Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle for 05-09-2005

 Good morning!

 The Graduate

This weekend I am off to celebrate the graduation of my son from the University of Dallas. He receives his degree in Physics. His brother hopes he takes a job with Boeing so that he can say "Actually…my brother IS a rocket scientist!".  This is an exciting time for us as we observe him on the threshold of career (or grad school).  He worked very hard at a premier school with a "core curriculum".  In addition to his mastery of the sciences,  he is well rounded in language, religion, philosophy and the rest of humanities. He can look at a photo of a European fountain and tell the city and the sculpture as well as other tidbits about the piece. (Did I mention that I am proud of him?).

We wish all of the spring graduates (college and high school) success. These ceremonies MEAN something. They allow us to show our support and appreciation for the long hours of study and sustained effort in pursuit of a worthy goal. So what if you hate potato salad and Jell-O…. get out there and CELEBRATE!

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ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Done!" (a graduate)

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   1) 5 will get you 10….

Antiparkinson drug maker sued by compulsive gamblers who say "the drug made me do it!". I wonder if they would have sued if they had won. With the current crazy tort practices I would bet that the patients collect something. How would you bet?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news#

   2) DOD picks DNG (Drug Non Grada)

Department of Defense to remove Nexium from the formulary. This leaves generic Omeprazole as the sole PPI. This could mean big things (little sales) for other drugs in crowed classes where there is not an appreciable difference in effect between the available generic in the class and the remaining brand drugs. This is HUGE! This becomes ENORMOUS if the Medicare Part D people use the DOD as a model.

http://www.pharma-lexicon.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=24124

    3) I'm feelin' RESTLESS…

Requip (does that mean I have to make two jokes about this or just a double entendre?) approved for restless leg syndrome. I'm sur eyou had an old college friend who just couldn't sit still in class (unless sleeping) with a leg or two bouncing all of the time. Now you can call that friend and tell about this drug. You can be a hero (not the sandwich) or heroine (not the addicting kind).

http://www.faxwatch.com/sm/news.2062/newsdetail.aspx

    4) Montazuma's revenge…. no drugs

The FDA does a good job of making sure that we have safe and effective drugs…. if you follow the rules! To would-be-buyers of foreign sourced drugs don't-be! (Missing drug can be just as harmful as wrong drug or too much!)

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2005/ANS01357.html

    5) Early breast cancer and bones

Women with early breast cancer have a higher incidence of osteoporosis. Bisphosphonates recommended for all.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050511/hl_nm/osteoporosis_cancer_dc&printer=1

      6) Health through the eye of newt…

"Paper kills" is Newt Gingrich's present mantra. The premise is that paper records of health care are not giving the professionals timely and accurate medical information so patients do not get better as fast as they could or are placed in harms way. He is pushing for an electronic medical record, e-prescribing and other integration of technology in health care.

http://www.newt.org/index.php?src=news&prid=954&category=Articles&noframe=y

    7) Medicare to help report Adverse Drug Reactions

If you read the article closely (if at all) you will notice that what Dr. McClennen is proposing is nothing more than capturing the same information already contained in the PBM databases…. only less. He wants data on drug use but to have patient names stripped out. Magically this data is to tell us about adverse reactions and "avert another Vioxx"!!??? Unless the database integrates with medical data (on the same patient by way of a standard identifying number) there will be no new information generated. This "idea" needs some practical people behind it or it will just be a waste of time, talent and effort. (Just my opinion… I could be wrong!)

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid=%7b2A37D37D-39F6-4BDF-AC3E-85B8D2293423%7d&siteid=yhoo

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