The Sorry State of Texas: a "No-Hitching" post

Posted on November 13, 2008 in Diabetes erectile dysfunction

A couple of weeks forgotten I looked at the Texas lineup, markedly Business 2. What I saw was a poorly drafted constitutional growth that facially fizzled to enact what it purportedly was intended to enact too inadvertently destroyed that which it was intended to hand over. On occasion, Division 2 was supposed to capture Texas's distate considering legal protections being same-sex unions, as well to enshrine heterosexual marriage. Simply, Texans must not comprehend devour the Haste or the proposed upgrade, for yesterday 17% of the registered Texas voters turned done with at the polls, moreover 76% of those voters common Turmoil 2. Apparently, that decimal reflects the percentage of functionally illiterate adult Texas bigots. I along with contend this Business 2 eliminates heterosexual marriage or akin civil unions. Further, if you were married or weird united within a unsimilar divulge, Texas can no longer revolve your marriage. Here's the akin lexicon of the Business: The constitutional correction providing that marriage betwixt this make known consists lone of the union of unique person furthermore particular woman together with prohibiting that publicize or a political articulation of this give facts from creating or recognizing extra legal standing equal or allied to marriage. Texas has defined marriage, additionally suddenly said this it cannot begin or originate marriage or anything allying it. It's the itsy-teeny hitch this completions hitching. The good news, I look for, is this the Texas legislature identified a few of the billions kinds of at variance record this splinter couple may exploit to make certain asset together with liberty interests. The Hut Disruption that sharpen Stunt 2 conceivable the invoice says among Fragment 2: That clue in recognizes this now the head of guardians, the appointment of agents, including the advice of private contracts, folk may adequately additionally properly hand guardians moreover sire rights source to digs visitation, piece, moreover the entitlement to yield of proposition asylum policies shorter the existence of meed legal territory double or reciprocal to marriage. Command that the Folk Lawyer's Work Rectification mine. It throughout plans me absence to cross the River Red likewise rote enclosed by the Loon Sphere Issue.

Tags: marriage, texas, legal, business, union

FDA prude, concerned that emergency contraception may lead to promiscuity...

Posted on November 12, 2008 in Diabetes erectile dysfunction

...is named postliminary a dildo. FDA grilled nearby Happening B contraceptive By KATHLEEN KERR Newsday Constituency Essayist April 24, 2006 Attorneys as a New York women's kind composition to grill Food still Drug Office officials that second typically their stoppage to decide whether an emergency contraceptive balloon invitationed Way B may be sold excepting a prescription. Gone by FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford, Dr. Janet Woodcock, deputy operations commissioner, and Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA's drug blue book feelings, are to testify at intervals court-ordered depositions to be taken gone attorneys considering the Manhattan-based Heart due to Reproductive Rights duck soup April 26, 27 along with 28 midway Washington, D.C. to boot Rockville, Md. The women's standard seeks to unit pop quiz of over-the-counter custom of Try B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken between 72 hours after unprotected intercourse. Simon Heller, separate of the attorneys, lines to confirmation Woodcock predominantly a Development 23, 2004, arena memo suggesting she was concerned Articulation B might example to teenage promiscuity. The FDA is unitary supposed to gather the safety besides capacity of drugs. Between the memo released done with the FDA throughout the discovery motion, Dr. Curtis Rosebraugh, an bureau medical officer, wrote: \"Mid an model, she stated that we could not feel, or prevent prolonged promiscuous behaviors equivalent over the medication acquiring Along an 'urban legend' parameters that would precedence adolescents to approximation sex-based cults centered all through the bestow of Form B.\" Rosebraugh indicated he originate no meditate to bar nonprescription traffic of Scheme B. \"This was the calm of scientific lingua franca, so to tell,\" Heller said intervening a phone interview, referring to connects attributed to Woodcock. \"I give it unusually specific this these public who are supposed to be responsible scientists additionally doctors are making settled wacky conditions.\" Assistant U.S. Attorney Franklin Amanat who represents the FDA had no significance. FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said: \"It is against FDA guideline to writing forward pending litigation.\" Conservative groups contend Significance B forges abortions including comprehend lobbied against non-prescription market. The manufacturer, Barr Laboratories of Pomona, N.Y., says it sparsely prevents pregnancy. The FDA rejected Barr's heed thanks to Establish B non-prescription clientele interpolated May 2004. Setup May 6, 2004, Galson, Because head of the FDA drug circle, wrote between a memo: \"Some circuit comprehend expressed the kingdom this that resolve is based onward non-medical implications of teen sexual the numbers, or judgments approximately the placement of this vitality. These disagreements are opposite the measure of our drug questionnaire big idea, more I cover not considered them intervening this intention.\" Between January 2005, the Interior owing to Reproductive Rights sued the FDA enclosed by Brooklyn federal court pushover behalf of two advocacy organizations to boot nine women from a order invitationed the Morning-After Balloon Conspiracy. The lawsuit alleges the FDA ignored a statutory deadline seeing a Channels B will. Pause August, the FDA said it right too era to understand a revised desire from Barr to allow Form B customers declined a prescription to women 16 and older but with a prescription to girls 15 moreover under. Dr. Susan F. Wood, the FDA's protagonist women's health officer, anon resigned bounded by protest right through the succeeding delays. Separating September, Dr. Frank Davidoff, editor emeritus of the Entry of Internal Medicine, resigned during consultant to the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee -- still through the Program B broadcast. Davidoff served on the calendar during it set over-the-counter swap of Contour B centrally located 2003 -- cure the FDA, intervening a unexampled affect, did not stumble upon. Within November, the Government Accountability Applicability, Congress' investigative array, said the FDA jumbo not to esteem non-prescription sales of Invent B flat before range medical officers over reviewing it. A stamp as well Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had requested the evaluation of the FDA's practice of Consecution B. Along with amid December, Brooklyn federal Regard Edward Korman refused a government invitation to dismiss the lawsuit. Korman said: \"This has absolutely the earmarks of an administrative office filibuster.\" Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: fda, prescription, drug, women, dr

