GET VIAGRA

Try a dirty weekend - it could be therapeutic!

July 31, 2006

WHEN last did you have a dirty weekend?

A weekend you went away from the mad crowd with only one thing on your mind-to have a surfeit of sex?! We were in a comfortable lull at the business courses I run with Joel when he suggested for a trip to Togo. A business associate of his was giving his daughter away and Joel had promised to be there - it would also give me an opportunity to relax - something I hadn’t done for a long time - so I jumped at the chance. Besides, any time spent in the company of Joel is always memorable - he always sees to that.

A day before the trip, Linda, my younger friend, the ex-stewardess raising a daughter whose father she would never know, dropped in for a chat. She’s currently involved with a much older man who spoilt her rotten. I was happy for her - she deserved all the lucky break she could get. When I told her about my weekend away, she snorted. “I hope it works for you,â€? she told me. “Paul (her new man) took me on a weekend away recently to his country home of all places! The way he talked about the building and its surroundings gave me an impression of a spa, so I eagerly went with him only to discover the place was smack in the middle of nowhere. Nobody lived in it except some few hands at the outhouse who helped on the farm. So all we did was eat, watch video films since the telly couldn’t pick up the signals from most television stations, and have sex - you could scarcely call it love-making.

The man’s penchant for pounded yam is unbelievable. Thank goodness he has a good cook who could pound the daylight out of the yam! It was a novelty at first to eat the stuff with fresh vegetables and bush meat but after a couple of times, I got fed up with the stuff. Eating was the next best thing to sex. We scarcely had much to talk about because of the age gap. “In the meantime, lover boy, who I’m sure must have come with enough supply of viagra, was for ever pouncing at the slightest opportunity. I couldn’t get away fast enough and it will take a lot of arm-twisting for me to get away for any weekend whatsoever with him. And I must first know the destination!�

I assured him Joel was nothing of the sort. A bit of a rascal, he is a real adventurer whose escapades bugles the mind. The last time we’d met in London, I was very happy to have a friend around after about a week with my cousin and his wife. He checked in at the Churchill and I didn’t need that much persuasion to move in with him for the five days he spent there. The double room with fresh fruits, assorted chocolates and fluffy toweling robes were welcoming indeed. The next morning, we were still at it hammer and tongs when a key turned in the lock. Who’s that?� we chorused, diving under the bed covers! A maid apologised and quickly shut the door. This happened again twice more, and we were about to complain when we realised that in our eagerness to have fun, the do-not disturb sign was turned inward, leaving a please - make-the-room sign for the cleaners.

The next evening, Joel treated my cousin and his wife to dinner which was lovely until he dragged us to a posh wine bar. The bar was all sophistication with the literature on each of its cocktail more interesting than the concoction handed to us. But we were happily slushed by the time we left the bar. We were all walking merrily along in the cold night when Joel herded us to a door-way purportedly to watch a film. He paid for the four of us and my jaw almost hit the floor when we saw the film that was playing and the beady eyes of the perverts that were watching. “Blue film!� cackled my cousin as he excitedly took a seat eagerly joined by his wife.

Drugs Online - Buy Drugs Online at reasanoble prices.DrugOnline.cc provides confortable and easy way to order drugs online including drugs free shipping.

I reluctantly sat through a few minutes of the obscenity when I noticed dark images of the fingers of one that had been reflected on the screen and dancing all over the nude bodies. The culprit was my cousin whose wife was now looking disapprovingly at him. I gave Joel a nasty nude and stood up - the men most reluctantly followed. On the way out, they both sniggered suggestively and asked if we wanted to buy any sex toys - the assortment of gadgets on display was enough to make you puke! They were discreetly exhibited in a glass box on the way out - a lot of them looking extremely life-like!

The rest of Joel’s stay was most enjoyable indeed and he took us to his club on his last night. He has this old-model Mercedes he drove around, courtesy of his associates. Instead of driving straight to the club, however, he parked the car a few blocks away. “The club is posh you know,� he explained, “and members are lords and millionaires. The snooty doorman is bound to look at this clap-trap of a car with distaste and might not ask for it to be parked.� I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! As we got to the entrance of the club, the doorman, with a posh accent asked for the keys to Joel’s car so it could be properly parked. Joel told him not to worry, that his chauffeur had gone to park his car! It was the most idiotic thing to do as far as I was concerned and the amount on the bill for our meal and house-champagne as Joel produced his credit card, would keep me in luxury for a week if I were to spend it in less up market surroundings!

