Editorial: Back to the Basics!

How complicated we tend to make our lives! This is true at the family level, the workplace level, social level, and governmental level.

It seems families have so much "busywork" going on with the various activities that there is precious little time to just be with each other. In fact, it seems that if you are not doing something, it is "boring"! Actually, it is these times of quiet and talking that very meaningful relationships are built (as long as the IPOD earbuds are not in ears and the Nintendo DS games are not being played). Parents tend to work more to provide more for their families while actually missing out on the best parts of life�that of spending time with the children.

Workplace activities tend to become more complicated as more demands are being made by third-party payors and by the government to do certain things a certain way. The "strings" that are attached to the government programs, including Medicare, etc. and the third-party documentation, etc., tends to make work life more complicated and stressful. What would happen if we only had "catastrophic health insurance" and everyone paid cash for all their regular and routine medications? The catastrophic health insurance would be for serious and high-cost problems. In thinking about it, this may be what happens by default as the state and federal governments realize they simply don't have enough money to pay for runny noses, bumps, bruises, contraception, aches and pains, etc. Maybe the workplace may get simplified by default in the future.

Social interactions can be as simple or as complex as one is willing to make them; it's your choice. I think we all remember the "easy-living" days portrayed on The Andy Griffith Show in Mayberry, North Carolina and wonder how we became so interrelated, busy, and stressed.

Government has gotten out of hand! Government "of the people, by the people and for the people" has become Government "to the people, by the insider politicians, and for the special interest groups."

Bottom-line, it's our own fault if we accept the status quo that is not really a status quo but is a changing structure centralizing power nationally and keeping us all inundated with "busywork" so we think we are accomplishing something.

Life doesn't have to be this complex�unless we allow it to be so.


Loyd V. Allen, Jr., PhD, RPh
Editor-in-Chief

Nice, Plump Pension Awaits Former Eli Lilly Leader
Sidney Taurel, the former Eli Lilly & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive saw his total pay flatten out during his last year on the job, but retirement nest eggs totaling more than $40 million are waiting for him, according to regulatory filings. Taurel, 59, stepped down as chief executive for Lilly on March 31 and on December 31 as chairman, winding down a 37-year career with the company. He has a pension valued at $30.8 million and $11.2 million in nonqualified deferred compensation.
http://www.therapeuticsdaily.com/news/article.cfm?contentValue=1885820&contentType=sentryarticle&channelID=33

Most U.S. Seniors Have Drug Coverage
More than 90 percent of U.S. adults age 65 and older have prescription drug coverage today, compared with 76 percent in 2004, researchers say. The University of Michigan research study analysis found poor seniors are just as likely to have coverage as the rich. The analysis compares drug coverage among a nationally representative sample of 9,321 older Americans interviewed both in 2004 and after the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit started in 2006. The study, conducted since 1992 by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, found median out-of-pocket drug spending dropped from $100 in 2004 to $40 in 2006 for those newly covered by Medicare Part D. In 2004, 24 percent of Americans age 65 and older lacked prescription drug coverage. In 2006, only 7 percent lacked coverage.
http://ncpa.yellowbrix.com/pages/ncpa/Story.nsp?story_id=126437905&ID=ncpa

Experts Call for Concise Fact Box in Drug Ads
Trials involving advertisements for two heartburn drugs and two cardiovascular medicines showed that U.S. consumers preferred the ad with a fact box that states the benefits and risks of the treatment. Researchers have suggested that the FDA order companies to add a fact box in ads to better inform patients about their medications.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090217/hl_hsn/addmorefactstodrugadsexpertsurge

Heard 50 years ago!

• If things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a weeks groceries for $20.00.
• Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000 will only buy a used one.
• Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?
• If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.
• When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon? Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage!

Be happy!
"I have known a great many troubles�and most of them never happened" (Mark Twain).