Wal-Mart's $4 Plan Has Double Silver Lining

Posted on June 19, 2008 in Generic drugs

Wal-Mart announced a agility to rendition a be inadequate catalog of generic drugs at the low return of $4 beginning with a inquiry swap midway Florida. The TV news coverage has focused regularly breeze Mr. & Mrs. Classic American, annotation throughout how repeatedly they perseverance liberate. Generic drugs mainly tariff at $10-$30. It is unclear if Wal-Mart has negotiated a extra bottom line with it's suppliers, or if that is a annihilation leader to clean up it's tarnished mirror still bring to boot clientele to it's pharmacies. Little contemplation has been paid to the cause that resolve preserve forward Wal-Mart's competitors. Many independent pharmacies, who are hanging no sweat gone a thread, perseverance future suffer from that merchandise if it is fashioned opposite the country. The Washington Direct picture immediate repercussions Because march pharmacies: Wal-Mart's flyer roiled the sticker drudgery. Shares of Walgreen Co. moreover CVS Corp., two large drugstore companies, fell further than 7 percent including 8 percent, respectively. The theory happen of matching a progression could be to attack the majority of pharmacy competitors out of material, thus making Wal-Mart the supreme retailer. Has a amen concourse, doesn't it?

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The demise of the thimerosal hype

Posted on June 07, 2008 in Generic prescription drug list

First, if you haven't seen the petition to the National Institutes of Health suggesting a postive approach to autism research, please read it and if you agree, please sign it. Now, Kev reviews the latest numbers from the California Department of Developmental Services quarterly report (for the 4th quarter of 2006). Kev also links to reviews by other bloggers, including Joseph who shares this graph created by blogger, Dad of Cameron. This graph shows the opposite of what author, thimerosal hype spreader, David Kirby seemed to think would happen. Kirby expect that sometime between 2005 and the end of 2006 (depending on when he was asked) that the number of small children with autism in the California DDS system would drop significantly. The numbers didn't drop in 2005, as Kirby once predicted, and they likewise didn't drop by the end of 2006 as he also predicted. The other thing the graph fails to show is what inspired these dire pronouncements of calamity from Rick Rollens and others. Dr. David Amaral in May 2003: "These numbers are frightening," [...] "This is something that is devastating to families and devastating to children who have a lifelong disability. But it will be devastating to the state of California, too. If you think about it, there are now 20,000 kids in the system, and each of them will eventually get $2 million worth of services. Just do the math. Right. The "doing the math" part means that if someone could pay Amaral right then to find the cause of the devastation, he could save people money in the long run. Rick Rollens, April of 2004 The social and fiscal disaster that is the autism epidemic is upon us. God help us. Rollens again, January of 2005: According to the recently released report by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS), California's 36-year old developmental services system has just experienced the largest number of new intakes of children with professionally diagnosed full syndrome autism during a Fourth Quarter reporting period in it's history. During the Fourth Quarter of 2004 (October - December), California's developmental services system added a record 807 new children with full syndrome autism, not including any children with any other autism spectrum disorder such as PDD, NOS, Asperger's, etc. The 807 new intakes represents a record number of new cases for a Fourth Quarter reporting period in the system's 36 year history. [...] The 807 new cases of full syndrome autism reported during the Fourth Quarter of 2004 accounted for 52% of all the new intakes for all the eligible disabilities for that reporting period. [...] The magnitude of this ongoing tragic epidemic is truly mind boggling . Ten years ago in January 1995, DDS reported that during the Fourth Quarter of 1994 the system added 142 new cases of full syndrome autism. Today, ten years later in January 2005, DDS reports that during the Fourth Quarter of 2004 there were 807 new cases added to the system. Ten years ago California 's developmental services system had a total of 5,775 cases of full syndrome autism in it's entire system. Ten years later in January 2005, there are now 26,578 cases of full syndrome autism in the system. In California 's developmental services system, 8 out of 10 persons with full syndrome autism are between the ages of 3 and 17 years old....7 out of 10 under the age of 14. The tsunami has arrived. (bold emphasis added) This tsunami press release was written within days of the real tsunami that hit South Asia at the end of 2004. Rick Rollens April of 2005: CA Reports: Autism Cases Decline 2005 From California autism advocate Rick Rollens. According to information released today by the California Department of Developmental Services (syndrome autism of any 1st quarter reporting period since year 2001. 736 new cases were DDS) www.dds.ca.gov/autism , the First Quarter of 2005 (1/4/05 to 4/4/05) produced the smallest number of new cases of professionally diagnosed DSM IV full added. Syndrome; Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, and Epilepsy. [...] [...] At the beginning of 1988, some 17 short years ago, there were 2,778 cases of autism in California's developmental services system. Today there are 27,312 Today there are 27,312. Today, California is adding on average eight new children a day, seven days a week, with professionally diagnosed DSM IV full syndrome autism to it's system. 80%, or 8 out of 10, of all persons with autism in California's system are between the ages of 3 and 17 years old. The staggering tidal wave of young children is unique to the autism. Nice use of scare tactics there, too, which he uses even though he thinks there was a significant drop in the intake of autistic clients. Discussion around that press release showed that some interpreted this drop as proof that thimerosal had been the cause of the autism epidemic. Lyn Redwood was quoted around that time as saying that the numbers in California were coming down. While others from 2002 onward were mostly seeing scary increases in the autism case load the Geiers saw a significant drop, which they trumpeted as caused by the removal of thimerosal from vaccines starting around 1999. The red line was added by Autism Diva. The black lines show how they decided that the "new intakes" of autistics into the system started to decline with January of 2002. Two Sacramento area mercury dads who showed up at Fombonne's presentation at the MIND Institute in December of 2005, insisted (during the question period after Fombonne spoke) that the California DDS numbers were dropping since the removal of thimerosal. The above is Dad of Cameron's graph with some key points in time marked with red arrows and labels by Autism Diva. The Rollens quotes for the most part weren't referring to the increase in just 3-5 year olds in the DDS, but to increases in all ages, but we know that the DDS was adding clients all along who were over 10 years old, sometimes they were adding adults, which was confusing the issue of an "autism epdiemic" that was supposed to have started in 1990 or so and create kids who were un-missable, unmistakably autistic at age 2. This graph doesn't track a particular cohort of kids. The kids who were 3 at the point this graph starts would now be 7 1/2 now. This is a better graph for checking the effect of the removal of thimerosal. By now number of autistic children in the 3-5 age bracket in the DDS ought to be back where it was before 1990 and even lower than that, if autism was caused in a dosage dependent way by thimerosal, as Kirby's book proposed and the mercury hysterics believed starting around the middle of 2000. Maybe they'd all been infected by all the end-of-the-millenium Y2K talk we heard in 1999 and they needed some place to put their stockpiled hysteria and conspiratorial thinking in 2000. On the related topic of the MMR hysteria that started in the U.K. with Wakefield and a solicitor named Barr, read Michael Fitzpatrick's overview of Wakefield's doings and how they were uncovered by Brian Deer. Also, video of a discussion of autism and thimerosal between David Kirby and Arthur Allen on a San Diego television news (Fox 6) program is online. Try this link. Autism Diva so inclined

