PHARMACEUTICAL DRUG PRICING: THE INTERNET AS A SOLUTION FOR THIS HEALTH ISSUE TURNED FINANCIAL ISSUE

Over the course of five decades, American annual expenditure on pharmaceutical drugs has increased by more than $350 billion. This drastic increase has led many patients to struggle to afford their necessary, and potentially life-saving, medications. Today’s high pharmaceutical prices are largely due to the fact that name-brand drug manufacturers have few restrictions on how much they can charge for their products. Additionally, name-brand manufacturers are able to monopolize the manufacture of their drugs because patent laws prevent other manufacturers from using the formula of these drugs for two decades. To combat these high prices, this Note proposes a partnership between telemedicine companies and online pharmacies that promotes the prescription of cheaper, generic-brand drugs. By combining the cheaper, mobile services of telemedicine with generic-brand drugs offered by online pharmacies, this partnership can increase access and quality of healthcare while driving down price

Effectiveness of group-based self-management education for individuals with Type 2 diabetes:A systematic review with meta-analyses and meta-regression

Aims: Patient education for the management of Type 2 diabetes can be delivered in various forms, with the goal of promoting and supporting positive self-management behaviours. This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of group-based interventions compared with individual interventions or usual care for improving clinical, lifestyle and psychosocial outcomes in people with Type 2 diabetes. Methods: Six electronic databases were searched. Group-based education programmes for adults with Type 2 diabetes that measured glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and followed participants for ≥ 6 months were included. The primary outcome was HbA1c, and secondary outcomes included fasting blood glucose, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipid profiles, diabetes knowledge and self-efficacy. Results: Fifty-three publications describing 47 studies were included (n = 8533 participants). Greater reductions in HbA1c occurred in group-based education compared with controls at 6–10 months [n = 30 studies; mean difference (MD) = 3 mmol/mol (0.3%); 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.48, −0.15; P = 0.0002], 12–14 months [n = 27 studies; MD = 4 mmol/mol (0.3%); 95% CI: −0.49, −0.17; P < 0.0001], 18 months [n = 3 studies; MD = 8 mmol/mol (0.7%); 95% CI: −1.26, −0.18; P = 0.009] and 36–48 months [n = 5 studies; MD = 10 mmol/mol (0.9%); 95% CI: −1.52, −0.34; P = 0.002], but not at 24 months. Outcomes also favoured group-based education for fasting blood glucose, body weight, waist circumference, triglyceride levels and diabetes knowledge, but not at all time points. Interventions facilitated by a single discipline, multidisciplinary teams or health professionals with peer supporters resulted in improved outcomes in HbA1c when compared with peer-led interventions. Conclusions: Group-based education interventions are more effective than usual care, waiting list control and individual education at improving clinical, lifestyle and psychosocial outcomes in people with Type 2 diabetes.No Full Tex

Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by Lawrence J. Gallick, Joseph P. Summers, Thomas J. Kelly, Louis P. Pfeiler, and Hurley D. Smith

First observations of iodine oxide from space

We present retrievals of IO total columns from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) satellite instrument. We analyze data for October 2005 in the polar regions to demonstrate for the first time the capability to measure IO column abundances from space. During the period of analysis (i.e. Southern Hemisphere springtime), enhanced IO vertical columns over 3 × 10^(13) molecules cm^(−2) are observed around coastal Antarctica; by contrast during that time in the Artic region IO is consistently below the calculated instrumental detection limit for individual radiance spectra (2–4 × 10^(12) molecules cm^(−2) for slant columns). The levels reported here are in reasonably good agreement with previous ground‐based measurements at coastal Antarctica. These results also demonstrate that IO is widespread over sea‐ice covered areas in the Southern Ocean. The occurrence of elevated IO and its hitherto unrecognized spatial distribution suggest an efficient iodine activation mechanism at a synoptic scale over coastal Antarctica

Monte Carlo configuration interaction with perturbation corrections for dissociation energies of first row diatomic molecules: C-2, N-2, O-2, CO, and NO

Dissociation energies for the diatomic molecules C2, N2, O2, CO, and NO are estimated using the Monte Carlo configuration interaction (MCCI) and augmented by a second order perturbation theory correction. The calculations are performed using the correlation consistent polarized valence “triple zeta” atomic orbital basis and resulting dissociation energies are compared to coupled cluster calculations including up to triple excitations (CCSDT) and Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) estimates. It is found that the MCCI method readily describes the correct behavior for dissociation for the diatomics even when capturing only a relatively small fraction (∼80%) of the correlation energy. At this level only a small number of configurations, typically O(103) from a FCI space of dimension O(1014), are required to describe dissociation. Including the perturbation correction to the MCCI estimates, the difference in dissociation energies with respect to CCSDT ranges between 1.2 and 3.1 kcal/mol, and the difference when comparing to FCIQMC estimates narrows to between 0.5 and 1.9 kcal/mol. Discussions on MCCI's ability to recover static and dynamic correlations and on the form of correlations in the electronic configuration space are presented