Sci Q In The Daily Northwestern
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Well, apparently the 12 weeks my classmates and I spent slaving away over Sci Q magazine were not in vain. It seems The Daily Northwestern has deemed us newsworthy after all. I think this is probably the first time that I’ve ever been quoted in an article, rather than the other way around. It was weird. I definitely prefer to be the interviewer, rather than the interviewee. Anyway, Sci Q is immortalized in the annals of Northwestern history here.
Horses Screwed Over By Recession
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Last fall I wrote a trend piece for DVM magazine, a trade publication for veterinarians. I examined the impact that the faltering U.S. economy is having on veterinary care of horses. I used to ride and jump horses regularly when I was younger, but my father would always tell me that I couldn’t own my own horse unless we moved to Oregon because the upkeep was just too expensive in the fancy D.C. suburbs where we lived. Land in Fairfax County, Virginia is a hot commodity, and you pay dearly for open space — and obviously, horses require land… lots of it. So going into this article, I guessed that the sinking economy was probably taking quite a toll on horse owners. However, I didn’t even think of all the factors that go into the upkeep of these awesome animals. Not only do they need a lot of land, but they also eat a substantial amount of hay (which of course has to be transported by vehicles that require ridiculously over-priced gas). And just like people, they have routine medical care that needs to happen in order for them to stay healthy. Yup. It turns out that health care for horses sucks too. Maybe Obama can help?
In any event, my article ran in the November print edition of DVM. Unfortunately, due to a glitch in the Matrix, I didn’t receive my copy of the magazine until today. I realize that there is a high probability that you don’t care about the state of equine medicine, but on the off-chance that any fellow horse freaks like myself are reading this, click on the link below to read my story…
Equine Medicine in Today’s Economy
Paging Playboy (Or More Specifically, Jimmy Jellinek)
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So, I’ve been sitting here ruminating over all the reasons why I think Playboy should hire me the MOMENT its editorial offices relocate to Chicago, and I thought, “Why keep this tantalizing and persuasive information to myself when I can post it on my website and use it for my own self-interested purposes?” So prepare yourself. I’m about to blow my own horn and share my personal opinions on why I think I’m rad, right here in the public sphere (hmmm… something about that statement sounds mildly inappropriate). I hope you can hear me Jimmy Jellinek because I’m talking to you! And when I say talking, I mean shamelessly begging.
1. I am a true fan of the magazine and even had a subscription for many years. Needless to say, all of my male friends really enjoyed the bathroom reading in my apartment.
2.David Standish (my second favorite teacher EVER — beat out only narrowly by my sixth grade instructor, the incomparable Rick Wormeli) worked as an editor at Playboy for 10 years and was a regular contributor after he left. David was my magazine writing teacher last summer, and the editorial adviser to the fall 2008 magazine publishing project at Medill. Since I was editor in chief of that project, David had to put up with me quite a bit… and yet he still agreed to be one of my references =) Needless to say, I heard a lot of great stories about the good old days, working in the Chicago Playboy offices and hanging out with crazy cats like Hunter S. Thompson. I’ve said all along that I want to be David Standish when I grow up, so if Playboy would just hire me already, then I could hurry up and get on with my life goal.
3. I watch The Girls Next Door regularly. Yup. I said it. I’m not ashamed. What can I say? It’s junk food for the mind & Hugh Hefner is a total pimp. Judge me if you want.
4. I think Penthouse sucks ass.
5. I have a twisted sense of humor and almost nothing offends me.
6. I wrote a quarterly earnings story on Playboy Enterprises for my business reporting class, and I got… drum roll please… an A. That’s right, I can rap about well-endowed naked chicks AND converse intelligently with shareholders about the ups and downs of Playboy stock.
7. I believe that for any publication to succeed in today’s ADD, instant gratification environment, it is absolutely crucial that a cohesive and innovative relationship exist between print and online. It’s all about multiple platforms these days baby, and I’m excited that Playboy recognized this, and is now heading in the right direction. I would stab at least six or seven people to be a part of this evolutionary process. Kidding, kidding… I’d only stab one or two people — maybe three.
