Issue 444 Out of country pharmacies October 21, 2014

Similar to yesterday’s article on medical tourism, we have people shipping in medications that are approved from one country to another to take advantage of the cheaper costs.  Here is how it works.

Prescriptions from out of country:  Well it is all about the costs.  You can get a drug for your physical condition cheaper than you would in your home country like the United States.  The reasons are simple.  For one, there are is less regulations in some countries while still maintaining the same quality of medication.  Due to the lower costs involved in producing the medication (less bureaucracy) means that the drugs will be much cheaper.  Stated another way, it is less involved to produce and dispense a drug in Canada then it is in the United States.  Also, some countries allow generic drugs to stay on the market longer.  This means older, or copies of the medications are more readily available, hence a cheaper price due to a larger supply.  From there you simply need a prescription from a doctor to give to a pharmacy in the neighboring country to give them the authority to fill the prescription and ship it to you.  I have seen plenty of my patients at the pharmacy I work at brag that they can get their drugs cheaper in Canada or Mexico, which saves them anywhere from $20 to thousands of dollars a year.  

Possible problems:  The main issue with this however, is that quality control (depending on the country) may not be up to par with Countries like the United States and Canada.  As such, you may be getting a weaker medication (thus less effective treatments).  Also, older generics of medications and older medications in general may have more side effects.  So there is a potential health risk for using a drug that other countries have ceased using.  But so long as you keep these risks in mind you can have cheaper health care.

Conclusion:  I want my patients to save money, because drugs are really darn expensive.  Hell, I remember a patient buying their three medications (a month supply each) out of pocket, and that cost them well over $3,000.  It was horrible to watch, but they needed it.  However, even if my pharmacy loses money I want people to save money for the drugs they need.  So let them get their medicine from wherever they can, so long as it is effective and cheap.

Issue 443 Medical Tourism October 20, 2014

Have you ever heard of this?  Medical Tourism?   Well it is an actual real term that defines a specific practice.  Of which I will explain now.

Medical Tourism:  This form of tourism is where patients go from country to country to get procedures done to either improve their health, or in some cases enhance themselves.  Basically, you have a strain of cancer where the cure is not legal for sale or use in the United States, so you go to France where the cure is legal to get treatment.   This is how it works.  Cases of medical tourism are for treatments that are not allowed in one country, but allowed in others.  In other cases it is cheaper in the other country to get treatment for diseases and health conditions.  Then there are some like people who need an organ transplant, but are so far away in line for the next kidney, heart or lung, that they will probably die in their home country.  Therefore they head to a country where they can get a new organ almost immediately.  These are the advantages of medical tourism.

Reactions:  While getting cheaper healthcare in another country is supported, there has been very negative reactions to the organ transplant form of this tourism and to a lesser extent the possible experimental treatments for diseases that have no cures in the home country of the patient.  With respect to the organs, they are seen as sacred and thus not a commodity by a large majority of the world community.  As such countries are cracking down (like China) by making it almost impossible for foreigners to get transplants from the people in the country the medical tourist is visiting. 

 As to the experimental drugs.  While cures/procedures may be approved in one country, they are not guaranteed to work.  In addition, many of these people may have to stay in the country they are visiting for treatment due to bans on their medicine, or the procedures ban in their home country until it is finally approved (which may be years later).  Obviously this makes it hard on people with rarer diseases, but governments are not budging and are reluctant to change policies in the near term out of fear of possible future complications and side effects.

On another note, regular medical tourism is sometimes frowned upon based upon the fact that some view the foreigners entering their countries as intruders.  That they take away the medical care that otherwise would be used to treat a fellow citizen.  However, these notions fade in and out with economic difficulties for it is more out of resentment over actual fact that these feelings appear.

Conclusion:  I think medical tourism is a fantastic thing.  It gives people more access to treatment opportunities than if they stayed in their home country (though this is usually reserved for the rich because they have the money to spend to hop from country to country).  I find the organ donor portion to be good for people who may be struggling to get a match in their home country, but sadly governments are ethnocentric at times which means some of these organs that could have went to save others will go to waste.  On the experimental drug front, or the as yet to be approved drugs, I believe that people do own their bodies and thus should be free to experiment to try and save themselves (especially if their condition is terminal).  This is my feelings on the matter and I hope you enjoyed the read.

