ppp 05-14-07

Quote of the day: Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness.

It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat

are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are

entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.

Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), Taken Care Of ,1965

Bill Cosby had an early bit about Noah. At one point Noah was questioning what he was being asked to do. A voice from above said "Noah… How long can you tread water?"

Two : Remember that we are all in the same boat, even those who live in an ocean of sand.

Three : Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Are you feeding your 401K regularly (even you 20-somethings)?

Four : Stay fit When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. (Yeah… diet and exercise).

Five : Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Attitude is altitude.

Six : Build your future on high ground. Don't compromise your ethics. Stand for something or you will have nothing to stand upon.

Seven : For safety's sake, travel in pairs. Friendship has many advantages…. cultivate them whenever you can.

Eight : Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. Distance runners pace themselves for the entire race. Sprinters tend to burn out.

Nine : When you're stressed, float a while. When was the last time you took a real vacation? Employers know that a balance is important… do you?

Ten : Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. Don't be afraid to look for unconventional solutions to conventional problems.

Eleven : No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting… you may just have to weather a long storm.

It is difficult at times to take directions from others over us, even if they are further down the chain of command than the Person giving Noah directions. Let's assume that "they" know what they are doing and start building.

Have a terrific week. Speaking of vacations…. the next PPP will be delayed a day or two, I am actually going to take some of my own advice.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Happy you came for a visit"...my Mom

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

The FDA must certify that foreign "reimportation" drugs save money and are safe. Edless studies have shown the extent of counterfeiting and other unsafe drugs entering the USA. Don’t expect ANYONE at the FDA to stick their neck out and say that ANY of these "Canadian" drugs are safe.

Neupro (rotigotine) is now approved for transdermal delivery for the early symptoms of parkinson's disease. One very troublesome side effect are "sleep attacks" when parients on this patch can suddenly fall asleep… not a great thing to happen when driving. Will be interesting to see if driving restrictions are imposed.

New ophthalmic form of azithromycin approved against bacterial infections of the eye. See official labeling information for the organisms it hit, indications, and potential adverse reactions/contraindications.

Logic is that PBMs have a PE ratio of 18 while HMOs only have a PE ratio of 13. He figures that the HMOs (and their stock holders) could benefit from the sale. While this might look good on the face of things…. maybe the PBM part of the HMO is what was propping up their PE ratio. If they sell of the PBM then what will replace THAT revenue? (Just another point of view… I could be wrong!)

Not the USA this time but CHINA. They are seeing and aging population and the cost of treatment of chronic disease. When the Ministry allowed hospitals and doctors to "up charge" medicines by 15% they opened a sea of expenses where doctors were prescribing and selling drugs to patients that were not needed. Welcome to Capitalism.

Perdue Frederick will pay $600 million for deceptive practices revolving around promotion of Oxycontin (AKA Hillbilly Heroine). They apparently were teaching the sales reps how to bend the truth about addiction potential. Settlement includes a guilty plea from 3 executives with sizable fines.

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