Phrolicking Phun With Pharmaceutical Phools

A company called Acurian is conducting a clinical trial on cholesterol

You'll never guess what I got in the mail today. If they knew this would get into the hands of Mr. "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" personally, then I would venture to guess it would have never been sent to my mailbox. :D Too bad for them, it was!

What is it? It's an invitation to participate in a brand new clinical trial on an "investigational medicine for high cholesterol." Yep, it a research study on yet ANOTHER drug promising to lower your cholesterol. As if we didn't have enough already with Lipitor, Crestor, Zetia, and other such medicinal nightmares! UGH!

Technically, this letter was not addressed to Jimmy Moore, but rather my wife Christine. She was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol by her doctor, including triglycerides around 300. EEEK!

I gave her the old "ya know, if you stopped eating and drinking all that sugar then your triglycerides would fall" lecture shortly thereafter. She's working on it now, but still has to make it a lifetime commitment. See, livin' la vida low-carb CAN be about health and not just weight loss!

We can only assume our doctor either gave or sold his mailing list of "high-cholesterol" patients to this place conducting the study named Acurian, a clinical trial administrative company based near Philadelphia in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Interestingly, they are headquartered very closely to just about every single one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Coincidence? Don't be a fool!

The letter itself is very limited in the information it provides about the trial itself. They are looking specifically for individuals with "high cholesterol" who are willing or have family members willing to participate.

Here's what they promise for those who do:

- Cholesterol screening and study medication at no charge
- Potential compensation for your time and travel
- The opportunity to help others who struggle with high cholesterol

That last one is what got me the most. How arrogant and presumptuous is it of them to ASSUME this latest drug is going to actually help people with their health, hmmm? We've been sold a sadistic bill of goods on this "great cholesterol con" as independent researcher Anthony Colpo has so succinctly put it.

Nevertheless, these pharmaceutical companies have still tried their darndest to fool people into thinking they have "high cholesterol" even when they may be perfectly fine.

This letter was actually "signed" (electronically, of course!) by someone named Dr. Christopher A. Haines, MD. I Googled Dr. Haines to see where he is from and found from this bio page about him that he is a clinical instructor in the Department of Family Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital located in (where else?) Philadelphia--yep, the same city where all those major pharmaceutical companies reside.

Undoubtedly, the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is where the hundreds of clinical trials on a variety of new drugs are conducted and Dr. Haines is merely one among many involved in this process. Why would they keep all this kind of information such a secret from the recipients of this letter? It's nice to know they actually used a real person to sign the letter rather than a fake one, but it took a little digging to find out who this man actually is. Wassup with that?

Anyways, just out of curiosity, I decided to call up the toll-free telephone number that was provided about this clinical trial to see if they would give me some more information about it.

When I called 1-866-907-5526 between 8am and 10pm EST Monday through Friday, a very nice woman came on the line and asked me if I would like to sign up for the study. I told her I had a few questions about it first and if she would be willing to answer those for me. She responded in the affirmative, so I asked three questions.

1. What is your definition of "high cholesterol?"

Her answer: "A total cholesterol of over 200."

2. What is the purpose of the study? Raise HDL? Lower LDL?

Her answer: "To make both the HDL and LDL equal."

3. What is the name of the pharmaceutical company for the drug and is it a statin?

Her answer: "The identity of our client is unknown and they should be able to answer your specific questions about the investigational drug once you sign up for the study."

Fascinating! So, forget about LDL, forget about HDL, it's all about the total cholesterol (which is a big crock, especially for people following a low-carb diet!). I am somewhat interested in the idea of making HDL and LDL equal--but then I go back to the absurd "garbage trucks" analogy that low-fat diet apologist Dr. Dean Ornish likes to pull out of his hat and scratch my head on that one. Even still, reducing LDL and total cholesterol too low can be detrimental to your health as we learned in this recent study.

I thanked the very kind woman on the phone for answering my questions and she invited me to sign up for the trial online at AcurianTrials.com. Just for kicks, I went to the web site and checked it out for myself. When you enter the 866-907-5526 telephone number to access the study, you see on the screen that it is for "ACURIAN PROJECT CODE 1041 Hypercholesterolemia."

You are then asked to provide your name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address, and more so they can get back in touch with you about the study. The woman I spoke with on the telephone said you can drop out of the study at any time during the trial and you are not obligated to take any medications you don't feel comfortable taking (i.e. my concern about bone and joint-jarring statin drugs).

