Editorial: Confusing Rules with Principles

Another follow-up from "Cowboy Ethics-What Wall Street Can Learn from the Code of the West."

Rules can be bent, but principles cannot. If one looks at all the "rules" we live under, they oftentimes seem to smother us to the point that we wonder what we can legally do. Bureaucratic rules may reinforce the way we are requested to behave, but they are not a substitute for personal principles.

This can become more confusing when we look at the fact that there may be different rules for different people. Members of Congress have the opportunity of living under different rules than the average citizen. Members of select groups do not have to abide by certain rules. Considering the healthcare deliberations that are going on, even though there may be public discourses on everyone being treated equally, this is not the case! Special interests groups, including members of Congress, will not be held to the same rules as the rest of the citizens of the U.S. The avowed principles of "treating everyone equally" seem to go by the wayside when rules are made and influenced by special interest groups. Greed, corruption, cynicism, scandal, etc. have become commonplace, and there needs to be a good "housecleaning" or, maybe I should say in cowboy vernacular, "its time to clean out the stalls" and elect individuals that stand by the principles upon which this nation was founded.


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

Did the World Health Organization (WHO) Experts Exaggerate the Swine Flu Scare?
Questions are being raised about whether the swine flu scare was exaggerated to benefit PHARMA companies. Evidence has surfaced that several members of the World Health Organization's (WHO) vaccine board which pushed countries to buy the H1N1 vaccine have had significant ties with PHARMA companies.

This fact was exposed by Danish news media last month. Attempts were made to get WHO's response, but several emails sent to the office of the WHO director-general on January 9 met with no response. Documents revealed that Prof Juhani Eskola, a Finnish member of the WHO board on vaccines, "Strategic Advisory Group of Experts" (SAGE), received almost 6.3 million Euros in 2009 for his vaccine research program from the vaccine manufacturers, GSK, qualifying GSK as THL's main source of income. A Danish newspaper pointed out that SAGE advises WHO Chief Margaret Chan and recommends which vaccines and how much of its member countries should purchase. The journalists reported on six other members of SAGE with financial ties to various pharmaceutical companies, including manufacturers of vaccines (including the H1N1 vaccine) like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis, Solvay, Baxter, MedImmune, and Sanofi-Aventis. Only one of the WHO members on the vaccine board declared any conflict of interest despite having extensive financial ties with the pharmaceutical companies in the form of research grants and consultancies.
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=678738&categoryid=9&newsletter=1

Serbia to Stop Import of Swine Flu Vaccines
Serbia's health officials say they will stop the purchase of swine flu vaccines from a Swiss pharmaceutical company because of the lack of demand. Last year Serbia ordered 3 million doses of the vaccine from Novartis AG. The estimated worth of the order was estimated at (EURO) 24 million ($35 million US). Serbia has received and paid for about 850,000 doses, while only some 135,000 people -- about 2 percent of the population -- have been vaccinated.
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=678349&categoryid=9&newsletter=1

FTC Wants Patent-Generic Drug Settlements Ban in Health Bill
The Federal Trade Commission says patent settlements between drug makers, currently costing U.S. consumers billions of dollars each year, are on the rise. The agency reports that the number of lucrative settlements between brand-name and generic drug companies rose to 19 last year from 16 in 2008 and 14 the year before.

A years-long campaign has been waged by the FTC against so-called "pay-to-delay" settlements, in which a branded drug company rewards a generic competitor for keeping cheaper versions of its drugs off the market. Agency officials estimate that the deals cost American consumers $3.5 billion per year.
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=678635&categoryid=9&newsletter=1

EU to Check Drug Makers' Deals with Generic Rivals
European Union regulators warned they are investigating whether major drug makers broke antitrust rules by paying off rivals to delay them from making cheaper, generic versions of medicines after exclusive patents ended. It said it had asked several pharmaceutical companies to hand over copies of patent settlement deals with generic drug makers made in Europe between July 2008 and December 2009 and that it needed to monitor such deals to see if they harm competition.
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=677743&categoryid=9&newsletter=1

Investigators Say Price Hikes on Drugs Increasing
Prices on a growing number of prescription drugs have significantly increased in recent years as consolidation in the drug industry leaves fewer companies manufacturing niche medications. A Congressional investigation says the number of extraordinary price hikes on drugs doubled between 2000 and 2008. The drugs affected are mostly specialty medications but also include some popular products like Bayer's antibiotic Cipro and the Eli Lilly schizophrenia treatment Zyprexa. More than 400 examples of unusual price jumps on brand name drugs were found during the eight-year period, mostly ranging from 100 to 499 percent, but several exceeded 1,000 percent. "It is hard to find a good-faith explanation for why drug prices could go up this much," Schumer said in a statement.
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=677754&categoryid=9&newsletter=1

Walgreens to Remove some Pharmacies from Medicaid Program
Because of a continued reduction in reimbursement under the State of Washington Medicaid program, Walgreens has announced it will withdraw 64 of its pharmacies from the state's Medicaid program as of February 15. These pharmacies represent 75 percent of the company's total Medicaid business in the state. The most recent payment reduction results from a Massachusetts court ruling last fall that reduced the industry pricing standard, even though pharmacies' acquisition costs haven't changed. While many private insurance providers have adjusted pharmacy reimbursement rates to limit the impact of the court ruling, Washington's Medicaid program has yet to do so. That's led to significantly lower payments to pharmacies that severely impact the economic viability of doing business in Washington.
http://www.pharmacistelink.com/index.php/Drugstores/Continued-Reduction-in-State-Medicaid-Reimbursement-Forces-Walgreens-To-Stop-Filling-Medicaid-Prescriptions-at-64-Washington-Pharmacies-as-of-Feb.-15.html

�it has been said, "The people should not be afraid of the government�the government should be afraid of the people."

IT Does Matter!

A recent report (Healthcare IT News 1/11, Merrill) states that "Four of every 10 office-based physicians use electronic health records, according to 2009 preliminary estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." It is time for compounding pharmacists to get involved in advancing the future of compounding by integrating with existing and developing data systems. This includes sterile and nonsterile compounding pharmacists from all practice sites!