BOISE (AP) — A woman who was returning a rented minivan at the Boise Airport drove it through the terminal.
A "confused senior citizen," whose name and age were not released, followed an outside "terminal access" sign Tuesday as she bumped her vehicle through a set of automatic-opening double-doors on the west end, airport spokeswoman Larissa Stouffer said.
She drove through the terminal, past the baggage claim area before coming to a stop.
"The lucky thing is she didn't hit anything," Stouffer said.
There was no damage to the terminal building, no one was hurt and the out-of-town woman, who departed on a flight later Tuesday morning, was not cited.
Stouffer said the airport has had plans to install barriers to block the door
Somehow, I feel like I am becoming a geezer. After my bike accident, I have used a cane. I feel like poking a young whipersnapper...
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Monday, September 27, 2004
He might take it up with women too!
108-Year-Old Man Starts Smoking Again
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London.
Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn't afford them.
After his story was widely distributed, the Great Falls man heard from people like the English cigar fan who sent two Havanas.
"They were $12 cigars and they were good," Breuning said. "You can't get good Havana cigars like that out here."
He also got a birthday note and a few more cigars from a former Great Falls resident now living in Oregon.
"They were pretty good cigars, too," Breuning said.
Fred Aimi, of Lolo, was reading newspaper stories to a group of blind neighbors when he came across an account of Breuning's birthday. "That hurt," Aimi said. "I like a good cigar myself."
Aimi said he sent a box of two dozen cigars on Friday to Breuning. "At 108, they can't do him much harm," he said.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London.
Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn't afford them.
After his story was widely distributed, the Great Falls man heard from people like the English cigar fan who sent two Havanas.
"They were $12 cigars and they were good," Breuning said. "You can't get good Havana cigars like that out here."
He also got a birthday note and a few more cigars from a former Great Falls resident now living in Oregon.
"They were pretty good cigars, too," Breuning said.
Fred Aimi, of Lolo, was reading newspaper stories to a group of blind neighbors when he came across an account of Breuning's birthday. "That hurt," Aimi said. "I like a good cigar myself."
Aimi said he sent a box of two dozen cigars on Friday to Breuning. "At 108, they can't do him much harm," he said.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Rest in Peace Ramones....hope you ain't buried in the Pet Semitary
ohnny Ramone, the stone-faced guitarist of the punk band the Ramones, whose fast, buzz-saw blasts of noise laid the foundation for a school of rock guitar, died on Wednesday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles. He was 55.
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Mr. Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in a little over three years, following Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in April 2001; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose in June 2002. Of the original band, only Tommy (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Mr. Ramone helped create the punk sound. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and the Clash's Joe Strummer to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182.
"They influenced so many people," Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, said yesterday. Mr. Vedder introduced the Ramones when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. "They showed them that they too could do it. The simplicity showed them that they could end up on stage and play in that way."
The Ramones often cited as inspirations the hard rock of the Stooges and the primal power of the MC5, as well as the 1960's girl-group productions of Phil Spector, which they considered paragons of melody and brevity. But the band's sound had scant precedent when its first album was released in 1976. The songs were head-spinningly short and fast - the shortest, "Judy Is a Punk," was just 1 minute 32 seconds - and had a raw elegance that made many, like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," punk-rock standards.
Mr. Ramone once described his guitar style as "pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence."
"I wanted our sound to be as original as possible,'' he said. "I stopped listening to everything."
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Mr. Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his place in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress: in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
"He was the leader of the band," Danny Fields, the group's first manager, said. "He was the boss and you worked for him. He was very demanding, but very right."
After years holding a construction job - he tried college, but dropped out in a matter of days - Mr. Ramone formed the group in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, with Mr. Hyman, Mr. Colvin and Mr. Erdelyi. In the late 1960's he played bass in the Tangerine Puppets, a garage-rock band, but switched instruments early in 1974 when he bought a $50 Mosrite guitar on a trip to Manny's Music shop, on West 48th Street in Manhattan.
The new group took its name from a pseudonym that Paul McCartney had used while on the road with the Beatles, and began playing regular gigs at a Bowery dive called CBGB. A Ramones set rarely lasted more than 30 minutes, and the tunes were strung together in rapid succession. Their plan was to pause between songs just long enough for a member, usually Dee Dee, to shout "One-Two-Three-Four!" But in the early days that time was often spent bickering onstage about which song to play.
Their experience was from the start a mixture of success and frustration. When the Ramones first played in London, on July 4, 1976, they were met by adoring crowds, and were approached with fear and admiration by members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, all founding groups of the fruitful British punk scene. But when the Ramones returned home to New York they had trouble booking shows in Connecticut and New Jersey. In the band's early years, its members all crammed into Mr. Vega's loft space.
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including its first record, "Ramones" (1976); "Leave Home" (1977); "Rocket to Russia" (1977); "End of the Century" (1980), recorded with Mr. Spector; and "Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. Through the years the band kept a grueling touring schedule, and when on the road, Mr. Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
That theater, now called the Avalon, was the site of a 30th-anniversary tribute to the Ramones on Sunday, with a roster that included Rob Zombie, Henry Rollins, X, Mr. Vedder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, Mr. Vega said, "a veiled tribute to Johnny," and at the show Rob Zombie called Mr. Ramone from the stage so that the crowd could shout "Hey ho, let's go!," the band's rallying cry and the first words of its most famous song, "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Another anniversary concert is planned for New York on Oct. 8, which is the birthday of both Johnny and C. J. Ramone (Christopher John Ward), the bassist who replaced Dee Dee in 1989. The concert is booked at Spirit on West 27th Street in Chelsea, and is to feature Blondie and the Strokes, Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Fields, the group's first manager, said that after the band broke up Mr. Ramone did not work again. "Johnny's goal was to retire," he said. "All he wanted to do was to be able to stop working. He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' "
For much of the last year Mr. Ramone had been working on his memoirs with Steve Miller, a reporter for The Washington Times. Mr. Miller said yesterday that their interviews were complete.