What do you think about this? Should I sign up for this clinical trial just to see what it's all about? Talk about the perfect topic for me to conduct an investigative journalism report on, wouldn't ya say? It could be an enlightening journey just to see what it's all about.

In fact, it doesn't even have to be me--YOU could sign up for this clinical trial if you wanted to and report back to me what you find out about it. I'd be happy to blog your experiences. Consider yourself properly deputized to carry out your duty to educate and inform the masses about this cholesterol drug that's coming down the pike! Let me know if you take me up on this so I can keep tabs with you on it.

Let's have some phrolicking phun with the pharmaceutical phools who keep peddling these crazy pills on the public just so they can fatten their wallets while sacrificing the health of those who take these dangerous drugs.

Anyone who wants to sign up for this clinical trial and willing to report on your experience can e-mail me any information you get at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I'm not saying you need to take this drug, just find out what you can about it so all of us can learn more about it.

Do I have any takers? :)

2-14-07 UPDATE: One of my regular readers who works in the healthcare industry had something to share about my theory regarding how Acurian may have gotten Christine's name.

Hi, Jimmy!

I read the following on your blog and am concerned:

"We can only assume our doctor either gave or sold his mailing list of 'high-cholesterol' patients to this place conducting the study named Acurian, a clinical trial administrative company based near Philadelphia in Horsham, Pennsylvania."

Did Christine sign something that said her doctor could share her PHI (Protected Health Information) with a pharmaceutical company? If she did not, and if her doctor did that, he is violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule. She may wish to ask him about it. This is not a legitimate way to recruit for a drug study.

To be honest, I don't know whether she did or not. But I can't imagine how else they would know that Christine has high cholesterol if it wasn't from her doctor's office since nobody else would be privy to that information. THANKS for the heads-up about this.

2-15-07 UPDATE: Another reader schooled in the ins and outs of this issue shared his unique perspective about the legalities of how Acurian may have obtained Christine's name and address for this clinical trial.

Jimmy,

I don't know how well your other reader elaborated on the HIPPA violation but here is the website from the AMA that talks about what is or is not a violation.

I find the "coincidence" that Christine was diagnosed with "high cholesterol" and then receiving this a little too much to think that her name was not given out. This is a very big deal!!

We are trained and trained about HIPPA over and over again. If this information was given from your doctor's office, then someone there is breaking a federal law. It may not even be the doctor. It could be someone in the office who is being paid for this information.

In my position at work I fill out legal documents that go the centers for Medicare and Medicaid everyday. If I fill those out incorrectly or even willfully to make more money for my facility, I can be arrested, prosecuted and fined for fraud. Why would I do that? The answer is I wouldn't because I have a high morals and it wouldn't do anything for me financially.

This is just my opinion but I think you should talk to the doctor about it. If he is indeed foolishly risking his license, he needs to stop. Or, if someone in his office is doing this unbeknownst to him, he needs to know. I am giving him some amount of credit here because most doctors I know would not put their whole livelihood on the line for something like this.

You can tell me to butt out if you want. 8-) I just think that this needs to be nipped in the bud right away.

We may just do that today when we go see Christine's doctor for a cortisone shot in her knee. THANKS for your help!

2-15-07 UPDATE: We told our family doctor about this letter we got in the mail and he was QUITE concerned. He asked to make a copy of it and said he would try to find out how Christine's high cholesterol diagnosis got into the hands of Acurian. He said he didn't think it came from his office and that it is possible the mailing was random. But I retorted it was almost too coincidental. He agreed.

Health Insurance Just Needs To Be Affordable

I did something today that I absolutely LOATHE--paid a visit to my family doctor.

No, it's not that I dislike wanting to feel better when I am sick. Nor am I so ignorant that I would not want to get treated by professionals who have dedicated their lives to making people better. But something has seemed to change almost overnight in recent years within the health industry that is quite disturbing to me.

It's this business of health insurance. More specifically, the affordability of getting QUALITY health insurance. What the heck has happened to the cost of healthcare nowadays that everything has to cost so much money for the average person to get basic coverage? It's enough to make your blood pressure rise (but I can't afford to see the doc about it!)

Sure, rising healthcare costs undoubtedly have a lot to do with the rapid increase in obesity-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer, just to name a few. In fact, Medicare costs have tripled because of doubling obesity rates, so it's a real problem that is rearing its ugly head. And diabetes costs $132 billion annually to treat. I have chronicled why these issues exist and how to correct them through livin' la vida low-carb many times since I started this blog.