Tags: autism, system, california, year, case

Biohealthmatics.com News Digest - 9/14/2005

Posted on June 01, 2008 in Medicine news

Biohealthmatics.com's Daily News Digest The latest health informatics news from Biohealthmatics.com Week: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Biohealtmatics News Editor's Put of Health Informatics Headlines Syndicated Health Informatics News Health Informatics News Improving Patient Safety with Bar-Coded Medication Territory likewise Patient Identification Solutions from Bio-Optronics Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Bio-Optronics, Inc., a workflow wont solutions division, is advancing the safety of medication action being hospitals crosswise the country with their new medication arena engrossment, Hot Cave MedRunner. ... Also BIO President Jim Greenwood Asks NYSE to Reconsider Decision on Life Sciences Research Wednesday, September 14, 2005 On September 7, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) postponed the listing of Life Sciences Research (Huntingdon Life Science) in an apparent reaction to threats from animal rights terrorists. ... more University of Pittsburgh Medical Spirit Chooses Wireless Recon Technology From Helium Networks Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Helium Networks is round robinsed to explain that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Spirit (UPMC), set over the 'most ended' combination halfway the health scope bargaining to the annual survey bygone InformationWeek has selected the Wireless Recon(TM) where survey check plus pattern entity. ... Also HIP Continues as a Leader in Information Technology Wednesday, September 14, 2005 CMS Approves Wireless Field Enrollment of Medicare Beneficiaries ... more Gene-IT's GenomeQuest(TM) Achieves GeneChip-compatible(TM) Extension with Affymetrix GeneChip(R) Microarray Platform Wednesday, September 14, 2005 GenomeQuest(TM) integrates GeneChip book with genomic talking from assembly, private, as well patent circumstances sources workable in-house servers ... besides Click here for more news Back to top   Editor's Adopt of Health Informatics Headlines Trust installs wireless at eight London hospitals Computing, UK - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Trust has installed a 7,000-user wireless network as part of a project to replace paper processes with electronic patient records (EPR). ... Comments (0) Medicine Slow to Modernize Recordkeeping Ocala.com, US - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Electronic medical records could improve patient security together with possibly save thousands of dollars, yet tens doctors aren't property betwixt the technology considering they may not reap the abundance - insurers Also the government longing, researchers history. ... Comments (0) Internet-based stroke exam speeds treatment in rural areas Innovations-Report, Germany - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 An Internet-based examination system enables stroke patients to be treated as rapidly in rural communities as they are in bigger hospitals with stroke teams, researchers have found. ... Comments (0) WebMD Health Files $90M IPO Red Herring, US - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 WebMD Health said available Wednesday it commotions to schedule as an initial market offering of 6.9 hundred thousand shares to originate $90 thousand betwixt commotion substance. ... Comments (0) Computer health records seen saving US $81 billion Reuters - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Computerized medical records could save the United States more than $81 billion annually through greater efficiencies and reduced errors, according to a study published on Wednesday. ... Comments (0) Browse here as along with news Back to van   Syndicated Health Informatics News Health Informatics News Agfa selected as Accenture's PACS supplier E-Health-Insider - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 11:24:02 AM Agfa-Gevaert has formally announced that it has been selected by Accenture to provide digital radiology imaging management solutions to the North East and East clusters in England as part of Accenture's work in delivering the NHS National Programme for ... more Bioinformatics News Salt-tolerant responsive genes between rice cloned surrounded by Shanghai Additionally - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 10:23:00 AM Learning The check bouquet led closed Lin Hongxuan, review creature with the National Laboratory of Anchor Molecular Genetics under Formulate of Place Physiology plus Ecology, Shanghai Establishs owing to ... besides Bioinformatics News Japanese biotech firms in cross-border M&A spree Moreover - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 10:09:00 AM By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's biotech firms are stepping up overseas acquisitions and licensing deals to improve their pipeline of new drugs and attract investors burned by weak share ... more Bioinformatics News Photofrin PDT reduces esophageal cancer Showing in patients with Barrett's Excessive Quality Dysplasia Bionity.com - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 9:04:33 AM Axcan Pharma Inc. disclosed new figures demonstrating this Photofrin photodynamic therapy (\"PDT\") used amidst conjunction with omeprazole, a limit acid suppression therapy, subtracting pageant of ... as well Health Informatics News MIE2005 report Informaticopia - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 8:50:00 AM The Medical Informatics Europe conference for 2005 (MIE2005), the 19th International Congress of the European Federation for Medical Informatics, was held at the Uni-Mail Building of the University of Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 28-31, 2005. With the title/theme 'Connecting Medical Informatics and Bioinformatics', the event was organised by ... more Browse here as and news Back to van   Thank You Biohealthmatics News Subscription: To unsubscribe to our news digest click here