Mr. Ramone was often at odds with the members of his band, over dress, politics and relationships. A staunch Republican, Mr. Ramone clashed with Joey over that singer's liberal causes, and when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Ramone said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America."
After Mr. Ramone began dating a woman who had been seeing Joey, the two men stopped talking to each other. On their tour bus, they kept silent company, often passing messages back and forth through an intermediary. Johnny Ramone later married the woman, now Linda Cummings, who survives him, along with his mother, Estelle Cummings.
Mr. Ramone's silence toward Joey continued even to his band mate's death. Interviewed in his home for the new documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones,'' surrounded by horror-movie posters from his extensive collection, Mr. Ramone was unflinching in his refusal to reconcile with Joey.
"I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me," he said in the film. "If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me. I'm happy that they didn't talk to me. If I'm gone, that's how it goes."
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Mr. Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in a little over three years, following Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in April 2001; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose in June 2002. Of the original band, only Tommy (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Mr. Ramone helped create the punk sound. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and the Clash's Joe Strummer to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182.
"They influenced so many people," Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, said yesterday. Mr. Vedder introduced the Ramones when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. "They showed them that they too could do it. The simplicity showed them that they could end up on stage and play in that way."
The Ramones often cited as inspirations the hard rock of the Stooges and the primal power of the MC5, as well as the 1960's girl-group productions of Phil Spector, which they considered paragons of melody and brevity. But the band's sound had scant precedent when its first album was released in 1976. The songs were head-spinningly short and fast - the shortest, "Judy Is a Punk," was just 1 minute 32 seconds - and had a raw elegance that made many, like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," punk-rock standards.
Mr. Ramone once described his guitar style as "pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence."
"I wanted our sound to be as original as possible,'' he said. "I stopped listening to everything."
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Mr. Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his place in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress: in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
"He was the leader of the band," Danny Fields, the group's first manager, said. "He was the boss and you worked for him. He was very demanding, but very right."
After years holding a construction job - he tried college, but dropped out in a matter of days - Mr. Ramone formed the group in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, with Mr. Hyman, Mr. Colvin and Mr. Erdelyi. In the late 1960's he played bass in the Tangerine Puppets, a garage-rock band, but switched instruments early in 1974 when he bought a $50 Mosrite guitar on a trip to Manny's Music shop, on West 48th Street in Manhattan.
The new group took its name from a pseudonym that Paul McCartney had used while on the road with the Beatles, and began playing regular gigs at a Bowery dive called CBGB. A Ramones set rarely lasted more than 30 minutes, and the tunes were strung together in rapid succession. Their plan was to pause between songs just long enough for a member, usually Dee Dee, to shout "One-Two-Three-Four!" But in the early days that time was often spent bickering onstage about which song to play.
Their experience was from the start a mixture of success and frustration. When the Ramones first played in London, on July 4, 1976, they were met by adoring crowds, and were approached with fear and admiration by members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, all founding groups of the fruitful British punk scene. But when the Ramones returned home to New York they had trouble booking shows in Connecticut and New Jersey. In the band's early years, its members all crammed into Mr. Vega's loft space.
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including its first record, "Ramones" (1976); "Leave Home" (1977); "Rocket to Russia" (1977); "End of the Century" (1980), recorded with Mr. Spector; and "Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. Through the years the band kept a grueling touring schedule, and when on the road, Mr. Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
That theater, now called the Avalon, was the site of a 30th-anniversary tribute to the Ramones on Sunday, with a roster that included Rob Zombie, Henry Rollins, X, Mr. Vedder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, Mr. Vega said, "a veiled tribute to Johnny," and at the show Rob Zombie called Mr. Ramone from the stage so that the crowd could shout "Hey ho, let's go!," the band's rallying cry and the first words of its most famous song, "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Another anniversary concert is planned for New York on Oct. 8, which is the birthday of both Johnny and C. J. Ramone (Christopher John Ward), the bassist who replaced Dee Dee in 1989. The concert is booked at Spirit on West 27th Street in Chelsea, and is to feature Blondie and the Strokes, Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Fields, the group's first manager, said that after the band broke up Mr. Ramone did not work again. "Johnny's goal was to retire," he said. "All he wanted to do was to be able to stop working. He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' "
For much of the last year Mr. Ramone had been working on his memoirs with Steve Miller, a reporter for The Washington Times. Mr. Miller said yesterday that their interviews were complete.
Mr. Ramone was often at odds with the members of his band, over dress, politics and relationships. A staunch Republican, Mr. Ramone clashed with Joey over that singer's liberal causes, and when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Ramone said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America."
After Mr. Ramone began dating a woman who had been seeing Joey, the two men stopped talking to each other. On their tour bus, they kept silent company, often passing messages back and forth through an intermediary. Johnny Ramone later married the woman, now Linda Cummings, who survives him, along with his mother, Estelle Cummings.
Mr. Ramone's silence toward Joey continued even to his band mate's death. Interviewed in his home for the new documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones,'' surrounded by horror-movie posters from his extensive collection, Mr. Ramone was unflinching in his refusal to reconcile with Joey.
"I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me," he said in the film. "If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me. I'm happy that they didn't talk to me. If I'm gone, that's how it goes."
Friday, September 10, 2004
How not to be a geezer....