But getting back to the subject of health insurance for the average American, now we have literally tens of millions of families who don't have ANY health insurance at all. Yikes!!! This has become personal for me now because you can count my family among the ranks of the uninsured.

When I was employed by a fairly large company up until October 2006, I had pretty good health insurance through one of the most well-known companies providing health insurance today. The premiums were reasonable for the insurance which only required a small co-pay for general doctor visits and prescriptions while covering my wife's gall bladder surgery and tests at virtually 100%. Like I said, it was GOOD coverage.

However, losing that job meant losing that insurance unless I wanted to pay through the nose for the COBRA coverage that was extended to me. I decided to pass up the COBRA because the cost was much too unreasonable financially with the uncertainty about what my next job would be.

While we are on this subject, why does health insurance have to be tied to your place of employment anyway, hmmm? That seems like a screwy way to provide adequate coverage for the millions of Americans who work for small businesses that can't afford good group coverage plans. Believe me, I've had a few of them and you've got to be rich to afford the medical care! What's the point in having insurance?!

At the same time, I've also worked for big companies that have more purchasing power when providing health benefits to their employees. And that's a bonus for the people who are privileged to work for these companies. Think about it, though, that doesn't seem right now, does it? Why should your job determine the quality of your health insurance?

Can't we somehow pool the resources of the self-employed, small businesses, and individuals without health insurance and come up with the largest group policy plan in the country we could call the U.S. Health Insurance Plan that would provide that same kind of GOOD health coverage (like people who work for the government get!) at an affordable cost?

Plus, without delving into the politics of this issue (I REALLY don't!), why does this issue have to be so politically charged when people are seriously hurting for help? This isn't a Democrat or Republican political football that can be passed back and forth between elections while NOTHING is done about it. We need REAL solutions and not more empty pie-in-the-sky promises imploring class warfare.

And, lest I am misunderstood, I am NOT advocating universal healthcare coverage like they have in Canada with people being put on extremely long waiting lists for operations, transplants and the like. I don't want FREE healthcare, just insurance that is affordable and effective. Is that too much to ask?

Getting back to today's office visit, it was not for me, but my wife Christine. She bumped her knee on something a couple of months ago and just let me know last week that it still hurts (um, honey, were you gonna let me know about this anytime soon?!). She was afraid to bring it up because we are without health coverage right now. That's sad, isn't it?

Actually, we TRIED to buy health insurance from a company that will remain unnamed here and we actually got approved for the reasonably-priced policy rather quickly at the end of December. But when we went to use it for another medical issue Christine had a few weeks ago, the terms of the agreement as explained to me by the insurance salesman were not the same in reality.

We were told that we would have $1,000 that we could spend on doctor visits which seemed like PLENTY of money for an entire year. But after Christine's first visit which cost about $200, the insurance company said we could only use $50 until the end of the first quarter. Say what? Yeah, it seems the $1,000 is cut up into four $250 increments for each quarter. Who PLANS to get sick spread out over the year?!

Needless to say, after several back and forth conversations with them about this and other discrepancies about the plan we thought we had bought, both the insurance company and I mutually agreed it was best to drop the coverage and find another place for health coverage.

So that's where I'm at right now. I WANT health insurance, but finding a good plan for the right price is the tricky part. Where do you go for such coverage in this volatile environment? Since when did this issue get to be so complex that people would rather risk NOT getting sick than to pay through the nose on medical costs?

Here are my three bare minimum basic requirements for a GOOD healthcare plan:

1. I must be able to use it with my family doctor whenever I get sick or go for a routine checkup and have full coverage with a copay of no more than $25.

2. Major coverage (around 90%) for any big medical emergencies that may need addressing, such as heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc.

3. Prescription drug plan that has a $10 copay for generics and $25 copay for prescriptions.

Speaking of prescriptions, while I was in the waiting room for an hour listening to my iPod as Christine was getting her knee x-rayed and checked out by her doctor, I was stunned to see how many pharmaceutical reps came through this office. You can see them coming a mile away: nicely dressed, usually good-looking, carrying a gigantic tote bag (of drug samples) with their latest miracle pill they are pushing, and wearing a name tag of who they represent.

