Cost of Prescriptions

Although I agree that the national medical system is long overdue for an overhaul, I have not agreed with many of the proposals in the current bill. In particular, the bill did not address two iitems which I perceive to be major problems contributing significantly to the expanding and outrageous costs: pharmacutical commercials and ads and frivilous and unnecessary law suits or threats of law suits. For years the commercials on television and the ads in newspapers and magazines have attempted to convince the consumer/patient that he or she should be the judge of what medical prescription or need is correct for whatever ailment may be present. I am convinced that quite often the ads begin to make people believe they have problems which they had never heard of before they saw the ad. The one I am really sick and tired of is the one with the two bathtubs. Doesn't every household in America use Kickapoo Joy Juice and have two bathtubs out back with a gorgeous view? That alone should make people ignore the product, if the advised possible side effects did not. Watch the latest Focker movie if you want to see a very funny take-off on the effects of a Viagra-type drug! For years hungry lawyers have been forcing the price of malpractice insurance to rise, causing commisserate changes in fees. Many physicians will not even go into certain practices because of the possibility of damages. What is wrong with this picture? Certainly, there are some instances when someone will make a decidedly erroneous decision which needs to be addressed and which deserves monetary compensation. But frivilous law suits should not be addressed by the courts, for example. the hot coffee from McDonald's rediculous one. After hearing our primary care physician discuss the negative aspects of Medicare, I could continue this topic along other lines to great lengths. Unfortunately, under our medical insurance, we are forced to be under the Medicare umbrella, like it or not (which I do not). It certainly does not offer me much encouragement that the government's management of the healthcare system would be much better than its management of its finances. But, that's another topic! What do you think? The following is an article persuant to the topic of prescription costs that first appeared around 2003 and is still relevant today. Hopefully, this will provide some food for thought. Let's hear it for Costco! (This is just mind-boggling!) Make sure you read all the way past the list of the drugs. The woman that signed below is a Budget Analyst out of federal Washington DC offices. Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in past issues of Life Extension a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries. In our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make, we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America . Celebrex:100 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60 Percent markup: 21,712% Claritin:10 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71 Percent markup: 30,306% Keflex:250 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39 Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88 Percent markup: 8,372% Lipitor:20 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37 Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80 Percent markup: 4,696% Norvasc:10 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14 Percent markup: 134,493% Error! Filename not specified. Paxil:20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27 Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60 Percent markup: 2,898% Prevacid:30 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77 Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01 Percent markup: 34,136% Prilosec: 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97 Cost of general active ingredients $0.52 Percent markup: 69,417% Prozac:20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11 Percent markup: 224,973% Tenormin:50 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13 Percent markup: 80,362% .JPG" SRC="aoladp://MA24192176-0011/ATT0001011.JPG"> Vasotec:10 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20 Percent markup: 51,185% Xanax:1 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024 Percent markup: 569,958% Zestril:20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89 Cost of general active ingredients $3.20 Percent markup: 2,809% Zithromax:600 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19 Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78 Percent markup: 7,892% Zocor:40 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27 Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63 Percent markup: 4,059% IZE="9126" ID="16" SRC="aoladp://MA23455901-0016/ATT0001516.JPG"> Zoloft:50 mg Consumer price: $206.87 Cost of general active ingredients: $1..75 Percent markup: 11,821% Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone should know about this. It pays to shop around! This helps to solve the mystery as to why they can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner.On Monday night, Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit , did a story on generic drug prices gouging by pharmacies. He found in his investigation that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000% or more. So often we blame the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and usually rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearly lies with the pharmacies themselves. For example if you had to buy a prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might pay $100 for 100 pills. The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic equivalent, they would only cost $80, making you think you are saving $20. What the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills may have only cost him $10! At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost for the generic drugs. I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get its online price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the online prices. I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my own experience I had to use the drug Compazine which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients. I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS. I checked the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for $19.89. For 145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150 at Costco for $28.08. I would like to mention, that although Costco is a 'membership' type store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there as it is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and passing it into your own e-mail, and send it to everyone you know with an e-mail address. Sharon L. Davis Budget Analyst U.S. Department of Commerce Room 6839 Office Ph: 202-482-4458 Office Fax: 202-482-5480 E-mail Address:sdavis@doc.gov

The Stinking Rose and A Wonderful Day

Today we began our trip into San Francisco earlier in order to explore the city by cable car a bit before having lunch. The trip in on the BART was again fun, as we had an interesting conversation with a college-age couple from Switzerland studying at Berkley. They were very fluent in English but found pronunciations challenging. She said they were looking for PO-WELL Street, which is Powell. Since Kristy and Tim have been living in Costa Rica and have mentioned language challenges, we struck up a lively conversation. 1HW thought that if we lived in the area they would probably be over for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinners. Alas for them....