October is Put Old on Hold Month - Ten Tips to Look and Feel Younger in 30 Days
Anti-aging expert offers unique tips to help Boomers look and feel younger.
(PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Barbara Morris, anti-aging expert, pharmacist, and 75-year-old author of Put Old on Hold says 40 year olds can stay a “rock n’ roll” young for 25 years or more. She has designated October as Put Old on Hold Month and invites Boomers to begin to Put Old on Hold by following 10 of her stay young rules: 1.Donate donuts to the trash and don’t look back. In 30 days, you will have slimmer hips and flatter abs. 2.Know that you are an ageless god or goddess, so don’t ever call yourself an “old broad” or “old geezer.” You will be reported to Judge Judy who will sentence you to associate with real old broads and old geezers. It won’t be fun. You will regret having misrepresented yourself. 3.Be a juicy plum instead of a dried prune. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day instead of coffee and sodas. Caffeine sucks water out of your body and makes your skin look and feel like crinkly crepe paper. 4.For men: Shave all the hair off your face so others can see and appreciate the good-looking guy you really are. Nothing ages an over-40 man more than facial hair and long locks. And one more thing: The “t” in tattoo stands for “trash” so don’t trash your body with permanent images. Think ahead: “I’m a stud” emblazoned across your biceps won’t impress caretakers when you are in diapers in a nursing home. 5.Instead of fast food, have homemade protein drinks. Keep them in a cooler in the car or office. Take a multiple vitamin at least once a day to boost energy and replace nutrients lost in processed foods. 6.Eat wild salmon at least twice a week. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will brighten and firm your skin. 7.Switch to whole grain bread. It doesn’t clog your gut like pasty white bread. A clogged gut makes you look gray and feel old and cranky. 8.Walk at least 30 minutes a day. Get a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. Walk through your favorite programs while fat, flabby thighs tighten and tone.9.When asked, “How are you?” always respond “terrific” even if you feel lousy. At the end of the day, after ten “terrific” responses, you will look and feel better.10.Men and women: Work with an anti aging physician to get your hormones in balance with natural bio-identical hormone replacement. It will rejuvenate your love life and make you feel ten years younger in no time.
Anti-aging expert offers unique tips to help Boomers look and feel younger.
(PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Barbara Morris, anti-aging expert, pharmacist, and 75-year-old author of Put Old on Hold says 40 year olds can stay a “rock n’ roll” young for 25 years or more. She has designated October as Put Old on Hold Month and invites Boomers to begin to Put Old on Hold by following 10 of her stay young rules: 1.Donate donuts to the trash and don’t look back. In 30 days, you will have slimmer hips and flatter abs. 2.Know that you are an ageless god or goddess, so don’t ever call yourself an “old broad” or “old geezer.” You will be reported to Judge Judy who will sentence you to associate with real old broads and old geezers. It won’t be fun. You will regret having misrepresented yourself. 3.Be a juicy plum instead of a dried prune. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day instead of coffee and sodas. Caffeine sucks water out of your body and makes your skin look and feel like crinkly crepe paper. 4.For men: Shave all the hair off your face so others can see and appreciate the good-looking guy you really are. Nothing ages an over-40 man more than facial hair and long locks. And one more thing: The “t” in tattoo stands for “trash” so don’t trash your body with permanent images. Think ahead: “I’m a stud” emblazoned across your biceps won’t impress caretakers when you are in diapers in a nursing home. 5.Instead of fast food, have homemade protein drinks. Keep them in a cooler in the car or office. Take a multiple vitamin at least once a day to boost energy and replace nutrients lost in processed foods. 6.Eat wild salmon at least twice a week. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will brighten and firm your skin. 7.Switch to whole grain bread. It doesn’t clog your gut like pasty white bread. A clogged gut makes you look gray and feel old and cranky. 8.Walk at least 30 minutes a day. Get a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. Walk through your favorite programs while fat, flabby thighs tighten and tone.9.When asked, “How are you?” always respond “terrific” even if you feel lousy. At the end of the day, after ten “terrific” responses, you will look and feel better.10.Men and women: Work with an anti aging physician to get your hormones in balance with natural bio-identical hormone replacement. It will rejuvenate your love life and make you feel ten years younger in no time.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Be active, Geezers!
Inactivity a greater heart risk than obesity, study finds
Never mind what the bathroom scales are saying and take a brisk walk: That's the message that emerges from a new study that shows that, when it comes to heart health, it's more important to be active than thin.
The research, conducted exclusively on women, found that those who were fittest were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks and had far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same associations did not hold true based on women's weight, or body mass index. (BMI is an approximation of body fat.)
"Lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese," said Timothy Wessel, a cardiologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the link between BMI and heart disease remains unclear, particularly in women. Dr. Wessel said the problem is that most obesity studies have not adequately measured physical activity and many studies of physical fitness have excluded women with known or suspected coronary heart disease.
The research, published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted on 906 women who were prescribed a coronary angiography -- a test that measures blockages in the arteries of the heart. Practically speaking, that meant many already had a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The vast majority of the women in the study, 76 per cent, were overweight or obese and just over 70 per cent were virtually sedentary. Their average age was 58.
During the four-year study period, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the data were analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were active, even moderately, turned out to be far less likely to develop heart problems than the sedentary women, regardless of how much they weighed. (The fitness of the participants in the study was judged based on a questionnaire that estimated their daily energy expenditure.)
While the researchers were careful not to say that being overweight or obese is desirable, they stressed that it is important to be active regardless of how much you weigh. This is true even for people with serious heart disease, such as the women involved in the study.