Guess how many I saw come in and out while I was there? 2? 4? How about EIGHT of them in all! They've got the system down pat, too--sign in at the front desk at their special sign-in sheet and just walk back in front of the patients who have been waiting for umpteen minutes in the lobby area while their doctor gets schooled on the next can't-live-without-it drug. UGH UGH UGH! Isn't that so tacky?!

Worst of all to me is the fact that they come bearing gifts like a lobbyist on Capitol Hill trying to woo a Congressman to vote for certain key pieces of special interest legislation. The same goes for these pill peddlers. I saw one of them hand about ten items to the front desk receptionist out of her big bag that undoubtedly had the logo of her company and/or name of her drug plastered all over it.

I know people need to make a living somehow, but that's one occupation just about as crooked as a used car salesman or a trial lawyer is. They are helping their companies rake in literally hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars annually by convincing doctors to prescribe drugs to their unsuspecting patients that are questionable at best for treating disease while natural remedies like livin' la vida low-carb and the overwhelmingly positive research coming out about it is simply ignored. Why? It's FREE and money can't be made pushing a healthy lifestyle change!

Okay, enough of my soapbox, what do you think? Have I just become too cynical about the healthcare industry these days that I've become jaded to reality? Or, is it somehow better than I'm making it out to be? Or quite possibly could it be even worse? I would LOVE to hear from doctors, pharmaceutical reps, the uninsured or underinsured, and anyone else who plays a role in this debate.

There are no easy answers, but there must be a way to make this all work for the benefit of every American who wants and desires the opportunity to insure the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a plan in place in the event a health calamity should hit. Does such a plan already exist and I just don't know about it?

If you know of or represent a health insurance company that meets my basic requirements, then I am VERY interested in learning more about that plan. Please send any information to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I look forward to reading your comments in response to this issue that will not be going away anytime soon.

Oh, by the way, Christine's knee is fine. She has a deep contusion that the doctor said may take as much as nine months to heal. There was nothing he could do to alleviate the pain and fix her knee. That little visit to tell Christine there was nothing he could do for her cost a cool $150! Man, I'm in the wrong profession!

1-31-07 UPDATE: I received the following response from one of my regular readers who just happens to work in the medical industry and has firsthand knowledge (and of course commentary) about health insurance.

Ah, Jimmy! My husband is a physician and I file the healthcare insurance for our patients. I'm sorry to say it, but you're asking for the impossible. Everything is a tradeoff.

Do you want to be able to sue your doctor for malpractice? Then be prepared to have him order umpteen tests you really don't need, just so he'll be able to cover his rear end in court when the time comes.

Do you want new drugs developed for your diseases? Then expect drug companies to act like a business and not like a charity. What's the latest chemotherapy drug developed by a charity?

Do you want to pay low copays? Then you'll see a limitation somewhere else--the number of visits, the doctors you're permitted to see, the size of the premium paid by you plus your employer.

Do you want nationalized health insurance? (I know you don't but lots of people do.)Then recognize that the cheapest outcome of all is--death. Heroic measures cost a bundle. If the nationalized healthcare system makes you wait for your cardiac cath or your liver transplant or whatever, there's a good chance that you will simply die and avoid all those unnecessary expenses. And if there's only one national insurer, the patients can't take their business elsewhere, can they?

I'm not too fond of the current system either. I scream at the stupidity of insurance companies all the time.

My husband and I have a policy with a $20,000.00 deductible(!), so we get to pay for all our prescription drugs and office visits out of pocket (no professional courtesy anymore). Believe me, we shop around!

We finally found a clinic that takes cash only and has contracted with specialty doctors in the community for reasonable rates, also in cash. They've saved so much money by not dealing with insurance that they can pass the savings on to their patients. What we pay for an office visit there is less than the copay many of our patients have to pay on their insurance.

Okay, rant over. Hope this information helps!

Plenty to chew on there. THANKS for sharing your unique perspective. Anyone else?

2-2-07 UPDATE: Here's another perspective from someone who sells insurance.

Hi Jimmy,

I enjoyed your article and I share your frustration. I'm a self-employed insurance agent and guess what, I have to buy this stuff, too. I don't like the price of health insurance either.

For the last twenty years or so politicians and the media have framed this issue as a "health insurance" problem, as if insurance companies manufacture money. The problem is a "healthCARE" problem, and one glaring fact that everyone in politics and the media leave out is that we have a LARGE population of baby-boomers who are getting older and starting to file more claims as their parts begin breaking down.