8. I’m a guy’s girl through and through.
9. I stole my dad’s Playboy Jokes book when I was a kid and I used to pour over it when no one was looking. Coincidentally, David Standish started out as the Jokes Editor at the magazine. Okay, okay, so one really has nothing to do with the other at all. I just wanted to mention that David spent two years reading thousands of joke submissions (note to Jimmy: I’ll do that too if that’s what it takes).
10. I’m smart, an incredibly hard worker and a damn good writer. (Sorry… I’m not usually this arrogant, but I’m trying to get my dream job here people, so you’re going to have to cut me some slack).
I’m hoping this list will act as my Jedi Mind Trick in written-word form. “You were just about to hire me as an editor Jimmy Jellinek. You were just realizing how amazingly perfect I am for Playboy, especially now that it has decided to consolidate its print and online operations and I spent the last year learning all about multimedia magazine journalism. You were just about to contact me and offer me a job in the new Chicago offices.” Call me Jimmy… seriously… I won’t let you down.
aranya tomseth version 2.0 has arrived
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
Okay, so I maintained my “Better Living Through Chemistry” blog for several months for the purposes of a graduate school class, but I’m not going to rant and rave about the pros and cons of pharmaceutical drugs anymore. I think I made my point, and well, frankly, I’m bored of that topic. Besides, I’m done with graduate school. That’s right. I earned my master’s degree, which means NOW I can do whatever I want on aranyatomseth.com. I am, ahem, “master” of my own domain if you will. $80,000 and all I got was this lousy website? Well, that’s not ALL I got, but the price tag still seems a tad high. But I digress…. (you’ll see that I have a tendency to do this)…
I’m currently in the process of upgrading and fixing my site… so stay tuned for totally new rants and raves that will have absolutely nothing to do with prescription meds. And for all you employers out there, feel free to check out my resume and clips. Fabulous job offers with huge salaries are encouraged and welcome =)
New Warning Labels for Epilepsy Drugs Coming Soon
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The FDA is preparing to put warning labels on epilepsy drugs that will notify users about the increased risk for suicidal behavior.
“Everything points in the direction of an increase in what we call suicidality,” said Dr. Russell Katz, director of the FDA’s neuropharmacological drug division in a Katz said in a June 6 Wall Street Journal article.
In January, the FDA announced that a review of 199 studies comparing 11 epilepsy drugs to placebos found that patients taking the drugs had about twice the risk of suicidal behavior compared with patients taking a placebo. Almost 44,000 patients in the studies, four people taking antiepileptic drugs committed suicide while none of the patients receiving a placebo did.
The drugs in this study included Carbamazepine (marketed as Carbatrol, Equetro, Tegretol, Tegretol XR), Felbamate (marketed as Felbatol), Gabapentin (marketed as Neurontin), Lamotrigine (marketed as Lamictal), Levetiracetam (marketed as Keppra), Oxcarbazepine (marketed as Trileptal), Pregabalin (marketed as Lyrica), Tiagabine (marketed as Gabitril), Topiramate (marketed as Topamax), Valproate (marketed as Depakote, Depakote ER, Depakene, Depacon) and Zonisamide (marketed as Zonegran). Some of these drugs are also available as generics.
Some epilepsy drug makers like Pfizer and Abbot Laboratories have contested the FDA’s decision to place warning labels on the drugs claiming that the risks for suicidal behavior are minimal and that the labels will negatively impact company revenues.
I personally find this to be pretty galling, since pharmaceutical companies are basically saying they don’t want the FDA warning labels on their drugs because it means they will make less money. Translation: the fact that our drugs might cause people to kill themselves is less important than the fact that we might not make as much money as we want.
More Bad Drug News in the NFL
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According to ESPN.com, a convicted steroids dealer who recently met with NFL security officials and gave them names of players he said bought steroids from him was found dead in his home in Plano, Texas on June 5.