After the BART we headed for the cable car turn-around at Powell Street, having decided to ride it up one way and back down the other before heading for lunch. More interesting people to talk with there, too! An Indian gentleman from Mumbai (who filled us in on the billionaire who built the 27-story home there) who works with Bank of America had all kinds of questions about the city which we were able to answer. Another nice guy also helped, and we had a great time talking until we got off to head for lunch, walking our way through the heart of Chinatown. We thought about getting a trolley but decided to walk, and it was fascinating. Once you have walked there, you wonder if you really have the need to visit China after all. Managing our way through the crowds shopping at the open-air vegetable markets, we headed for the North Beach Italian (and sometimes questionable area) of the city, where we found our son's favorite restaurant that we decided to try: The Stinking Rose.

The question is, would a rose by any other name smell as pungent? Not! This rose is the garlic, well-known and beloved by all Californians, especially in Gilroy, the garlic capital of the country (world?). Everything in this restaurant is totally loaded with garlic, and it is all wonderful, even if I clear the paths for miles away for weeks after eating there. Again, we were graced by a window seat, looking out over the corner of Broadway and Columbus (Italian section, right?), able to watch everyone go by... Fascinating!

The moment we were seated, we were served a heated plate of focaccia rolls and a jar of garlic "relish" to dip the rolls in.

The Stinking Rose Garlic Rose Relish is as follows:

1 bunch chopped parsley, 1/4 cup chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and olive oil to cover. Mix parsley, garlic, vinegar, and salt. Add oil to cover ingredients and stir. Cover and store in refrigerator. Relish is good for 3-4 days.

1HW decided that too much garlic could wreck him for a few days and decided on a Caesar salad with shrimp, which he thought was good. Jerry had already recommended a dish which I love, mussels or/and clams cooked in a garlic, butter and white wine broth, served in a huge soup bowl. YUMMMMM! I had eaten so many of the same type of dishes in the Bordeaux area of France several years ago, and absolutely loved it. The broth was so delicious, just as was the cioppino last night, that one needs to soak up the last drop with the sour dough bread or focaccio rolls served. Our waiter brought us more rolls to thoroughly enjoy the meal, and we walked away needing some exercise.

As we walked back through Chinatown to catch the cable car, all of a sudden a funeral procession appeared, which seemed to take everyone local and tourist alike by surprise. It was like a Salvation Army Band, playing all sorts of familiar hymns, marching along in front of a hearse through Stockton Street in the middle of Chinatown. Amazing!

We caught the cable car and headed for the Wharf area again, thoroughly enjoying the sites of the Bank of America pyramid, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Lombard's curving street as we rode along. After a bit of walking around and shopping, we traveled by cable car back up to the top, switched cars, and headed for the BART to go back, still filled from lunch and beginning to be tired. It felt good to return to our "place" around 6, and Max was happy to see us.

Thanks, San Francisco, for another memorable trip! We leave a little bit of our hearts with you each time we visit!

San Francisco, A Wonderful Place to Visit!

It is truly difficult for me to imagine many places more enjoyable to visit than San Francisco. I have visited that gorgeous city countless number of times, beginning when I was six months old and could not even begin to imagine how delightful a site it is. So when we began heading south from Friday Harbor, it seemed like the perfect time to revisit one of our favorites of past travels, even if for a short time, and it did not disappoint us!

Although we were off to a slower start than anticipated yesterday, the trip in to the city was still such fun, especially as we headed down to the Fisherman's Wharf area. We soon learned that after several days of driving, my back would not let me walk as many blocks as I had hoped, although I was willing to keep trying. That is when one dear, sweet husband found a bicycle rickshaw guy to drive us the remaining distance... which was much farther than I could have made it. The ride was as much fun as our carriage ride in Vienna. He delivered us right to the front door of Alioto's, one of San Francisco's oldest and well-known seafood restaurants.

