ppp 03-26-07

Quote of the day: I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally.

W. C. Fields (1880 - 1946)

We all must discriminate. We weigh facts and make a choice based upon those facts, separating good from evil. If you can not discriminate then you assume all things are the same. If everything was the color green you could not tell grass from a gazelle. If all sounds were the same then a baby's coo would sound like a bad violin recital. If all touch were the same then porcupines would be house pets. If you could not distinguish between smells then no one would mind living downwind of a pig farm versus a rose garden.

Prejudice, on the other hand, is not so useful. It is the antithesis of discrimination. It is "Pre judging" based only on some superficial trait: race, religion, skin color, accent, gender etc that is inherently unfair. To act on these prejudices in hiring, housing and many other areas is illegal. Last week during "diversity" training a black woman correctly identified stereotypical prejudicial comments made by actors on the training video. She then went on to add how "this is typical white European thinking". Was she making a prejudicial statement? Yes! The diversity training seemed to have had no impact on her prejudices. Diversity training is preformed to help all of us recognize and eliminate prejudicial thought and actions; not just to educate white persons of European decent.

To be able to discriminate between good and bad is very useful. If we judge actions of an individual and take action then we are discriminating but not prejudicial. Anyone yelling " _____(fill in the blank)____ must die" because they belong to a certain group will be someone I will judge and avoid as I discriminate good and safe from bad and dangerous.

Chemicals can be bad and dangerous or good and safe. They do not pre judge people. Medications as a subgroup of chemicals, by their very nature, must discriminate. They discriminate between "germs" and people; between cancerous cells and non-cancerous cells; between brains and bowels; between kidneys and livers, in order to provide relief from disease. The goal in the design of any new chemical entity is to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. Even though these drugs do not have motives or any other anthropomorphic properties, maybe we could all learn from them.

pps. Occasionally, some of the links require FREE registration.... I'm sure you can handle THAT slight inconvenience.

After threats and counter-threats related to patent protection last week Thailand has reconsidered its stance in order to regain access to new drugs from Abbott. Kudos to Abbott for standing up for its rights.

Newly approved drug against smoking isn't taking off as planned. While not perfect, this may be the drug to help you kick the habit for good. Works through a different mechanism that the gums, patches, sprays or even Zyban. Big advertising campaign to begin soon. You were getting tired of all those ED ads weren't you?

With about 60% of men as carriers it is no surprise that so many women end up with HPV infections. Now beings the push to have men immunized as well. Because there is no data to support this use of the vaccine this debate may just have to wait awhile. If lawmakers block the immunization of all young girls then each women who reaches her wedding night a virgin will have a 6 in 10 chance of acquiring the HPV virus which can lead to cervical cancer. Think about THAT before climbing your soap box against the vaccine!

Making prescriptions drugs available through Part D Medicare is likely the biggest factor in the sharp decline of foreign internet drug sales. Other reasons such as a stronger Canadian dollar and concerns (LEGITIMATE) over counterfeit drugs. So what does Congress want to do?… make "reimportation" legal.

New proposed FDA rules would remove voting privileges from advisory panel members who have done research for, been on a speakers bureau for, or hold stock in a manufacturer of any new drug under consideration of its rival. While this sounds like a good idea on the surface, it appears that we will be left with a system where gynecologist and psychiatrists will be passing judgment on cardiac drugs and vice versa, Prominent physicians who have done research in their specialty or have a greater knowledge in a particular discipline are the ones who have been tapped for committee work in the past but will now be forbidden from voting. Seems a lot like a "Catch 22" for the new millennium.

Expiration date on influenza vaccine will necessitate their destruction even though they are still potent and may have use in future years. This is probably best to only have the "right" strains available each year and start fresh. Too bad that they could not be used in 3rd world countries without ANY vaccinations against influenza. Expect to see movement towards longer dating… 3 months would help.

7) Chocolate charms cardiac condition or Bunny Basket Bon bons benefit bloodvessels

When you reach for a chocolate bunny on Easter morning make sure it is dark chocolate to give you cardiac benefits, A small clinical study has demonstrated positive cardiovascular effects from dark chocolate. I will volunteer if they need to repeat the study or want to do the same study with fried chicken.

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 and supervision of your 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 1998-2007 PHARMWORKS, LLC all rights reserved.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------