I'm one of those baby-boomers. I'm 55. Thirty years ago when my peers and I were in our 20's we paid premiums but didn't file many claims. As a group, we actually helped hold the cost of medical insurance down for everyone else for a couple of generations. Now we're filing claims and it's our claims that are raising the average cost of premiums for everyone else. No one gave us credit for keeping costs down, so I guess it's good that we're not getting the blame for forcing them up now, but that's the reality.

Your comments about low co-pays interest me. When a drug or a medical service costs more to provide than the co-pay you paid, who pays the difference? The answer: someone else. When other people pay co-pays that are less than the cost of the drug or the medical service, who pays the difference? Answer: YOU DO.

That's all that any kind of insurance arrangement is, a cost sharing plan. When bad things happen to you, other people help pay for it. When bad things happen to OTHER people, YOU help pay for it.

I understand your desire for a low co-pay, but it's not realistic and never has been. Co-pays were a method that the insurance companies used to force doctors to join preferred provider organizations ( PPO's ) back in the early 90's. The insurance companies basically bribed patients into demanding that doctors join PPO's by discounting their regular fees so that the insurance companies could hold their premiums down.

Insurance companies aren't stupid. They know that if prices get too high the government will nationalize their industry. Their co-pay strategy worked but now consumers have become accustomed to them and seem to think the difference is paid from some magical pot of money somewhere. It isn't. It's paid by other policyholders like you.

The future of healthcare, if it isn't taken over by the government (which might happen) lies in consumers taking more responsibility for their healthcare expenses. Insurance plans with high deductibles, coupled with Health Savings Accounts are the future, in my opinion. I suggest you take a look at some of those.

Having a family and going without ANY health insurance is like risking EVERYTHING YOU OWN at Vegas without actually having any fun.

Our governor down here in Texas, a Republican named Rick Perry, had an interesting quote the other day. He said healthcare is the only industry where the consumer doesn't know what services actually cost, and it has no incentive to care because someone else is paying the bill. Sums it up pretty well, in my opinion.

Finally, I have a funny story to share with you, too. A few years ago I was visiting with one of the small businesses whose health insurance I used to handle. It was a doctor's office and I was meeting with the doctor's wife to discuss their options for dealing with the rate increase their health insurance carrier had just issued for them and their ten employees. Doctors have to buy health insurance, too.

The doctor's wife was REALLY complaining about insurance companies and their prices when there was a knock at the door. It was her husband, the doctor, and he had an attractive young lady with him. "This is Laura. She's from Merck Pharmaceuticals and she wants to know what night next week she can take us to dinner at The Mansion on Turtle Creek". ( Look this place up. It's probably the most expensive restaurant in Dallas. Movie stars stay there when they come to Dallas.)

The doctor and his wife decided that the following Thursday would be best, the doctor closed the door, and the doctor's wife went right back to complaining about the high cost of health insurance premiums.

I get cracked up every time I think about that woman. Good luck in your search!

Oh, that story at the end was TOO FUNNY! Here was my response back:

THANKS for your insights. I agree with most of what you wrote and have looked into medical savings accounts as my best option right now. I've stayed healthy since losing my weight, but my wife Christine has several medical needs for her eyes and back. She's the one I'm concerned about making sure she is covered.

It's not an easy problem to solve, but it must start with the consumer making good choices for themselves and stop relying on the free ride they expect from their health insurance. People who keep themselves healthy and away from the doctor should not be penalized for being well. It's almost like you should get sick to make health insurance worth the cost. And that's sad.

THANK YOU again for your comments! I REALLY appreciate them. Take care!

Doggoneit, An Anti-Obesity Drug For Canines?

Pfizer's prescription drugs have gone to the dogs

Just when you thought the pharmaceutical industry in the United States couldn't get any crazier or overzealous than it already has developing all these so-called miracle drugs to cure every ailment known to mankind, along comes a story like this one that reminds me why these gold-digging scheisters need to be locked up in prison with the key thrown away for their dishonesty and deception on the public.

The culprit this time around is the infamous Pfizer Inc., whose #1 bestselling cholesterol-lowering medication Lipitor brought down a cool $13 BILLION in revenue in 2006 (plus a few lawsuits and then a class action lawsuit about its safety which is still going through the courts), and now they're aiming for canines with a new drug called Slentrol, aka dirlotapide.

