ppp 10-20-08

Quote of the day: “A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down”

M. Poppins

On a crisp October 19^th morning in 1974 I took my present bride as my own. (I call her my “present” only to keep her on her toes.) We pledged to love, honor, … in good times and bad… sickness & health… ‘til death. There have been some of each kind of times (good, bad, sick, healthy) and we are both still kicking.

There is another anniversary to celebrate this month. The PPP is now 10 years old. Once per week for the last 520 weeks I have written (and some have read) my snippets, comments and some pharmaceutical news. It is a little like a marriage; the good times (remember the times before intense DTC?) and the bad (so I cann’t SPEL); sickness (jokes…by the way… how is your 200.5 E retirement account?) and health (the usual main topic) until change of e-mail address do we part.

Seriously, thanks for sticking with me over the years. Keep those positive attitudes and we just might get through this together. That’s what I tell my bride every day. (Hey... it has worked for 34 years!)

ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Busy but my grades are great" (music to my ears)

pps. Please note that some of the links may not be up for very long and that you should capture or print anything that you may wish to keep.

Antimalarial treatment usually consists of bitter little pills that children refuse to take. New formulation make them sweeter and more palatable. This small change will likely make a huge public health impact. The Bill Gates Foundation is trying to eliminate malaria. I guess that if he can get millions to swallow VISTA then he can probably get kids to take their medicine. Maybe Mary Poppins was right!

“Car surfing” has killed at least 58 people (mostly boys) since 1990. Surfer jumps on a car and attempts to ride it like a surfboard. No helmet, no seat belt… just testosterone (and maybe a beer or two). Friends don’t lets friends “car surf”.

Three lots of dextroamphetamine have been recalled due to larger doses per pill than labeled. You will be able to tell the production line employees who have been sampling off the line… they will be RIGHT ON IT!!!!!!!!!! RIGHT ON IT!!!! RIGHT ON IT!!!!

4) Future drug label: “If you take this medicine bad things could happen”

Vioxx pleads it case for pre-emption to the NJ Supreme court. They argue that FDA approval without and subsequent discovery of an ADR should let them off the litigation hook. (See also the next item)

Present administration is trying to limit product liability lawsuits by regulation (about 50 in all) that preempt legal action against some companies. One example given is preventing lawsuits from the 8^th person in a vehicle who did not get a seatbelt and was injured. New president could undo them all just as easily.

We do know that people who have had a stroke or heart attack benefit from the daily aspirin. A new study, however, showed no decrease in stokes or heart attacks in people who have never had one before. Up until now cardiologists believed that high risk patients (diabetes or peripheral artery disease) would avoid a first stroke or heart attack by taking a daily aspirin. I guess you will just have to fall back on diet and exercise.

It was not a fire but the Mucomyst haze that set off the smoke detector and fire alarm. N-acetylcystiene is nebulized in the hope that it will break up thick secretions in patients on respirators.

Acetylcycteine does interact with various metals such as iron, copper, and nickel.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/smoke.htm Some smoke detectors trip when something interferes with a photoelectric beam. Any particulate matter can set these off. The other type of smoke detector works on the basis of radioactive particles and disruption of the electric fields. A chemical reaction between acetylcysteine could disrupt the electron flow and set off the alarm.

It may be more a physical reaction than a chemical reaction. The americium in the smoke detector is emitting high-speed alpha particles (helium nuclei). The particles hit molecules in the air and knock off electrons to form ions. So, for example, you might say: O₂ + He(+2) --> O₂(+1) + e(-1) + He(+2) (Charge is indicated inside the parentheses.)

Just my explanation of the observed phenomenon but I did find a published report.

if this link does not work then go to http://www.mja.com.au/ and enter the word “Mucomyst” in the search box.

Disclaimer: "Pepin's Pharmaceutical Prattle" (AKA "The Prattle") is the property of PHARMWORKS, LLC and Steven M. Pepin, Pharm. D. 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 1998-2009 PHARMWORKS, LLC all rights reserved.

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