So this Togo trip wouldn’t be boring if Joel’s escapades in London were anything to go by! We went in one of his posh cars and he drove. “No matter how loyal your driver is,� he told me, “he’ll sing to ‘madam’ if the bribe is right.� A chronic philanderer indeed. After a few couple of stops on the way for some refreshments, we eventually arrived our destination. A very impressive looking five-star hotel with the presidential suite Joel asked for taking almost half of a top floor. “What do we need all this room for?� I asked him. “It’s only for two nights�. “Candy�, he reasoned, “don’t you want to be spoiled?� Put that way, who was I not to forget my penny-pinching ways?

And spoil me he did. He ordered an elaborate dinner to be served in our suite. So while piped music filled all the rooms, the meal was served by four waiters dressed in immaculate white uniforms. I was impressed alright but didn’t think all this show of wealth was necessary. Maybe it was about time I asked for a raise in the professional fees I charge him! He certainly has more than enough cash to throw around.

“With all that food and good wine, the night was a bliss. Bright and early the next morning, Joel was up, asking me to get ready, that we were going to town to do a bit of site-seeing. The town looked dingy after the hotel’s surroundings but we broused through some interesting shops, bought a few interesting items before Joel took me to the local market. He made his way to a shack that was obviously a buka and plunked himself on a bench. We were given curious looks by some of the customers but Joel ignored them, ordering the local khenki and fish stew and bottles of the local beer. Talk about jumping from the sublime to the ridiculous. You can turn up your nose all you like,� said Joel with a twinkle in his eyes, “but the food here is good and cheap. An opportunity for you to see how the other half lives here!� I was all for it.

I love eating for a start, and the fresh tilapia fish stew in front of me was steaming hot. I dug in with relish! Unfortunately, it almost spoilt my appetite for the wedding feast later in the evening. A very lavish party by that country’s standard, it wasn’t a patch on the no-holds barred Lagos weddings! It was a well-rested and well-loved me that eventually made my way to my flat at the end of our trust. The catch about Joel is that he is most unpredictable and dull is not how you’ll describe him. The weekend away left a dirty smile on my face! Deji is the predictable one and I wasn’t surprised when he called almost as soon as I came in, wanting to know how my weekend away with friends to Ibadan went! I gave him a boring account of an imaginary wedding and how I was glad to be home. With a satisfied smile, I was the cat who got the milk. Once in a while, life sure puts a smirk on your face!

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

“I am leaving to go get married” Angry Pamela Anderson storms out

July 28, 2006

Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson took the brunt of the abuse from “Everyone Loves Raymond” star Brad Garrett during a toast to poker celebrity Doyle Brunson Thursday night. Garrett, who emceed the event, managed to offend nearly every race and ethnic group but it was Pamela Anderson’s manager who finally stood up and lashed out at the host.

“Do you have anything nice to say?” shouted out Pamela’s manager. Garrett immediately began berating the manager, implying he was a “drug addict”. Anderson and her posse got up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Garrett asked of her.

“I am leaving to go get married,” Anderson replied back to him. Pamela is due to wed Kid Rock any day now.

Comedian Brad Garrett managed to offend nearly everyone during a toast for legendary poker player Doyle Brunson. In fact, Brunson took the brunt of most of Garrett’s jokes as did his son, Todd.

“Todd was named that because “Useless Mother F*cker” would not fit on a birth certificate,” the abrasive comedian said.

“The night of Todd’s conception is one night that Doyle should not have gone all-in.”

But it got worse with Pam. Garrett would not let up.

“Get up from under the table Pam,” he said. “Make yourself at home Pam, get f*cked by someone.”

Our own Jenny Woo was not amused either, though she was caught chirping away at some of the jokes.

“I would have walked out of the room before Pam did,” Woo commented, disturbed by a number of comments made by Garrett.

Discount Pharmacy - Buy Pharmacy at discount prices including free shipping.Discount Pharmacy provides confortable and easy way to order discount pharmacy online.

The toast honoring legendary Doyle Brunson of Doyles Room (See Web Site Here) culminated with an after party but the real fun took place during the hour plus long toast where insults were traded more rapidly than cards by a dealer.

