Persnickety

http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Physician-really-does-know-best-617040.php Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D. (make sure you see that big ol' Ph.D. cause it's real important, though it does happen to be in constitutional history, not anything to do with medicine as letter writer Forrest Gatton point out--cf. http://tinyurl.com/24rjt6v) used to be the lieutenant governor under Pataki during his first term as governor of NY. Remember her? She was the one who insisted on standing up the entire time during Pataki's State of the State speech. You may not also know she was largely responsible for killing the Clinton health plan basing it (falsely, in this writer's opinion: cf. The White House. Analysis of New Republic article on health care reform. Little Rock: William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, January 31, 2004) on a complicated algorithm that highlighted a bewildering bureaucracy. You probably do know her as the author of the so-called "death panel"...

Caveat: Although after reading this article you may realize there is evidence for questioning the effects of your cholesterol lowering statin drugs, always consult your doctor and have a frank, and open discussion regarding your medication. So what is your Total Cholesterol? Well, in the article above, Dr. Joseph Mercola makes the case that your total cholesterol number is a "straw man," a number manufactured by, well, manufacturers in order to sell you medication that you probably do not need. The AMA, as the article states in the bottom third of the article: "Eight of the nine doctors on the panel that developed the new cholesterol guidelines had been making money from the drug companies that manufacture statin cholesterol-lowering drugs." Dr. Mercola points out that it is the underlying inflammation doing damage to your arteries that is vitally important. The body then makes more cholesterol (by your liver) in the attempt to repair the damage (cholesterol is made...

I am endeavoring to produce a blockbuster, earthshaking, and potentially an academically career-ending theory for literary criticism: I read the first sentence and judge accordingly. Witness the following time saving reviews (totally at random): In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.—But can He follow that up? On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. Bridge.—Heck of a sentence. I predict great things from this writer, a Mr. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Note to Hollywood: Don't change that name. For a long time I used to go to bed early. —Ok, maybe this loses in translation. (Swann's Way by a M. Proust.) Look at a map that shows the north Pacific Ocean. —Obviously written by a Neanderthal. (The complete Idiot's Guide to American History, 2nd Ed.) On my right hand there were lines of fishing stakes resembling a mysterious system of half-submer...

Death By Handwriting About five years ago I read in one of my pharmacy journals about a new fangled fix for doctor's bad handwriting (technically known as "cacography" and is responsible for thousands of hospital admissions each year, billions of wasted dollars, and millions of wasted phone calls from pharmacists, so hey, no laughing matter), utilizing e-scripts, or electronically transmitted prescription which are generated on a handheld PDA by the prescriber then transmitted to pharmacies. The process, besides eliminating illegible scripts, had the additional benefit of potentially alerting MD's to possible interactions and drugs that would require prior authorizations by insurance companies before being transmitted. That way, the doctor would know that the Biaxin script he/she wrote for on a Friday night would need to be changed to something else that the patient could actually pick up. (I personally like Montana's solution, fining a doctor $500 per illegible p...

For those wishing to know, there are many medications slated to lose patent life in the next several months. One caveat: once the patent expires, there is often litigation which results in a prolongation of the legal life of the brand. There are several events that may occur that prolong brand exposure, including litigation, patent settlements (manufacturers will agree to discontinue litigation in exchange for some monetary reward--nice, huh), final FDA approval, submissions of citizen petitions on behalf of brand manufacturers to the FDA, and "at risk launches" which means that once a generic is approved the generic manufacturer can go ahead with the generic but risks further litigation with the brand manufacturer. That being said here's a list of some drugs going off patent: Skelid Cardene SR Iopidine eye drops Vistide Combigan eye drops Androgel Androderm Arixtra Carbatrol Concerta Duac Lovenox Lybrel metadate CD Sanctura Tarka Elestat eye drops

I grew up watching the news. My family would watch the news--network news, of course, as this was before cable--while having supper. Usually NBC. I remember the peacock logo. For the longest time, into my twenties, I assumed that that was how people knew what was going on in the country and world. The newspaper was delivered as well; my father read it dutifully. I, on the other hand, mainly read the comics and the sports section. Eventually I came to love the print media, preferring magazines and papers for their more in-depth coverage of events and political analysis. I gave up on TV news. For a good long time. Lately I've been watching again. More out of curiosity, to see what's being covered. What I've discovered is that there really isn't anything being covered anymore (was there ever?). Every evening there is a run-down of four or five stories, and I do mean stories. These are all feel-good human interest stories, devoid of any analysis of causes or conclusions. To...

I recently underwent a preventative procedure at a local hospital. I thought it might be instructive to follow it through from start to finish, just to see how the system actually works, or doesn't work, as the case may be. My visit began with a routine examination at my primary physician. After determining that I just turned 50 he told me that it was time to schedule a colonoscopy. Yikes, I thought, but if it was good--or bad--enough for Katie Couric then I guess I could put up with it too. So, after giving me the name of a specialist, I called and made an appointment. Pretty simple. He advised me on what was going to happen and why it was important, what to expect and so forth. He gave me a prescription for MoviePrep and I went to the pharmacy. Being a pharmacist myself, I already knew all about the stuff so I just went to pay for it. $50! Yes, the MD had kindly given me a coupon, but that still made the total out to be $30. (Note: one month later I still haven't received the...