Encouraging Physicians to write off label...an Insiders perspective

Today it was announced that Astra Zeneca will be forced to pay a fine of $520 million dollars for inappropriate marketing practices (read encouraging pharma reps to influence the docs to write off label)

Here's how it works...you have a drug company that spends gazillions of dollars to get their drug through testing and approval to be indicated to treat a certain ailment. Seroquel (Astra Zenecas) Anti-Pyschotic had a narrow indication: schizophrenia. By law the drug company cannot encourage a physician to write this drug for anything other then schizophrenia...But here is what is interesting...The Doctor is God, he can write any drug for anything he wants to...if he wants to try Seroquel out on a 6 year old boy who has ADHD, or write it to treat alzheimers in old people, that is within his purview.

One of the drugs that I sold was called Alinia...and it was indicated to treat crypto and giardia (2 nasty stomach bugs) there was another indication that they tried to but never got and that was for "C Diff" another bug you don't want to get. Anyways, it got around that the docs were writing Alinia "off label" for C Diff and of course the company was happy, and the reps were happy because the more a doctor writes a drug that we sell, the more money we make. So again, by law I was absolutely forbidden to encourage a doctor to write my drug for C Diff because it is not indicated for that. One manager at Cardinal told us "When a doctor asks you about writing for C Diff, we must tell them that it is not indicated for C Diff and leave it at that" But another manager said, "We might include that while this is not the indication, many doctors have had success writing it for C Diff" So off the record in a very 'don't ask don't tell' kind of way it was officially prohibited, but unofficially it was winked at.

So that ladies and gentlemen is the weird, wacky, world of pharmaceutical sales.

For more about this click here:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/27/drug-maker-to-pay-520-million-fine-for-illegal-marketing/

Happy birthday to Matt!!

A big happy b-day to matt....hope the waves are breaking today, the beer is cold and you have a great day!

Zach is 6 today!!

Huge happy birthday wishes to our awesome son Zach! We love him and will have a great time celebrating Zachie Day today!!

The Sarah Palin Network

Yeah I am a little late in putting this up....Tina Fey, my favorite female entertainer ever does a great skit skewering our favorite Governor who quit her responsibilities to the people of Alaska to cash in on her fame.

E books for troops

This will probably be my last post on the subject.....we have great news........The website www.ebooksfortroops.org is now officially set up....it is a full non profit site with connections to a sergeant that is in afghanistan who is coordinating the distribution of the kindles.....here is a quote I lifted directly off their site

Additionally, an aspect of a deployed soldier’s life that is commonly overlooked is that he, or she, must also find ways to pass the downtime that inevitably occurs during a deployment. It probably comes as no surprise then, that reading has always been one of the primary activities of our troops as they rest and renew for what lies ahead.

With that said, there’s a problem – books take up a significant amount of space! For obvious reasons, it would be extremely challenging for any military to build or bring a “field library” during an overseas deployment. Instead, it is common for soldiers to rotate books from person to person and to read the same book multiple times during a single deployment as a way to pass the time and get a break from the stresses inherent in their profession.

And that’s where we believe E-Books for Troops has a tremendous opportunity to help.

While the soldier of yesteryear could ill afford to carry more than two to three books, today a solider with a single e-book reader has the potential to individually transport a library of 1500 books! With a device that weighs 10 ounces and is only slightly larger than a paperback, we can transport a massive library of books overseas and improve the quality of life of the troops who are serving our country in its defense. We think that is pretty amazing stuff.


So please donate now.....to Dennis's good point on the previous post (all be it a downer). These devices last for 20 days on a single battery
charge ....the bases all have outlets and can be recharged while at base.........troops routinely carry around devices that last a mere fraction of the time----namely iPods...Sony psps...HD flips....and on and on....they will love this.

Reflections on my Ipad and Apple in general

"So Garrett are you getting an Ipad?"

I think almost anyone that knows me was aware that I pretty much had to have one of these things on day one. I remember when I finally made it into the Apple Store in Northridge after waiting for 5 hours in line to be one of the first to get the original Iphone the day it came out...I saw one of the staff members playing with an actual Iphone...(the first time I ever saw one in person). My reaction was a physical one, I got weak kneed and tingly at the sight of this amazing object in this girls hand, glowing like a luminescent jewel.

So on to the Ipad....It arrived for me at my doorstep last Saturday and I didn't get my hands on it till a few hours later because I was at the Dodger Game. When I powered it on and started to play with it I was hit by one primary thing...The Display. I have never seen a better display then on the Ipad...it makes everything: photos, web pages, e-mail, look amazing. It is like the transition from 480i to 1080p HD in television terms.

Now would be a good time for a disclaimer...I wanted to like the Ipad...for a few reasons...everyone wants to be right about the decisions they made...I am an Apple fan boy who has bought most every one of their products...etc. But this product actually exceeded my expectations..in a few areas...I didn't think it could replace the traditional laptop, but after a few days of playing with it and especially doing my company work and playing around with their "Pages" and "Keynote" apps for the Ipad...I was making killer presentations and great docs...(The mt. Whitney Doc for one was made entirely on the Ipad) And I realized "Wow! I don't need a laptop anymore.." It is easy to type on especially in Landscape mode with the large onscreen Keypad, and with the Blue tooth apple keyboard it is even better. The versatile case can be quickly configured to lay the Ipad on a flat service at a perfect angle for typing. Anyways it is even better than I thought it was going to be......

Is it as big a revolution as the Ipod and Iphone were? Probably not, but it is a revolutionary new device in so many ways.

On a practical note..here is how our computing life will go from now on....We will always have one large IMac....that is like the central hub of our network....all our stuff is on that...The Ipad will be the device that is carried around in the house and curled up with like a book to do e-mail, surf the web, read books in low light, etc...And the trusty Iphone will always be on my person wherever I go.

On another note....Apple is so far ahead of all of it's competitors in the category of smartphones, music players, and computers that I (no joke) cannot even comprehend when someone asks me what I think of a Blackberry, or The Droid for smartphones.....Or if someone has a "Zune" music player....or a Windows 7 based desktop or laptop...it is mind boggling to me!

P.S. Congratulations to the newest owner of a Mac Book Pro my brother Matt!

Garrett Riley

Iphone 3 GS 32 GB

IMac 2.0 GHZ

Mac Book Pro 15 in 2.16 GHZ

Ipad 64GB WIFI only

IPod Shuffle 2GB