Politicians Make Laws for Others, Not Themselves.
In Colorado, State Senator Suzanne Williams, age 65, was driving her compact SUV on a highway near Amarillo, Texas, when her car drifted over the centerline. She crashed head-on into a large SUV where a 30-year-old pregnant woman passenger was killed. The baby was removed by c-section and is in critical condition. Senator Williams, vice-chair of the senate transportation committee, said she doesn't remember the accident and doesn't know what happened. Previously she pushed for driver safety and enforcement of seat-belt laws, but her son and two grandchildren were not belted and two of them were ejected in the crash. When asked why they were not belted in, she said she “didn't have time” to talk about it. Perhaps she should take time to think about her political future.
Bikers Know Why Dogs Stick Their Heads Out in the Wind.
The world of advertising has gone nuts - but you probably already know that. German automaker BMW has created a promotional film to be used in theaters which begins with the action of a motorcycle ridden by champion Ruben Xaus. He describes what motivates him to race and that he is living his dream. Then he finishes with “look deep inside yourself. You can live the dream too. Just close your eyes.” At that point the screen projects a bright blast of BMW against a dark background to produce a potent after-image. The moviegoer carries the message BMW for several seconds or perhaps longer depending on the health of the retina. What a great campaign tool - tell the audience of my great devotion to public service then have the jumbo-tron flash “Vote for Stodd son of the sod.” They have to carry it away from the rally.
If You Say You Didn't Know Cigarettes Were Lethal, You're Lying Through Your Tracheotomy.
Researchers at Kaiser Permanente followed 21,000 patients in their health care system for more than 20 years regarding use of cigarettes. They found that those who smoked more than two packs of cigarettes a day in middle age had 157% greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared with non-smokers. Moreover, they had 172% greater risk of dementia, the second most common form and one associated with stroke and conditions affecting blood supply to the brain. Smokers who puffed away less than two packs a day increased their risk by 44%. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also found that 25% of the sample developed dementia in later years. Lenore Launder, chief of neuro-epidemiology at the National Institute of Aging, said that earlier studies that seemed to show that tobacco had a protective effect were biased because so many heavy smokers died before developing symptoms. Does anyone need still another reason to give up tobacco?
Death to Polio - Not the Patient, the Virus.
A new bivalent polio vaccine (BOPV) is being used in India and Nigeria with dramatic effectiveness. An Australian research team reporting in Lancet found that using the vaccine caused a 97% reduction in cases in Nigeria with a drop from 400 cases in 2009 to just 10 in 2010. India found a reduction of 90% moving from 200 cases in 2009 to 32 in 2010. World Health Organization scientist Roland Sutter believes that a determined use of this bivalent vaccine will cause polio to join small pox as a historical disease. Those of us who were around before the original 1956 vaccine recall the fear and dread that polio brought to the public.
Detour There's a Ruccy Road Ahead.
Twenty years ago the American Medical Association (AMA) established a secretive panel of 29 members who meet three times a year. This semimysterious group is called the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), and they command tremendous power over physician reimbursement. Their recommendations go to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which accepts 90% of more of their plan. Private insurers and other programs tend to follow suit in creating their own schedules. The RUC generates challenges that claim the committee affords too much money for sophisticated procedures and gives too little to nuts-and-bolts primary care doctors. The RUC is also faulted for using outdated formulas dating back to the 1990s. Many procedures now are minimally invasive and have been perfected, modified and removed from the hospital to ambulatory care where the cost is often far less. A surgeon who previously served on the RUC stated that the system pits specialty against specialty and surgeons against primary care. Primary care groups have pushed for more representation without success. Barbara Levy, M.D. a Seattle gynecologist who heads the committee says it is an expert panel and not meant to be representative. Hey, admit it, Doctor. Pediatricians and family physicians are under-reimbursed and everyone in medical practice knows that.
A Snitch in Time Saves More than Nine - Million, that is.
In 2002, Glaxo-Smith Kline PLC was aware of quality problems in their facility in Sidra, Puerto Rico. It was reported that the plant was mixing drugs of different types and strengths in the same container. Plant managers made no attempt to issue a recall or remedy the cause. Glaxo sent quality assurance officer Cheryl Eckard to investigate and clean up the mess. Ms. Eckard made strong advice that the plant stop shipping and suspend manufacturing for two weeks to provide time to resolve the problems. The recommendations were ignored because her supervisors were busy preparing to market a new diabetes drug Avandamet. She made additional trips to Sidra, and finally told her boss that she would not participate in a cover-up of the problems in Puerto Rico. The following year Ms. Eckhard was terminated in what the company called a “redundancy” adjustment. After she left the company she continued to work with the compliance department, but she says the company took no action. She blew the whistle, and reported the problem to the FDA's San Juan office. The following year she filed a lawsuit under the U.S. False Claims Act. The FDA investigated with search warrants, document collection and other potential evidence. Ultimately, the government secured a guilty plea and Glaxo paid $750 million to settle. And Ms. Eckard? She received $96 million, the reward percentage provided in the law. At age 51, it represents fairly comfortable early retirement.
Drug Reps Want to Turn Your Yawn into a Yearn.
The film is entitled Love and Other Drugs, supposedly a romantic comedy, and is a portrayal of a very aggressive drug industry sales rep. The story is about a salesman who goes to great lengths to sell pharmaceuticals by stealing a competitor's samples, lining up dates for doctors and even sleeping with a medical office receptionist. The story is loosely based on a novel, “Hard Sell, the Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.” The director, Ed Zwick, admitted that the love story is invented, but the setting is based on fact. He consulted doctors and pharmaceutical sales people to be sure of the details. The action takes place in the 1990's when direct-to-consumer advertising was blooming, and the Food and Drug Administration had just approved Viagra. Sales reps discuss pushing products for off-label use. Pfizer, maker of Viagra, pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $2.3 billion in 2009 for abuses described in the movie. A stiff fine if you ask me. Those who are still thinking about this film four hours later, need to call their doctor.
The Cubs Installed a New Pitching Machine. It Beat Them 4 to 1.
Unusual baseball injuries of 2010 include:
Kendry Morales of the Los Angeles Angels hit a home run, then jumped on home plate and broke his leg.
Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles struck out, then hit himself on the head with his bat. He was out for a week with a concussion.
Geoff Blum of the Houston Astros needed elbow surgery after straining to put on his uniform shirt.
Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins playfully pushed a congratulatory post-game cream pie in a teammate's face, and tore his own knee which required surgery.
Addenda
No one in the lower 48 states lives more than 115 miles from a McDonald's.
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina football coach talking about a fire in the Auburn football dorm that destroyed 20 books, “The real tragedy is that 15 of the them had not been colored.”
If you push the envelope and nothing happens, perhaps it's stationary.
Condom history: in 1272 the Arabs invented the first condom using a goat's intestine. In 1763 the British refined the idea by first removing the intestine from the goat.
An eye surgeon on an island off Alaska's coast is called an optical Aleutian.
Aloha and keep the faith — rts
(Editorial comment is strictly that of the writer.)