"Increased physical therapy seems to be an ideal therapy for coronary heart disease," Dr. Wessel said. He said that physicians who are treating patients for heart disease -- and its prevention -- should be sure to stress physical activity more than weight loss.
A second, unrelated study also published in JAMA, offered seemingly contradictory results. It found that weight, rather than fitness, was the best predictor of women developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by Amy Weinstein and a group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed 37,878 women over a seven-year period.
"We observed a modest reduction in the risk of diabetes with increasing physical activity level, compared with a large increase in the risk with increasing BMI," Dr. Weinstein said. The women in the study, however, were generally younger and healthier than those in the heart study.
In a related commentary, published in the same edition of JAMA, Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable but the role of fitness is equally clear. He said the differences in findings were largely a result of methodology and the groups of women studied.
What is important for the public to retain, Mr. Blair said, is that research has consistently shown that a moderately fit obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease as an unfit person of normal weight. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that everyone do the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to be considered moderately active.
Mr. Blair, a well-known fitness guru who always makes light of the fact that he is heavyset, said the "fitness versus fatness" debate is academic and irrelevant to people looking to get healthy.
"Physicians, researchers and policy-makers should spend less energy debating the relative health importance of fitness and obesity and more time focusing on how to get sedentary individuals to become active," Mr. Blair said.
About 59 per cent of adults in Canada are considered inactive, and 48 per cent are overweight.
Never mind what the bathroom scales are saying and take a brisk walk: That's the message that emerges from a new study that shows that, when it comes to heart health, it's more important to be active than thin.
The research, conducted exclusively on women, found that those who were fittest were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks and had far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same associations did not hold true based on women's weight, or body mass index. (BMI is an approximation of body fat.)
"Lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese," said Timothy Wessel, a cardiologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the link between BMI and heart disease remains unclear, particularly in women. Dr. Wessel said the problem is that most obesity studies have not adequately measured physical activity and many studies of physical fitness have excluded women with known or suspected coronary heart disease.
The research, published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted on 906 women who were prescribed a coronary angiography -- a test that measures blockages in the arteries of the heart. Practically speaking, that meant many already had a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The vast majority of the women in the study, 76 per cent, were overweight or obese and just over 70 per cent were virtually sedentary. Their average age was 58.
During the four-year study period, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the data were analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were active, even moderately, turned out to be far less likely to develop heart problems than the sedentary women, regardless of how much they weighed. (The fitness of the participants in the study was judged based on a questionnaire that estimated their daily energy expenditure.)
While the researchers were careful not to say that being overweight or obese is desirable, they stressed that it is important to be active regardless of how much you weigh. This is true even for people with serious heart disease, such as the women involved in the study.
"Increased physical therapy seems to be an ideal therapy for coronary heart disease," Dr. Wessel said. He said that physicians who are treating patients for heart disease -- and its prevention -- should be sure to stress physical activity more than weight loss.
A second, unrelated study also published in JAMA, offered seemingly contradictory results. It found that weight, rather than fitness, was the best predictor of women developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by Amy Weinstein and a group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed 37,878 women over a seven-year period.
"We observed a modest reduction in the risk of diabetes with increasing physical activity level, compared with a large increase in the risk with increasing BMI," Dr. Weinstein said. The women in the study, however, were generally younger and healthier than those in the heart study.
In a related commentary, published in the same edition of JAMA, Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable but the role of fitness is equally clear. He said the differences in findings were largely a result of methodology and the groups of women studied.
What is important for the public to retain, Mr. Blair said, is that research has consistently shown that a moderately fit obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease as an unfit person of normal weight. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that everyone do the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to be considered moderately active.
Mr. Blair, a well-known fitness guru who always makes light of the fact that he is heavyset, said the "fitness versus fatness" debate is academic and irrelevant to people looking to get healthy.
"Physicians, researchers and policy-makers should spend less energy debating the relative health importance of fitness and obesity and more time focusing on how to get sedentary individuals to become active," Mr. Blair said.
About 59 per cent of adults in Canada are considered inactive, and 48 per cent are overweight.
Vote Kerry, dump Bush!
- QUOTATIONS OF THE DAY -
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the
danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
- VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the
danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
- VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
Monday, September 06, 2004
Geezers unite to dump bush!
In December 2003, Bush signed the new Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act into law. Many seniors expected it to provide much needed relief from escalating health care costs. That has not happened and it will not happen until we get Bush and his cronies in the health care industry out of the White House.
The new law was supposed to be a boost for Bush's reelection campaign. However, it is now being criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and by just about every senior citizen advocacy group in the country.
Bush tries to portray the law with its prescription drug benefit as a windfall for seniors; when in fact it is nothing but a scam that benefits insurance companies, drug makers and health care providers.
Largest Premium Increase In History Of Medicare
According to a September 4, 2004 article by the Associated Press, Medicare premiums for Part A, which covers doctor visits and other non-hospital expenses will rise by 17% in 2005. It will be the largest increase is the program's 40-year-history. Monthly payments will jump to $78.20, up from $66.60.
Mark McClellan, administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medical Services, said the increase reflects rapidly rising health costs and last year's Medicare overhaul.
Well Bush and his allies in Congress can take full credit for the increase that resulted from the "overhaul" because they are the ones responsible for pushing through the health care industry's favored version of the bill that got seniors into this mess to begin with.
This latest rise should come as no surprise anyways. Medicare premiums have skyrocketed ever since Bush took office. They rose by 8.7% in 2003, and 13.5% in 2004.
In addition to the rise in premiums, the deductible for Medicare Part A will also rise to $912 in 2005, up from $876; and the deductible for Part B will rise to $110.