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Challenges of living with HIV

Posted on May 19, 2008 in Generic medical release

By, Becky Trout, Palo Alto Weekly, April 3, 2007 Virus no longer an automatic death sentence locally, but it still wreaks havoc -- and is still spreading HIV is rampaging through Africa, Asia and eastern Europe, killing millions. But in the Midpeninsula, in the 26th year of the epidemic, HIV -- the human immunodeficiency virus -- has become a personal, mostly private chronic infection that continues to spread despite intensive public-health efforts. Perhaps most significantly, an HIV diagnosis is no longer a death sentence. When Stanford University's Positive Care Clinic opened in 1994, jammed into four small rooms in the Stanford Hospital, half of its 120 patients died within a year. "Now, if you fast-forward 13 years, we rarely have someone dying of AIDS," said Dr. Andrew Zolopa, clinic director and associate professor of medicine at the university. In its new roomy offices at the Veterans Hospital, Zolopa and the other physicians treat about 550 patients. Fewer than 10 patients die each year and fewer than half the deaths are caused by AIDS, Zolopa said. Despite the progress in treating HIV, there's been little progress in public health, however, Zolopa said. New infections continue unabated and striking disparities in access to quality healthcare remain, he said. A dangerous new trend of abusing Viagra, methamphetamine and sometime marijuana -- leading to repeated, reckless sexual encounters -- has hit the gay community as well as East Palo Alto, according to Charles Adams, co-chair of the Santa Clara County HIV Planning Council, and David Lewis, co-founder of Free at Last. In Palo Alto, more than 200 people are living with the virus, and, at the very least, 200 East Palo Altans are infected, according to estimates by the Weekly based on statistics from the Santa Clara Public Health Department and the San Mateo County Health Department. Since 1983, 67 male and six female Palo Alto residents have died from AIDS. Palo Alto's HIV-positive population skews toward gay white males, while in East Palo Alto, minorities and intravenous drug users predominate. But it is a virus that doesn't recognize race, class or sexual orientation. Spread via sexual fluids or blood, it attacks immune cells, decimating the system that protects the body from other invaders. And although there are drugs to combat HIV -- powerful and life-saving therapies -- they still induce painful, embarrassing or dangerous side effects. In addition, the drugs only slow the progression of the disease. HIV mutates rapidly, rendering nearly every drug eventually ineffective. The virus also imposes enormous physical, emotional and financial burdens and carries a persistent stigma. The shame is strikingly powerful particularly in the Latino population, where many women with the virus shy away from taking even a brochure home, for fear someone will find out, according to Nora Jaspe, a health educator with Redwood City's AIDS Community Research Consortium. Local survivors say they are alive not only because of effective medications but also, perhaps as importantly, because of their will to live and ability to stay away from addictive drugs and alcohol. Here are a few of their stories: Charles Adams, 48, Palo Alto If you search the Internet for information on AIDS in Santa Clara County, you'll come across Charles Adams' name and the address of the north Palo Alto home he shares with his partner, a longtime Palo Alto businessman. Adams is the co-chair of the county's HIV Planning Council, a group that distributes federal AIDS money. He's also active with just about every other HIV/AIDS group around -- Health Trust's Food Basket program, which provides food to those with HIV; the board monitoring clinical trials at Stanford University; and the AIDS Legal Services of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, to name a few. "Having my partner has enabled me to help," Adams said. "To me, (HIV) is just part of everyday life, and it's easy to talk about. I'm really lucky I'm in such a supportive environment." Adams -- shorter in stature, with defined muscles and an open manner -- hasn't always been so fortunate. Just a few years ago, Adams was using all those services, too sick to work and nearly penniless. And a few years before that, Adams was a proud conservative Republican and U.S. Army officer. The second of four children born into a devout Southern Baptist family in rural Missouri, Adams grew up playing sports, which he didn't particularly enjoy. He dreamed of attending West Point Academy. From a young age he knew he was gay and even tried to tell his parents. In response, they guided him toward religion and more sports, he said. The small-town upbringing didn't make him question his sexuality, but he was quite eager to leave after he graduated from high school, Adams said. "I never gave being gay a second thought. . . . It was just part of life. It wasn't like I flaunted (it). I never drank or did drugs or smoked." Selected as an alternate for West Point, Adams attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduated with a degree in political science and joined the Army as an officer. He loved it -- the routine and discipline, the diversity and travel. HIV certainly wasn't on his mind. "We'd all read about something going on (on) the coast. How did that affect me?" Adams said. It did though. Adams got sick in 1983. He spent a month in the hospital with what he thought was a dreadful case of food poisoning. Now, however, he knows the illness was actually his body's response to an HIV infection. Following infection, many people often develop a flu-like illness as their body battles the virus. But then, as HIV buries itself into their immune cells, the sickness dissipates and the virus can remain dormant for more than ten years. Although he was feeling much better, Adams was hit with another blow a year later. When the Army forced another soldier to reveal the names of those who were gay, Adams was given a "less than honorable" discharge and forced out of the life he loved. He returned to Missouri. "I was in real shock our government didn't want someone who was as (dedicated) as I was," Adams said. His political views took a sharp turn to the left. In 1987, HIV tests came out. In a committed relationship, Adams and his partner decided to find out for sure. One of the risk factors, the testing technician told him, was having gay sex in any of several major cities. "I'd had sex in almost all of them. . . . By then I knew -- I knew HIV was possible." Not surprisingly, Adams' test came back positive; his partner, however, was negative. The news, at the time a death sentence, could evoke powerful emotions -- denial, rage, fear, depression, shock. Adams, however, took the news in stride. "I wasn't scared. You have to be responsible for your own choices," he said. Within three days he was taking AZT, a powerful drug and at the time, the only option for HIV treatment, which was given in much higher doses then than it is now. "I was really, really tired. I threw up a lot. It was really nasty," Adams said. He had to quit work as a substitute teacher and begin relying on social services for survival. By 