PHARMWORKS

Quote of the day: Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.

Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956), The Mother, 1932

“I have good news and bad news” said the doctor to his patient. The patient asked for the bad news first. “You have 1 hour to live!” The patient was flabbergasted and asked “If that is the bad news, what possible good news can you give me?” The physician said “It’s ‘happy hour!’”

What would you do if you had six months to live? Buy an expensive car? Go on a nice long vacation? Put all of your papers in order? I’m sure you can think of a lot. Would your choices change if the time you had left was 3 months? How about 30 days? As the time gets shorter the choices are more restricted. The novel you were writing might just have to be a short story. The short story might just end up as a letter to the editor.

If you had only 1 hour to live what would you do? This question was raised a long time ago by a group of young men during some recreational time from their studies. Some said they would run to their confessor, others would write a final sonnet. Letters to loved ones ranked high while the pub was a popular destination. One who was playing cards had not offered an answer and piqued the interest of the others. When prodded as to what he would do with his last hour on earth, the young man replied simply “I’d play these cards”. He was spending each hour as if it was his last and was prepared to meet his maker.

Hospice is reserved for those who are expected to live 6 months or less. Their choices might not be so jolly. If you or a loved one are in need of hospice serves you can find one via http://www.hospicefoundation.org/ or http://www.nhpco.org/templates/1/homepage.cfm . Each site has other information that could prove useful with those tough end of life decisions. We all, in the end, have to play the cards we are dealt.

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Super-dee-dooper"

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

Pfizer had lost the patent but has just regained it and they are out for blood. When a generic drug is launched “at risk” the generic pharmaceutical company risks having to return all profits from the sale to the patent holder if the patent holds. Neurontin patenT appears good through 2017.

Good news for patient who have experienced a hip fracture. The use on zoledronic acid reduced mortality rate by 28% and the incidence of new hip fractures by 35% over a 2 year period. Reclast is the name…. hip bones are the game. So much shuffle board….so little time.

Due to a huge wave of generics, and not just a little help from pharmacy benefit managers and other managed care organizations, a “market basket” of prescription drugs only rose 1% in 2006. Good job everyone! Of course it will be hard to convince anyone who’s individual brand name drug price increased significantly or whose drug went from brand to non-formulary status. I expect that some saw there drug prices fall but we don’t hear from them.

Dr. Steven Galson named as interim surgeon general. Position is responsible for the health education of the entire nation. I hope he gets started soon…big job.

Merck HIV vaccine did not prevent HIV or even slow the progression. Looks like staying a virgin and marrying a virgin still works though…

FDA wants all metered dose inhalers to be chloroflorocarbon propellant free by 2010. Come to think of it, I haven’t heard about ozone lately… have you?

The art of naming new drugs for a big fee. High scrabble value could mean high sales. Wrong name can lead to med errors if written alike or sound alike names. I’m sure you’d all like a shot at the name game and the money that goes with it.

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.

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