Let’s invest.

This doesn’t have anything to do with Alli, but I just wanted to say that I hope your home in Tahoe is okay.

Hi Ryan–

Thanks for the thought.  Our home is on the north side of the lake, so the fire is far away.

Best–

MRE 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Leptopril.

Paul

If I get a little more interest, I’ll post on it.

Cheers–

MRE 

All I can tell you based on my experience with many patients is that the stain won’t come off the white skirt.

Cheers–

MRE 

After I posted my rolling rant above, the following old saying, although perhaps trite and well-worn (and maybe irrelevant), came to mind:

“When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts looking like a nail.”

I wonder if this may somehow describe companies that market products like Alli. “When the only tool you have is a blockbuster business model, every problem starts looking like…..an Rx for a diet pill?”
W

Wouldn’t it be great if this “commercial” actually shamed the company that markets this product into withdrawing it. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be much shame in the executive suites of pharma corporations nowadays. As bad as it is, pharma’s reputation might eventually be restored if they …horrors….abandoned the “blockbuster” business model and tried harder to come up with medicines that…my goodness… actually cure disease.

P.S. When I suggested in a recent comment that maybe you, Dr. Mike, should be nominated as Surgeon General, it was only half tongue-in-cheek; and believe me I understand why you wouldn’t want it. But I guess you’re “off the hook” anyhow, since our president has nominated James Holsinger, Jr., a former military physician and cardioligist from Ky, to take the post. This recent article published in the Baltimore Sun about the nominee and the perceived lack of need for him or anyone else to serve in this government post (the article suggests the position should just be abolished) is interesting. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.surgeon19jun19,0,3685288.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

Dr. Holsinger is said to be interested in doing something about childhood obesity, but it’s not at all clear whether he knows diddley-squat about biochemistry and nutrition. I certainly hope so – God knows we need somebody who does. Of course that’s why I thought of you in that “bully pulpit” position. And just think what a great example you could have been for all those other government employees. A couple of years later, you’d have had them all straightened out; just like your golfing friend.
W

Hi Wil–

Since my close connection with the Clinton administration through marriage to a close friend of his, I’ve seen how difficult it is to get much of anything done because government is so institutionalized.  I wouldn’t want to bang my head against that wall.

I don’t know if anyone can ’straighten out’ the mess there.

Cheers–

MRE 

A side note: I work in a pharmacy, and I asked my boss/pharmacist (whose name is, incidentally enough, Mike) when we were getting the Alli in, and how we were going to display it. He said, “It’s funny, you know….I was just going to put it in with the other over-the-counters….don’t think it’ll be a high-theft item….Xenical never sold well.”

I commented: “Maybe we can make more if we display adult diapers along side it.”

He burst out laughing, but we both concluded that placing the diapers next to the Alli would actually decrease sales of the drug. Which was fine with us.

(A little off topic, but I mentioned your blog to him and he said that he sent you a letter once a loooong time ago regarding your book. Something about not liking the title, though he supports the premise.)

Hi Lyndsey–

I think I remember the letter; what I don’t remember is if I answered it or not.  There was a time when Protein Power was on the bestseller list that we were getting so much mail that we were overwhelmed and more or less read it and filed it.  We tried to hang in there for a while answering the letters, but the mass of them soon was too much.

I think it’s a good idea to put the adult diapers next to the Alli.  It would be a great service to those foolish enough to buy it.

Cheers–

MRE 

I would love to understand why they are bad for us or don’t work.

heheh FDA approves.

Feelix

Hi Feelix–

I’ve got bad news for you: there is no such pill.  Especially not Alli.  And especially not Leptopril.

Cheers–

MRE 

Good move!

MRE