1990, he became even sicker, throwing up often and struggling to function. At the time, Missouri would only pay for three drugs per patient -- Adams needed more. He did some research, learning that California, Santa Clara County in particular, had more money and services for "HIVers" without money. So after a few detours, Adams and his then partner moved to San Jose. In 1995, Adams was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, a rare and severe form of the condition that can occur after HIV has weakened the immune system. Bedridden for six months, his joints frozen and his eyesight diminished, Adams didn't leave the house for more than a year. Adams calls the time "a really weird period." "I've never been the type to get depressed about anything. I never felt sorry for myself. I just thought, 'I just don't want to live, if this is the way it's going to be.'" Then, gradually, life got better. Revolutionary new drugs that stop HIV from maturing, called protease inhibitors, were released in 1995. "Without them, I probably would have died. ... (They) made all the difference in the world," Adams said. He learned to walk again and figured out how to write using fat pens. And he met his current partner. "The reason I liked him so much was he asked, right away, 'What is your status?" Adams said. "There is this big 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy in the gay community." Adams' partner is negative. Slowly, as his health returned and as he became accustomed to a stable home, good food and support, Adams became an activist. "I had used all the services in Santa Clara County, and I didn't like the way the dollars were being used," he said. "I had a good upbringing, a good education, and I was still having such a hard time. . . . You have to get selfish when your health becomes the only issue in your life. Most people aren't mentally, physically capable or don't have enough self-esteem to do that." Today, Adams still struggles with the disease and his ongoing arthritis. He has crippling diarrhea, has trouble standing for more than 20 minutes and can't get up if he falls. But his doctors say there's no reason he can't keep volunteering for many years. "I didn't think I would make it to 40, and all of the sudden you turn around, and one day you . . . have a life." Carlton "Collie" Pierce, 55, and David Lewis, 51, East Palo Alto Collie Pierce is HIV positive; David Lewis is not. Pierce has glasses, a pocked face and a single golden earring. Lewis is imposing, with a trademark mustache and graying hair. Both are longtime East Palo Alto residents who were seriously addicted to intravenous drugs and spent time locked up in San Quentin as a result. And now, they're both working to help others in the grasp of drugs escape. Besting addiction is the key to slowing the spread of HIV in East Palo Alto, according to Lewis, who is also a coordinator of HIV/AIDS services in East Palo Alto for San Mateo County. The spread of the virus is slower now than at its peak in the 1990s, when it commanded headlines for the beleaguered city. Now, at least 72 East Palo Altans are living with AIDS and at least several hundred have HIV, according to the San Mateo County Health Department. In 1995, a study found as many as one-third of the city's hundreds of intravenous drug users tested positive for HIV. Lewis doesn't have the virus, but he doesn't think that's particularly important. "In our community, it doesn't really matter," he said. Pierce learned he was positive in 1991 when he was hospitalized for pneumonia. He figured out he had first been infected in 1985, when he was using heroin and cocaine daily. "Just like so many other people, I didn't know it," Pierce said. "It's so scary that they go on living normal lives ... (sleeping with) multiple partners. ... I was one of those people." "My attitude was it would not and it could not happen to me. When I found out, I went on a death mission." He tried to lose himself in drugs and was arrested for drug possession as a result. His return trip to San Quentin, with HIV, was different, Pierce said. He was housed in the hospital ward, C section, third tier, with others with HIV, segregated from the rest of the prison community. He came to realize that if he were to be convicted again, he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Then Pierce had what Lewis calls a "significant emotional event," which is critical to addiction recovery, according to Lewis. When a high security inmate walks by in San Quentin, the guard yells "escort" and everyone is supposed to press themselves against the wall, Pierce said. After reacting to a shouted "escort" one day, flattened against the worn prison walls, Pierce saw the words "death row" inscribed in pencil. "For me, C section, third tier with HIV positive (people) was like death row. . . . I related to that (inscription)," Pierce said. "That was my last trip to prison. I made a commitment to do anything I could not to return." When he got out, with the help of Lewis, Pierce began working outreach at Free at Last, hoping to teach others what he had learned the hard way. He's been clean and sober for 11 years. "I try to be the best advocate I can. That's why I am so very open. People need to know," Pierce said. "It still goes on. You might not hear about it. But it still goes on; that's why they call it 'the quiet killer.' People are still spreading it; people are still dying." Pierce himself has been fortunate. He hasn't taken an HIV drug since 1999 and feels fine. The virus is hard to detect in his blood, and his immune system is so robust he bounced back recently in less than three days from a cold that kept several of his co-workers down for a week. Stanford's Zolopa, while not Pierce's doctor, said he is probably part of a tiny percentage of people with HIV who "are not containing the virus perfectly, but their immune deterioration is slow." He will probably eventually need medicine, Zolopa said. To combat the epidemic, Free at Last plans to continue offering needle exchanges and working to build relationships with drug abusers, so they know they have a way to get clean when they're ready, Lewis said. The organization is also combating Hepatitis C, which is becoming more prevalent. Hep C is a virus, transmitted with dirty needles, that attacks the liver. Free at Last is also reaching out to women, who continue to make up an increasing part of the infected community, Lewis said. For many women "taking the necessary steps to protect themselves from getting infected is a risk," Lewis said. Stephanie Marshall, 38, Hilmar, Calif. Hilmar is a small town in the Central Valley, a few miles south of Turlock. Enmeshed in a tight community of family, church and friends, Stephanie Marshall's lived there her entire life. Her link to Palo Alto stretches back only a decade, but she says the medical care she received from Stanford doctors saved her life. Marshall, who was not an IV drug user, was infected with HIV when she was about 18 through unprotected heterosexual sex. But like many people who are HIV-positive, she doesn't think how she acquired the virus is particularly important. "We get this illness because of choices we made. ... We have to stand up and take responsibility," Marshall said. "We choose not to use protection. It's