Other painkillers under scrutiny

I just read another interesting article on the anti-inflammatory drugs being used to replace some of the ones currently in question.

I think this would be a great time for everyone to sit back and explore the relative risk and benefits posed by all medications. I have young, healthy patients at little or no risk of heart or other vascular disease who believe that it is a good idea for them to take an aspirin a day. I really don't know of any conclusive proof of any benefit to this group of patients. I do know that they remain at a somewhat greater risk of GI ulcer from aspirin therapy. They ask, "Well, it can't hurt...can it?" I have to tell them while the risk is low, it could hurt (even be life-threatening) and the therapy really offers no benefit to them.

This is different than someone taking a low-dose COX-2 inhibitor with a (potentially obvious) benefit of decreased pain and increased mobility and a low (depending on the patient type) risk of heart attack. The patient and physician ought to be able to weigh these decisions at the time of prescription. I don't get to do that with over-the-counter treatments unless my patient tells me about it, assuming that I see that patient on a semi-regular basis.

New vehicle?

The whole family took a trip today to Lancaster to look at a possible new vehicle. It seems that Mom thinks that we are ready for a mini-van.

At this point, many of you may be concerned that I'm calling my wife "MOM". Let me assure you that someone pushing for this vehicle deserves this epithet.

While the Honda Corporation may want to make you think that you are moving into a new and exciting power machine,

it's still a mini-van.

Joanna, Asher, and I were intrigued by another car in the showroom. In the end, Mom and practicality will win.

Anyone wanting to try out the numerous cupholders will be invited to our open house.

Because the airport's the place to buy liquor

What's the price per ounce on this bottle of the world's oldest single malt. I think it's like $700 an ounce.

The people at Glenfiddich still offer these other rare whiskies for anyone still wanting to by me a gift.

Can you say pathological...

If this kid was a victim of a hoax than this was really awful. If not, what imagination, what drive, what perserverance, what cahones!

Falling apart

It sounds as though the word from a meeting of the Primates in Belfast is that the Episcopal Church (USA) may soon find itself out of communion with the See of Canterbury and the majority of Anglican Christianity. The American and Canadian churches are being called upon to make major changes. Some think that if the US is not a part of the the Anglican Communion, that it will dissolve. I think we North Americans will just find ourselves on the outside looking in.

Statin Success

There was an interesting report from the journal Chest about the compliance success rates seen in cardiac bypass patients that were given statins immediately after surgery and sent home on the regimen. Not surprisingly (to me), these post-surgery patients were more likely to stay on the statin than those given a statin without having to undergo surgery.

I really think that bypass surgery or similar cardiac intervention really can be a turning point in the lives of people and especially with regard to how they approach their medical care.

What wouldn't we mind right now

A great graphic from the Onion. That about sums up life some days.

Grave ruling

This week the Diocese of Lichfield in the Church of England is considering loosening rules on church graveyards prohibiting artificial flowers. This is, truly, one of the major issues of the day!

Fawlty Towers hotel fetches £1.5 million

The hotel that inspired the Britcom Fawlty Towers has sold for almost $2.9 million. That's real obsession with a show.

If you've never seen it, it is a great show.

Hocking Hills Cabin Rentals

I just wanted to say how pleased I am that my sister and brother-in-law have finally got their Hocking Hills getaway cabin rental business up and running. The cabins really are beautiful and the location is very secluded. Way to go!

Maybe goodbye to some good drugs

It seems as though we may be saying a farewell to a whole class of drugs in the near future. The COX-2 group will be sorely missed by many patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory arthropathies. They really did reduce these patients' risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. I hope we find some sort of compassionate need availability for these people.

Visit to Dad

My 3 year old son, Asher, and I went to see my dad yesterday at the nursing home. Asher got his first look at Dad's new electric wheelchair. It resembled this one somewhat. When we got home, I asked him to tell his mom about the new wheelchair. He told her that Papaw steered it with a "big boy 'passy' (pacifier)". It took me a few seconds to think about the hand control.