Issue 442 Babe Stable News Network?! October 17, 2014

Ok, I am writing this to point something out.  Something so obvious that we have become oblivious to it when we watch the news.  Here we go.

The Babe Anchor:  On every news network you will notice that many of the female news reporters, anchors, and even some commentators typically show their legs.  And in some cases show a little to a lot of cleavage.  But most importantly, the camera men and some of the lighting people try to emphasize this fact on purpose.  Reason is simple, to show these sexy women in the hope to keep audiences watching for a few minutes longer.  Basically it is all about sex selling the news (hi Fox news channel).  But is this a problem.

Morality:  Yes, sex sell, and it sells very well.  But, are we objectifying these women into objects?  The problem is, we are in a sense even if they are complicit in the action.  So morally speaking we have a tentative situation where if we start seeing women wearing even skimpier clothes and making provocative poses on purpose, then we know that we are morally wrong and protest should ensue.  Also, if the women does not want to be highlighted as a sex object, then it should not be forced upon her by her employer, in which again protests should ensue.  However, right now I have heard nothing of the sort happening yet (thank God).  But we must be sure that this does not go any further, and that we all realize the possible consequences of objectifying women.

Conclusion:  Thank you for reading as this can be a potential problem.  Women and men alongside them have fought hard for the idea of equality between the sexes.  However, this objectification can possibly undo that.  Hence the reason I wish to bring it to you (my readers) attention.  So please keep this in mind when running your own businesses, programs, and just in everyday life in general.  No one should be put on the same level as an object, not now or ever.

Issue 441 Death of CD's October 16, 2014

The compact disc (CD) has been a mainstay for the music industry for years.  However, with the ability to download songs from the internet, they have been slowly been phased out.  Allow me to explain the obvious.

Death of multi-song disks:  The main reason is the price of the songs themselves.  Allot of music listeners bought CD's to simply listen to one song over and over again.  But they had to pay the cost for not only that one song, but every song on that CD.  So once you could just buy the songs you like people stopped bothering to buy these multi song discs.  Heck, why would you want to pay for something you do not have too.  So many record companies and bands are looking to simply sell direct to the consumer through the internet.  Here people can preview other songs and buy them if they like.  This helps many small bands and record companies that cannot afford to release all those CD's and thus allows them to cut out yet another middle man in the process of selling their goods (music) to their customers.

Impact:  Soon we will lose the CD player all together just like we did with cassette tapes in the last few years.  Instead, we will have USB cables from our phones, digital music players and thumb drives plug in instead to listen to the songs we want to hear, and only the songs we want to hear.  And even then, they may eliminate the plug in system all together and just have the system link wirelessly to your car radio and radio systems (which is already being done and improved upon).  But if you think about it, this means the elimination of yet another industry.  Yes people will lose jobs, but that is the creative destruction of the market.  In addition, movies will be bought and sold in the same way, which will eliminate the need for DVD and Blue ray players.  Why worry about quality by buying a new system when TV's will have upgradable programing to get more and more detail out of every show that you watch.  Video games too will shift to an all-digital transfer system too, so you can avoid the lines at release and just buy the game online at a much cheaper cost.  Basically, it will work in the same way as when you rent or buy an electronic book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  You can buy to keep or buy to rent.  Soon we will see all media entertainment digitized with very few exceptions as we transition away from expensive production lines and embrace a completely internet based economy.  Heck, they may even set up online swap meets for certain content especially when patent rights expire.  This even allows patent rights to be global too (almost forgot that one).

Conclusion:  I personally think books will be the sole exception to total digitization as people still have a nostalgia type feeling when it comes to reading a book.  However, everything else is all about saving money for both the producer and the consumer, with the downloadable content on the internet allowing for the bands themselves to sell their music without the need for a record company.  It allows moviegoers to purchase the movie they just saw the moment they are released in theaters after testing to see if it is worth the $5 or less.  Gamers can get any video game they want from any platform, and play them all on television via their computers.  I can see it now, rather than trying to buy a new game system, the companies will compete on the release of the best controllers to enhance game play (they may even release special televisions for games like they do computers).  Overall, the internet is one of the greatest inventions mankind has ever known, and it is sure to continue changing the way we live and how we buy and sell our wares.

Issue 440 Why vacation is necessary October 15, 2014

Vacation is a wonderful time where you can get away from work and stress.  But many people don't realize why this break is necessary.  Allow me to explain why.