How wonderful to be seated at a window overlooking the Wharf, the harbor, and the majestic Golden Gate Bridge, all shining in the sunset! Gorgeous! All of the food was delicious, but you cannot imagine the wonderful flavor of Mama Rose Alioto's famous cioppino. Even 1HW loved it and asked if I thought I could imitate it at home. After searching and Googling, I came up with enough recipes to make a go of it, including one on Bobby Flay's site that mentions an Alioto's name. YES!

Without a good map, we were left to our own devices to try and find a way back to a BART stop to go back to Vacaville where we parked the rig. After walking around a bit, we saw a bus, asked the driver if it went to Market Street, where there was a BART stop, and he said sure, he would let us know when to get off. You cannot imagine the various characters on the bus who would do justice to a Woody Allen script, all while we watched the scenes go by through and around all of Chinatown. Several wanted to chat with us, asking us where we were from (do you think we looked like tourists?), then immediately talking about "How about those Giants? They had HEART! Those Texas guys had skills, but they didn't have HEART!" Let me just say, it was a funny adventure, and we were quite thankful when we arrived at the downtown Market Street area.

Riding the BART is also an adventure, for sure. Like many other big cities, there are extremes: while some are loud and obnoxious, others do not make eye contact or conversation at all. One of my challenges is always to make sad-looking people smile, but I received very slight smiles, and even those seemed to be a little gift. One thing we discovered, as in places all over the world, is that people are nice and caring, and if one asks for help, they are generous. Certainly, yesterday we needed help, and we received it generously! Many thanks to the bus drivers, the BART fellow travelers who explained things, and the BART police and ticket people who helped us realize we had gotten off at the wrong station (it was NORTH, not CENTRAL! DUH!). It was a fun first day trip!

Some Thoughts Worth Considering....

A friend in Kerrville sent me a copy of this article, and since I am questioning so many sources these days, I looked it up and found the complete commentary. It made so much sense to me, I thought it worth sharing. Even if you may not agree with all of it, Ben Stein makes some very valid points, especially in light of the recent angry dialogues concerning political correctness. Let me know what you think.


(Ben Stein on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary On 08.30.09,
In Commentary, Television, religion, By Dan Calloway.
Published August 30, 2009 at 5:50pm EST; The Chronicler’s Web)

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.


Ben Stein
My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu .. If people want a crèche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

In light of recent events… terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on
your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they
will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it… no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Football

For long periods at a time, unlike the diligent 1HW, I do not blog. He views it as a discipline, a daily writing task which he enjoys. I should really do better! After all, I frequently see all kinds of things which should inspire me to write! So I am determined to follow his example and do better! Thus, the following blog, which may seem totally out of character.

I just love college football! Part of this may be due to to my father's playing football for Heidelberg College in Ohio, where he was named to the "Little All-American College Football Team" in the late 1930's. As a result, he was recruited for Ohio State, where he then played football. The pictures of him in the leather helmet are absolutely priceless! He was a noseguard, as I recall. So the idea of watching football came quite naturally to me in our household.

I can remember when we spent a Thanksgiving in Columbus Ohio, back around 1949 or 1950, when there was a HUGE snowstorm. Mom and Dad had planned to attend the famous OSU-MU rivalry, and there was a question about whether the game would take place because the snow was so heavy. A question about the game continuing? OSU v. MU? Without a question, the game went on, even thought thefans (and probably the players) could not see the field. Never mind... everyone enjoyed it! Not too long after that, I can remember sitting on the sidelines beside the players' bench, watching West Point football, when my dad taught there.
So, it was rather anticlimactic to watch the University of NM play football, even though it was during some of the best of their season when I attended there in the early 1960's.

However, in the fall of 1970, my football fantasy returned! I vividly remember sitting on the 35 yard line, 10 rows up in the student section, watching Oklahoma University return to its national prowess under Chuck Fairbanks and then Barry Switzer! Oh, what a thrill to have been in those stands when Oklahoma beat Nebraska to win the national title that year!! We yelled, we cheered, we sang "Boomer, Sooner," and I loved it! Nothing can compare to the thrill of being part of such a huge crowd urging a champion on! Who would have ever guessed that in 2003 I would begin to cheer the Nebraska Huskers on? Wherever you are, then that is where you cheer! And that is why for the past several years we have also cheered Texas on!