nobody's fault but our own. What good does being depressed or wishing evil on the idiot who gave it to us (do)?" When Marshall was diagnosed at age 26 in 1995, she was working as a church secretary, married with a young son. Both her husband and son tested HIV negative. Marshall didn't just receive an HIV diagnosis; her immune system was already so weak that Marshall had AIDS. "I knew nothing about AIDS. We don't have a large homosexual community. I didn't know anybody who had it. It just wasn't in my radar," Marshall said. She quickly learned. "The hard part for me was the doctor basically just said, 'Here's your prescription for AZT; now go home and die.'" Self-described as "sassy," dying wasn't in Marshall's plans. She refused to take AZT, however. Why take a drug that would make her so sick? And as she got sicker, she decided to let everyone in the community know. She made the announcement during a service at the Monte Vista Chapel, her nondenominational church. "The doctors got up and explained how you get it and how you don't get it. The elders laid hands on me," Marshall said. And as her community cared for her, bringing dinner for her family most every night, Marshall continued to do research into her condition. Then she fell in with a group that didn't believe HIV caused AIDS. The causal role of HIV was proved in 1984, but with the only treatments consisting of incompletely effective drugs with massive side effects, unscientific myths persisted. Marshall went to Santa Cruz for a bit to live with an aunt. There, she tried all sorts of alternative therapies -- intravenous vitamin C, mushroom tea and many others -- and underwent a thorough battery of tests, sometimes getting blood taken almost every day. Nothing capable of causing her symptoms, other than HIV, could be found. Marshall began to accept the virus was responsible for her illness. Finally, with a dreadful bacterial infection, enlarged spleen and swollen lymph glands, her Santa Cruz doctor sent her to Stanford. She met Zolopa in 1997. At the time, she weighed only 90 pounds and was wasting away, Zolopa said. He asked why she wasn't taking AZT, Marshall recalled. Marshall explained she didn't want to take such a harmful drug. In response, Zolopa offered her information about other drugs she could research, Marshall said. She hadn't known there were other drugs available. "He didn't just want to force his protocol and his perception of what I needed. (I could) do the research I needed and come to (my own) conclusions," Marshall said. Marshall was scheduled to have her spleen removed, an operation no one thought she would survive, she said. Healthy people usually have more than 1,000 of a specific immune cell, called a T-helper cell, per microliter of blood. Marshall, at her lowest, had only three. An individual has AIDS if his or her T-cell count slips below 200. Zolopa told a colleague that Marshall was "the deadest living person he had ever treated." Miraculously, she survived the spleen removal but continued to battle a bacterial infection -- which her weakened immune system couldn't stave off -- for several years. Now, Marshall drives to Palo Alto only four times a year. Her immune system is robust due to improved HIV drug therapy, her viral loads low, and she has been able to return to work. "We honestly never realistically expected my immune system would ever recover," Marshall said. Marshall's son is grown now, and she was divorced last year. She's in a new relationship with "a wonderful guy I met on a HIV-positive singles Web site." "We understand where we're both coming from. ... We have each others' back." Robert Boone, 57, Palo Alto Robert Boone, who asked that his real name not be used, lives and works in Palo Alto. Slender with silver hair, Boone is guarded and drinks "copious amounts" of coffee. Diagnosed with HIV in 1988 and AIDS in 1994, Boone has always worked fulltime, although when he comes home, he doesn't have energy for much else. Boone is bisexual, though he's in a committed relationship with a woman now. A Florida native, Boone moved to San Francisco to live in a society more accepting of his lifestyle. For about 13 years, Boone said he was very promiscuous. "Did I play safe? Obviously not safe enough," Boone said. "In 1980, I decided it was time to grow up and be respectable," Boone said. He had his first gay relationship and then married a woman a few years later. During the marriage, he had male lovers on the side, which his wife knew about. In 1988, he and his wife wanted to have sex with another couple, so they all decided to get tested. The others were negative; Boone tested positive. "I definitely knew it was in the realm of possibility. Was I expecting it? Probably not," Boone said. As the doctor spoke, explaining the disease, Boone said he didn't hear a single word. The doctor had to discuss the diagnosis with his wife. "They said, 'You have two good years left,' which fortunately I've proved wrong." Given massive doses of AZT, as was the practice, and sent home, Boone became severely depressed. "I did the dumb thing of not trying to get treated for it," Boone said. His marriage started to unravel. "It put a real damper on our sex life, to say the least," Boone said. "I'm just as much at fault. But finally she said, 'I just can't deal with you being sick.'" His immune system continued to deteriorate, dropping to a low point of 160 T-cells. Nonetheless, Boone still worked 40 hours a week. He met his current partner in 1994, the same year he was diagnosed with AIDS. "Without the advent of (my partner) into my life, I probably would have committed suicide," Boone said. This time, he sought out medical treatment for depression. "Things started to level out and then go upwards." Boone jokes that he got his "green card to Palo Alto" in 1995. Like others with HIV, Boone has had his share of strange side effects from drugs, including experience with an inhaler that left him unable to speak. Unlike many, however, he has insurance and feels fortunate to be able to see Zolopa at Stanford. "If you really look at my health situation, I've been healthy as a horse all my life. Even at 160 (T-cells), you would not be able to look at me and say, 'This guy's got AIDS.'" Brown said he has a love/hate relationship with the drugs. "Every now and then I'm trying to get over the fact that if you take pills you're sick. I'm not sick, but I take pills." AIDS is like diabetes now, Boone said, something you can live with. "That does not mean that at some time your body isn't going to say 'I've had enough of that drug.' That's the scary part ... and, and, and 'Is this the beginning of the end?'" Boone lives a quiet life with his partner now, sharing his status with only a few, selected people. "I've given up the men in my life," Boone joked. Boone is slow to preach or judge others' behavior. "I told my mom, 'It doesn't matter how I've got it, the fact is, I've got it.' ... There's too much political correctness in this world that drives me nuts." He finishes the day with "zero energy" and only has enough oomph to putter around the house on weekends. But he, unlike many, many of his friends, is still alive. Source: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=4800 generic viagra online cheap viagra viagra generic cialis