Necessity:  It is one of the most import things you can do for yourself if you work at a stressful job.  You need to relieve that stress as it is very harmful to the body, especially if it is at a constant.  So a vacation gets you out of the stress filled environment and eliminates reminders of the job you do.  Basically it allows you to clear your head.  Also, you have fun on your vacation which means you release other positive chemicals in your body which aid in maintaining overall health.  Essentially you are making yourself feel good on the inside and out.  Sure there are those who have fun at the job itself, but everyone needs that break in order to be healthy.

Conclusion:  I know there is not much to write on this one, but I wanted to emphasize why it is helpful to take a break.  Sure you will eventually have to go back to work, but at least you should be refreshed in doing so.  So stay healthy, and take a vacation.

Issue 439 Paid to quit October 14, 2014

Did you know that some companies are actually willing to pay you to leave?  Yes it is true, and it is happening right now. Let's discuss.

Dead beat workers:  The primary reason this is done is because some of these workers are just dead weight.  So they drag down the company or division they are working in.  So you want these people to leave.  But they need incentives to go so that they can go get another job.

What Amazon does:  Amazon pays $5,000 dollars for their worst people to leave voluntarily.  Yes that is right, if you really stink at your job at Amazon.com they will pay you to leave.  Rather than being forced to fire you, they rather you leave voluntarily and thus without incident.

Advantages:  For one, this is very moral.  Rather than leave these people high and dry after being fired, they will have $5,000 to play with while they seek out new employment.  Also, Amazon pays for peoples college, so this way a worker can leave after they get their degree and have money to help pay back debts (if any) and seek out a job that suits their degree.  There is also a pension advantage.  These workers while they work contribute to the overall pension fund.  However, since they leave, they no longer have claim to the money they put in, and thus it acts as a way to sure up the pension fund for workers who plan to work in the business until retirement.  Also, as they leave voluntarily, it removes the chance for potential lawsuits which helps protect the companies from possible financial harm.  However, this is mostly feasible for temp workers in tech companies.  This helps prevent unionization (or even the need to) and is generally beneficial in fulfillment centers like at Amazon.  Following the same policy in the areas that require raw talent like computer programing, it becomes less of an advantage because it can harm the business for they will lose talent that can bring their company to newer and greater heights.  So the areas where skill/talent are not required will work best.

Conclusion:  The overall advantages are clear.  The less talented can get a college education, or have money to hold them over while they seek out a job.  Almost eliminates the need to worry about lawsuits.  And it removes the dead weight in the business which opens up the area for more talented and harder working individuals. So I say that this is way better than outright firing someone. Less guilt for getting rid of bad workers is a really good thing.

Issue 438 Weed (the non smokable kind) October 13, 2014

Weed is the slang term of the plant Marijuana.  It can be used as an intoxicant, but it can also be used in other ways as well.  So let us review the non-smoke able forms of weed.

Medicine:  For one, marijuana is an effective painkiller that can be superior to things like Percocet’s and the like.  But it does not need to be smoked for it to be used.  It can be ingested in the form of a lollipop, a cookie, pasta, breads and more with the right preparation.  As such, you can prevent your lungs from being ruined by smoking the weed.  Also, as it is ingested, it is more potent.  As such, less of it is required to be used to get the same result as smoking it.  This makes it an efficient medicine.

Paper: Part of the original reason weed was banned was because it competed with the lumber industry.  In this case the production of paper.  In some cases weed is still used to make paper, but not on a large scale due to it still being illegal on the Federal level of government.  But if fully legalized it can completely supplant the lumber industries paper production.  This may mean less trees being felled just to create paper products.  This also may mean we will be wiping our rears with paper made from weed.  (You are allowed to laugh at this, because it is true).

Hemp:  In addition to making ropes from weed, we can make fabrics.  So we can have bed sheets, pillows and even clothing made from marijuana plants (bamboo can be used in the same way).  Their fibers can be used in a number of ways.

Building materials:  This plant can be used to even make furniture by compressing it into hard wood like materials.  So you can make chairs, veneers and other materials.  It can even be used to make plastics, oils and glues.

Conclusion:  Marijuana as a plant is flexible in its uses and thus can become a major component to America's economy.  The only thing left now is for the federal government to get out of the way so weed can start helping the country in ways other than smoking it.