When Pamela and her posse stormed out of the room, Garrett did not let up.

“She has to go b*ow some IBM exec at Club Paradise,” he shouted.

The Doyles Room crowd were hard core and hardly frazzled by the foul mouthed antics of various speakers including Garrett. Even Pamela Anderson herself got up on stage and mentioned how Brunson had no need for Viagra.

“Everything is big in Texas,” Anderson said, making reference to Doyle Brunson’s sex organ and his home state.

Pamela Anderson teamed up with Doyle Brunson to start her own online poker room. Both sites have been receiving extraordinary traffic.

“It’s the most traffic we’ve seen yet by far,” commented a spokesperson for the company.

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Silvestri admits lying to police

July 24, 2006

ONE of eight persons of interest in the death of Queensland woman Dianne Brimble has admitted he lied when he told police he was unaware of anyone having illegal drugs in his cruise ship cabin.

Interviewed on September 26, 2002, two days after the mother of three died on the floor of his cabin, Letterio Silvestri denied knowing whether anyone had drugs.

But last month he told the inquest into Mrs Brimble’s death that his cabin-mate, Mark Wilhelm, offered her the drug fantasy, and she “fully consented” to taking it.

Mr Silvestri today told Glebe Coroners Court he had lied to police “unintentionally”.

“I thought the drug fantasy didn’t have anything to do with Mrs Brimble’s death at the time … did they (the police) really need to know that?” he said.

Mrs Brimble, 42, died from an overdose of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a date-rape drug also known as fantasy, the day after boarding the P&O cruise ship Pacific Sky.

Mr Silvestri denied taking any illegal drugs on board, although he had Viagra “because sometimes you just might want to impress somebody”.

Four years after telling police Mrs Brimble ruined his holiday by dying in his cabin, Mr Silvestri is still angry “because of all that I’ve been put through”.

“Everyone (was) blaming me … for something I didn’t do, and I was annoyed and angry,” he said today.

“I’m not saying it’s Mrs Brimble’s fault.”

When Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge asked who had put him through his experience, he said: “Mark”.

Mr Silvestri said Mr Wilhelm seemed shocked, confused, nervous and scared after Mrs Brimble died.

But, as the inquest has previously heard, Mr Wilhelm began a sexual relationship with a young woman on the cruise two days later.

Ms Milledge said as far as Mr Wilhelm was concerned “nothing gets in the way of sex”.

“He’s fortunate like that,” Mr Silvestri replied.

Mr Silvestri could not remember telling another passenger that they thought of throwing Mrs Brimble’s body overboard, but there was too much traffic in the corridor outside the cabin where she died.

But when he said he could not recall whether the ship’s captain offered his group a free cruise to compensate them for their trouble, Ms Milledge warned him: “Now you’re getting stupid”.

“Don’t keep saying, ‘I don’t remember’ … I won’t accept that from you,” Ms Milledge said.

Another passenger has previously told the inquest that Mr Silvestri’s group barked at her and her friends at dinner, singing “who let the dogs out?”

Mr Silvestri could not recall the incident, but said it would have happened because the women were ugly.

“That’s just something you do with a bunch of your mates to have fun,” he said.

Asked why he had described Mrs Brimble to police interviewers as smelly, black and an “ugly dog”, Mr Silvestri said he wanted to get it across that he was not interested in her.

“I mean, they laughed about it … they found it amusing,” he said.

The inquest has previously heard that Mr Wilhelm had sex with Mrs Brimble and that she gave Mr Silvestri oral sex.

The men, along with Ryan Kuchel, Matthew Graham Slade, Dragan Losic, Petar Pantic, Luigi Vitale and Sakelaros Kambouris, are considered of interest to investigating police.

Ms Milledge earlier today said she was not on a “personal crusade” or a “witch-hunt”, but was just doing her job as she investigated Mrs Brimble’s death.

She said she was committed to acting fairly and impartially to all parties.

Mr Silvestri will continue his evidence when the inquest resumes tomorrow.

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Good old boys keep us down

July 19, 2006

The hypocrisy of a few pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for the “morning after” pill, but give not even a second thought to their family values as they fill prescriptions for Viagra, is not consistent with those family values. Apparently their employers and the pharmacy boards remain mute on these self-appointed “pill police.”