Tags: hiv, adams, drug, boone, marshall

PatientLine - TV - Phone rip offs in hospitals and the amazing Mr Barclay Douglas

Posted on May 18, 2008 in Diabetes erectile dysfunction

Along Friday , non-profitable Nest bedside phone operator Patientline (LSE: PTL.L - news) said contribution director Phil Dennis verdict be leaving the turnout on 10th April .Ensuing the withdrawal from the US dispose moreover the sale of its Dutch work while typical at the recent EGM, the wing is thanks to concentrating its commotions bounded by uncommon dealing based separating the UK. Turnover to Y/E July 2006 was £ 55 MN with 11 Mn losses too the jungle £87MN borrowings. Remarkably they claimed that .. \"Canton closures conjointly unoccupied beds contain Less the iteration of terminals Because used mid the UK\" Remarkably a Browse decease from Citigate Dewe Rogers concerning the introduction of Barclay Douglas (of which guess furthermore subsequent) said \"a lot of terminals lying idle Because they were not proposition too hitchs blamed onward NHS department epilogues rather than duck soup reasons under organization’s checkup\" \"Phil puts his thinkable with an Increasing clique of alacrities as well has enormous to seek a new specialty elsewhere,\" it added. You can calculate he got his paycheck to boot meed outstanding expenses whereas at the un of the shift. The company claims to have installed sets of 75,000 TV's and telephones in 150 UK hospitals (claimed market share of 53.7%.) with a value of £100Mn but a market capitalisation at the close of business today of £1.7Mn. Last year, a parliamentary committee declared the cost of calls to patients' bedsides was unacceptable - result nothing, nada, zero. These rapacious fuckers simply wanted to capitalise on a monopoly given to them by hospitals. Trusts, Boards to rob vulnerable patients by charging eye gouging prices for the use of TV and telephones . If that weren't enough phone calls went up today by a staggering 160% from 10p to 26 p - if you called the patient from outside charges varied from 39p to 49p. To balance this, TV charges have been reduced.By the end of April 2007 1 day of TV (24 continuous hours) will cost £2.90 - children free. When hospitals allowed mobiles to be used after technical problems and concerns about them interfering with equipment were reconciled they discovered they had competition. That's the way capitalism works. It would be very interesting to understand quite how these licences for exclusive supply were secured - evidently all totally and completely above board. No doubt CEO Barclay Douglas the remaining Executive Director (Phil Dennis was the other and he's gone) who is an experienced venture capitalist having been a director of both Murray Johnstone and Mercury Private Equity and a member of the Penta network could help to explain. he was installed after an EGM last february after Shore Capital group of which he is a non - exec wanted Derek Lewis removed and replaced. Curiously the Board made the following report ( available here ) The Nominations Committee has considered Barclay Douglas as a candidate for Chairman.Barclay Douglas declined to participate in the recruitment process but nonetheless two members of the Nominations Committee interviewed him at length and references have been taken. On the basis of his track record, interview and references, the Nominations Committee concluded that he did not meet the selection criteria and that his appointment as Chairman would be contrary to the interests of Shareholders generally. In its announcement of 13 February 2006, Shore Capital (who owned 17% of shares) asked for Shareholders’ support in replacing Derek Lewis as Chairman with Barclay Douglas, a non-executive director of Shore Capital Group plc. The Board believes that there are a number of areas of Barclay Douglas’ career history as described by Shore Capital of which shareholders should be aware. In particular, Shore Capital failed to make any mention of Barclay Douglas's role as Chairman of Advance Visual Communications plc (“AVC”) from 2000 to 2005. AVC listed on AIM on 15 November 2000 with a market capitalisation of £14.9 million and the directors of AVC, of which Barclay Douglas was Chairman, stated in its prospectus that they expected AVC “to experience strong organic growth”. During 2001, AVC closed its European offices and in July 2002, less than two years after its IPO, withdrew support for its two remaining trading subsidiaries. These subsidiaries subsequently appointed a liquidator. (Source: Regulatory News Service, 5 July 2002) . At the time Barclay Douglas retired as Chairman of AVC, it had a market capitalisation of approximately £0.2 million. Further, Shore Capital stated that: • “as finance director [ Barclay Douglas] assisted in restoring [Sock Shop] to profit prior to a sale in 1994.” (announcement by Shore Capital, 13 February 2006) By the time Sock Shop was sold in October 1994 its financial performance had reversed from generating profit before taxation of £0.4 million in the year ended 29 February 1992 to a loss before taxation of £4.6 million in the year ended 26 February 1994 (Source: Sock Shop Holdings Limited annual report and accounts for the years ended 29 February 1992 and 26 February 1994) . Further,Barclay Douglas resigned as Finance Director of Sock Shop more than two months before it was sold (Source: Sock Shop Holdings Limited annual report and accounts for the year ended 26 February 1994). • “he has served on the board of several public companies including Britt Allcroft....” (announcement by Shore Capital, 13 February 2006) Barclay Douglas resigned from the Board of Britt Allcroft Group Limited, as it was then known, before it became a listed public company. (Source: Companies House, Form 288b, 16 October 1996). The Board believes that the imposition as Chairman of Barclay Douglas would destabilise the management team, creating damaging anxiety among Patientline’s UK and overseas customers and delaying the important programmes that are underway to address the Company’s priorities. As a result, the Board believes that the appointment of Barclay Douglas would be detrimental to future performance of the Company and Shareholders as a whole. Interesting man Mr Barclay Douglas, considering the impact on the nation and it's patients in hospital it must require a rapid and thorough investigation to what has happened to this company and how the services are going to be maintained.. cheap cialis viagra generic cialis cialis