Plano police made a welfare check and found 35-year-old David Jacobs and 30-year-old Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell dead. Both had been shot. Jacobs, who had been sentenced to three years of probation and fined $25,000 on May 1 after pleading guilty last year in federal court in Dallas to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids, had told police that, “The kinds of people I know about could put a bullet in the back of my head.” It looks like that might have proven true.
Anabolic steroids have several side effects including liver damage, cardiovascular damage, blood pressure problems, increased erectile dysfunction, impotence, irreversible breast growth and atrophy or shrinkage of the testicles. It’s just so ironic that these athletes are using drugs to become more “manly,” and meanwhile the drugs cause some of the most unmanly side effects imaginable.
But most of all, it’s disturbing that some people are willing to kill for them.
Oxycodone Takes Another One Down
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
Another athlete has fallen victim to prescription drug addiction. Starting New England Patriots offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur was arrested in April on a charge of illegal possession of prescription painkillers. Following his arrest, Kaczur secretly cooperated with the DEA in a sting operation that resulted in the indictment of his alleged drug supplier. According to one news article, Kaczur was busted for purchasing oxycodone illegally from a Massachusetts man identified as Daniel Ekasala.
The number of people that get in trouble for trying to get this drug is clearly a testament to how powerfully addictive it is. Of course, I can’t help but wonder how athletes like football players can stay in the game when they are all dosed up on painkillers. And did they start taking painkillers because of injuries received during play, or was it an already existing habit? Either way, it’s sad that a prescription drug can ruin someone’s athletic career in one fell swoop.
Death In The Mail
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The problem with ordering prescription drugs from online pharmacies, is that you have no idea what you’re getting. Just ask the woman from this recent CNN Health article.
“Every night before her husband went to bed, he would open a prescription bottle of the muscle relaxant Soma and swallow the eight or nine pills it took for him to fall asleep, said the woman.”
The truth of the matter is, there are no shortage of online pharmacies out there from which to order. So the question becomes, what drives people to order from them? Do we need to make certain drugs more accessible here in the United States, or will that only exacerbate the existing problem? It almost seems like it would be better to take these drugs under the supervision of a doctor, even if they are habit-forming – especially if people can just get their hands on them elsewhere.
It’s just so easy for people to learn about various drugs from sites like rxlist.com and webmd.com and the go order those drugs from foreign pharmacies. And while U.S. Customs does what it can to control the influx of illegal prescription drug orders, the sheer volume is simply overwhelming. I’m not sure what the solution is, but there is no question that people are engaging in risky behavior when they are ordering online. There is no guarantee that you are even getting the drug that you think you are getting, and you don’t have a doctor to supervise any potential negative reactions or bad drug interactions. And yet, despite these glaring risks, people order online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Recent New Drug Applications
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Here are the most recent drug applications submitted to the FDA for approval. I always find it interesting to see what’s coming our way.
- Sancuso (granisetron) Transdermal Patch Company: ProStrakan Group; Treatment for: Nausea/Vomiting – Chemotherapy Induced. Sancuso (granisetron) is an anti-emetic transdermal delivery system in development for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting without the need for injections or swallowing pills.
- Promacta (eltrombopag): Company: GlaxoSmithKline; Treatment for: Idiopathic (Immune) Thrombocytopenic Purpura. Promacta (eltrombopag) is an investigational oral platelet growth factor therapy for the short-term treatment of previously treated patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) to increase platelet counts and reduce or prevent bleeding.
- Liraglutide Company: Novo Nordisk; Treatment for: Diabetes Mellitus Type II. Liraglutide is a once-daily human GLP-1 analogue in development for the treatment of people with type 2 diabete
- Rezonic (casopitant): Company: GlaxoSmithKline; Treatment for: Nausea/Vomiting – Chemotherapy Induced, Nausea/Vomiting – Postoperative. Rezonic (casopitant) is an investigational NK-1 receptor antagonist in development as add-on therapy for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and also for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting.