I wonder if those employers and pharmacy boards would be as lenient with a female pharmacist if she refused to fill a prescription for Viagra without a note of permission from the patient’s wife. This pharmacist would have to assume that without that permission, the Viagra was intended to be used for immoral purposes and thus was violating her family values.

And then there is the blatant discrimination of the athletic shoe makers, who generously outfit whole school teams with men’s athletic shoes but throw not even their factory seconds to the girl’s teams.

One must come to the conclusion that the good old boys in the seats of power of religion, business and governance still embrace the values of a bygone era: “Keep yer wimmen pregnant and barefoot.”

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Keep the FDA out of treatment decisions

July 19, 2006

An efficient market depends on the consumer being both informed and rational in his choices. This obviously requires familiarity with the performance of the product (success rate, side effects, etc.) as well as an understanding of how the drug works. This is a bit much to ask of your average consumer, considering all of the education and training required to make a doctor or a pharmacologist. It would be a textbook case of a highly inefficient market with a great degree of misallocation of resources. In other words, patients would go broke as they died while pursuing ineffective treatments.

Is a government agency like the FDA the best solution to this problem? I can’t really say. But I think they’re a valid solution. The problem comes when they move away from that role in improving patient information to actually dictating which medicines a patient can and cannot use and for what they can use them.
FDA Approval

The ridiculously long clinical trial process is designed to determine how effective a given drug is as well as what, if any, the major side effects are. Based on this the FDA then makes a rather arbitrary decision as to whether or not the costs outweigh the benefits. Strangely enough, moneymakers like antidepressants, ADHD drugs and the like are allowed considerably higher thresholds than treatments for things like lupus, multiple sclerorosis, and other debilitating diseases.

The clinical trial itself is a good thing: It improves patient information. FDA approval is not. What the FDA deems “unacceptable risk� might be far different from what an individual patient may think. Tysabri, a treatment to prevent relapse in Multiple Sclerosis, is a perfect example of this. Three of the 1200 clinical trial participants developed a rather rare brain infection and subsequently died. These are not odds that the FDA likes. However, MS is quite a debilitating disease, and a patient might feel completely differently from a bunch of healthy people in white coats sitting far away from the pain, the debility, and the hopelessness.
Off-Label Drug Use

Another peculiarity of the FDA approval process is that a drug isn’t merely approved as “safe�; it’s approved as “safe and effective�. Which is a horse of an entirely different color. The FDA doesn’t approve drugs, but rather approves the use of a given drug in the treatment of certain conditions.

In other words, if your new wonder drug has a second potential use, guess what? Another trial, another 5-10 years before people at large can actually use it. Even though it’s already been deemed safe.

This is particularly problematic given the nature of the human body. Take Viagra for instance. Bob Dole may use it for one thing, but it has great potential in treating pulmonary hypertension and other cardiovascular problems involving constriction of your blood vessels. Although there are other medications out there, they often take a “bigger hammer� approach and in many cases are incompatible with either the patient’s condition or their other drugs. Viagra, on the other hand, is quite a bit more gentle in its effect.

It’s an interesting thing about medicine in that the core of our knowledge hasn’t changed. I use the same textbooks in physiology and pharmacology as my mother did 30 years ago. They’ve been updated in the ensuing decades, but I bet I could get the same letter grade using her ancient version as mine.

A drug is approved for treatment of one illness because it has a certain effect on the body. If this effect is known to be useful in alleviating other maladies, then why must I be hindered in using it in order to treat my patients, simply because of the FDA’s shortsightedness?
Conclusion

The FDA’s biggest sin is micromanagement. As an overarching organization, it can help both patient and doctor make informed treatment decisions by bringing to the fore otherwise unobtainable data on drug performance (and more importantly harmful side effects). As such, it can liberate an imperfect market and allow better allocation of medical and economic resources.

However, when the FDA decides to make the decision for doctor and patient it not only limits their freedom, it compromises the patient’s health and the doctor’s ability to change lives. At least once in my medical career, I will literally hold my patient’s life in my hands. I will stand between him and an untimely death. The idea that some suits in Washington can tell me what I can and cannot do in such a situation is absurd.

