Category Archives: Miscellaney

Deep Discount Prescription Services Shut Down

Rx Depot, a company that provides mail-order prescription service from Canadian pharmacies to U.S. residents, will be forced to cease doing business on September 11.

Rx Depot ordered to close stores
By THERESA AGOVINO
The Associated Press

MIAMI – The Justice Department has ordered Rx Depot to close up shop, as the Bush administration is seeking to close stores that help consumers buy cheaper drugs from Canada.

In a letter Tuesday to Rx Depot’s president, Carl Moore, the Justice Department said it will sue Moore unless he agrees by Thursday to shut down the company’s 85 stores.

Read more here. A copy of the FDA warning letter is available here.

Now really, what are the uninsured and elderly on Medicare supposed to do in order to obtain medication when costs continue to spiral out of control?

Howl at the Moon

I took a walk tonight. The nearly full moon looked like a cool mint candy, tantalizingly close, seeming to follow me as I walked. (Do you remember believing as a child that the moon followed you when, for instance, you sat in the back seat of your parents’ car coming home from someplace?)

The moon is a muse for poetry and stories, and it plays a role in our natural cycles (e.g., the ocean tides). However, as much as we might wish, studies indicate that the full moon effect on people’s behavior is minimal. For every study that finds a correlation between the full moon and an increase in dog bites, for example, another study finds no correlation. And one tenet we were taught in graduate school is… say it all together now… “Correlation does not imply causation.”

Nonetheless, anecdotes do make more interesting conversations, which is probably why full moon tales abound despite no evidence to support them. The tequila maker Jose Cuervo sponsored a psychiatrist to study the relationship between the full moon and odd behavior in literature. The psychiatrist’s conclusion is one that most logically explains (to me at least) why such lore is popular:

The psychiatrist, Glenn Wilson, found that the full moon has been portrayed in folklore and legends for centuries as cause for celebration, particularly in the times before modern lighting.

“There is good reason to believe that people’s personalities do change around the time of the full moon, not because of any astronomical force, but because it creates the optimum lighting conditions for feeling carefree and mischievous,” Wilson told the paper.

Regardless of whether the moon really has the power to incite strange behavior, it is a joy to behold. Tomorrow it will be full; be sure to step outside and spend a little time looking heavenward. If you really look, you might just see the man in the moon. *wink*

Changes

You may notice that this blog is new. It was, in fact, born just recently. I want you to know that I’ll be working to improve the format and user-friendliness while also finding and creating good content. It may rev up slowly, but stop in occasionally to see what’s changed. I look forward to your visits!