Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle for 07-04-2005

 Good morning !

Crooked Lines

Sometimes we experience bends and twists in our life experience that are not pleasant or have us wondering "WHY ME… WHY NOW?" These may be little things or big ones.  

When I was in college I had a wheel fall off of my old VW bug while making a left turn at a stop light. I was overjoyed that it happened at 10 miles per hour instead of the previous evening while on the freeway. It was inconvenient but I had an immediate answer to "WHY NOW?".  

Since I had the malignant melanoma removed from the top of my head I have had time for reflection (in addition to the reflections of light off of my "chrome dome"). Where would I be if I had retained a full head of hair? Being bald allowed me to see the dark spot and have it investigated and removed. Being bald literally, saved my life. I now have the answer to "WHY?" for another of life's persistent questions!

 I'm sure that each of you has your own set of "WHY?" questions but have not yet received all of your answers. Be persistent and keep trying. You may someday have your answers. As a priest once said to me "God writes straight with crooked lines". I think I now know what he meant.

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ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Independent!"

pps. Happy Independence Day!

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 1) Gates Gives Global Gazillions

Bill Gates Foundation donates $5.4 million for global health billed as an effort to develop a tuberculosis vaccine. I hope it works but one of the main reasons that people contract tuberculosis is because their immune systems are compromised. Any enhanced immune response due to vaccination will be lost if people are malnorished or infected with HIV (which causes immuno suppression).  A laudable goal but other public health initiatives would likely provide better results.

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2005/06/20/daily20.html

 2) The Jazz buy free agent.

Not basketball… Jazz Pharmaceutical of Palo Alto, California just acquired Orphan Medical (formerly a Minnesota pharmaceutical manufacturer)… Consolidating operations in California.

http://www.medadnews.com/News/Index.cfm?articleid=251686

 3) Medicare increases anxiety!

Well, maybe not INCREASE anxiety, but provide no payment for benzodiazepine prescriptions (Valium, Xanax, Ativan, etc). These drugs are of concern in the elderly because they can lead to falls and/or confusion; but the fed just sees this as a way to save money on marginal drugs. I'll bet it won’t save as much as projected.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-medicare-anxiety-drugs,0,4003974.story

 4) Canadians to ban the Incredible Bulk!

Canadian government is set to ban bulk shipping of Canadian drugs (which were once US drugs) back into the USA. Also set to prohibit physicians from prescribing medications to anyone whom they have not personally examined. This SHOULD end "reimportation" but it won't entirely. Due to the incredible amount of money involved this will likely go on; legal or illegal.

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8902836

 5) Justice may be blind… but it wasn't caused by Viagra.

Pfizer says that analysis of existing data shows no association between Viagra and blindness. NAION (non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy) warning will go on all ED products in spite of these findings, This will likely limit the inevitable lawsuits.

http://www.pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=251962&categoryid=9&newsletter=1

 6) GarAnimals for Drugs

Drug Watch is moving toward color coding.  The new Drug Watch Web page will communicate significant emerging safety information about specific drug products or classes of drug products. This emerging safety information may relate to new risks, new information on known risks, or risks associated with off label uses. Lets hope that the new color coding scheme is more understandable that the terror alert system in place in another agency.

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/05d0062/05d0062.htm.

 7) Tattoo gun as drug delivery device?

Some vaccines are given into muscles and some into the dermal layers. Tests are conducted to see which gives the best results. One investigator has found that a tattoo gun will allow for incorporation of large doses into the skin by giving a large number of punctures over a larger area. (I'll bet the kids will really stand still for this one!). This will likely have greatest application in the incorporation of plasmids into host DNA during gene therapy. (I think I'll sign up for "Spidey senses"…)

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/suppinfo/nm1264_S1.html

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