharmacology)

When being treated for breast cancer with several drugs, women who experienced hot flashes were 30% more likely to have a positive outcomes. That was quite a flash… news flash that is.

I’m sure that all will be just fine… and tax… and levy… and negotiated… But maybe Pharma is just being “stingy”. I do know that when pharma business goes down that they are very nimble at work force reductions.

If you vote and your candidates lose you still have earned the right to complain.

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