Guess Who's Against Cheaper Prescriptions?

Posted on August 24, 2008 in Generic drugs

That's right. The state of Wisconsin. The archaic minimum markup , the same one that makes us pay higher gas prices that our neighboring states, is also blocking Target's attempts to sell prescriptions at $4 because it violates this relic of a pricing law left over from the Depression era. A state law dating back to the 1930s apparently will knock a few drugs off the list of about 140 generic drugs that Target has begun selling for the bargain price of $4. Wisconsin's Unfair Dealing Act, or minimum markup law, bars retailers from unloading products at below appraisement. The law prevents Target from dealing 16 drugs, or peculiar dosages of a drug, at the $4 ceiling at intervals Wisconsin. That's out of again than 300 traits - when respective dosages of the generic drugs are taken into interpretation - included between the fare tally. Target Corp. could not be checked in late Wednesday. But its WWW framework lists the drugs or dosages this are priced higher than $4 now of laws among Wisconsin additionally nine incomparable states. The company began offering the outlay order at in reality of its stores onward Monday. Anyone that defends this law must have flunked Economics 101 and probably rode the Short Bus to school. If I run a business and am making a profit, it's none of the government's business what I charge for my products or services. Wal-Mart has a similar program but it has not come to Wisconsin yet. Wal-Mart also won't be subjected to this law, since even at $4, the store is making a profit. But Gov. Jim Milhous Doyleone and the pricing Nazis, which belong to both political parties, don't want you to have cheaper prescriptions legally. Don Doyleone would rather you buy them illegally from Canuckistan . Why do I blame both parties? Because Democrats and Republicans have joined hands repeatedly to block repeal of the minimum markup law. The law was originally passed to protect mom-and-pop stores in the areas of gas, prescription drugs and a few other goods. Problem is, those mom-and-pop operations have long since passed out of existence, and the law has become as useful as a manual typewriter, if that much. It needs to be repealed and let the market determine the fair price. As we learned from the great Milton Friedman, the market always works.

Tags: law, drug, wisconsin, prescription, state

"The Anger Of The Left"

Posted on August 08, 2008 in Generic drugs

From Thomas Sowell's latest column : ...All sorts of people can have all sorts of beliefs about what tax rates are best from various points of view. But how can people work themselves into a lather over the fact that some taxpayers are able to keep more of the money they earned, instead of turning it over to politicians to dispense in ways calculated to get themselves re-elected? The angry left has no time to spend even considering the argument that what they call "tax cuts for the rich" are in fact tax cuts for the economy. Nor is the idea new that tax cuts can sometimes spur economic growth, resulting in more jobs for workers and higher earnings for business, leading to more tax revenue for the government. A highly regarded economist once observed that "taxation may be so high as to defeat its object," so that sometimes "a reduction of taxation will run a better chance, than an increase, of balancing the Budget." Who said that? Milton Friedman? Arthur Laffer? No. It was said in 1933 by John Maynard Keynes, a liberal icon.... Click here to continue reading .

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Probability and Medicine

Posted on May 30, 2008 in Antibiotic

EconLog, linked an article by Dr. Richard Friedman on probability and medicine. In it, Friedman makes the point that many patients don't really understand the nature of probability in medical decision making. He cites the confusion a patient had when she was trying to understand that a 60% response rate with a given anti-depressant didn't mean that she would respond to it 60% of the time. When he explained that she would either respond or not respond, she became confused and said "You mean my chances of getting better are really only 50%?" Clearly, she was mistaking the binary aspect of the treatment outcome (getting better or not) with the probability that she herself would get a response. Friedman then speculated on why her patient might have had this misconception. He points out that mathematicians have attributed such problems on innumeracy " the arithmetic equivalent of illiteracy". He also mentioned that some misunderstanding might arise from a natural human tendency to not attribute bad (or any striking) events to chance. Personally, I think the example Friedman cited has more to do with innumeracy. However, I don't like the word because of its pejorative connotation. The fact is that most of us have this type of innumeracy even doctors (if you can believe it). Probability is one of those terribly difficult philosophical problems that trouble just about all of us. The dynamics of a clinical situation will determine the probability of a given patient developing a specific disease. A smoker has a higher probability of getting lung cancer than a nonsmoker, but an individual will either get it or not period . This sounds straight forward but a lot of people have problems with it. Some smokers never get lung cancer and some nonsmokers do. The reason is that smoking is not the only factor that leads to lung cancer. The more factors we understand (for example age, exposure to other toxins such as oxidants and genetics), the more precise the probability estimate will become. This becomes very important as physicians increasingly embrace evidence-based medicine (EBM). In the desire to cite statistics of medical outcomes (such as the chance of developing a certain disease or the likelihood that a certain treatment will work) it is very important to recognize that every patient is different. The study population of a particular study will surely have a cross-section of many different types of participants. The patient's observed probability will be closer to patients more like himself -- maybe closer in ways that weren't even imagined or assessed by the researchers. The original studies looking at the impact of cholesterol on cardiac outcomes didn't subdivide patients by measuring the different types of cholesterol such as LDL, HDL or triglycerides. Had they done so, individual probabilities of adverse outcomes could have been better stratified (as they have been subsequently). As physicians, we have to do a better job of explaining these concepts to our patients. At the same time, we need to do a better job of understanding them ourselves! What's true in a study may not be true for a particular patient. I want to close this post with my favorite probability brainteaser: If you flip a coin nine times and it comes up heads each time, what is the probability that it will come up heads the tenth time? I'll put the correct answer as the first comment to this post. Labels: Art of Medicine, Education, Statistics generic cialis Cheap Viagra buy cilais cheap cialis

