ppp 12-15-08

Quote of the day: Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them

the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers,

and nobody thinks of complaining.
Jef Raskin, interviewed in Doctor Dobb's Journal

Making backup copies of critical files and my e-mail address book is something I do periodically but not religiously. Well, I have now found religion! If you missed my weekly e-mail reminder to visit the PHARMWORKS site for the latest edition of Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle last week it was for a good reason. I had just logged onto my computer to make a backup of my files when I was called away. When I returned 30 minutes later I found that my computer had crashed during the backup and corrupted the files and my operating system. The “BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH” was showing and I could not even restart the computer in “Safe Mode”. I was able to salvage some of the files off of the old hard drive but lost many e-mail addresses of loyal victims, I mean, readers. I will send to as many of you as I can reconstruct from the files and old e-mail files requesting to be added or to change e-mail addresses.

Speaking of back up… what is your back up plan should you lose your livelihood? Accidents with disabilities happen all of the time to otherwise healthy people. Disability insurance is more important than life insurance. The recent economic turmoil has caused many job losses. The pharmaceutical industry is well know for its ability to quickly “downsize” when things get tough. There are literally thousands of pharmaceutical industry people put out of work in the last 6 months. Here are some tips that could come in handy in the future: 1) have enough money in a regular savings account to last you for 6 months (the way Americans “save” this may seem next to impossible but it is necessary!) 2) Do not put anything on a credit card that you will not pay off as soon as the statement arrives (revolving credit rates are often 20 to 25%) 3) Max out your 401K or retirement investments (go ahead and keep them in the safest vehicle you want… often Money Market Funds), 4) Do not invest in the company for which you work because if things go bad enough for your company so that you are downsized, your investment, on which you will rely, will be devalued as well.

These next tips are for those of you who need to find another job: 1) keep a positive attitude at all costs. Nothing “sells” like enthusiasm. 2) Describe yourself in positive terms; you are “looking for work” (do not describe yourself in negative terms such as “unemployed”. 3) Do not be embarrassed and hide your circumstances but tell EVERYBODY (butcher, baker, candle stick maker, your hair stylist*, dentist, etc). Most people find jobs through networking and you never know how you will make that initial contact. 4) Keep looking over the holidays. There are plenty of people who will suspend their search because they have convinced themselves that employers do not look for employees at this time of year. Make use of this advantage by hustling MORE at this time, 5) Finding a new job is like finding a spouse… the arrangement has to work for both parties so be open an honest in the person you project. (Never ever lie on a resume or it could cost you the job that you just landed), 6) Keep sluggin’ … that perfect job is out there… but you will need to be looking for it. Do SOMETHING every day to bring you to your goal. If nothing else be sure to make backups of your resume and other files!

pps. Please note that some of the links may be up for only a short time and you should capture or print anything that you may wish to keep.

The use of Measles vaccine has saved over one half a million lives since 2007. I guess you could call THOSE evidence based results!

Europeans are toying with the idea of relaxing prohibitions on DTC advertizing. May give a monitory boot to European TV industry but we “Yanks” have been inundated for so many years that many work to eliminate DTC from our airwaves.

Protor and Gamble want to get out of the pharmaceutical business and will put it on the auction block. With “high power” drugs like Asacol, Intrinsa, and Enablex it is no wonder. (Ok they do also have Actonel, a $1 billion brand bone drug). I don’t find it one bit funny that the CEO’s name is Lafley.

Two dosage forms that combine phentermine (at ½ the Phen-fen dose) and topiramate (and antiepileptic drug) have produced significant weight loss (8 to 9% of body weight) in trials. It will be interesting to see how the drug fares with the FDA.

It takes a lot of chutzpah to name a pharmaceutical company Pozen. Looks like their new NSAID could be easier on the gut than naproxen. We will see

Aggressive treatment to lower blood lipids in diabetics showed that carotid arteries actually began to open.

While there is nothing Lite about G-Lytely but at least if won’t hurt kidneys. Phosphate preparation just received BLACK BOX WARNINGS related to kidney damage. Documented phosphate induced renal damage with Visicol and OsmoPrep. There are other phosphate preparations out there so be careful.

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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