Thank you for blogging

My darling friend over at A Perfectly Cursed Life has created a blogging award, called the Thank You for Blogging Award (TYFBA). I had the honor of receiving an TYFBA and now am passing it on to the bloggers that I personally adore. The rules explicitly state that you are to pass it on to 4 other people, so start spreading the blog love! (But what am I going to do if you don't pass it on? I only know where some of you live!)

Here are my picks for Thank You for Blogging Awards:

1. Full of Wit - Even if I didn't know this blogger personally I would still read it, she's funny as hell. Or, some might say, full of wit. Only thing is you need to blog some more dear! You tease.

2. Confessions of a Fat Dietitian - The FD posts recipes, nutrition information, and sometimes just amusing things. If you need any ideas for Thanksgiving, she's got you covered. Every day this past week has focused on traditional T-Day foods, with links to all kinds of recipes, healthy or decadent.

3. Musings of a Distractible Mind - Dr. Rob, a physician in the Southeastern US, writes about health care and sometimes other things, like llamas. He's got a great sense of humor and you can tell that he cares about his patients.

4. Walking In My Shoes - Amusing anecdotes and analysis on New York, and soon to be DC, living.

Honorable Mentions:

1. The Only Baggage You Can Bring - The only reason why this is an honorable mention is that the writer was the one who gave me the award in the first place and I wanted to add more people into the mix. Sam Grace, your political coverage is insightful and comical. It would have been hard to get through the election without you!

2. Margaret and Helen - I found out about this blog through one Sam Grace and it is great! It's written by two women who have been friends for 60 years. I hope I'm as ornery when I get to their age. Thanks for writing Margaret and Helen. I mean it. Really.

So there you have it. It's a blog celebration! Thank you for blogging!

Volunteering abroad

Having an interest in global health, I'm always keeping my eyes open for great opportunities around the world. I have had the opportunity to volunteer abroad once before, hindered from doing it again by the high costs of the programs. Also, I don't feel at point in my life where I want to commit to a long term program, the Peace Corps for example. I came across this program today that looks particularly interesting for short term volunteering. I cannot vouch for it because I haven't done anything with the organization, but it looks really good.

Unite For Sight is a bit more focused than some other volunteer programs, but if you're interested in volunteering abroad or in global health, then it may work. Volunteers support eye health clinic and outreach programs in Ghana and several parts of India. Room and food expenses range between $20/day and $40/day, depending where and when you go. Most programs run 10 days, so that equals $200-$400 for the trip. Not too shabby considering most programs run about $2000+ for a 2 week stay. Of course, you are responsible for the costs of getting yourself there, which will be the most expensive part of the trip. This is standard among volunteering abroad programs. There is no program fee, which is not standard and it is refreshing.

Changing the health care system

Dr. Rob had posted advice for Obama regarding the health care system. It's excellent advice and I hope that Obama listens to voices like Dr. Rob and others with regular direct experience from within the health care system. Voices of the patient are important because ultimately, this is what the system is about. Doctors like Dr. Rob, who are sensitive as to how best to help patients, can be of great use as well. Please Obama, as Dr. Rob states, don't give in to the high power lobbies - the AMA, the drug companies, the insurance companies. We've had enough of their influence for a while.

New Thoughts on Drug Safety Prompted by Court Ruling

When a drug is tested and approved for use by the FDA, we often take for granted its safety. Obviously this is not the case, as we have seen with many approved drugs causing harm, COX-2 Inhibitors like Vioxx being an example. Although we often turn to medicines to fix our problems (and it’s great when they do!), we need to keep in mind that these are foreign substances that make significant changes to our bodies. Sometimes these are good, sometimes not so good. Usually it’s a combination of the two.

An interesting ruling was made on a case in San Francisco last week, involving the safety of medications. What made this case so unique is that the court ruled that drug makers could be held liable for harm when a generic version of their name-brand product is used. Obviously, the drug companies are not happy about this and it’s easy to see why. They are not manufacturing the product; they have no control of the product that is produced by other companies.

However, I see where the court is coming from on this one. Let’s say you’re taking a drug for the long term and, barring any manufacturing mistakes, the drug harms you in some way. What’s most likely is that your doctor prescribed you the name brand and, due to dispensing laws, the pharmacist filled a generic version of that drug for you. Your doctor prescribes that drug, name-brand or generic, with certain results in mind. Pharmacists fill the prescription with the generic because it’s the same product, possibly with different inactive ingredients. The effects of the generic should exactly mimic that of the name-brand.

So, in a sense, I can see why the ruling was what it was. The drug company had to prove safety and effectiveness in order to get the drug approved. The manufacturer of the generic drug did not. They are producing the drug in accordance with the name-brand standards. So when the drug harms somebody, the scrutiny goes back to the clinical trials and safety that was proven or missed in the research.

I don’t think that the manufacturers of generics should be completely dismissed in these cases. They are producing products to make themselves money. Whether they are manufacturing the drugs based on faith of their effectiveness and safety or not, they should still be held liable for the effects of the product on people.

My question is this. Did Wyeth warn of the safety concerns of taking the mentioned drug for long periods of time, even just for the name-brand? It seems like if this were the case, they shouldn’t be held liable. The generic manufacturers should know of the side-effects and use warnings as well. In this case, I could not fault the drug company for the mistake of the generic manufacturer. In cases where it is not publicized, that is less clear and needs further scrutinizing.

Feeling Hopeful

I called my Dad last night and we got to the topic of the election. To my surprise he proudly told me that he voted for Obama. While this may not sound like much to some people, when I look at the man I knew my father to be as a child, I am taken aback. This is the man who used to tell me that if black people got any power they would use it to oppress us white people, and so we should make sure they don't. In the course of the conversation he even admitted to how racist he has been in the past and how hurtful it was. Wow!

I have learned from this the following things:
1. People can grow and change if we let them. There's been a part of me that has held on to this image of my father from my childhood. And it had hurt our relationship immensely. As an adult, I've had to learn to acknowledge the person he is today.
2. This country is changing. I never would have thought my father would vote for a black president, but the country/world we live in has changed that.

When I hung up the phone with my father, I cried. I am amazed at the people in this country and am feeling patriotism for probably the first time in my life. Not a patriotism that's used to oppress others, but one that appreciates what our country has become.

The history of racism in our country is horrible and I don't deny that racism still exists in the U.S., but this is progress. I feel like even though there will be struggles (fear in many people will bring out horrible things in the near future, I'm sure) we are finally starting to head in a good direction. For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful about our country.

Celebrations at my alma mater

Go EMU!

Celebrating Obama in NYC

The energy on election night was vibrant in NYC. I thought I'd share some videos of the city-wide celebration.

These people went to several of the same places I went to that night (even including getting free Ben & Jerry's).




Here you can see the celebration in Harlem




In Brooklyn




And they said the youth of this country were apathetic...




People from all over NYC called into WNYC to talk about the celebrations in their neighborhoods.


What night to be in NYC! I would love to hear stories of how it felt to be in other cities, please do share.