ppp 03-17-08

Quote of the day: May you be in Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you are dead!

- Irish Toast

VH1 often does stories on rock stars who: 1) struggle while playing the music they enjoy 2) hit it big (fame fortune) 3) Indulge themselves 4) fall into desolate living 5) crash and burn 6) rehab and attempt a comeback. Even as these fill-in-the-band-name stories proliferate, kids “everywhere” seem intent on getting their shot at “handling it.”

What would you do if you had enormous wealth thrust on you in a flash. Many people speak of what they would do “if I won the lotto”. Most revolve around quitting their jobs and buying things that they have always wanted. Some think that the new found wealth will solve all of their problems. In effect they simply change one set of problems for another. Story after story reveal that most winners “crash and burn”. They exchange their everyday problems such as paying the bills and having to work, for the loss of all friends and family (jealousy and covetousness will drive all away eventually) and the temptation to indulge every appetite for good or their self destruction. I must admit to buying Powerball tickets in the hope that I will win a huge amount of money and be able to “handle it”. As in the song by the Goo Goo Dolls, I would probably not buy "Dijon drugs" and but stick to generics... just for the principle. What would be on your list of uses for untold wealth?

We all have won a jackpot every day we open our eyes. Each of us is afforded 1440 minutes. No one’s minutes are longer than any other’s minutes. Spend yours wisely and you may be rewarded… foolishly and you may receive a just reward. Enjoy the wealth you have been given… health. Money can’t buy heath or happiness… but, I am assured by a little leprechaun, that money does make misery a lot more palatable.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Fine as frog hair!"

In most things in life 80% of problems are caused by 20% of the whole. Hospitals are focusing on the few drugs responsible for a majority of drug problems: adverse drug reactions, medication errors, etc. Look at the article for a view of who is doing what to eliminate drugs problems.

Your local pharmaceutical reps will have to contend with non-commercial drug information providers. Congress wants to pay teaching institutions to write and pharmacists, nurses and health educators to foist rationale pharmacotherapy upon physicians. Why? Because the federal government spends so much on health care that even a small percentage of savings represents a lot of money. (They may have learned this from Kaiser Permanente and other health plans who have been doing this for years…. with good results.)

FDA director has named a new “permanent” director of Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The position has changed hands quite a few time in recent memory so we wish Dr. Janet Woodcock good luck.

Researchers have found a protein that they claim is linked to depression. If you have a high level of the protein then you are depressed (diagnosed or not). The proteins are measured again several days after antidepressants are started. If the proteins do not change then you are not likely to respond to that particular antidepressant and another may be tried. If, indeed, this laboratory guided diagnosis and treatment works in clinical practice, the practice of psychiatry will be forever improved. There are a host of other considerations… if you take the test and are shown to “be depressed” will your insurance rate increase if you refuse treatment?

One out of 4 teenage girls do have a sexually transmitted disease. Most of these are infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV) which is associated with the development of cervical cancer in later years. View this latest attempt to shock parents as a way to “encourage” parents to have their daughters vaccinated against HPV. No one would dare suggest that the children NOT have sex… except for me. (ps I am in favor of HPV vaccination but even more in favor of abstinence).

Deaths from Tussinex, a prescription cough syrup containing the narcotic, hydrocodan, prompted the FDA to issue a new warning. The narcotic acts for 12 hours but people are not reading the labeled directions or choose to ignore them with deadly consequences.

Some patients have an allergic reaction to Erbitux, an immunological anti cancer drug. An unusual percentage of patients were having this reaction in a handful of states. It appears that the bite of small ticks call “seed ticks” may sensitize patients and cause them to mount an allergic reaction when exposed to the drug. More work is needed while the clock is ticking.

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