Bush chose an odd time to release this news. According to the NYTs, "In years past, the premium increases have been announced in October at the same time that cost-of-living increases to Social Security checks are announced. The twin announcements allow the elderly to calculate how much they will be receiving the following year."
I wonder why Bush didn't wait until October to make this announcement? Or better yet, why didn't he give senior citizens the good news during his convention speech while he was bragging about his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical costs?
True to form, Bush released the bad news in his usual manner, on a Friday afternoon, and this time with the added benefit of a holiday weekend and a news cycle dominated by stories about a hurricane. "This is a cynical attempt to bury bad news by leaking it out when you hope no one is watching," said Rep Pete Stark, D-Calif. "This administration has had four years to improve Medicare and instead have made it worse. Today's news reflects the reality, not rhetoric, of this administration's bad record on Medicare."
Robert Hayes, president of Medicare Rights Center, called the increase "a body blow to millions of older Americans living on fixed incomes," and said the increase will be especially painful because Social Security payments are expected to rise by less than 3%.
Every dime counts for people on fixed incomes. The median annual income for senior citizens aged 65 and older was only $23,048 in 2003, or less than $2,000 a month, according to an August 26, 2004 report by the US Census Bureau.
According to the Washington Post, when the new Medicare law is fully implemented in 2006, the typical retiree who purchases traditional Medicare coverage and the drug benefit will pay more than $115 in monthly premiums, a $110 annual deductible for outpatient care, and co-payments for physician visits and medications.
McClellan claims that most of the increase will cover the program's new prescription drug coverage and preventive services, including an initial physical exam and other tests. And Bush spokesman, Scott Stanzel said "President Bush has worked to increase health care access and affordability, including guaranteeing Medicare recipients prescription drugs."
Wait a minute here. If the money is going to pay for the new prescription drug benefit, how are seniors saving any money? Let me get this straight, seniors are supposed to get a discount on drugs, but now Bush says that Medicare will pay for the discount with a rise in their monthly premiums.
Will somebody please explain the new "prescription drug benefit" to me because just like with so many of Bush's helpful policies, I don't get it.
On Top Of Rising Prescription Drugs Prices
The 17% increase in premiums comes on top of the escalating cost of prescription drugs. Experts say the elderly cannot withstand such a large increase on top of rising drug costs.
According to President of Medicare Rights Center, Robert Hayes, "Older Americans already are staggering under the relentless increases in the cost of prescription drugs," he said. "More older Americans will face harsh choices in meeting basic human needs--health, food and housing."
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said spokesman Phil Singer.
In the Salt Lake Tribune, Darrell Butler, manager with Salt Lake County Aging Services, said "if it was a 5 to 8% rise, it wouldn't have surprised me as much," he said. "But 17% is overwhelming. What it will end up doing is force a lot more people into making tough decisions about whether to buy food or spend their money on prescription drugs.
"They'll take their medications every other day or cut them in half to try to make ends meet," Butler said. "This is terrible news."
Kerry spokesman Singer says, "When it comes to helping seniors, George Bush has proven that he's taking us in the wrong direction by giving billions to the drug industry while keeping seniors from accessing cheaper prescription drugs."
Astronomical Increases In Prescription Drug Prices
Seniors will not see cheaper prescription prices when the full bill goes into effect in 2006, because it does nothing to control the rising cost of drugs. In fact, according to Consumers Union, "most beneficiaries will face higher out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs after full implementation, despite the benefit." (Consumers Union, 11/17/03)
In June 2004, the advocacy group, "Families USA" released the results of a study that tracked price changes for the top 30 brand name drugs prescribed to seniors, in a report called: "Sticker Shock: Rising Prescription Drug Prices For Seniors. The study concluded that, "Like used car buyers drawn by the promise of a rebate—only to find that the base price has risen dramatically—seniors purchasing a new drug discount card may succumb to “sticker shock.”
In determining the most frequently used drugs, the study used data from the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) program, the largest prescription drug program for senior citizens in the country. Price histories were obtained from MDDB Select, a Medi-Span database.
Since 1999, Families has continuously monitored price increases of the 50 most popular drugs used by seniors. All of the 30 brand-name drugs selected for its Sticker Shock study were in the top 50. Its report provides a framework for determining whether the discounts cards make prescription drugs more affordable.
According to the report, between January 2001 and January 2004, the prices of the top 30 drugs increased by nearly 22%. On average, the cost of the drugs increased by 6.5%, while the overall rate of inflation, excluding energy, was only 1.5% for the same period.
Of these 30 drugs, 28 increased in price by 2 or more times the rate of inflation; 21 increased by three or more times the rate, and 14 increased in price by more than 5 times the rate of inflation.
With some drugs the rate of increase was even higher. For instance, the cost of Combivent, used to treat respiratory conditions, increased by 13.2 times the rate of inflation. Alphagan P, used to treat glaucoma, and Evista, an osteoporosis treatment, each increased by 10.3 times the rate. Diovan, used to treat high blood pressure, increased by 8.6 times the rate. Detrol LA, a treatment for overactive bladder, increased in price by 8.5 times the rate. Xalatan, used to treat glaucoma, increased in price by 6.8 times the rate.
The cost of the following 8 drugs went up by more than 5 times the rate of inflation: Lipitor, used to lower cholesterol; Plavix, used to prevent blood clots; Norvasc, used to treat high blood pressure; Celebrex, used for arthritis and joint pain; Protonix, used for gastric reflux; Cozaar, used for high blood pressure; and Celexa, used to treat depression.
Prices of the drugs also increased often. Fifteen of the 30 had more than one price increase in the 1 year period from January 2003 to January 2004. Two-thirds of the drugs increased in price more than 3 times. The price of Toprol XL increased 7 times, Combivent 6 times; and Celexa 5 times.
