I'm really glad to see that Nasacort is going OTC (the first topical steroid nasal spray to go over-the-counter in the U.S.). This type of product is already OTC in other parts of the world. I think these Rx-to-OTC switches are a good attempt to bring down costs and put more of the responsibility on the consumer (remember how much time you used to spend dispensing Allegra and Claritin?) Of course we still spend way too much time on OTC prescriptions, but that's another story. Gosh, if Flonase ever goes OTC I might actually get to eat lunch once in a while...
Here we go with 2 weeks of Olympics overload again. How come somebody can always come up with billions of dollars for sporting events but not for housing, food, homelessness, health care, or any of the other problems that plague Russia or other host countries? And I like watching NHL hockey games as much as the next guy but those players are professionals -- they get paid to play hockey full-time --- and I have no idea how they fit into the original intent or spirit of the Olympics. Allowing professionals into the Olympics (and the amateurs to do commercial endorsements, etc.) ruined what little interest I had. Beijing's Olympic Stadium now sits unused and falling into ruin, and I suspect most of the Russian venues will end up that way too.
I really enjoyed watching Philip Seymour Hoffman. So why would this guy, who seemed highly intelligent and at the top of his game, with three small children, stick a needle in his arm? It's really unsettling. I guess we're reminded that that's what addiction is. I still remember a pharmacy school lecture where the instructor was explaining how to alleviate a cancer patient's fear of "addiction" to pain medication that they truly needed. One of his points was that 'addiction' includes actively seeking out a substance and being compelled to use it, knowing full well that it's harmful. It's an illness, and I can only rationalize his actions that way in my own mind. They say that heroin is making a big comeback and that prescription drug abuse is a gateway to it. And that doesn't make me feel too good either...
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It is worth remembering that the "amateurs only" rule was put in place by English gentlemen who did not want the games they could very comfortably afford to lose to be disrupted by people who played because they needed the money. Typical example of how our class system in the UK used to work.
I've read that heroin is becoming more popular again because it's harder to get prescription drugs now. Heroin rates when down when script drugs became popular. Now that they are harder to get they are also more expensive and heroin is cheaper.
Hoffman has been an addict for a good 20 years, ever since he went to drama school, either after HS or after college. He was clean for a long time, over 20 years but something happened and he started taking pills about a year before he died and then he went to heroin. Who knows what made him start again, I read long ago that he had a back injury and that triggered it but it could just have been an excuse.
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