yourdailypill's posterous

Feels like all doctors in the world died yesterday

Yesterday died a great long-time friend of my family, who knew my sister and me since the first days of my life. The kindest, smartest, funniest, honest real doctor, prominent specialist on infectious diseases and fantastic person.
As I used to think about him - the best doctor in the whole world, who could cure anyone from anything. Our own doctor House, who himself had a very tough luck in his life which wore him out long before he was supposed to go away. 
Rest in peace, we love you very much and always will.

#Methamphetamine: brought to you by #CVS (via @WSJHealthBlog)

If you’d been in a CVS in Los Angeles during 2008, you might have witnessed people coming into the store and clearing the store’s shelves of cough and cold medicines. It also might have occurred to you that they weren’t just facing a bad case of the sniffles.

According to federal prosecutors in L.A., those folks were “smurfing”: making “multiple purchases of pseudoephedrine in small amounts with the intent to aggregate the purchases for use in the illegal production of methamphetamine.” And CVS became smurfing central as those folks discovered that those stores, “unlike other large chain retail pharmacies, allowed customers to make repeated purchases of pseudoephedrine that exceeded federal daily and monthly sales limits,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California says.

rest of the story

I think, pharmacists from USA should do an exchange program with Eastern European pharmacists that work in the outskirts of the cities. Such an amazing experience. 

Which part of the word 'social' #AstraZeneca didn't understand? #AZ @FaceDepression

I guess you know the news. I posted the bait in the morning (the actual news) about AstraZeneca's social campaign. 
I left the juiciest part of the fruit for the evening to sit and enjoy it while knitting out Norwegian patterned sweater. 

Seriously, what is wrong with this company? Why even starting this social campaign in twitter if you protect the tweets? The only respectful reason that AZ can give for that is that they don't want the depression to spread around. 
Everything is not quite fine with Facebook page, but aybe it is considered that if people are more exposed to publicity, then there is less possibility that they are going to post negative stuff (but see a surprise few lines down). We'll see. 

Either AstraZeneca keeps taking people for fools or they hired a really bad social media strategist. Damn, this area is so sensitive. Guys, you are trying to help people who have problems! 
Why creating another hurdle for them to jump over on their way to getting useful information? 

It is not only ridiculous but also just plain stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Fire the person who planted that idea into the heads of AZ decision makers. I guess, the wall on FB was not hidden because you can't do so. 
Wait, I forgot about the surprise! I CAN'T POST ON THE WALL even after liking this stupid enterprise. 

One more thing. Can European users see this Facebook page? Please respond, because I guess that the "US customers only" text on the logo might mean that they turned on country restriction for Facebook page. 

I believe this campaign is going to be a huge success and save millions of lives. Ten years later we will find out that the collateral damage was enormous number of suicides after trying to unlock the twitter page or something like that. 

whaat: #AstraZeneca Launches 'Take on #Depression' Campaign Through #Facebook and #Twitter #AZ @WriteWithStan @soulflsepulcher

AstraZeneca is launching a new campaign called "Take on Depression" through a "Take on Depression" Facebook page and a @FaceDepression Twitter feed to support, educate, and inspire those affected by bipolar depression and major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as depression.

The "Take on Depression" Facebook page will provide tools and resources to individuals who are struggling to manage their symptoms of bipolar depression and MDD. The @FaceDepression Twitter feed will provide articles, links to Web sites, tips, and community events that will help people learn more about their illness and have a more effective dialogue with their physician.

"AstraZeneca believes the best way to help those who are still struggling with bipolar depression and major depressive disorder is to provide them with resources and tools to help understand their illness and manage their symptoms," said Sandy Sommer, Executive Director and Commercial Brand Leader at AstraZeneca. "With the launch of these Facebook and Twitter pages, AstraZeneca hopes to amplify conversations about mental health and provide important health information in innovative ways."

Eighty percent of consumers have searched for health information online(1). Sixty percent of American adults who look online for health information, or one-third of adults, access social media related to health(1).

"Universal healthcare" in action: #Boston #Medical Center gets screwed by the #Massachusetts government

"Boston Medical Center is almost broke, perilously close to what its accountants euphemistically refer to as the “zone of insolvency.” It did not get here — $175 million in the red for the fiscal year ending September 30 — because it bought too many MRI machines or banked on cosmetic surgery being a big income generator. It landed in this hole because the folks on Beacon Hill like the sound of universal healthcare a whole lot more than they like the cost of it."