Then comes the hard part for me: Who do I cheer for when they play each other? That remains as a challenge! I guess I am just happy for any of the successful teams when they win, but I always seem to rank Oklahoma as first, Nebraska as second, and Texas as third. And, of course, Ohio State is ALWAYS in there because of my dad. And, I can still sing the Ohio State fight song!

I hope some of you feel happy cheering for your teams, too. It is such fun to see these talented young men play on the field, as well as to know that they are also completing an education. Now, if the funding would just be there for the music and history students, as well......

Friends Are So Special

For so many years of my life I have moved from one place to another, almost every year, for the first eighteen years of my life, so I never really had a chance to make life-long friends such as 1HW has. One dear friend Pat has remained a close friend since our senior year of high school, but few have remained other then that. As a result, I have come to cherish the friends we/I have made during recent years, some of whom have been co-workers, and others who have just appeared. One of the most special of those is Julie, as well as her husband Ron, who has also become a dear friend.

When we arrived in Durango today, Julie was right there to greet us! What a terrific surprise! Her husband Ron and our mutual friend Byron were out exploring the area mountains, which all of us have known that Byron loves to do. They had left at 9:00, and Julie had expected them back by 5:00 pm or so. However, when we went over to their place at 5:30 for Happy Hour before our steak dinners, she had still not heard from them. So the three of us continued our non-stop catching up, as usual, until Ron finally called around six something to say he and Byron had stopped to get hamburgers. WHAT? They would be back in an hour and a half. WHEN? Immediately my dear sweet, thoughtful husband said, "The heck with them! Let's go into town and have a good dinner!" By this time, we have become quite familiar with Durango, so we promptly headed for the Ore House, one of our favorites, where we could get immediate seating in the bar with a 15% discount! How could we argue with that? Wonderful meal, entertaining bartender, delightful server talking to us on the side, all while we had good drinks, fine food, and excellent company. Then we headed to one of our all-time favorite places, the Strater Hotel to the Diamond Belle Gay Nineties bar for piano music. We all had a wonderful time, but the best part of all was to be with Julie!

Julie is almost 20 years younger than I am, but somehow the age difference disappears in my mind because we have such a good time together! She is a tall, slender, young blonde, while I am shorter, rounder, silver, and older. But all of those differences seem to melt when we are together. As a result, the three of us had a perfectly wonderful evening enjoying everyone and everything around us (although missing Ron and wishing he had been with us instead of eating hamburgers with Byron). It just helped me to realize how important our friends are and how much we enjoy them! We arrived home quite cheerfully, perhaps due somewhat to Lemon Drop Martinis or perhaps just due to dear Jules and, of course, to 1HW, my sweetie! Thanks to you both, my dear friend and my husband, for a delightful evening!

A New Start, Again

How wonderful it is to be married to my very best friend! As the rain began falling briefly, we just sat outside and talked, the same usual pattern we have followed for these 21 plus years. We tried to clear our minds, think about what is ahead, what has happened, and be together on our future course, whatever it may be. We have only a vague idea of what we are doing and where we are going, in the long run. Right now, it seems to be important to both of us to go to Friday Harbor and be near close friends. That feels good. Beyond that, we have no idea. Some people find that difficult to imagine; however, the Spirit keeps us moving on, in what we have begun to hear and know here from John (our pastor) as "the Journey." That seems to be the best way we can phrase it. We are on a journey, and where that takes us, we have no idea. Maybe that is why we call ourselves "The Happy Wanderers," because the wandering continues, totally out of OUR control as to where we will next go. It is really rather amazing, as we reflect on the total times of our lives together, that we have been so purposefully led, without our having much to say about it all. And so, as we begin to leave Kerrville at this time, we are thankful for the people, the wonderful times, the amazing friendships, and the opportunity to grow. We will try to forget the recent discouraging experiences and instead focus on the future positive hopes and possibilities! And, as our friend Paula always reminds us in her daily readings, "Keep a smile for everyone you meet!" Thank you, Paula! We will try to spread the joy! Happy travels!