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February 15, 2006
Because we can
Most of the time I enjoy living in a capitalist society, where the market forces are allowed free reign over most things. But then there are times when I just want to scream.
For example take the article I just read about a new drug out to treat breast cancer. The company Roche has stated that they will probably charge $100,000 a year for it. What bugs me is that this same drug would cost you less if you used it for prostate cancer (but of course since it isn't currently indicated for breast cancer your insurance won't cover it). I won't even go into the gender politics behind this. What makes me want to screem is the quote from Roche's CEO. Which essentially boils down to, "because we can"
But executives at Genentech and its majority owner, Roche, are now using a separate argument — citing the inherent value of life-sustaining therapies.If society wants the benefits, they say, it must be ready to spend more for treatments like Avastin and another of the company's cancer drugs, Herceptin, which sells for $40,000 a year.
"As we look at Avastin and Herceptin pricing, right now the health economics hold up, and therefore I don't see any reason to be touching them," said William M. Burns, the chief executive of Roche's pharmaceutical division and a member of Genentech's board. "The pressure on society to use strong and good products is there."
Ohhh that just makes me want to scream.
Oh, then there are the oil companies who have been selling oil at a subsidised rate to the US for years (in my opinion just to keep us hooked), and now feel it is their right to pump oil royalty free from government land.
Posted by kfeigh at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)
February 14, 2006
Heart shaped doughnuts
Happy St. Valentine's Day everyone! This morning I got up early to go get Brian his SVD present -- fresh krispy kreme doughnuts. Mmmmm Anyway much to my surprise and delight, they were making heart shaped doughnuts today. How cute is that? Well it was a good selling point because I bought an extra dozen to bring into work because they were heart shaped.
Posted by kfeigh at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2006
Cold
It is cold here. This morning it was in the 20s, there was snow (just a dusting) on the ground and our welcome mat was frozen solid. Of course the coldest day of the year so far also happened to coincide with my first outdoor run (for a running class that I'm taking). I wasn't all that cold while running, but ever since I stopped running I've been freezing. I cannot explain it.
I think that I'm going to have to break out my summer blanket. This is the fleece blanket that I routinely have to use in the summer to keep warm.
Posted by kfeigh at 10:48 AM | Comments (1)
February 09, 2006
Ah the fine print
So, it seems that the paper I have been slaving over for the past 3 weeks is a bit preemature. Why? Well because somewhere along the way I got it into my head that my NSF stipend came with $1000 for foreign travel that I did not want to pass up. So I've been dutifuly searching for conferences abroad to submit something too, to take advantage of this money. Well it seems that I should have read the details more carefully. The money is only good if I intend to spend at least 90 days abroad conducting research.
So while the past 3 weeks have not been a complete waste, they are not going to send me to some random eastern-european country this summer. Sigh. I guess the most exotic place for me will be Virginia in late April.
Oh, and to make matters worse I just found out that the paper which I thought I was done with... well actually yesterday I used a graphical FTP client and sent my files the wrong way. So YES all the work that I've done this week is gone electronically (although I do have paper versions). I'm going to crawl under a rock now.
Posted by kfeigh at 09:23 AM | Comments (2)
February 06, 2006
Oranges
Not all oranges are created equally. I have only just recently discovered this. I was introduced to the world's best orange about 3 months ago at a dinner party. We had oranges for dessert -- boy were they good. I then proceded to spend the next 3 months looking for them (mostly by trial and error). I have recently discovered their true identity. The best oranges ever are Sunk*ist navel oranges, sticker number 4013. Now I'm not sure why the Sunk*ist ones are soooooo good, but they are far better than everyone else's. Maybe they pump sugar into the ground water? Anyway we just bought a whole bag this weekend at Wally-world, so I know they are available far and wide.
Happy orange season. In work news, I'm still writing away at my papers and Brian is still pondering. He is getting closer though...
Posted by kfeigh at 12:31 PM | Comments (1)