ppp 06-04-07

Quote of the day: People can have the Model T in any colour--so long as it's black.

Henry Ford (1863 - 1947).

In the last 10 years, how many times have you seen your exact same vehicle on the road? My bet is not too often. It appears that Americans have fallen into the habit of wanting it “their way”. Back in the good old days of the 60’s I could recognizes and shout out the make and model of just about every vehicle on the road. Each had about 7 colors to choose from so it was common to see a duplicate vehicle. Today, unless I can see the “Badging” on the back of most vehicle I could tell and Infinity from an Audi.

Ever wonder why auto companies are not as profitable (if at all) as they once were? Some would say competition. I say waste. Each of the many makes and models on the road have to be tooled in separate plants. Each car company has to build and sell many, many cars to recoup the costs of this tooling. The cost of the desire for individual choices in automobile makes, models, and configurations fuels the inflationary spiral in automobile prices as each manufacturer realizes the need to make more on each vehicle in order to break even.

Stack on top of this the Union deals that require health benefits for retired workers and you see them all headed the direction of the bankrupt Bethlehem Steel (at one point a single worker was supporting 7 retiree’s health benefits plus his/her own). The recent buyout of Chrysler, with the least favorable UAW contract, does not appear to bode well for its survival. Unless American can stomach a little less individuality only American made cars and unless workers can stomach the use of therapeutically equivalent generic drugs instead of insisting on brand name drugs we are all likely to see more waste, smaller profits and more bankruptcies.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Dude...no one should ever be that enthusiastic" (4 idle sales people in a car dealership at 4pm on Friday in response to my "Superfantastic"... was was there for a service appointment.)

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

Brand name drugs were once called “ethical pharmaceuticals”. European firm ranks the giants on ethics.

Levocetirizine (levo meaning left handed) approved by the FDA (but does not register on their site yet) against allergies. Regular cetirizine is a mixture of stereoisomers, right and left handed molecular configurations. Not an unusual pharma tactic to extend patent life. The drug has the snazzy name XYZAL which will be interesting to hear pronounced.(I can only guess)

Dr James W. Holsinger Jr., a cardiologist who promises action on childhood obesity, appointed as surgeon General. If parents and kids don't change something soon we will be a nation of diabetics.

4) Would you invest in a small company the makes the infamous “date rape drug?”

Small firm hopes to raise $180 MILLION in IPO. They make GHB for narcolepsy. They are pushing for approval for “Fibromyalgia” which isn’t exactly a well defined “disease”. The combination of a very abuseable drug and a borderline disease could unleash unprecedented diversion opportunities. (One investment that could make money but that I’ll avoid).

Seniors who use the plastic medication boxes sold in many pharmacies are still making serious medication errors. If they buy one and place the entire days medication in one compartment they risk doubling up on some and skimping on others even though they appear to come out even at the end of the day. My advice is to buy 3 or four of the boxes(preferably of different colors), , write the general time of day on the outside with a Sharpie and keep the AM medication box separate from the noon, from the evening, etc. (Its just so crazy, it might work!)

After refusing to pay rebates for many years, Pfizer has cut a deal with Express Scripts (a one time employer of mine) so you just might find Lipitor appearring on the 2008 formularies (along with other Pfizer drugs).... just a guess.

Researchers have demonstrated that an apple a day for adults reduces asthmatic symptoms. Children who drink apple juice or eat a banana a day have similar results.

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