As you can see, he wasn't far off in his description.

Bush's Farm Subsidy Plan

I caught this story today online about the details of the President's proposed farm subsidy plan. I recently had also read John Stossel's take on the farm subsidy plan as it exists today.

I'm inclined to take Stossel's view:

President Bush gave away $83 billion of your money to farmers when he signed the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, and Congress applauded him for it. Americans like the idea of supporting family farms, but you'd be surprised to learn where that money goes.

Hundreds of those farmers who benefited from our generosity live in New York City. Some of those farmers who are collecting farm subsidies are pretty well-off. Mike Sonnenfeldt, for example, lives in a building where Steven Spielberg and Steve Martin have apartments.

Sonnenfeldt gets a cotton subsidy from the government. "I bought a piece of property, that got traded for a piece of property ... And I'm not sure exactly even why I get it," he said.

Most of the money goes to real farms big agribusiness, actually. But politicians talk about family farms.

Some subsidies do go to family farms, like one run by Fred and Larry Starrh. But does that entitle them to $3.5 million of your money? That's what they've received over seven years.

I called them welfare queens -- and they objected. "Change it to king," Larry Starrh joked, "Welfare kings. Because 'queens' is bad in California, believe me."

The Starrhs grow mostly cotton on their 12,000-acre spread in California. It's hard to think of them as needy with all that land, but costs have increased faster than prices. Subsidies, they say, are just a small part of their income, but they and their 100 employees depend on them. Without them, they say, they can't make a profit.

Now most businesses that can't make a profit go out of business. Woolworth closed. So did TWA. So do 20,000 restaurants every year. It's that freedom to fail that's helped make America as prosperous as she is, because it frees people to do more productive things.

But subsidized farms get different treatment. When Fred and Larry can't make a profit, taxpayers give them a handout.

"I don't look at it as a handout whatsoever. I absolutely refuse to accept that," Fred Starrh said.

But it is. It's welfare.

Fred Starrh said he looks at it as "a way to maintain a viable agriculture in this country."

That's the myth. Subsidies don't maintain a viable agriculture. Lettuce isn't subsidized. In fact, most crops are not. Not peas or potatoes or tomatoes. Not plums, peaches, broccoli, green beans. There's no shortage of any of these. Yet Fred and Larry say farming can't survive without subsidies.

"If I can't grow my 6,000 acres of cotton because the subsidy's gone &Where am I gonna go with that acreage? Do I just idle it?" Larry Starrh asked.

I don't know. Where do I go if "20/20's" ratings go down? That's life.

Subsidies are a like a heroin fix. They feel good, but they lead to more subsidies. The first subsidy makes cotton more expensive. That causes a problem for manufacturers, so we give them another subsidy. That subsidy hurts poor farmers worldwide, so we send them more money in foreign aid. But that's not enough for our cotton farmers. We give them another subsidy for the water they use and another subsidy to advertise their cotton overseas.

If they can't make a profit, I don't think they deserve a gift from taxpayers just so they can keep farming.

"Well I totally disagree with you John, and the legislature is with us at this point, so we're winning, and you're losing," Fred Starrh said.

He's right. And you're paying for it.

The world just got more exciting

The world stage just became little more exciting since North Korea announced that it does have nuclear weapons. Where do we go from here?

A video glimpse of service in Iraq

My brother sent me a link for a video tribute to those serving in Iraq, titled Until Then. I'm usually not much for the sappy stuff but this is especially well done and the music is well suited to the content of the presentation.

Now we're in business…

Okey-dokey...now we can get down to business. I finally found a shortcut to posting links on here so that I don't have to type it in HTML. I hope this means that I'll be using it a little bit more. We'll still have to see.

By the way, I know longer have the "office" website that I had mentioned in my first post. They wanted to charge me for it and I was no longer interested.