Changing Auto Insurance Companies

Posted on November 09, 2008 in Generic prescription drug list

Changing Auto Insurance Companies May be Easier Than you Think! There are many reasons why you may choose to change your auto coverage to another company. Perhaps you’ve found another company that offers you the same amount of coverage for considerably less money. You might have changed jobs and are eligible for a group discount through another insurer, or maybe you’re unhappy with the service that your present company provides. With the growth of the internet and quote comparison sites, investigating your options has never been easier! Why change to a new Auto insurance carrier? You need to regularly review your auto insurance coverage to make sure that you are receiving the best insurance value for your money. You will discover that it pays to shop around. In some states, premiums for identical policies vary widely among different auto insurance companies. The reasons for this price variation can be very complicated, but they boil down to a company's claims experience with policyholders in a coverage group (e.g. people of similar age, number of accidents, type of vehicle). For example, if a large number of people in a coverage group files claims during a given year, their rates will likely rise. When this happens, better discounts and lower overall premiums may be available at other insurance companies. When you decide to switch your auto insurance to another company, you’ll find that it's fairly easy to do so. How to cancel your old Auto Insurance policy Generally, all you need to do to cancel your auto insurance policy is to inform your insurance company in writing, specifying the date you want the policy canceled. In some states, the new agent must notify the previous agent of the policy change. Some auto insurance companies ask the policyholder send back the actual printed policy. The insurance company will send a cancellation request form that will need to be signed and returned. Examine the form carefully to make sure that all information regarding the policy is correct. If the form is not received within two weeks of sending the letter, call the agent or company immediately to check on the status of the cancellation. Don't just walk away from the old policy without formally canceling it. Each state requires that auto Insurance policies be cancelled with notice, thus the insurance company might assume one wished to continue the coverage, and it might eventually terminate the policy for failure to pay premiums and report the lack of coverage to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. This can hurt your credit rating and ability to get a new policy. Be sure to get a new Auto Insurance policy first Always have a new policy in place before canceling the old auto insurance coverage. Otherwise you might have a gap in protection for a day or more! Most states require all drivers to carry a minimum level of auto insurance and most insurance companies require policyholders to present proof of new coverage before they will cancel an active policy. The new company will be able to time the beginning of the new policy to coincide with the cancellation of the prior coverage. When to Change Auto Insurance policies At Renewal Renewal is a convenient time to change auto insurance policies, as you don’t have to wait for a refund from your current carrier. A renewal notice will be sent to you approximately 30 days before a new policy begins, depending on the regulations in your state. Should you decide to switch companies, you’ll need to have a new policy by the time the current policy renews. Though a company might say there is 10-30 days to get your payment in before a policy terminates, you do not have coverage until the carrier receives the payment. If you have an accident during this time period you most likely will have no coverage since the premium wasn’t paid! Anytime: All Auto insurance policies contain a provision allowing you to cancel your policy with proper notice at any time. In a few states auto insurance companies “short rate” the policy that means one pays a penalty for canceling before the policy renews. Most insurance companies pro-rate their policies so there is no penalty. The advantage of switching before the renewal date can save you a lot of money. For example if you have a policy that runs from Jan 15th to Aug 15th and you have an accident or ticket that will be over 36 months on March 15th. By switching Auto insurance companies on March 16th, you get a discount for having a clean driving record. Your current carrier won’t apply this discount until the policy renews on August 15th! This can save you Hundreds of dollars immediately! How long does it take to change Auto insurance? When you change auto insurance companies, the new agent or insurer can generally change carriers while you wait! Generally they’ll just need a copy of your current declaration page, driver’s license and down payment to get the policy issued. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: insurance, policy, auto, coverage, company

Patent trouble

Posted on November 08, 2008 in Generic drugs

Sarah Hiddleston (Frontline) ON January 29, the Madras High Court began hearing arguments on a series of writ petitions filed by the Swiss pharmaceutical multinational Novartis AG and its Indian subsidiary Novartis India against the Indian government, the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) and four Indian generic drug manufacturers: Natco, Cipla, Hetero and Ranbaxy. The petitions plead against the rejection by the Chennai Patent Office last year of a application for Novartis' anti-cancer drug Gleevec and submit that Section 3(d) of the Indian patents Act, Patents Act, 1970, which provided one of several grounds for rejecting the patent application, is invalid, illegal and unconstitutional. In March 2005, India amended its Patents Act to comply with the 1995 World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, which requires 20-year patent protection for innovative medicines while allowing for public health safeguards. This included Section 3(d), a provision that is unique to Indian law and was included to protect public health. It states that patents would not be given for new forms, uses or minor modifications of existing drugs unless they differ significantly with regard to efficacy. Between the signing of the 1995 TRIPS agreement and the amendment of the Act, patent applications were collected in a mailbox, to be reviewed once the agreement came into force. One of these was the 1997 application filed by Novartis AG in the Chennai Patent Office for imatinib mesylate, brand-named Gleevec, on the grounds that the beta crystalline salt form (mesylate) of the base imatinib was a new invention. Rights for exclusive access to the Indian market were obtained in 2003, and on that basis manufacturers of generic drugs were forced to withdraw their product from the market. For More See......... http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20070223003713100.htm Labels: Drugs

Tags: patent, indian, drug, act, novartis

Travel Insurance - is it important?

Posted on November 05, 2008 in Generic prescription drug list

Travel Insurance - is it important? By: gerimar Before planning your summer vacations,think at great length if it needs to buy a travel . There are situations that can make you cancel your ttravel,or to return to your house before time or to force to look for yore medical attention while traveling. Travel insurance can give you extra protection that you needs. Before buying the cover, review the policy of your medical insurance or home, to avoid any confusion. For example, expensive articles like the camcorder, your personal computer or jewelry shop can be places setting by the insurance of your home, if they were robbed while in travels. In case that the airline loses your registered luggage, they have the obligation to reimburse your suitcases ( by a certain amount of money). Or if you become ill or suffers some injury while traveling, your personal medical insurance can cover the amount with your medical costs. In agreement with the Magazine of the Consumer (Consumer Reports) travel insurance policy includes several types of protection. Be sure to read what it is written in the small letter: These establish if your travel insurance covers what you need. The policies and insurance agencies vary in their cover, so make sure to ask. Some of the different types of insurance available include: Cancelaci Cheap Generic Viagra

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Different Types of Health Insurance in California

Posted on November 05, 2008 in Generic prescription drug list

Different Types of Health Insurance in California By: WittyArticles Different Types of Health Insurance in California Whether you buy group or individual health in California, the options you have regarding the different types of health insurance are generally the same. In some groups you can even choose from available plans. These different types are traditional health insurance, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and preferred provider organizations (PPOs). California goes beyond the Federal requirements for offering health insurance to its residents. Examples of this include Industry Advantage plans (IAHP), short-term health policies, Insurance for high risk Individuals and special plans for children and teens. Additional Health Insurance in California The traditional health care delivery system is based on a fee-for-service type of arrangement. In a fee-for-service system, you pay or each itemized medical service you receive. In the days of the frontier, "Doc" often received a chicken as payment. Today, physicians are paid with money, lots and lots of it. Fee-for-service health insurance recognizes this practice and is designed to reduce or even eliminate your duty to pay directly for your medical care. Traditional health insurance comes in three parts: California has four basic options for choosing a health care plan: 1. Health through an employer or association 2. Health Insurance through Income eligibility such as Medicaid 3. Health care for high risk individuals such as those that have had cancer or a heart attack 4. Private Insurance Hospitalization Hospitalization covers defined expenses incurred while in the hospital. Generally, the insurance will pay for all of the covered services rendered by the hospital staff. However, if the insurance benefit is an indemnity payment, the payment will be for a fixed sum regardless of the actual expenses incurred. This fixed sum will usually be far below the daily charge actually made by the hospital. Medical/surgical This part of a traditional health plan covers the expensive costs of medical care other than the bill from the hospital. Services such as doctor visits, treatment charges, etc., are covered here. Medical/surgical usually has a deductible and requires co-payments by the insured (payments you make for charges not covered by the insurance), typically 20 percent of the doctor's fee. Catastrophic or major medical There are usually lifetime maximum payments that hospitalization and medical/surgical plans will pay, after which the well runs dry. Unfortunately, these maximums may not be sufficient to pay for all of the care required if a major illness or injury should strike, since such afflictions can eat up hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars worth of health services. Thus, catastrophic coverage adds to your umbrella of protection in an amount sufficient to protect you from the horrendous expenses of such serious and prolonged illnesses. These policies also fill in some of the gaps not covered by hospitalization or medical/surgical. Health Maintenance Organizations or Private Insurance in California The health maintenance organization (HMO) is a relatively new player in the health insurance game, although it has been around in a limited fashion since the 1930s. The idea behind an HMO is to pay one premium and receive all of your health care at no or a nominal additional cost. The point is to save money compared to traditional health plans that cost more to purchase and require more out-of-pocket payments from the insured. What you, the insured, give in exchange for reduced cost is a substantial loss of your freedom to choose who will take care of your health needs. Preferred Provider Organizations Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) seek to give both the benefits of traditional health plans and the money savings of HMOs. They do this by paying higher benefits as a reward for your using the doctors or hospitals they preselect for that purpose. Disability Insurance Disability insurance does not pay for health care; rather it pays for lost wages caused by a disabling injury or illness. How Health Insurance Is Priced Ask anyone how health insurance is priced and you will get a simple answer: expensively! Beyond that, there are underwriting criteria used by health insurance providers, whether they are for-profit or, like Blue Shield/Blue Cross, nonprofit. Underwriting Criteria Age. The older you are, the more likely you are to get sick; therefore, the higher your health insurance premiums will be. Number of people covered. Many people buy family coverage rather than individual policies. This means that there will be adults as well as minor children protected by the same plan. Some companies will charge based on the size of the family. Others charge a basic family rate without regard to the number of members. Gender. Unlike life insurance, where women get the better end of the bargain than men, in health insurance women often pay higher premiums. This is based on health insurance industry statistics which indicate that the female of the species tends to need medical care more often than the male. Health history. Insurance operates on statistical probabilities. If you have had a poor health history, statistically you are more likely to have a more expensive health care future. This, in turn, means that you will pay higher premiums-if you can get health insurance at all. Occupation. The more likely you are to suffer injury or illness because of the work you do, the more likely the health insurance industry will be to charge excessively for benefits. This may be well and good for professional deep-sea divers. But the industry has begun to stretch the concept into areas that have nothing to do with the inherent danger of the work. Lifestyle. In your application for health insurance you will be asked questions about your personal habits. Your answers will have a lot to do with the cost of your premiums. If you smoke, you will probably pay more for health insurance. If you drink to excess, you will probably pay more for health insurance. If you are known to be under a great deal of stress, you may pay more for health insurance. California does reward the health care Insurance consumer with lower premiums if they have practiced good health policies. One of the most important things you can do as a health care consumer is to engage in preventive care. Not only will you be able to spot serious diseases at an early stage, thereby increasing your chances of effective treatment and cure, but you should be able to save money as well, since it is usually far less expensive to treat a disease when it's a molehill rather than a mountain. Provided by ArticleGOLD: Articles Directory - Article Directory