Tags: probability, patient, time, friedman, medicine

Drugs - Cannabis

Posted on May 21, 2008 in Canadian drugs

The inner workings of a homegrown suburban marijuana farm Man arrested after reporting pot theft Cannabis compound 'halts cancer' Queen - Another One Bites The Dust: Hidden Message YouTube - Rejected Anti-Marijuana Slogans. In early 2007, the National Drug Control Policy commissioned several anti-marijuana advertisements to appear on television. Out of the dozens of slogans filmed, only a few made it onto the air. These are the rejected slogans. Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone and on YouTube - Hairy Pothead Chapter 1 - The Last of the Line. Click more for the rest. Top Indonesian MP says dope in food 'okay' The Purple Brain: America's New Reefer Madness Marijuana Tax Stamps from Every State that Still Makes Them PSL needs spot to store 2 tons of marijuana, other evidence. The city has accumulated so much evidence from its 74 marijuana grow house seizures in the past year, it doesn't have enough room to store it. How much pot can a sick person keep? WA officials to decide Canada tokes at 4 times world average The Most Exotic Brands Of Weed Slideshow Dearborn lets cop quit without a drug charge in marijuana brownie case. Great story. Video YouTube - Cop eats pot brownies and freaks out! Pot is not like tobacco. Please make a note of it. Thanks. Queen's Park rally goes all to pot Weed Fields of Afghanistan. Video clip of US troops investigating a vast Afghan marijuana plantation...with loudspeaker theme music. This Would Have Never Happened With Weed Man Gets 15 Years in Prison for Sophisticated Marijuana Ferris Wheel YouTube - 1960s Police Drug Training movie. Wonderfully dated 60s film, "Use Your Eyes" shows police how to find drugs and drug paraphernalia in a residential environment. Specifically marijuana and hashish. Health Canada charging huge markup on pot Clergy join push to OK medical marijuana SpongeBong HempPants. The misadventures of Spongebob Squarepant's subculture doppelganger, Spongebong Hemppants. Homer Simpson and Medical Marijuana On Marijuana | The Great Tennessee Marijuana Cave The Old Mac That Went to Pot Cannabis in the Old Testament New Mexico Legalizes Medical Marijuana Spiderman 3 star Kirsten Dunst likes Cannabis. 10 of the Greatest Movie Potheads. With YouTube clips. Collection of cigarette papers and another here Montyjas's Photos L.A.'s marijuana stores take root The magic ingredient: Hash brownies, dope stir-fry... Cooking with the cannabis granny US Marijuana Party Dying Woman Loses Marijuana Appeal Pot Penalties Harsher for Minorities Former Marijuana Smuggler Seeks Legitimate Employment (Image) US Government sued for marijuana lies Infomania worse than marijuana How to make wicked hash 25 Reasons to Smoke Marijuana Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law Researchers surprised to find no link between marijuana, lung cancer / Study's findings apply even to heavy pot smokers DEA to allow Church of Reality members to smoke Pot? Cannabis now ten times stronger than in the 1980s Hold the Pickles, Hold the Pot - Special seasoning upset cops Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year Don't Go Bust. A turncoat narc offers tips on how to move your weed. Milton Friedman: Legalize It! Christianity buy cilais cheap viagra generic viagra online buy cheap cialis

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Seniors Get a Hard Sell on Fee-Laden Annuities

Posted on May 11, 2008 in Prescription drug insurance

FINANCIAL ABUSE By Josh Friedman, Times Staff Writer Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2006 "Agents target the elderly's sizable assets, playing on their fears to push a product that may not meet their needs. Rich commissions drive tactics." FULL STORY RELATED LINK: Business Booms for Gurus Teaching How to Sell to Seniors By Josh Friedman, Times Staff Writer Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2006 "Some marketing borders on manipulation. `I call this getting the fish to chase the boat,' one consultant says." FULL STORY cialis Generic Viagra buy cilais Cheap Viagra

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