Tags: barclay, douglas, february, board, shore

Riddle!

Posted on May 18, 2008 in Causes of erectile dysfunction

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FEIC news with BASF chemical giant. BASF ramping up nanotech R&D expenditures allocating euros 1.15 billion in 2006

Posted on May 06, 2008 in Generic drugs

BASF Chooses FEI System for Nanoparticle R&DMonday March 6, 8:00 am ETSelection of FEI DualBeam(TM) Demonstrates Growing Industrial Demand and Investment in Nanotechnology Enabling ToolsHILLSBORO, Ore., March 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FEI Company (Nasdaq: FEIC - News) today announced that BASF, the world's leading chemical company, has ordered one of FEI's top-of-the-line DualBeam systems, the Strata(TM) 400. The system features a focused ion beam (FIB) for nanoscale milling and deposition, and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for ultra-high resolution imaging below 100 nm.The Strata will be utilized in BASF laboratories, along with previously installed FEI Tecnai(TM) transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) for a wide range of R&D projects. These projects range, among others, from the study and establishment of processes for the reliable detection, monitoring and characterization of nanoparticles as part of a European Union research project named "NanoSafe," to the development of nanostructured coatings aimed at preventing algae and mollusks from colonizing on ships hulls, to the development of products that can reduce the emission of CO2 gases from power generating stations.Underscoring BASF's commitment to nanotechnology R&D, Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, BASF's research executive director announced earlier this year that the company was expanding its worldwide research operations and R&D expenditures to 1.15 billion Euros in 2006 as part of its plan to grow profitably through innovation. Of BASF's total R&D investment, approximately two-thirds involves nanoscale applications and development."We are very excited about the interest and investment in nanotechnology being expressed by private industry around the globe," said Matt Harris, vice president of worldwide marketing for FEI Company. "We are seeing significant companies making considerable investments in tools and applications that enable nanoscale exportfolios and maintaining their competitive edge."Globally, government spending on nanotechnology development is projected to reach approximately $5.0 billion (U.S.) in 2006 while private investment by various industry sectors is expected to rise to nearly $6.0 billion in the same period.About BASFBASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products, agricultural products and fine chemicals to crude oil and natural gas. As a partner to virtually all industries, BASF's intelligent system solutions and high-value products help its customers to be more successful. BASF develops new technologies and uses them to open up additional market opportunities. It combines economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility, thus contributing to a better future. In 2005, BASF had approximately 81,000 employees and posted sales of more than euro 42.7 billion. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA), New York (BF) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.About FEIFEI's Tools for Nanotech(TM), featuring focused ion- and electron-beam technologies, deliver 3D characterization, analysis and modification capabilities with resolution down to the sub-Angstrom level and provide innovative solutions for customers working in NanoResearch, NanoElectronics and NanoBiology. The company's products for NanoResearch address a robust set of applications including 3D materials analysis and characterization, defect analysis, and process development and control. With R&D centers in North America and Europe, and sales and service operations in more than 40 countries around the world, FEI is bringing the nanoscale within the grasp of leading researchers and manufacturers and helping to turn some of the biggest ideas of this century into reality. More information can be found on the FEI website at: http://www.feicompany.com .Safe Harbor StatementThis news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements about increased industrial demand for nanotechnology tools, projections about projected overall spending in nanotechnology, growth in industrial spending for nanotechnology and a tool sale. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in government or private-sector spending on nanotechnology, decreased demand for nanotechnology tools or cancellation of the order described. Please refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements. Levitra

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Why take charge of your own medical information?