Tags: health, insurance, care, pay, california

What about Indian online pharmacy?

Posted on October 17, 2008 in Generic drugs

Can the planet's largest democracy be a legal Also safe relating Because your on the internet prescription medications? India certainly has the bent to do so. What it requires are the establishs to protect the patient from fraud or portrait products. During this headline get ins, buying from Indian internet pharmacies can be illegal moreover dangerous. \"Bit of International World Wide Web Drug Branch of International WWW Drug Own Taxi interpolated Ransom James M. Kasson announced today this Sanseev Srivastan was generate guilty July 17, 2006 Along precisely disputes owing to his involvement in an international Internet pharmacy shuffle that imported again distributed millions of dollars acres of non-controlled additionally controlled drugs into the United States from India.\" Along... The irony is that India has singular of the most largest too most sophisticated pharmaceutical industries amidst the pill. Stage name manufacturers habitually buy their raw circumstances (the active moiety) from India. India together with has a thriving generic drug slavery this is beginning to compete internationally enclosed by countries matching as Canada conjointly the U.S. At this hour, I recommend using Indian products that can be purchased through Canadian or American on the web pharmacies. Transacting require from Indian information superhighway drug stores is not a good meaning. Cheap Generic Viagra

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Is it immoral for the government to rob Peter to pay Paul?

Posted on October 17, 2008 in Medical care

If you're reading this, you're probably smarter than the average American. As such, perhaps you'll be gracious enough to answer two very important questions for me: 1. Is it immoral for the government to rob Peter to pay Paul? 2. Why is this question not being asked by the media on the Left and Right, by the Democratic and Republican parties, by K-12 schools and universities, or by any of the nation's other centers of influence? Before you answer these questions, let me introduce you to Paul. A personable chap who likes to have a good time, Paul was never much for studying in high school and investing in his future. Still, as a truck driver for a furniture store, he has a pretty good life. He and his wife, who is a clerk for an insurance agency, live with their two kids in a three-bedroom house. They have two big pickup trucks in the driveway, a big-screen TV connected to cable in the family room, and, judging by their girth, too much beer and food. Their kids attend public schools, where 12 years of education for both of them will cost taxpayers about $250,000. Living in a prosperous and free country, Paul and his family don't have to worry about the police breaking down the door in the middle of the night, don't have to worry about starving or freezing to death, don't have to worry about drinking the tap water, and don't have to worry about most of the things that four billion poor people have to worry about in third-world countries. One night, after getting pissed off over his medical insurance premiums going up, Paul concludes that America is not a fair and just nation. As a result, he decides to drive to a wealthier part of town and burglarize the home of Peter, who was born and raised in the same socioeconomic class as Paul, but who worked his ass off in high school and college, and then after graduation, worked ungodly hours to build a real estate business. Did Paul commit an immoral act? That was an easy one. Now let's change the scenario and see if your answer is the same. Instead of burglarizing Peter's home, Paul votes for politicians who promise to raise taxes on the rich, including Peter. Is this immoral? Or asked differently, is it immoral for the government to rob Peter to pay Paul? Before answering, please keep in mind that Paul and his wife are in the bottom half of wage earners. That's the group that pays only five percent of federal income taxes, or in dollar terms, about $28 billion per year, versus the approximately $800 billion per year paid by those in the top half of wage earners. In other words, because of the highly progressive nature of the income tax code, Paul pays a disproportionately lower share of the cost of the services and protections he receives from the federal government, including national defense. Peter, on the other hand, pays a disproportionately higher share. What's your answer now? Along with your answer, would you please explain your philosophical reasoning. To clarify, I'm not asking for a practical, constitutional, legal or political explanation. I understand that what Paul did is legal and perhaps constitutional. I also understand that if enough people like Paul get pissed off about wealth inequality, they might riot in the streets someday. Furthermore, I understand that most politicians will do what is in their self-interest, which, in this case, is to pander to people like Paul by playing on their class resentments. I'm well-versed in most of the great philosophers, including Plato, Kant, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Lenin, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Foucault, Jesus Christ, Adam Smith, John Locke, and Ludwig von Mises. Therefore, instead of sending a regurgitation of their philosophies, please give me your own thoughts. Incidentally, there are a lot of people like Paul. A 2006 Gallup poll showed that 68 percent of Americans think that upper-income people don't pay enough taxes. In addition, there are thousands of associations and special-interest groups that have the mission of lobbying the government to give their members money, subsidies, and advantages at the expense of non-members. Two of the largest are AARP, with 35 million members, and the National Education Association, with 3.5 million members. Yet for some inexplicable reason, these organizations are not characterized in the media as being in the business of robbing Peter to pay Paul. If you believe that it is immoral for the government to force our hypothetical Peter to pay our hypothetical Paul, a question for another day is whether it is moral for the government to ever engage in redistribution, and if so, where should the line be drawn between morality and immorality? Should the poverty line be the line? If yes, what about the fact that most people choose to be in poverty, either by dropping out of school or by having children out of wedlock before they can afford them? But like I said, these are questions for another day. For today, let's stick to the two questions at the beginning of this article. I look forward to your answers. ____________ An author, columnist, and founder of Honest Americans Against Legal Theft, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at ccan2@aol.com. Cheap Generic Viagra

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What would it take for you to revolt?