Slentrol is the first prescription diet pill designed for your pudgy pet pooch. As if all the plethora of weight loss pills for humans wasn't bad enough (with some of them being fined for false advertising just this week!), Pfizer believes they have discovered the next breakthrough wonder drug that will cure obesity in the nearly 20 million dogs who are currently either overweight or obese.

CHA-CHING CHA-CHING! Pfizer sees dollar signs in this!

This doggie obesity drug is basically a fat blocker that prevents the absorption of fat in their bodies while working as an appetite suppressant to keep your dog from overeating. The Food And Drug Administration happily approves of Slentrol for use on family dogs nationwide.

But what about the side effects on your four-legged friend? Well, they say this drug ONLY causes loose stools, diarrhea, vomiting, an overwhelming feeling of being tired, and a loss of appetite. Is that all?

So you had better be ready with lots of pooper scoopers, vomit scoopers, towels, mops, and whatever else you can find to clean up these wonderful "side effects" while the dog you used to know as a playful, fun-loving companion now becomes a virtual useless invalid. Is that what you want for your dog, fat or otherwise?

As if they needed to say this, the FDA warned dog owners against taking this drug for themselves or trying to give it to the family cat because the side effects are much worse in humans and other animals. Oh my, how much worse could it be than having it come out of both ends in between lying around in bed without eating anything all day?

Don't ask, but here's what YOU have to look forward to if you did happen to take Slentrol--abdominal distention, abdominal pain, diarrhea, flatulence, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Isn't that just lovely?! I sure bet you'll lose a lot of weight that way, though! Jeepers creepers!

Can't I just feed my dog (or myself for that matter) a whole bottle of castor oil instead? It'll have the same physical effect as Slentrol and will cost MUCH less money than the premium price Pfizer will be charging for their new dogbesity drug. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?

The story notes that dogs need a high-fat diet to be the strong and healthy animals they were created to be (not unlike humans!). Fat is essential for their bodies and yet Pfizer wants to prevent fat consumed by dogs from being absorbed? Won't this actually stunt their growth, slow their development, prevent them from procreating, and cause their coat to fall out in the long run, hmmm? Are we REALLY going to make dogs go through all this just to shed a few pounds? And for what purpose?

Interestingly, just as the diet drugs created for humans need to be combined with a low-calorie diet and exercise program (it's the dirty little secret these drug companies don't ever tell you about!), so too must Slentrol be accompanied by "a complete and balanced diet and exercise" program according to the drug's label.

Pfizer is quick to point out that Slentrol is "not a cure for obesity" and that the nasty side effects go away a few days after you stop giving it to your dog. But just like humans, dogs that are overweight or obese need to make lifestyle changes to help them manage their weight. That's why low-carb, high-fat diets have been recommended to help Buster lose weight and get healthy.

Here's some healthy food for thought to chew on: Could it be that dogs are getting fatter and fatter because their owners are no longer taking them on walks around the neighborhood or playing with them in the yard or at the local park?

Dogs are meant to be active and yet what do we do with them? Lock 'em up in a kennel all day everyday for weeks, months, sometimes years without ever letting them run like the wind as God intended for them. Is it any wonder why they are getting obese at record levels?

Nice try on this one, Pfizer, but I'm not buying into your hype with this drug either. With all the troubles you have been having with the side effects from Lipitor, frankly I'm surprised you would even put something like Slentrol out there with all these side effects. Are you TRYING to get sued again? I don't think people are going to take too kindly to their dog getting sick from your drug.

Slentrol sounds like a good idea until you realize it's just another blatant attempt by the pharmaceutical industry to correct a problem with a pill rather than encouraging a healthier diet and physical activity plan. When are we going to stop wishing and hoping for that magic bullet to come along for obesity and just do what it takes to get there naturally?

Doggoneit, people just need to stop lining the pockets of companies like Pfizer with their hard-earned money and start livin' la vida low-carb instead! Living a healthy low-carb lifestyle, for you and your dog, is a cheaper and more enjoyable way to manage weight, ward off disease, and be around for many years to come. We don't need any new drugs to help us do that!

1-7-07 UPDATE: Annette at the "Fish and Cans" blog has some humorously interesting commentary on this dogbesity drug as well. And the "Almanak" blog has more info on the cost of this new doggie drug as well as a rather blunt reaction to it, too.

Obesity-Fighting Nasal Spray Granted Patent

Could a nasal spray REALLY be the weight loss miracle of the future?