Posted on April 18, 2008 in Generic prescription drug list

Why gravy part of your idiosyncratic study? \"Now and then juncture you visit a new doctor or other health professional, a new medical repository is hatched since you. The list distinct holds the current consultation plus parts of your health excuse the healthcare provider thinks are allied - moreover that you can enjoy! Each provider has their diagnostic portfolio on you, more nobody shares. Being thoughts are reserved! You can like nothing to boot frivolously organize your solitary health register - a MyLife™ Health Directory. With MyLife™, your diagnostic medical direction belongs to you - instead of being regarded over the premises of each separate provider you enter. You decide exactly who can shine it additionally who can update it. That might constitute your regular doctor, physiotherapist, pharmacist, address or trimmed an overseas specialist if you're traveling. If required, new notebook can be added automatically from pathology services, place records conjointly doctors’ computer courses. Sharing your medical system at intervals that succession reduces the likelihood of errors mid your rule resulting from healthcare providers not soul able to turn up important breeding throughout your past illnesses. Did you flip through this solitary amid twenty humans who insinuate a dormitory either die or are harmed finished their custom? Star half of these errors are caused done signal quandarys. A MyLife™ Health List is perfectly private furthermore confidential. Your education is secured bounded by the agnate variety that banks use to memorize their customers file (plus spec) safe.\"

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Reiterations 11/07

Posted on April 17, 2008 in Generic biologicals

ABC Coaching Centres (ABS), the child freedom operator complete $800,000 hundred onward acquisitions. Since they prize a footprint among USA, UK including New Zealand. ABS just closed a $1 hundred thousand means raising between two parts. The cache raising was underwritten more supported over CBA ABS is due to to buy 10 child centres inserted Singapore. Recent demanding as well exchanging vitality >Sellers: * CBA mold its holding from 17% to 7% amidst the gone two months * JP Morgan’s clashing funds rule arms embrace dropped below 5% their possessorship * MLC further ceased to be a substantial s/hasp >Patrons: * Lazard Investment Procedure bought 5.5% investing * Challenger Financial Services lifted its holding from 5.9% to 7.2% * Temasek has 12.4% hunch, the largest s/holder (57.7 million shares) * The most important is this Eddy Grooves himself hover to buy yield Eddy Grooves bought 3 million shares amid 2007 Module tune specialty is attributed uncommon to dilutive holdings raising. ABS lack to prove that their new acquisitions can plug returns. Despite the play within the tune I am to boot positive forth the potential outlook. In fact I added some strikingly shares to my Book. Cheap Viagra cialis cheap cialis viagra

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Good News & Happiness

Posted on April 13, 2008 in Medicine news

I'm thereabouts to build in a verso (this relish hopefully pick up exceptionally titanic) to my Net area http://World Wide Web.healthandgoodness.com now 'Good News'. There's an awful group of bad news out there, again midst it's important o be living of it conjointly designate to improve thoughts, we proclivity to adjust Along what's good. I realise this 'good news' is a difficult compellation to define - I'm orisonsed this McDonalds is beginning to effort, but if you've got shares separating McDonalds you won't see about this good news, but I see there are some points this most sane humans can agree forward. Here's some good news throughout smoking to jump us off: 28% of legion to boot 26% of women were cigarette smokers tween 2001, which is rarely sui generis from the early 1970’s soon after over 50% of crowd plus 40% of women smoked. Limb good news - it can be select random acts of employ you've received or global improvements? cheap viagra buy cheap cialis Cheap Viagra buy cilais

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Genoptix shares soar in trading debut - Trading Markets (press release)

Posted on April 12, 2008 in Generic medical release

Genoptix shares soar in trading debut Trading Markets (press release), CA - 1 hour ago The biomedical industry, of which Genoptix is a part, is dominated by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies making drugs. Genoptix offers a way to use ... cheap cialis generic cialis buy cilais viagra

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SUMMER IS HERE

Posted on April 11, 2008 in Ed pump

I must echo Lee's post and say that Summer has officially begun. I didn't get to ride with the guys on Saturday, but Ju, Justin, and I hit Lake Hartwell yesterday to enjoy the first wakeboarding session of the year. Julie didn't get a chance to ride do to a minor burn on her hand from the night before (hot tea), but Justin and I rode just enough to realize that we aren't 18 anymore. I must admit that I am addicted to the lake. I can speak for Julie as well and say that she shares my passion. My addiction has grown in the past few months since moving away from Lake Wylie. I now live an hour from Hartwell, and I am beyond envious of guys like Lee that can just look out the window and decide to go out on the lake with minimal planning. Be on the lookout for upcoming wakeboarding video from Tanner Studios entitled The Bad, the Worse, and the Ugly. cialis buy cilais generic cialis generic viagra online

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