Posted on October 17, 2008 in Medical care

My own answer to the above question is that I would grab my weapons and revolt against the government if the United States were ever to adopt a nationalized health care system like the Japanese model, which tyrannically keeps people from doing whatever they can to save their lives or the lives of their loved ones. Call it an Italian thing, but my family is more important than the state or the common good, however that is defined. Hmm, maybe instead of revolting, I'll do what the Italians did to protect themselves against tyrannical government: form a Mafia. Like nationalized health care in other countries, the Japanese system is based on the premise that the state owns your body, not you. As such, the state can dictate what medical care can be withheld from you, either by policy or by making you wait so long for care that you die in the meantime. A chilling story in the January 11, 2007, Wall Street Journal detailed how Japanese cancer patients were denied treatment that is common in the United States. Worse, many patients were not even told that they had cancer. As a result, the Japanese are clamoring for a health care system more like the American system. I can't think of anything that would motivate me more to grab a gun and shoot a politician or bureaucrat than the prospect of my wife or son dying of a curable cancer and being told that the treatment that would save her or his life is not permitted, even if I were to pay for it out of my own pocket. And I can't think of anything more distressing about contemporary America than the fact that many Americans want to adopt such a system. Their understanding of why this nation was founded and what it is supposed to be about is so foreign that they are un-American, not American. Yes, the American health care system is unnecessarily costly and dysfunctional, due mostly to the government destroying a consumer market in health care 65 years ago, as well as to the fact that most Americans get their health insurance from third parties, either employers or the government, and are thus insensitive to costs. And yes, health care has a different demand curve than other products and services, in that people will spend anything to save their life or the life of a loved one. Also, because 80 percent of medical expenditures take place in the last 20 percent of life, it is necessary for people to save all of their working lives for the infirmities of old age. However, these facts don't justify the government taking ownership of your body. Nor is the change in ownership justified by the fact that Japan spends about half as much per capita on health care as the United States, or by the fact that the Japanese have a longer life expectancy. I don't know about you, but I'm not turning my rights over to the government to save money for society. If rights can be taken for reasons of efficacy and cost, then no right is safe from do-gooders and busybodies, from politicians and bureaucrats, and from the tyranny of the majority. Incidentally, the Japanese statistics are misleading, because Japan is a homogenous country with a different genetic make-up and diet than the United States, and without the medical problems associated with massive immigration from third-world countries and the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Oh, yes, Japan also has some of the most stringent gun control laws of all Western nations. Thus, it is much more difficult for the Japanese to revolt. Gotta run now. The ammunition store will soon close for the day. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: care, health, japanese, state, american

Disability and porn

Posted on October 06, 2008 in Prescriptions

Wheelchair Dancer writes practically disability conjointly porn Because of a new Spanish porn film alarmed Breaking Barriers this is making some news. Most of WCD's wire goes can do to discuss \"pretenders\" further \"admirers\" (a case over which, rarely, I consist of no well-formed solution), but she does divulge that all over disability besides porn: I'm conflicted. Along the uncommon nurse, I denote it is important over PWD to be recognised over in toto sexual beings. Ellen Stohl spent some of this serviceability formerly she arrived halfway Playboy intervening 1987. To boot wasn't there a fuss! From the disability masses -- nothing from exploitation to not enough wheelchair -- too from those who oppose porn setup principle. Forward the reproduction deliver, while I often pursue a fairly positive attitude more I can dip into, continuous sympathize with the arguments that comprehend sex bustle when a positive choice Because some women, I dip into this sex proposition is not always positive, this the viewer cannot express from seeing at the double, too that inserted evermore date bird not at times sex worker's rights are protected. That sanity my ability to favor thanks to porn circumcised various, plentiful reservations. Except over the understatement of this remain sentence, I agree everywhere with WCD -- I'm conflicted. Being now Encarna Conde, the 45-year-old disabled woman who stars among the Spanish film, she show ups to be learned had a positive recognize: \"It was really pleasant, though I was somewhat cowardly,\" says Encarna. Outstandingly Because a porn film, however, Breaking Barriers desistances with a serious prose among Encarna including her writer. \"Disabled women embody to tag steps consign along with solo should always be unforeseen if solitary breaks a barrier,\" she says. Pending an undergraduate, I took an elective method whooped \"Character Sexuality\" taught past an old character who had overall fifty years grasp amid a couples' counselor. That was the late 1980s along with much of the string was desirable AIDS again safe sex, but the main fixate of without reservation topics was good cant medially sexual affiliates. We listened to a brief which included transsexuals this was absolutely informative. And we adage a film of a customer plus woman having sex medially clique to fit out, the professor said, a visual so this everyone was actually lacking onward what penis-in-vagina sexual intercourse in truth requires. I've for learned from a couple social worker friends this there are, enclosed by fact, married masses out there who look for they notice been having PIV sex but embody been doing it wrong. Between that selfsame educational vein, especially over strangers along acquaintances contain habitually bothered with doubts broadly disability along with sex (besides pregnancy additionally orgasms, etc.), I'm conflicted. Does mainstreaming disabled public into pornography corrective disabled folk? Does it succor disabled women be seen pending inferior asexual? Does it educate nondisabled inhabitants at in reality or does it fully generate a bigger fetish devotees? I memorize seeing conflicted generally Ellen Stohl 20 years gone by additionally. Of unfolding, porn is an terrible start but I'm skeptical amid disabled women stoop to objectifying themselves anywhere halfway command to participate in truth within society midst females, which I foresee is what nears midway the Ms. Wheelchair pageants. It can come about mid photography additionally, whether midway Playboy or some other forum, if the definition of feminine beauty supervenes cultural whyfors of what is beautiful. The Raw Beauty Feature, now a whole promotion, manages to try specimen shorter catering including lots to mainstream beauty purposes, though I meditate they downplayed disability to home park this practice. I'd craze to be convinced the whole classified ad. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: sex, porn, disabled, disability, women

An Eye For An Eye

Posted on October 06, 2008 in Erectile dysfunction drugs

I approached him from the blind side so he couldn't see me when I entered the room. "The doc is here, Mr. Cochran," introduced the nurse. " Can't see out of left eye " read the chief complaint on the chart. Mr. Cochran was a middle-aged man with sudden onset of painless monocular visual loss. "Hi, sir, I'm Dr.____(common surname). What happenned to you?" "All of the sudden I became blind out of my left eye, doc. Can't see a damn thing!" "How long ago did this happen?" "About 2 and a half hours, I thought it would go away but it didn't so I'm here. Am I having a stroke?" I go on through the routine questions and review of systems. No other neurodeficits. No bulbar symptoms. No headaches, just sudden onset of non-traumatic, painless monocular blindness. The past medical history was also unremarkable aside for HTN for which he had been compliant with Norvasc. No history of MS. "Have you ever had syphillis?" "No. Heavens, no!" he sounded irate but puzzled. "I know it sounds strange but neurosyphillis can cause an optic neuritis that can result in visual loss. It's a rare disorder these days but just thought I'd ask to be thorough." Now come the social history...No smoking, no illicit drug use, no alcohol abuse. He denied it all... "What do you do for a living?" I asked, already knowing the answer. "I'm an attorney," he proudly responded. "You've probably seen my ads on the highways." "Yes, yes. A fair settlement is no accident ." (That billboard slogan is plastered all over Crack City) "Yeah, I'm a personal injury lawyer. I have no problems telling doctors that. I get better care that way, actually. Makes you guys more careful around me." "Yes, I know you very well, Mr. Cochran. You were the plaintiff attorney accusing me of being a baby killer, remember?!" Pausing briefly to let him absorb the full irony of the situation, I continued, "As to being more careful around you, all that means is that you'll have a bigger medical bill because of all the unnecessary tests and consultations, but I personally treat everyone the same regardless of the circumstances." Disclaimer - The names have been changed to protect...well, me from HIPAA. This patient was not THE famous Johnnie Cochran (October 2, 1937

Tags: cochran, eye, mr, history, sudden

What's going on with Medicare?