It's yet another day in this crazy, mixed-up world we live in, so who's gonna step up to the plate with a proposed solution to solve one of mankind's greatest problems--OBESITY--today? Gee, what a surprise! Why, it's a pharmaceutical company, of course, with their pie-in-the-sky promises to find a "miracle" drug that will cure the "disease" of weight gain forever. Yaaaawwwwn! Wake me up when this is over. Er, oh, um...really, I can't wait to hear about it!

First there were the anti-obesity pills. Then we had a vaccine that was going to wipe obesity off the planet forever. Now we have the latest and greatest obesity-fighting measure that's ever been created--A NASAL SPRAY!

That's right, folks, like a bad cold that just won't go away, obesity is SOLVED with the use of a couple of squirts up the sniffer each day. Oh, but this isn't just any old nasal spray, mind you. It's one that has now been issued a patent (#7,138,107 if you want to look it up!) for the Boston, MA-based drug manufacturer Compellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who brag about creating "innovative medicines for obesity, diabetes, and hypertension." Yippy freakin' skippy!


Compellis is all giddy over being granted a patent for their nose spray

The name of this dubious nasal treatment for obesity is the rather robotic-sounding CP404. That sounds like something you'd see walking around in a Star Wars movie to me! Actually, it's ironic they use that number sequence after CP (Compellis Pharmaceuticals) because "404" on the Internet is an error message that means "server not responding or file not found." Hmmm, is this an omen of things to come for Compellis--their nasal spray "not responding" to obesity? Ya gotta wonder these things because eerie coincidences like this don't just happen out of the blue. Be afraid, be VERY afraid!


CP404 could be one big "error" by the time all is said and done

Describing their nasal spray invention as a "therapeutic platform for treating obesity" by producing "significant weight loss" in animals, Compellis expects to begin human testing in 2007. Company president and CEO Chris Adams is tickled pink at this "significant milestone" with the issuance of a patent to further develop this nasal spray expected to be used to "block olfactory activity and reduce food intake" using a calcium channel blocker.

"It seems so simple - blocking the sense of smell and taste," Adams wrote in an e-mail to The Boston Globe. "But it has never been used to treat obesity, and it really does work. Our bodies do not crave what we cannot smell or taste."

Has this Chris Adams character EVER been obese a single day in his entire life?! What fantasy world is he living in if he thinks preventing the ability to smell or taste is going to keep people from craving food? That's the problem with all these supposed "cures" for obesity. They don't address the root problem which is usually eating too much of the wrong kinds of foods for NO APPARENT REASON AT ALL!

Obesity isn't all about the taste and craving for food, Mr. Adams. Take it from this former 400-pounder! Sometimes you just wanna eat because it makes you feel good, to have something to munch on while watching CSI, to cheer you up when you're depressed, or even something as insane as to fight boredom! In other words, you don't need to be hungry or have a need to eat to consume food when you are fat. YOU JUST DO IT!


Oh my gosh, it works! I'm healed from my obesity now!

If I wanted to prevent my nose and tongue from experiencing the pleasure that comes from smelling and tasting food, then I could simply stuff a bunch of cotton balls up my nostrils like in that picture of me above! That cuts off all sense of smell and everything would taste pretty bland. Is THAT a permanent lifestyle change that YOU could live with for the rest of your life? That's exactly what Mr. Adams and his CP404 nasal spray is trying to fool people into believing.

Oh, but, it will only be used to help you lose weight, it's not meant to last forever, they'll argue back. So, then what happens after you lose the weight, hmmm? What will keep you from gaining it all back once you stop snorting this stuff up your nose for a year or so that will produce God only knows what in side effects to your body and overall health?! I've got some MAJOR, big time issues with this drug as I am sure many others who care about people who desire weight loss do as well.

After utilizing several different versions of their nostril-clogging spray on various animals, Compellis believes they have found the one (CP404) that will be "well tolerated in humans" and can quickly and easily be mass produced to start fighting obesity in very short order. The drug has already been used on humans for other ailments already, Compellis contends, so they naturally think they have a winner that will give frustrated overweight and obese people a fighting chance to overcome their weight problem. I'm not so sure about that.

Call me cynical and skeptical, but this CP404 miracle weight loss nasal spray from Compellis is in my estimation yet another shameful attempt by a pharmaceutical company to try to make a buck off of a desperate group of people--the obese! Obesity is a VERY real problem that warrants solutions that don't insult the intelligence of those who are looking for help. Stuffing the noses of people with a mist or spray is NOT going to make people thin! I think we can all agree on that point.

