[ExI] bexarotene papers

[spike]

I'm on hold.  I'm on the phone with them.  Found the email of the author.
Stand by please.

spike

-----Original Message-----
From: spike [mailto:spike66 at att.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 5:19 PM
To: 'ExI chat list'
Subject: RE: [ExI] bexarotene papers

Never mind, the comment showed up.  Do let us hope the well-off but
desperate family reads the comment section before administering a month's
dosage.

Does anyone here have a buddy or anyone they know at the LA Times they could
call?  It isn't clear how to contact someone in charge.

spike



-----Original Message-----
From: spike [mailto:spike66 at att.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 5:14 PM
To: 'ExI chat list'
Subject: RE: [ExI] bexarotene papers

I declare another temporary open season on posts regarding bexarotene, thru
the weekend.  I intend to post my brains out on this until that dangerous
error is fixed in the article.

Does anyone here have an existing account on LA Times?  If so, post me back
forthwith, spike66 at att.net, and let me send you something to post in their
comments section on the Targretin article.  Quickly please, let's try to
stop a catastrophe before it happens, thanks.

spike

-----Original Message-----
From: spike [mailto:spike66 at att.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 5:05 PM
To: 'ExI chat list'
Subject: RE: [ExI] bexarotene papers

My comment isn't showing up.  What do we do now, coach?

spike

-----Original Message-----
From: spike [mailto:spike66 at att.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 4:51 PM
To: 'ExI chat list'
Subject: RE: [ExI] bexarotene papers

OK, I created an account, logged in and was the first to comment, but the
comment hasn't shown up yet.  Any other ideas?

spike

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of spike
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 4:34 PM
To: 'ExI chat list'
Subject: Re: [ExI] bexarotene papers


Ethics hipsters, what do I do now?  I see this article, and now how do I get
the message to the LA Times to fix this goddam error forthwith, before some
desperate ill-informed prole takes and stuffs a month's supply of Targretin
into grandma in one afternoon?  Does anyone here know anyone from the Times,
or how does one go about this?  

Help me Obi Wan, and do it riiiight noooow please, immediately.

spike

_______________________________________________


Oy vey, the LA Times today replicated a mistake from early in the cycle back
in February.  An order of magnitude error was made by someone writing "per
day" instead of "per month."  I have seen this error pop up hundreds of
times, and it may have slain patients by now.  

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-alzheimers-drug-ethics-201
20809,0,2927327.story

".Second, patients and their advocates must consider whether it is fair for
doctors to begin writing prescriptions for bexarotene for patients with
dementia. The unreimbursed cost of treating an Alzheimer's disease patient
with bexarotene -- anywhere between $1,200 and $2,500 per day out-of-pocket
by one estimate -- would make this a treatment option only for the very
wealthy."

Imagine a really wealthy family with an AD patient, reads the above comment,
says to his son, Junior, you somehow know how to score all kinds of vile
dope to poke into yourself, so take this $10k, go use your contacts, bring
me that much Targretin and don't tell me how or where you got it.  Junior
takes off, comes back an hour later with $10k in Targretin, dad shovels all
of it down grandma's throat over the next 4 to 6 days, patient mysteriously
expires from an acute overdose of bexarotene resulting in massive multiple
organ failure.  Newspapers need to be very careful about propagating
misinformation.

Eeesh.

spike

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