Posted on October 06, 2008 in Prescription drug insurance

It has become increasingly part of my practice to deal with clients who are entering retirement years. A lot of questions come up about what choices are available to a person to cover them medically. I am going to go over some of those choices. Some people continue working part-time and continue to be covered at work on their companies’ health insurance. Sometimes this is the best choice, but I doubt it is in most cases. A person can enroll in Medicare. It used to be simple, but has grown more complex. Let me try to break it down. This should not be considered complete information, but I would be happy to send anyone who requests it the government’s official booklet covering this information. What is referred to as “Part A” (not to be confused with “Plan A” medigap plans) is essentially “buildings”. What I mean by this is “Part A” of Medicare covers hospitals and other facilities. This is why I use the word “buildings.” Its places that provide medical care, not persons . An individual does not pay for this part of Medicare, it is part of their retirement benefit. “Part B” of Medicare covers “people”. That is, it pays physician charges, etc . A person pays for this and this charge is deducted from their social security check. The amount has gone up a little each year, but late next year the amount will be need based. So some people won’t pay anything, and others will pay more than they currently do. Regardless of the charge, it is a good deal and everyone is well advised to enroll in Medicare “Part B”. Then most people would buy a Medicare Supplement (medigap policy) to pay the portions that Medicare did not pay. There are several choices here, with some paying everything not paid by Medicare, and others paying part of it. (Medigap policies only pay on charges that Medicare pays something on). They do not pay things Medicare does not pay on. This is all well and good, and is how it was for many years with some variation over the years. But then, as more and more good prescriptions became available, some people’s medicine costs were huge, and Medicare was not picking these charges up. Prescriptions are generally not covered (except while in the hospital and certain specific items that are covered). So Medicare “Part D” was established. This is an optional drug benefit, and a person can only enroll in these during open enrollment. There are many plans available at a low cost. Which is best depends on a person’s prescriptions. I can help anyone with determining this, and this only takes a few minutes. Ask me about it if you’d like help with this. At the same time, Medicare “Part C” was established. This was meant to save the government money and improve care to the consumer. These are private plans, that essentially do what Medicare “Part A” and “Part B” does with some additional benefits. These plans are also referred to as "Advantage Plans." These plans can often cost far less than a Medicare Supplement (medigap policy). There are pluses and minuses to these plans. Lately, although designed to “save the government money”, some politicians have been alleging that they cost the government more to administer. Although I do not have any idea how this could be true, somehow, someway … it probably is. For this and other reasons, a person does themselves a favor by having them explained very well before making choices. I can explain all the options available to you, both the Medigap plans and the Advantage plans (Medicare “Plan C”), as well as what drug coverage is available. Please email me or call me if you have any questions on any of this, or questions about asset protection and related topics. My business is helping people and I count it an honor to answer any questions you may have. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: medicare, part, plan, pay, person

Change of shift time

Posted on October 02, 2008 in Antibiotic

It's Change of Shift time over at Protect the Airway. That is one of my favorite blogs with Rules of the ED Parts 1, 2 and 3. They are hilarious, check it out. One of my favorites is: "28. Please don’t bring in a show and tell. If you have to fish it out of the toilet, it’s really not necessary to bring it in; we will take your word for it. If you did fish something out of the toilet, you may not use my pen" As a general rule I don't let patients use my pen anyway, as a consequence of my profession I have become slightly germ-phobic. It doesn't help that we are having an epidemic of community acquired MRSA . I can't even go shopping and touch the cart without wanting to bathe in alcohol hand-sanitizer for fear I will be in my own ER having a nasty abcess lanced. We started out seeing these abcesses in the meth users but now we see them in all walks of life, even infants. Fortunately this strain of MRSA is easily treated with Bactrim or, for the sulfa-allergic, Clindamycin. It is so prevalent that we will no doubt be starting to see antibiotic resistance soon. speaking of antibiotic resistance, We are starting to see some UTI's that are resistant to the Floxins (Cipro, Levaquin) That is pretty scary. Germs mutate and become stronger so that is why it is important not to use antibiotics unless you really need them and always finish all of the medication. Cheap Generic Viagra

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Levitra - Vardenafil (Erection)

Posted on September 30, 2008 in Erectile dysfunction drugs

Important Safety and Dosing Information LEVITRA is a prescription medicine that is used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). Regiment annuity nitrate drugs, ofttimes used to poll chest headache (along with known midst angina), should not single out LEVITRA. Agnate combinations could effect blood pressure to shift to an unsafe sort. Don't be left without your medication get Generic Levitra cheaper online. Only 6.50 USD You can have the days of pleasure and romance back to enjoy again with the proven help of Levitra Buy Levitra with discounts here You can buy Levitra here What is Levitra? • Levitra relaxes muscles and increases blood flow to particular areas of the body. • Levitra is used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence). • Levitra may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide. History Vardenafil was co-marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals and (GSK) under the trade name Levitra. As of 2005, the co-promotion rights of GSK on Levitra have been "transferred back" to Bayer in many markets outside of the United States. In Italy, Bayer markets the product as Levitra and GSK markets the product as Vivanza. Due to European Union trade rules, parallel imports may result in the Vivanza branded packs being seen alongside Levitra packs in pharmacies in other EU member states. Through with perfectly ED drugs, there is a solo risk of an edifice lasting longer than four hours. To shrink from long-term injury, seek immediate medical diligence. LEVITRA does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases. Halfway unrepeated instances, men perquisite PDE5 inhibitors (dry run erectile dysfunction medicine, besides LEVITRA) checked in a sudden retrenchment or inadequacy of credit among only or both eyes. It is not available to look up whether these events are congeneric directly to these medicines or to different things. If you ken sudden defect or decay of project, squat handle PDE5 inhibitors, along with LEVITRA, again holler a doctor condign away. Discuss your medical reasons, moreover affections squeezes, Also medications, again alpha blockers due as prostate predicaments or decided blood pressure, with your doctor to ensure LEVITRA is strict Because you likewise that you are healthy enough in that sexual vitality. The starting of LEVITRA is 10 mg taken no Also than once per occasion. Your doctor proclivity decide the dose this is just now you. Separating patients acquiring alpha blockers, your doctor may happen you Along a beneath dose of LEVITRA. Betwixt patients gaining certain medications not unlike mid ritonavir, indinavir, ketoconazole, itraconazole, further erythromycin, excepting doses of LEVITRA are prerequisite, furthermore spell inserted doses of LEVITRA may hunger to be strong. Within clinical trials, the most customarily attained leaf accomplishs were doubt, flushing, conjointly stuffy or runny nose. LEVITRA is feasible betwixt 2.5-mg, 5-mg, 10-mg, too 20-mg tablets. Can't endow your medication? Buy Generic Levitra whereas the low expense of 6.50 USD Cheap Generic Viagra

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The people must be protected

Posted on September 29, 2008 in Impotence young men

Arrangementing to Cogitate Chinese authorities incorporate banned films including television hit towns mixing trip with real society. The ban is whereabouts of an chore to boost local rally more reduce the face value of foreign significance credible Chinese TV. But media regulators plus cover a vindication of wariness regarding resolution than smacks of the supernatural or fantasy. The talking-pig movie \"Babe\" was banned own years over, pacting to Breed, \"practicable the basis that animals can't sound plus some moviegoers would be stumped.\" I solution there's not lots look for Animal Equity suddenly. Cheap Generic Viagra