Every patient is different; the etiology of their disease, its progression, severity, and how it impacts the patient’s life qualitatively. For one man with a relatively mild case of Multiple Sclerosis, a 1 in 400 chance of dying may not be worth the risk. For a woman who finds herself in a wheelchair, losing sight, losing dexterity, losing her self, she may choose differently. Perhaps to her a year of relative freedom is worth more than five years of increasing debility. Who has the right to take that choice away from her?

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Family First: Cracking Kids’ Secret Online Codes

July 12, 2006

There’s a language used by kids for instant and text messaging, and it’s a lot more complicated than L-O-L for “laughing out loud.” While it can be used as an online shorthand to be more efficient when communicating, it can also disguise inappropriate conversations. To help parents crack the code and protect their children, I talk to Allan Kush of wiredsafety.org.

What is Leetspeak and who uses it?

“Leetspeak is actually derived from “Elite.” In the hacker culture, being called an “Elite” is a badge of honor, indicating that you have great skills and/or have accomplished some feat of notoriety within the community. Originally more of a short-hand than some cryptic code, Leetspeak as it came to be known was a quick language that people could use to converse with each other, a machine short-hand if you will. Of course, as with anything of that nature, the “wannabes’ picked up on it as well. In time, other uses for Leetspeak were found. In its most basic form, Leetspeak is simply a letter/number substitution, substituting letters or numbers that either look like or sound like the portions of text they are replacing. For instance, spammers will use variations of Leetspeak terms to mask the nature of their emails from the spam filters that are being used to block them. Consider the “Viagra” spam many people seem to be inundated with. If the spam filters are looking for ” V I A G R A”, a spammer may use a Leetspeak technique such as ” V 1 A G R A ” or ” V I 4 G R A “. While not technically Leetspeak, it employees some of the principles and defeats any filter looking for the original letter combination. There are literally thousands of Leetspeak terms being bantered about on the web.”

Why should parents be concerned?

“Parents already feel out-classed by their kids when it comes to the computer. In most homes, the kids and teens know more about computers, games, software and websites than their parents do. The parents readily acknowledge this, and most have told their kids as much! So, how should parents respond to this? Parents need to be actively involved with what their kids are doing online. Lack of knowledge of computers should not be used as an excuse to not be involved. You may not know how to play soccer, but that does not prevent you from attending your son or daughter’s games, does it? Parents should be concerned anytime their kids are spending a lot of time on the computer, especially if it is at the expense of spending time with their real life friends off-line. Each family situation is different, but online predators that are seeking children or minors know which “buttons” to push with kids. How to get them to isolate themselves from their parents. How to exploit some family disagreement to their own ends. Kids spending inordinate amounts of idle time on the computer contribute to this problem.

“Kids will normally use chat lingo and to some extent Leetspeak to make their keyboard time more productive. If you see ” POS ” on the screen, that is not necessarily a disparaging remark about the Yugo sitting in your driveway; usually it means “Parent Over Shoulder”, chat lingo telling the other person to not say anything they would not want mom or dad to know. So just because your kids are using chat lingo does not mean that they are involved in something dangerous. What you DO need to be on the look out for are some of the other warning signals: Insistence on their ‘privacy’. The screen suddenly changing when you walk by. Not being willing to tell you who they are talking to or what they are talking about. Being up at odd hours in order to chat. And yes, strange phone calls or charges on your long distance or cell phone bills. Bear in mind that many child predators WILL use chat lingo as well as Leetspeak to “hide in plain sight”. They can be grooming your son or daughter right under your nose and you have no clue. So active involvement and setting down guidelines for computer activity are essential to keeping your family safe. If you see something on the screen that you do not know, stop your child and ask them “Hey, what does that mean?” If they have nothing to hide, they will likely tell you. You will have to decide within your own family how much of what is being done online is for you to know, and how much of it could fall under the realm of ‘privacy’. You must be emphatic with your children that ANYTHING they say or do online CAN and sometimes DOES affect everyone else that lives in your home. In other words, a danger to one person is a danger to all.

How do parents learn Leetspeak?

“Learning Leetspeak as a means to its own end is not normally productive. There are many excellent ‘chat translators’ available online. A group of teenagers known as Teenangels (www.teenangels.org) has an online chat lingo translator on their website. It currently has about 1500 of the more common ( and less profane) terms listed. Another excellent resource that covers this topic can be found on the Microsoft website here: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/leetspeak.mspx. Parents need a familiarity with the language that is coursing across their kid’s computer screens, but normally only a familiarity.”