Bush claims that by using Medicare's new prescription discount cards, seniors would receive a discount of 10 to 25%. That's bull. The truth is that after combining the 22% increase in drug costs over the past 3 years with the steady rise in premiums (8.7% in 2003, 13.5% in 2004, and 17% in 2005), seniors will get a minus % discount.
0% Discount - Card Prices Verses Non-Card Prices
Because the new Medicare bill contains provisions that bar the importation of drugs from other countries and bans Medicare from negotiating lower prices like the Veteran's Administration does for vets, seniors who use a prescription drug discount card will save little, if any, money on the cost of drugs.
In April 2004, the minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee, released a study that compared prices available to seniors who would pay the $30 to buy a card, against prices available to seniors who did not.
The study used prices from 3 card providers, ExpressScripts, Advance (Advance is owned by Bush-buddy Halbert who was allowed to craft major portions of the bill), and Walgreens. Prices of these companies were similar to all others. The drugs used in the study represent a month's supply of the top 10 brand-name drugs used by seniors.
The study compared the card prices to (1) prices in Canada; (2) prices negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (3) prices charged by internet outlets Drugstore.com and Costco.com.
The study found card prices much higher than prices in Canada. A month's supply of the 10 drugs in Canada cost $596, while prices were $972 with Walgreens, $1,046 with Advance, and $1,061 with Express. The average card price was 72% higher than in Canada.
The Committee found that the difference for some drugs exceeded 100%. For instance, Celebrex, costs $81.28 at Walgreens, but only $38.69 in Canada; Prevacid was $129.68 with Express, but only $56.54 in Canada.
The comparison to drugs purchased by the VA, also found card prices much higher. With the VA the10 drugs cost $587, while the average price with the cards was $1,026, more than 75% higher.
A month's supply of the drugs even costs less on internet sights Drugstore.com and Costco.com. While the average card price is $1,026, the drugs would only cost $959 at Drugstore.com. Specific drugs like Lipitor, show Walgreens at $67.44, and Drugstore.com at $62.99; Prevacid costs $129.68 with Express, but only $122.57 at Costco.com.
Prices for generic prices were also spiked. The Wall Street Journal found pharmacies buying generic drugs for a few cents and marking them up nearly 200%. For example, a 90-day supply of generic Prozac costs only $4, and is sold for $14.94 at Costco.com. Yet the Medicare website showed one card sponsor charging $84.15.
The cold hard truth is that senior citizens were conned into believing that Bush wanted to help them, when in reality the much touted prescription discount card program is nothing but a scam. Why do I say this? For starters, multiply the $30 price per card by Medicare's 43 million members and see how much it comes to.
Seniors Forced To Pick Up Tab For Advertising
Increased spending for advertising is driving up drug costs and seniors are being forced to pick up the tab. AARP has been tracking how much drug companies spend advertising the drugs most used by seniors. It found dramatic increases in the price of drugs being advertised, a fact that ARRP says, "begs the question of who’s picking up the tab."
For a quick answer to that question, check out how much advertising was done right before the card program went into effect in June. In the first 5 months of 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb spent about $35 million advertising the blood thinner Plavix, and the price for Plavix rose by 7.9%. Bristol-Myers also spent about $7.2 million to advertise the cholesterol drug Pravachol; its price rose 7%. Merck spent $42 million to advertise Zocor, another cholesterol drug, and the price to wholesalers rose 25.8%.
The drug Nexium (used to treat heartburn), is a good example of how well advertising pays off. Last year the drugmaker AstraZeneca spent $411 million promoting it. In return, Nexium sales reached $3.3 billion, making it the 7th largest selling brand name drug in the US, according to the trade publication Pharmaceutical Executive. Democratic Rep Henry Waxman recently released a study that showed that in one month between May 3 and June 3, 2004, the price of Nexium increased by 13%.
Make no mistake, the elderly are paying the advertising bills for drugmakers.
WAKE-UP CALL
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said Kerry spokesman Singer.
Bloomberg.com says Medicare patients have already paid $720 million more in out of pocket expenses for premium and deductible increases this year than in 2003, according to the annual report by Medicare's trustees. Enough is enough!
Seniors need a Wake-Up call before they head to the polls on November 2, 2004. If Bush gets reelected they better prepare for more assaults on their retirement nest eggs. Look at what his cronies in the health care industry managed pull off even while Bush was facing reelection. Who knows what new scams they have planned for the next 4 years.
The new law was supposed to be a boost for Bush's reelection campaign. However, it is now being criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and by just about every senior citizen advocacy group in the country.
Bush tries to portray the law with its prescription drug benefit as a windfall for seniors; when in fact it is nothing but a scam that benefits insurance companies, drug makers and health care providers.
Largest Premium Increase In History Of Medicare
According to a September 4, 2004 article by the Associated Press, Medicare premiums for Part A, which covers doctor visits and other non-hospital expenses will rise by 17% in 2005. It will be the largest increase is the program's 40-year-history. Monthly payments will jump to $78.20, up from $66.60.
Mark McClellan, administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medical Services, said the increase reflects rapidly rising health costs and last year's Medicare overhaul.
Well Bush and his allies in Congress can take full credit for the increase that resulted from the "overhaul" because they are the ones responsible for pushing through the health care industry's favored version of the bill that got seniors into this mess to begin with.
This latest rise should come as no surprise anyways. Medicare premiums have skyrocketed ever since Bush took office. They rose by 8.7% in 2003, and 13.5% in 2004.
In addition to the rise in premiums, the deductible for Medicare Part A will also rise to $912 in 2005, up from $876; and the deductible for Part B will rise to $110.