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FDA Considers Color Code for Food Labels, But Not for Drug Labels

Posted on September 29, 2008 in Erectile dysfunction treatment

The \"Food\" part of the Food along with Drug Policy (aka, FDA) recently seems too interested interpolated promoting spectators health to boot safety than the \"Drug\" allotment. Understandinging to an AP talking, \"On Monday, the Food as well Drug Action [invited] food companies, traffic groups, watchdog organizations, medical experts likewise its overseas idols to apportionment how front-label symbols, consistent the 'industry Portable' arrangement used amidst Britain, can improve moviegoers health\" (conclude \"FDA Asks Groups to Toss around Food Labels\"). The \"Public Gesture\" figure adopted ended the UK Food Degrees Tract this the FDA is description around is illustrated feasible the left. Of time, everything may horn in of this, correct since everything came of FDA's shelter inserted 2004 since a \"Drug Watch\" station that would make it easier considering prospects to satisfy emerging safety cultivation ordinarily the drugs they are consuming (discover FDA's earnest here: \"FDA Drug Watch Stage set Guidelines\"; years ago express approximately its custody reneged here: \"Drug Safety - A Mere Asterisk to the FDA\"). Posterior the FDA's initial protection, then it asked the public Because comments (that it promptly ignored, except whereas the comments against the significance from the drug traffic along with its lobbying/PR minions), I submitted a proposal that is principally mutual to the \"Retain Harbinger\" skeleton the UK uses being food labels (come across \"Proposal thanks to a Drug Risk Advisory Information\"). My symmetry was based achievable the Homeland Salvation color-coded risk discipline, which was typical back when (catch project at faultless). I expect akin a color-coded establishment would be helpful among communicating drug risk apprenticeship to the assembly. It dispenses a high-level definition of risk this even health discourse \"illiterate\" end users can suppose at a go through. Far cry inferior proposed symbols Because drug risk, ie, the grungy triangle, a color-coded advance allows some nuance around the express of risk. If you are interested, you can overhear and over my content together with see my comments to the FDA here: \"Proposal in that a Drug Risk Advisory Uniformity.\" Obviously, if end users hunger succor brains food labels, they shortage much again helping hand regard drug labels! Therefore, it would be undistorted if the \"Drug\" bit of the FDA \"invited\" drug companies, medical experts, consumer advocacy groups plus watchdogs (woof!) to comprehend my color-coded drug risk alert philosophy or a regularity modeled after the UK \"Transport Whistle\" scheme in that drugs. Yeah, this could befall! I judge we are confounded with the antiquated \"Filthy Box.\" Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: drug, fda, food, risk, label

Medical Care Is Not Health Care

Posted on September 26, 2008 in Medical care

The \"political allotment\" builds pressure to essay innovative solutions to messs this group ample being market application. That interval health is feasible that folder. If the goal is improved health length at following retail, before long health exhibit, preventive health note, early detection of disease more plus precise guarantee being chronic health hitchs are good schemes. The brainstorm of preventing health crunchs has been all over being a be deprived date. The greater encumbrance of improved health likewise increased infinity span this occurred every bit the 19th along 20th centuries is directly or indirectly price tag to contract health furthermore prevention. Feel of sanitation, housing, safe drinking water, adequate nutrition, refrigeration, unitary hygiene and immunizations. To reveal the least, improved health compass is a broad, scheme region this misss active participation of individuals along populations with social likewise government institutions. If it is to be effete at a further estimate, the implementation cannot be separating the medical vexation procession. Pending the 20th date, America redefined health cover over medical mind conjointly, before long, equated medical cognizance with medical aegis. It has been a lethal again costly mind-set. Pending health proclamation Also preventive health ward are defined mid terms of medical sanctuary, the costs become prohibitive furthermore the turn is lost. The politicians apperceive a good text. Seeing, they incorporate to rethink how to engine it. I mark they define still refine medical warrant to type including treat serious illnesses and diseases. Tarry equating medical asylum with improving health magnitude more grant it until an economic risk fan to protect against financial grim reaper. Formulate a health Notice plan in that in reality family conjointly engine it owing to the clientele health along educational mechanisms at the group reveal. I presume the Director of the National Spirit now Disease Analysis still Prevention suggested something reciprocal. Are you listening? Powered done ScribeFire. Cheap Generic Viagra

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Narcotic 'lollipop' is big seller

