Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle for 10-27-2003
	Quote of the day: Just as you began to feel that you could make good use of time, there was no time left to you. Lisa Alther

Good Morning! Did you remember to reset your clocks ? (I’ll address you Indiana and Arizona folks later). Old Ben Franklin has been given credit for the idea of Daylight Saving Time. The real proponent was William Willett (1857-1915) …Click here for full text of story on the origins of daylight savings time. He had noticed, during his early morning horse rides, that a lot of daylight was being “wasted” because workers were not in the field early. What Daylight Savings Time represents is a national agreement to get up 1 hour earlier so there will be more daylight left after a normal workday. Arizona feels that they have enough sun without saving any. Indiana does the same thing and it drove me and other coaches crazy. We would habitually run out of practice time or daylight for games. So how do these time changes affect timing for medications taken by patients? For the most part…there will be no appreciable clinical effects with the “extra” hour on one day. The only exceptions might include scheduled pain medications and that can be adjusted over the next few days as needed. Tomorrow it will be brighter for the start of the day but dark by the time of the trip home. Drive carefully….especially Friday night when the little ghosts and goblins will be going door to door.

1) Rx Confusion
	What exactly does "Rx" stand for? This lets you in on the meaning and gives insight into how it is being abused to dupe people into spending more out-of-pocket on remedies they might not need. …Click here for full text of story. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/10/19/rx_is_becoming_a_symbol_of_confusion_for_consumers/

2) Blue Gills not feeling Blue in Dallas.
	This article talks about how Prozac is making its way into fish through the water supply. Researcher is projecting human emotions on fish and suspects that they would be less depressed. Wake up… they are just fish with not a lot going on behind those cold eyes. Somebody watched "Finding Nemo" too many times! …Click here for full text of story http://www.msnbc.com/news/984141.asp?vts=102420031101

3) Wolverine Madness!

Michigan Pharmacies are trying to have a law passed that would essentially eliminate mail order pharmaceuticals. You don't suppose the extra $71 million for themselves would color their view do you? If mail is more efficient and saves EVERYBODY some money then it just might be the way to go. …Click here for full text of story. http://65.54.170.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=cf3c9e37be7061f19ce9e841cd76c664&lat=1066920518&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2epharmacyonesource%2ecom%2fmembers%2fnpt%2easp%3fr%3d76085%26c%3d19

4) Lexiva vs levitra….potential name confusion.

I am sure that the FDA thought of this before the release but…. the names of these two recent drug approvals appear to be too close for my comfort. Lexiva is a new ORAL anti-HIV drug while ORAL Levitra's main purpose is to support NFL football (while treating ED). Expect to see at least one drug dispensing error around this one…. and maybe a name change within a year. …Click here for company news release. http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Feed=RTR&Date=20031020&ID=2973369&Symbol=US:VRTX

5) Starlix approved for use with Avandia for diabetes control.
	Read this short article for some interesting statistics on Diabetes and the effect of even minor changes in blood glucose levels on morbidity and mortality. …Click here for full text of story. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-23-2003/0002042489&EDATE=

6) Lilly ain't no lady when it come to Dudley DoRight…
	Ely Lilly has moved to restrict sales of its drugs to Canadian DoWrongs who export to the USA via mail. I think that this is the 5th pharmaceutical company to restrict Canadian sales in one form or another. …Click here for full text of story. http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/031020/health_lilly_1.html

7) Code Blue for our health care system…Contest could net you $10,000
	Grass roots organizations seeks new ideas and a way to change health care…. expect some FIEWORKS on health care during the up coming presidential election. (Just a hunch…) If you can solve the problems then you'll make more than $10,000 just on the lecture circuit. …Click here for full text of story. http://www.codebluenow.org/

Have a GREAT week and enjoy that "extra" hour! Steve

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