Bush chose an odd time to release this news. According to the NYTs, "In years past, the premium increases have been announced in October at the same time that cost-of-living increases to Social Security checks are announced. The twin announcements allow the elderly to calculate how much they will be receiving the following year."
I wonder why Bush didn't wait until October to make this announcement? Or better yet, why didn't he give senior citizens the good news during his convention speech while he was bragging about his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical costs?
True to form, Bush released the bad news in his usual manner, on a Friday afternoon, and this time with the added benefit of a holiday weekend and a news cycle dominated by stories about a hurricane. "This is a cynical attempt to bury bad news by leaking it out when you hope no one is watching," said Rep Pete Stark, D-Calif. "This administration has had four years to improve Medicare and instead have made it worse. Today's news reflects the reality, not rhetoric, of this administration's bad record on Medicare."
Robert Hayes, president of Medicare Rights Center, called the increase "a body blow to millions of older Americans living on fixed incomes," and said the increase will be especially painful because Social Security payments are expected to rise by less than 3%.
Every dime counts for people on fixed incomes. The median annual income for senior citizens aged 65 and older was only $23,048 in 2003, or less than $2,000 a month, according to an August 26, 2004 report by the US Census Bureau.
According to the Washington Post, when the new Medicare law is fully implemented in 2006, the typical retiree who purchases traditional Medicare coverage and the drug benefit will pay more than $115 in monthly premiums, a $110 annual deductible for outpatient care, and co-payments for physician visits and medications.
McClellan claims that most of the increase will cover the program's new prescription drug coverage and preventive services, including an initial physical exam and other tests. And Bush spokesman, Scott Stanzel said "President Bush has worked to increase health care access and affordability, including guaranteeing Medicare recipients prescription drugs."
Wait a minute here. If the money is going to pay for the new prescription drug benefit, how are seniors saving any money? Let me get this straight, seniors are supposed to get a discount on drugs, but now Bush says that Medicare will pay for the discount with a rise in their monthly premiums.
Will somebody please explain the new "prescription drug benefit" to me because just like with so many of Bush's helpful policies, I don't get it.
On Top Of Rising Prescription Drugs Prices
The 17% increase in premiums comes on top of the escalating cost of prescription drugs. Experts say the elderly cannot withstand such a large increase on top of rising drug costs.
According to President of Medicare Rights Center, Robert Hayes, "Older Americans already are staggering under the relentless increases in the cost of prescription drugs," he said. "More older Americans will face harsh choices in meeting basic human needs--health, food and housing."
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said spokesman Phil Singer.
In the Salt Lake Tribune, Darrell Butler, manager with Salt Lake County Aging Services, said "if it was a 5 to 8% rise, it wouldn't have surprised me as much," he said. "But 17% is overwhelming. What it will end up doing is force a lot more people into making tough decisions about whether to buy food or spend their money on prescription drugs.
"They'll take their medications every other day or cut them in half to try to make ends meet," Butler said. "This is terrible news."
Kerry spokesman Singer says, "When it comes to helping seniors, George Bush has proven that he's taking us in the wrong direction by giving billions to the drug industry while keeping seniors from accessing cheaper prescription drugs."
Astronomical Increases In Prescription Drug Prices
Seniors will not see cheaper prescription prices when the full bill goes into effect in 2006, because it does nothing to control the rising cost of drugs. In fact, according to Consumers Union, "most beneficiaries will face higher out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs after full implementation, despite the benefit." (Consumers Union, 11/17/03)
In June 2004, the advocacy group, "Families USA" released the results of a study that tracked price changes for the top 30 brand name drugs prescribed to seniors, in a report called: "Sticker Shock: Rising Prescription Drug Prices For Seniors. The study concluded that, "Like used car buyers drawn by the promise of a rebate—only to find that the base price has risen dramatically—seniors purchasing a new drug discount card may succumb to “sticker shock.”
In determining the most frequently used drugs, the study used data from the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) program, the largest prescription drug program for senior citizens in the country. Price histories were obtained from MDDB Select, a Medi-Span database.
Since 1999, Families has continuously monitored price increases of the 50 most popular drugs used by seniors. All of the 30 brand-name drugs selected for its Sticker Shock study were in the top 50. Its report provides a framework for determining whether the discounts cards make prescription drugs more affordable.
According to the report, between January 2001 and January 2004, the prices of the top 30 drugs increased by nearly 22%. On average, the cost of the drugs increased by 6.5%, while the overall rate of inflation, excluding energy, was only 1.5% for the same period.
Of these 30 drugs, 28 increased in price by 2 or more times the rate of inflation; 21 increased by three or more times the rate, and 14 increased in price by more than 5 times the rate of inflation.
With some drugs the rate of increase was even higher. For instance, the cost of Combivent, used to treat respiratory conditions, increased by 13.2 times the rate of inflation. Alphagan P, used to treat glaucoma, and Evista, an osteoporosis treatment, each increased by 10.3 times the rate. Diovan, used to treat high blood pressure, increased by 8.6 times the rate. Detrol LA, a treatment for overactive bladder, increased in price by 8.5 times the rate. Xalatan, used to treat glaucoma, increased in price by 6.8 times the rate.
The cost of the following 8 drugs went up by more than 5 times the rate of inflation: Lipitor, used to lower cholesterol; Plavix, used to prevent blood clots; Norvasc, used to treat high blood pressure; Celebrex, used for arthritis and joint pain; Protonix, used for gastric reflux; Cozaar, used for high blood pressure; and Celexa, used to treat depression.