I e-mailed Chris Adams at Compellis just three questions to answer for me:

1. How much more weight as a percentage can people expect to lose taking CP404 compared with those taking a placebo?

2. Your therapy for treating obesity seems to be centered on altering the sense of smell to discourage dieters from overconsuming food. How does CP404 help people deal with emotional eating and other non-nutrition-related diet issues?

3. Why does Compellis believe it is necessary to provide a pharmaceutical answer to the problem of obesity rather than attempting to educate the general public on the wide array of effective all-natural weight loss solutions that are already available to them instead?

I have a lot more questions than this, but so far he has not even responded to these questions. If he does, then I will gladly share with you his answers. But for now these are the first questions I have for him about this new drug that he wants to widely distribute to Mr. & Mrs. Obese. He will need to "compel us" (get it, Compellis) with solid answers to ALL of these questions before we're convinced.

We need to stop trying to create silly little weight loss gimmicks like a nasal spray that is allegedly designed to trick and fool our bodies into not desiring food. Food itself is meant to be enjoyed and savored (especially when you are livin' la vida low-carb!), but that means REAL whole foods and healthy foods that your body can use.

If people would just stop consuming junk food like fast food, high fructose corn syrup-laded soda pop, white flour, heavily processed vending machine snacks, table sugar, and even high-starch foods like potatoes, then those simple actions would go a long way towards resolving this obesity epidemic we face in a non-invasive, all-natural way that does not require the use of an expensive drug from a power-hungry, money-grabbing pharmaceutical company looking to make a quick buck on a product that may or may not work.

Be smart people! Start educating yourself about those things you CAN do for yourself and then DO THEM! If staying stuck on a low-fat or low-calorie diet forever leaves you feeling like a failure in your dieting efforts, then how about trying livin' la vida low-carb for a refreshing and delicious change of pace? That's what I did on January 1, 2004 and it has helped me shed nearly 200 pounds WITHOUT the use of any drug. I'm healthier than I've ever been in my entire life and I'll never go back to my old ways of eating again.

Best of all, my eating habits have all been radically altered for the better because of my lifestyle change. Therein lies the key to finding permanent and lasting weight loss success. It's tempting to get caught up in the hype of a new drug that supposedly is the "miracle" you've been looking for regarding weight loss. But don't fall for it! There are MUCH safer and MORE effective long-term ways to lose weight without putting yourself at risk. And they say low-carb is "dangerous?" HA!

Obesity Pill Promises Pie In The Sky

If you are trying to lose weight, then I must warn you of a new weight loss drug called Acomplia.

A much-heralded study was recently released by European researchers that found a group of 1,500 obese or overweight people lost more weight taking this pill than those who took a placebo. Supposedly their waist size got smaller, cholesterol dropped, triglycerides went down, became insulin resistant, and other health benefits after taking Acomplia.

But they also had their calorie intake reduced, which means less food for the participants. Everyone knows you can LOSE weight by taking in less calories. What nobody wants to talk about is how you can't keep eating that way without ALWAYS feeling so hungry. It's the dirty little secret about low-fat, low-calorie that you never read about in the media.

Even the researchers aren't so sure this new miracle weight loss drug will last over the long-term.

"How this finding will translate into prolonged weight loss in clinical practice has yet to be determined," the researchers write in their report.

Manufactured by the third-largest pharmaceutical company in the world Sanofi-Aventis, Acomplia is not yet available for consumer purchase. Tests are still being conducted about the drug's effect on the brain since it blocks appetite control receptors.

My concern about this new weight loss drug is that it does nothing to address the root cause of obesity -- bad eating habits! Unless your lifestyle changes to keep the weight off, people who take this drug will see all of that weight pour right back on them and then some. It's the problem with any weight loss measure that doesn't have a long-term plan for maintaining weight loss.

That's what is wrong with low-fat and it is definitely what is wrong with this pill. This pie in the sky mentality by the drug company will leave a lot of people getting even fatter along with the wallets of the drug company. They know the lure of weight loss is BIG BUSINESS for them!

For me, I'd rather be livin' la vida low-carb and not worry about things like side effects and weight gain after getting off the diet or pill. Why do so many people want to make losing weight akin to rocket science?! The answer: DO LOW-CARB!