Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle for 10-13-2003
	Quote of the day: Intimate relationships cannot substitute for a life plan. But to have any meaning or viability at all, a life plan must include intimate relationships.

Good morning! I heard a speaker the other day, Chip Bell, who talked about the OTHER half of customer love. As I mentioned in the Prattle many times... we want to LOVE our customers. Chip talks about how to make YOUR CUSTOMERS LOVE YOU. I guess every good lovinging relationship has to have love on BOTH sides in order to work. He gave many example of companies who foster the kind of feelings in customers that compel them to wear company apparel, paint their faces in team colors, or tattoo the logo on their bodies. (I can just see the PPP tattoos now). Jack Daniel's was one such company. Not only does he love the product but the people behind the product. Check out his website for his monthly newsletter…….Chip Bell's Site .... The newsletter is a bit long (remember he’s from Texas and they don’t have all that much to do in Texas but write) but worth the read. You just might pick up a few pointers on how to make your customers , not just like but, love you. Chip is having a birthday this week on Thursday. I won't tell you how old he is but he was born in 1944, I’ll be out of town so I think it would be great if you sent him a big “HOWDY” (he’s from Texas now and would understand that greeting.) Happy Birthday Chip! (He inadvertently put his BD on the screen as he was showing his registration for the JACK DANIELS site)…By the way… a confirmed SCOTCH drinker, I actually went out of my way to try the Jack Daniels because of his talk. I’ll wait until I finish this bottle before I decide whether to go back to Scotch or not. So far it does remind me a little of Scotch….sipped directly from an ash tray with the cigarette still in it…but I'll give it a full try. I just might start to feel that company love before too long.

1) Two new Anti-epileptic drugs could be "accidentally" used for weight loss.
	Topamax or Zonegran are not approved for a weight loss indication but seem to work. The are not inexpensive drugs. If you don't have some sort of prior authorization in place for these two new drugs….you might want to be ahead of the "Women's Magazines" on this one. …Click here for full text of story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53442-2003Oct6.html

2) I think it was George Carlin who said…

"Why is it that they the swab the condemned prisoner's arm with alcohol before giving a lethal injection?" People are now more concerned with the drugs used to kill inmates than the end product itself….death. When patients are given electroconvulsive therapy they are given drugs to paralyze their muscles so they do not hurt themselves during the induced therapeutic seizures. The other drugs administered at the same time are to make the patient unaware of the paralysis because it is a frightening experience to want to take a breath and not have your body respond. With the "cocktails" available there is no reason that the prisoner has to feel anything. But I feel that everyone is missing the point….Capital punishment takes a life and making it more "clinical" somehow hides the reality and makes it easier to support it. I feel that if we are going to continue with capital punishment we should bring back the gallows or, better yet, the firing squad. That way people would see this for what it is….killing. (Ask me some time and I'll tell you how I really feel!) …Click here for full text of story. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/07/national/07LETH.html?th

3) New Pfall line Pfrom Pfizer after your own heart.

FDA approved a new diuretic drug, Inspra, for use in heart failure. I am not all that INSPiRAed. This is not like Dyazide but resembles another class of drugs that includes Aldactone. It was actually approved a while ago as a diuretic but didn't make much of a splash. It is now expected, by some, to be a BLOCKBUSTER with the new indication. (My guess it will be in the "half-block buster" class, falling short of the $1 billion mark… but that is just my opinion…I could be wrong). …Click here for full text of story http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Feed=RTR&Date=20031008&ID=2933887&Symbol=US:PFE.

4) Statins fail in Britton.

Half the study subjects did not reach target lipid concentrations within 3 month and physicians did not increase the dose. Is it a coincidence that the results of this study are released about the same time as Crestor hits the market? If you assume that the problem is the need for more potent drugs then you migh bite. If you could come up with a way to make patients NOT BITE (ie diet) and exercise then the agents we have might just be strong enough. Don't get me wrong….I think Crestor is a wonderful drug with prices that are actually below Lipitor prices. I am just too cynical I guess. …Click here for full text of story. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&ncid=594&e=11&u=/nm/20031005/hl_nm/health_britain_cholesterol_dc

5) Breast cancer study halted… results too good!

The estrogen suppressor letrozole was tried after Tamoxifen treatment in 5000 women after their first bout with breast cancer. The rates of recurrence were cut in half. I had a good feeling about aromatase inhibitors when they first came out! This looks to be the NEXT GOLD STANDARD to prevent a second bout with this deadly disease will be debated for awhile but it sure looks good. Would be nice to know if this study was funded by all of the money raised from RACE FOR THE CURE. If not, maybe that is where the NEXT break-though will come from. …Click here for full text of story. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=534&ncid=534&e=11&u=/ap/20031009/ap_on_he_me/canada_breast_cancer

6) If the don't sign on "ZZ TOP" to promote this they are CRAZZY.

Zetia and Zocor will be combined for the non-US audience as a opening act for bring it to the USA. The drugs work by two different mechanisms and I am very excited about the combination of Zetia with the statins. Notice how the story does not mention the brand name, Zetia? (The patent for Zetia is held by a rival company) I'd call the combination product "ZZ" and use DTC featuring the band of the same name. (Hey, if Led Zepplin can promote Cadillac then it just might work.) They won't do it though because they would have to pay me HUGE royalties for my marketing idea. Maybe I should run this one by my lawyer (patent pending). …Click here for full text of story. http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Feed=RTR&Date=20031009&ID=2936301&Symbol=US:MRK

7) Results of DTC levels off?
	This is a good review of what is working and what is not in the world of drug promotion. Some interesting stuff about how some drugs have moved up in the ranks. (and other down). Just trying to generate some of that customer love! …Click here for full text of story. http://www.ipsos-pa.com/dsp_displaypr_us.cfm?id_to_view=1934

Have a Super-Fantastic, Love-filled 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 a supervision of you 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 1998-2003 PHARMWORKS,LLC all rights reserved.