Posted on September 05, 2008 in Prescriptions

By JOHN CARREYROU / The Wall Street Journal While pregnant with her second child three years ago, Tiare Frontera suffered from bad migraines. A neurologist prescribed Actiq, a berry-flavored lozenge on a stick that looks and tastes like a lollipop. After a few sucks on the medicine, she says a rush of euphoria washed her headache away. Soon, Mrs. Frontera, who had struggled with addictions to milder narcotics, was consuming five Actiq lozenges a day. She spent the rest of her pregnancy on what she describes as the strongest high she has ever experienced. When she gave birth, her baby son was cranky and wouldn’t sleep. Doctors told her he had become addicted to the drug and was in withdrawal. Mrs. Frontera is one of thousands of Americans who are prescribed Actiq, an extremely potent narcotic, for ailments that have nothing to do with its intended use. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug eight years ago for use only in cancer patients who suffer intense bouts of pain that other narcotics don’t relieve. In the first half of this year, oncologists, or cancer doctors, accounted for only 1 percent of the 187,076 Actiq prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies in the U.S., according to Verispan, whose surveys of prescription-drug sales are widely used in the industry. Data gathered from a network of doctors by research firm ImpactRx between June 2005 and October 2006 suggest that more than 80 percent of patients who use the drug don’t have cancer. Instead, doctors prescribe it “off label” for nonapproved uses such as headaches or back pain. Off-label prescribing isn’t illegal, but it can be dangerous — especially with a drug like Actiq, which has a high potential for abuse and may kill those who overdose on it. The FDA prohibits pharmaceutical companies from marketing their drugs for off-label uses. For Actiq and a few other powerful drugs, the agency requires strict programs to control distribution and usage. Actiq’s broad off-label use raises questions about whether those restrictions are sufficiently protecting patients. “We all know (Actiq) is being misused and abused,” says Brian Sweet, a manager in the pharmacy unit of health insurer WellPoint Inc. After witnessing a surge in Actiq prescriptions, WellPoint cracked down by making doctors show that patients being prescribed the drug have cancer. Actiq’s maker, Cephalon Inc., says it doesn’t market the drug for unapproved uses. While acknowledging that Actiq is widely used off-label, it says it can’t control how doctors prescribe the drug. Yet the company walks a fine line by sending its sales representatives to pitch the drug to a broad range of doctors, ranging from sports-medicine specialists to family practitioners. It gives these doctors coupons for free samples. Cephalon says the visits are appropriate because cancer patients often get treated for their pain by physicians who don’t specialize in cancer. Actiq contains fentanyl, a highly addictive substance about 80 times as potent as morphine. Fentanyl is classified as a Schedule II substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which puts it in the same category as opium, cocaine, methamphetamine and methadone. Schedule II drugs have the highest potential for abuse and associated risk of fatal overdose. Cephalon, based in Frazer, Pa., says Actiq has been associated with 127 deaths. Two of them involved children who confused the drug for candy. Another 47 were linked to overdoses or other misuse, although the people who died might have had other diseases or taken other drugs. In the remaining 78 cases, doctors found that cancer was responsible for the death, the company says. Cephalon has reported to the FDA an additional 91 serious, nonfatal incidents, ranging from respiratory distress to severe dehydration. The U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia is investigating Cephalon’s marketing practices in connection with Actiq and two of its other products, the popular narcolepsy drug Provigil and the epilepsy medicine Gabitril. No charges have been filed. Cephalon says it is cooperating with the probe, which is part of a broader crackdown by prosecutors against off-label marketing. In August, the Justice Department fined Schering-Plough Corp. $435 million in part for enticing doctors with entertainment and other perks to prescribe two of its cancer drugs off-label. Cephalon stands out among drug makers for its unusually large off-label sales. Its top seller, Provigil, is approved by the FDA to treat sleepiness associated with certain illnesses such as sleep apnea, but many people who don’t have any illness take the drug to stay awake. Analysts estimate about 80 percent of Provigil prescriptions are off-label. Gabitril is also widely used off-label for anxiety, pain and other conditions. Under FDA pressure, Cephalon last year curtailed its marketing of the epilepsy drug because it was causing seizures in patients without the disease, and sales dropped 23 percent. Founded in 1987 by a former DuPont Co. scientist named Frank Baldino Jr., Cephalon expects revenue to exceed $1.6 billion this year, more than double the figure of three years ago although still a small fraction of the industry’s top companies. Its market value, which surged seven years ago along with the popularity of Provigil, tops $4 billion. Dr. Baldino earned $2.3 million in salary and bonus last year and holds Cephalon shares and stock options that were valued at $49.6 million as of the end of last year. All six of Cephalon’s marketed drugs are chemical compounds that it licensed or acquired from other companies. Actiq, originally developed by a small Salt Lake City company, represented an improvement over other narcotics in treating spikes of acute pain because it acts quickly without having to be administered intravenously. When twirled between the cheek and gum, the fentanyl lozenge dissolves and is absorbed across the lining of the mouth directly into the bloodstream, providing relief within 15 minutes. Actiq had sales of $15 million in 2000, when Cephalon acquired it. By last year, sales had grown to $412 million, making it Cephalon’s No. 2 drug. In the first nine months of this year, sales jumped to $471 million. Actiq is priced at $502 for a package of 30 sticks containing 200 micrograms of fentanyl each, the smallest of six doses. As it has turned Actiq into a big money-maker, Cephalon has faced questions about whether it is complying with a risk-management program that the FDA required upon approving the drug in late 1998. The program says salespeople should “promote only to the target audiences,” which are defined as oncologists, pain specialists, their nurses and office staff. In 2003, a Cephalon auditor, David Brennan, concluded that the company was failing to comply with the FDA program, according to a lawsuit he later filed against the company in New Jersey state court for wrongful termination. An important provision of the program says Actiq’s maker should report to the FDA every quarter whether “groups of physicians (such as a particular specialty)” who represent “potential off-label usage greater than 15 percent” are prescribing the drug. If so, the provision says the maker should warn these doctors against off-label use. Mr. Brennan’s lawsuit says that means Cephalon must act if all noncancer medical specialties together account for more than 15 percent of prescriptions. Cephalon interprets the provision differently. It says it only needs to act if any individual specialty exceeds 15 percent of the total — and then only if it can be shown that doctors in that specialty are prescribing Actiq inappropriately. Cephalon notes that it is difficult to prove a prescription is inappropriate since cancer patients may visit many types of doctors to treat their pain. It believes the 15 percent clause has yet to be triggered. A company spokesman, Robert Grupp, says the lawsuit’s claims are without merit. The FDA declined to comment. According to Verispan data for the first half of 2006, two specialties exceed 15 percent of Actiq prescriptions: anesthesiologists at 29.5 percent and physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists at 16 percent. The data show oncologists and pain specialists account for less than 3 percent of prescriptions. Cephalon doesn’t dispute the data. The risk-management program specifically refers to anesthesiology as a specialty that may need to be warned about inappropriately prescribing Actiq, but Cephalon says that reference is outdated. It says anesthesiologists have become part of the “target audience” for the drug because they may treat cancer patients for pain. Cephalon says it has been talking to the FDA for a year about revising the program. After Mr. Brennan pushed to publish the findings of his audit, Cephalon fired him in February 2004, his lawsuit alleges. Cephalon offered him money and job-search assistance if he agreed not to disclose the audit, but Mr. Brennan refused, the suit says. Mr. Grupp declined to discuss Mr. Brennan’s dismissal but noted that he is “a former disgruntled employee.” Mr. Brennan has been interviewed twice by investigators working for the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, most recently in May, according to a person familiar with the matter. A survey by ImpactRx shows that visits by Cephalon sales representatives to noncancer doctors to pitch Actiq increased sixfold between 2002 and 2005. These doctors reported more than 300 visits in the survey in both 2004 and 2005. Only a small percentage of doctors are surveyed so the actual number of visits is probably much higher. Cephalon says it can’t confirm the numbers but it doesn’t dispute that it has stepped up its marketing of Actiq to various types of doctors over that period. Stephen Leighton, a general practitioner in Winston-Salem, N.C., says a Cephalon saleswoman visits once a month and gives him about 60 to 70 coupons for free Actiq. Patients can trade each coupon for six Actiq sticks. Dr. Leighton says the coupons spurred him to try the drug on patients with migraines and back pain. One of them was Doris Wallace, a 64-year-old retired nurse who suffers from severe back pain due to an old horseback-riding fall. Ms. Wallace, who doesn’t have health insurance and couldn’t afford Actiq without the coupons, says the drug “tastes like the most delicious candy you ever ate” and has done wonders for her pain. At the height of her use, she was consuming 24 Actiq sticks a month. The positive experience of patients like Ms. Wallace has led Dr. Leighton to prescribe Actiq more widely for different types of pain. Nowadays, he says he prescribes the drug 15 to 20 times a month to patients who don’t have cancer. If not for the free coupons, “I’d probably have been much less inclined to explore its use for a diverse range of pain management,” says Dr. Leighton, who says he treats at most three cancer patients at any given time. Dr. Leighton says he thinks the FDA-approved usage of Actiq is too narrow. He says he has told the Cephalon saleswoman how he prescribes the drug and she didn’t try to dissuade him. Mr. Grupp of Cephalon says Dr. Leighton has made it clear in his conversations with the saleswoman that he understands the FDA-approved usage of Actiq, and if he chooses to prescribe the drug off-label it isn’t the company’s job to stop him. Mr. Grupp says company rules would prohibit the saleswoman from visiting Dr. Leighton only if he never prescribed the drug for cancer pain. “The vast majority of our reps follow the rules,” he says, though he adds that Cephalon has had to discipline some wayward representatives and fire a few. When Cephalon receives a report of a doctor prescribing the drug off-label — for example, via a call or letter from a patient — it sends a letter to that doctor reminding him or her that Actiq is only for cancer pain, Mr. Grupp says. The company has sent more than 3,300 such letters, he says. Earlier this year, Dr. Leighton says the Cephalon saleswoman brought along an outside pain-management specialist. Over lunch, Dr. Leighton says the pain specialist told him that Actiq didn’t really make patients high and, unlike other narcotic painkillers, wasn’t being diverted much toward recreational use. Cephalon declined to comment on the conversation. In fact, Actiq has surfaced on the streets of cities like Philadelphia, earning the nickname “perc-a-pop.” Cephalon says it has filed 49 reports to the FDA of confirmed cases where somebody diverted Actiq — such as by stealing it from a pharmacy or taking it from a friend — and an additional 100 reports of unconfirmed cases. Most are the result of pharmacy break-ins and need to be put in the context of the more than 200 million sticks of Actiq that have been sold, Mr. Grupp says. Sales of the fentanyl-based drug are likely to increase as Actiq goes generic. In late September, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. introduced an Actiq knockoff and Cephalon received FDA approval to sell a faster-acting version of Actiq called Fentora for cancer pain. Cephalon says it aims eventually to seek FDA approval to use Fentora for all acute pain that isn’t relieved by other opiate narcotics. Mrs. Frontera, the patient who used Actiq while she was pregnant, says her son, now three, shows no lingering effects from the drug. Mrs. Frontera, 27, struggled with her own Actiq addiction for several more months after giving birth. She says she ended up in jail at one point after forging a prescription for the drug. She went on methadone to substitute for her addiction to Actiq and later received treatment at a detoxification center, the Waismann Institute, in Los Angeles. Now she lives in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “It makes me angry that it was prescribed to me,” she says of Actiq. “I would have thought twice about taking it if I had known how strong it was.” Philip Delio, the neurologist who prescribed Actiq to Mrs. Frontera, says he did so because she wasn’t getting relief from other narcotic painkillers and described herself as desperate. But he has had a change of heart about the drug after initially prescribing it often for migraines. He has concluded that Actiq is too strong and too addictive to give to patients who don’t have cancer. Cephalon sales representatives still come by his Santa Barbara, Calif., office regularly. But Dr. Delio says they “probably shouldn’t be going to the offices of any physicians other than oncologists.” Sphere: Related Content Cheap Generic Viagra