Prices of the drugs also increased often. Fifteen of the 30 had more than one price increase in the 1 year period from January 2003 to January 2004. Two-thirds of the drugs increased in price more than 3 times. The price of Toprol XL increased 7 times, Combivent 6 times; and Celexa 5 times.
Bush claims that by using Medicare's new prescription discount cards, seniors would receive a discount of 10 to 25%. That's bull. The truth is that after combining the 22% increase in drug costs over the past 3 years with the steady rise in premiums (8.7% in 2003, 13.5% in 2004, and 17% in 2005), seniors will get a minus % discount.
0% Discount - Card Prices Verses Non-Card Prices
Because the new Medicare bill contains provisions that bar the importation of drugs from other countries and bans Medicare from negotiating lower prices like the Veteran's Administration does for vets, seniors who use a prescription drug discount card will save little, if any, money on the cost of drugs.
In April 2004, the minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee, released a study that compared prices available to seniors who would pay the $30 to buy a card, against prices available to seniors who did not.
The study used prices from 3 card providers, ExpressScripts, Advance (Advance is owned by Bush-buddy Halbert who was allowed to craft major portions of the bill), and Walgreens. Prices of these companies were similar to all others. The drugs used in the study represent a month's supply of the top 10 brand-name drugs used by seniors.
The study compared the card prices to (1) prices in Canada; (2) prices negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (3) prices charged by internet outlets Drugstore.com and Costco.com.
The study found card prices much higher than prices in Canada. A month's supply of the 10 drugs in Canada cost $596, while prices were $972 with Walgreens, $1,046 with Advance, and $1,061 with Express. The average card price was 72% higher than in Canada.
The Committee found that the difference for some drugs exceeded 100%. For instance, Celebrex, costs $81.28 at Walgreens, but only $38.69 in Canada; Prevacid was $129.68 with Express, but only $56.54 in Canada.
The comparison to drugs purchased by the VA, also found card prices much higher. With the VA the10 drugs cost $587, while the average price with the cards was $1,026, more than 75% higher.
A month's supply of the drugs even costs less on internet sights Drugstore.com and Costco.com. While the average card price is $1,026, the drugs would only cost $959 at Drugstore.com. Specific drugs like Lipitor, show Walgreens at $67.44, and Drugstore.com at $62.99; Prevacid costs $129.68 with Express, but only $122.57 at Costco.com.
Prices for generic prices were also spiked. The Wall Street Journal found pharmacies buying generic drugs for a few cents and marking them up nearly 200%. For example, a 90-day supply of generic Prozac costs only $4, and is sold for $14.94 at Costco.com. Yet the Medicare website showed one card sponsor charging $84.15.
The cold hard truth is that senior citizens were conned into believing that Bush wanted to help them, when in reality the much touted prescription discount card program is nothing but a scam. Why do I say this? For starters, multiply the $30 price per card by Medicare's 43 million members and see how much it comes to.
Seniors Forced To Pick Up Tab For Advertising
Increased spending for advertising is driving up drug costs and seniors are being forced to pick up the tab. AARP has been tracking how much drug companies spend advertising the drugs most used by seniors. It found dramatic increases in the price of drugs being advertised, a fact that ARRP says, "begs the question of who’s picking up the tab."
For a quick answer to that question, check out how much advertising was done right before the card program went into effect in June. In the first 5 months of 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb spent about $35 million advertising the blood thinner Plavix, and the price for Plavix rose by 7.9%. Bristol-Myers also spent about $7.2 million to advertise the cholesterol drug Pravachol; its price rose 7%. Merck spent $42 million to advertise Zocor, another cholesterol drug, and the price to wholesalers rose 25.8%.
The drug Nexium (used to treat heartburn), is a good example of how well advertising pays off. Last year the drugmaker AstraZeneca spent $411 million promoting it. In return, Nexium sales reached $3.3 billion, making it the 7th largest selling brand name drug in the US, according to the trade publication Pharmaceutical Executive. Democratic Rep Henry Waxman recently released a study that showed that in one month between May 3 and June 3, 2004, the price of Nexium increased by 13%.
Make no mistake, the elderly are paying the advertising bills for drugmakers.
WAKE-UP CALL
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said Kerry spokesman Singer.
Bloomberg.com says Medicare patients have already paid $720 million more in out of pocket expenses for premium and deductible increases this year than in 2003, according to the annual report by Medicare's trustees. Enough is enough!
Seniors need a Wake-Up call before they head to the polls on November 2, 2004. If Bush gets reelected they better prepare for more assaults on their retirement nest eggs. Look at what his cronies in the health care industry managed pull off even while Bush was facing reelection. Who knows what new scams they have planned for the next 4 years.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Your Music is TOO LOUD!
Another geezer complaining about the music being too loud!
The solution is simple. First, no driver should ever have music so loud or anything else so distracting that you become oblivious to the outside world. And no driver should ever go very long without a quick glance in the mirrors; they aren't there just for decoration. Once you discover there is a responding emergency vehicle behind you (lights flashing or siren on or both), then what?
• Pull as far to the right as is safely possible and stop. If you cannot pull over to the right, stop where you are and let the emergency vehicle go around.
• Remain stopped until the emergency vehicle has safely passed.
The solution is simple. First, no driver should ever have music so loud or anything else so distracting that you become oblivious to the outside world. And no driver should ever go very long without a quick glance in the mirrors; they aren't there just for decoration. Once you discover there is a responding emergency vehicle behind you (lights flashing or siren on or both), then what?
• Pull as far to the right as is safely possible and stop. If you cannot pull over to the right, stop where you are and let the emergency vehicle go around.
• Remain stopped until the emergency vehicle has safely passed.
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