- Surfaxin (lucinactant). Company: Discovery Laboratories, Inc. Treatment for: Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Surfaxin, an engineered version of natural human lung surfactant, represents a potential alternative to the commercially available animal-derived surfactants used for the prevention of Respiratory Distress Syndrome in premature infants.
- OTG (oxybutynin hydrochloride) Topical Gel. Company: Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Treatment for: Overactive Bladder
- Viviant (bazedoxifene). Company: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Treatment for: Prevention of Osteoporosis. Viviant (bazedoxifene) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) in development for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
- Davanat Company: Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Treatment for: Targeted Drug Delivery. Davanat is a polysaccharide polymer comprised of mannnose and galactose in development for the targeted delivery of drugs used in the treatment of cancer.
- Reloxin (botulinum toxin type A) Company: Ipsen and Medicis. Treatment for: Aesthetics. Reloxin (botulinum toxin type A) is a neurotoxin in development for the temporary improvement in the appearance of some facial wrinkles.
- Iclaprim Intravenous Injection. Company: Arpida Ltd. Treatment for: Skin and Structure Infection. Iclaprim is a broad-spectrum diaminopyrimidine antibiotic in development for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections.
- Sublinox (zolpidem) Sublingual Tablets. Company: Orexo and Meda AB. Sublinox is a sublingual tablet formulation of the widely used drug zolpidem. Sublinox is being developed to provide fast, effective absorption for the short term treatment of insomnia.
- Cinryze (C1 inhibitor). Company: Lev Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Treatment for: Angioedema. Cinryze is a C1-esterase inhibitor being developed as a comprehensive replacement therapy for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE).
- Naturlose (tagatose). Company: Spherix Incorporated. Treatment for: Diabetes Mellitus Type II. Naturlose (tagatose) is a unique sugar undergoing clinical trials as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes.
- Imagify (perflubutane). Company: Acusphere Inc. Imagify is an investigational new drug developed to assess perfusion using ultrasound (or echocardiography) for the detection of coronary artery disease.
- MK-0524A (niacin ER and laropiprant) – formerly Cordaptive. Company: Merck & Co., Inc. Treatment for: Hyperlipoproteinemia Type IIa (Elevated LDL), Hypertriglyceridemia. MK-0524A is an investigational compound containing extended-release niacin and laropiprant, a novel flushing pathway inhibitor designed to reduce flushing often associated with niacin treatment. MK-0524A is used either alone or with a statin, as adjunctive therapy to diet for the treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol and elevated triglyceride levels.
Cloretazine Shows Some Promising Results
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Vion Pharmaceuticals announced the interim data results of its pivotal phase II trial of cloretazine, an anticancer agent drug that is intended to treat elderly patients with de novo poor-risk acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) today. 35 percent of the 85 patients evaluated in the study responded to the drug treatment, and 90 percent of those responses occurred after the first induction treatment.
“While follow-up is still ongoing, the median of overall survival for responders was 6.3 months (1.7-16.4 months) and for all patients was 3.2 months (0.1-16.4 months). The induction death rate within 30 days of first induction treatment was 14 percent. The majority of first induction deaths were either due to progression of disease or infection.”
In a Vion Pharmaceuticals press release, Dr. Gary Schiller, Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, and a lead investigator on the study, said “The responses observed in this trial represent a clinically meaningful outcome for many of these difficult-to-treat AML patients. As a single-agent, single-infusion therapy, Cloretazine has the potential to be an important new treatment option for older patients with poor-risk AML.”
Alan Kessman, Chief Executive Officer of Vion Pharmaceuticals, said the company plans to file an application for new drug approval with the FDA some time this year.
AML is the most common type of leukemia, and more than 11,900 new cases occur in the United States each year, mostly in older adults. My grandmother died from this cancer when she was only 63, so I know she could have had many more good years in her life, had there been an effective treatment available. So here is another example of the kind of drug research that could potentially perform miracles.