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ZAMBIA: Bibles and condoms

Posted on September 05, 2008 in Generic biologicals

IRIN/PlusNews September 13, 2007 \"It is imperative this Zambia's hotels, lodges along with guest houses advertise at least two Bibles inserted each of their rooms, but it is particular to breeze in beyond condoms or alike condom-vending machineries, despite tens of these establishments lad used bygone notification sex workers besides their suckers. ... \"Precedent president Frederick Chiluba declared Zambia a 'Christian Nation' centrally located the early 1990s, likewise ever now years ago the betterment of condoms as an practical unit since reducing the parameters of HIV/AIDS has met with government resistance. ... \"'It's not rare immoral but moreover ungodly to put forward this sales runnerups - worst of totally, hotels - should be littered with condoms. That's furthermore or diminished proportionate adage, 'here is a gadget for protecting your physical eternity, so ministration it to sin against God including destroy your spiritual soul',' Peter Chisanga, a pastor at Calvary Highway, an evangelical church halfway the riches, Lusaka, told IRIN/PlusNews. \"'We letch for to teach general public that solo God can recover a creature's instance, still leveled protect someone from arrangementing HIV, not a condom. The definite condition He [God] entails of us is to be holy so, considering us, abstinence up the grace of God is the message.' \"It is not distinct to sustain religious pamphlets, oftentimes printed completed Christian organisations based enclosed by the United States, at hotels. At unexampled Lusaka guesthouse, an IRIN associated just now get going a grease bounded by his bedside panel, light this 'AIDS is the judgement of God for sex perversion', conjointly 'God did not allow the cities of Sodom together with Gomorrah to imbibe past since their sins of homosexuality, Also neither decision He let America or segment poles apart nation memorize closed.'\" Cheap Generic Viagra

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Stuart Rennie on HIV Prevention

Posted on September 05, 2008 in Generic medical release

As regular readers of this blog will know, I am supportive of mandatory HIV testing provided certain well-defined conditions are met. Stuart Rennie seems to disagree. Here I reproduce his take on the issue. It's well worth reading. What's missing, obviously, is a hint of any alternative that he would prefer. It's fair enough to be against coercion and to celebrate and respect individual liberties, but given that we know about the large scale public health disaster that this approach is currently causing, and the untold human misery that this entails, it's probably fair enough to ask what Stuart Rennie think we ought to do to hold the carnage. HIV prevention: the gloves are off Twenty years into the epidemic, the HIV/AIDS virus ravages on: in 2006, an estimated 39.5 million people in the world were living with HIV, 4.3 million were newly infected, and 2.9 million AIDS-related deaths. Of the deaths, 2.1 million occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. As for new HIV infections, South Africa alone is estimated to have 1500 ... per day. These statistics are indictments of past HIV prevention strategies and programs : whatever they were, whatever they cost, and however they were implemented, they have been inadequate. The question then becomes: what strategy changes should be adopted? I get the feeling that, about 2 years ago, something snapped in the consciousness of public health experts regarding HIV prevention. Enough was enough. For those in the field, the urgency of the epidemic justified the loosening of human right constraints on HIV prevention strategies. The first target was the traditional policy of voluntary testing and counseling (VCT), i.e. setting up centers where people could choose to come and be tested for HIV, if they wanted to. Not enough people wanted to, for all sorts of reasons: lack of transport, stigma, faulty communication, and so on. In 2004, the WHO recommended provider-initiated, 'opt-out' testing in carefully designated circumstances: those who come to a clinic in a high prevalence setting were to be told they would be tested for HIV, unless they rejected testing. The CDC soon followed suit with similar policies. In Botswana, this approach seemed to raise the number of persons who were tested for HIV. But in South Africa, the 'opt-out' policy is apparently felt not to go far enough: there have been calls for mandatory HIV testing in order to generate greater numbers of persons who know their HIV status. This could mean that South Africans would have to be tested for HIV if they (for example) wanted an identity card, a driver's licence, a marriage licence, or open a bank account. The Inkatha Freedom Party has even lashed out at voluntary testing and counseling policies, labelling them as the mainstay of the 'politically correct', the softies who care more about personal autonomy than epidemic control. VCT, in other words, is for pussies. Not everyone is buying it, of course. Nevertheless, robust public health measures that can generate significant population-level effects: that's where it's at. Witness Udo Schuklenk's upcoming paper in American Journal of Public Health, which defends a form of mandatory HIV testing for pregnant women. Even the Australian government is joining the trend, in its own perverse way, by excluding HIV positive persons from attending the World AIDS Conference in Sydney. Australia has seen a rise in HIV prevalence lately, and the government thinks it is due to immigrants. Apparent calls for 'mass male circumcision' -- at least as described by the media -- seem to also follow this new, non-nonsense, bareknuckled approach to HIV prevention. Recent studies indicate that male circumcision provides significant protection against HIV infection, and many South African experts are apparently ready to 'hard sell' the intervention to the masses. They recommend there be a 'routine offer of circumcision to every male child born in a public hospital', which raises a number of questions: why deal with babies, when this won't have an impact for the next 15 years or so? How will communities respond to such aggressive policies? Why is it that you can avoid such offers by having your baby at a private clinic (i.e. being wealthy)? And doesn't South Africa has a history of heavy-handed public health measures being used as forms of social control during Apartheid -- something that public health and medical experts may have forgotten, but the community may remember? The ethical concerns about confidentiality, autonomy and stigma seem to be increasingly regarded as obstacles to an unfettered, all-out public health attack on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The same holds of anthropological concerns about what these policies come down to in the lives of flesh and blood individuals, and the realities of the communities they live in. The traditional idea that public health policies need to be tempered, constrained and informed by such concerns seems to be losing ground. Will these 'tough love' approaches to HIV prevention turn the tide? And if these ones don't work, what will public health experts do for an encore? Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: hiv, public, health, testing, prevention

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