How effective is parental control software when dealing with Leetspeak?

“Most parental control software will not handle Leetspeak well. That is because parental control software typically is configured to block specified websites or classes of websites, certain words and domains. Because there are so many possible Leetspeak variations for any given word, it is very difficult if not impossible to block all possible combinations. If your children will not cooperate with you in their online activities, then you as a parent will need to decide what the most appropriate response will be.”

Advice for parents whose children are using it?

“Kids will always be kids. Just as those who grew up in the 50s hung out at pool-halls much to their parent’s chagrins, the kids of today have their own unique place to hang out, and it is online. Kids today are connected in ways that many parents only fantasized about when they were kids. Social networking sites, text messages, cell phones, blogs, and bulletin boards … the list goes on and continues to expand. Parents need to be actively involved and take a leadership role in what their kids are doing, regardless if it is the local Little League Team or the social networking site that their kids are involved with. This means knowing what their kids are doing, supervising them and establishing guidelines and limits. The over-whelming majority of kids are just having fun. They will cooperate with, and actually welcome their parent’s interest in what they are doing online. Actually, it is typically only when a parent is clue-less and disinterested in what their kids are doing online that a kid will get suspicious when the finally take an interest in what they are doing. So, be involved and be involved consistently is key.

“Face it though, there are some kids that for whatever reason are not going to cooperate. Each family will have to deal with that situation individually and as it comes up. There are many things a parent can do to address this type of lack of cooperation. There is parental control software that can help. There are programs that will actually record and let a parent know what their kids are doing online. The latter type of program should only be used as a last resort however. It does not foster trust and respect between parent and child in most cases. However, if the child is not being the least bit cooperative, it is a viable option. Use it with extreme discretion.”

Any final thoughts?

“Like it or not, kids will continue using all the modern electronic means to stay connected with each other. Parents need to become educated in what is out there, and have a good understanding of how it is used and almost as importantly, how it could be misused.”

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Media Bubble: Times Needs To Save Its Pennies For Alex Kuczynski’s Clothing Allowance

July 11, 2006

Not only are contributors to The Times’Great Big Book Of Everything not getting paid, they’re not even getting a copy of the book. It’s class all the way over at 43rd Street. [WWD]
• Speaking of The Times, Republican lawmakers are taking a page out of Bob Dole’s book. Presumably not the one where he pops a Viagra and bangs Liddy a new hole, but we wouldn’t put anything past those guys. [NYS]
• The Boston Globe (owned by The New York Times, how do you like that for thematic consistency?) has informed its gay employees that they need to get married or they’ll lose their domestic partner benefits. On the plus side, everyone who does tie the knot will get a copy of the new Times book as a wedding present

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Man Accused Of Forging Viagra Prescriptions

July 7, 2006

A Philadelphia man is accused of devising and executing an elaborate scheme to get Viagra, a drug that treats erectile dysfunction.

Galen Baker, 50, who lives in the 1700 block of Diamond Street, has been charged with insurance fraud, theft by deception, identity theft and forgery.

Investigators said Baker stole blank prescriptions from his doctor’s office, wrote out the prescription and forged his doctor’s name.

Police said he then used his co-worker’s name and benefits card and submitted nearly 40 prescriptions at different pharmacies.

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Common drugs can cause travelers pain

July 5, 2006

The bottle of Viagra that Rush Limbaugh carried into this country last week landed the radio star in legal limbo and late night comedians’ punch lines. It also points out how any drugs — even the most common — can become prescriptions for trouble when traveling.

One-third of the 2,500 Americans arrested overseas each year are held on drug-related charges, according to the U.S. State Department. Not following the letter of the law also can be a problem coming home.

Limbaugh was detained and his drugs seized as he came through Palm Beach International Airport on June 26 for having a prescription in his doctor’s name. The State’s Attorney Office in Palm Beach is still investigating.

Travelers should check the laws of each country before they check in their luggage. Something as innocuous as putting pills into a dispenser with compartments marked with the days of the week — rather than the original container — can alert customs officials.

“That would be ever so much easier to carry,” said Karen Hale, 65, of Ormond by-the-Sea, about those seven-days-in-one dispensers. She attributed problem-free travels to China, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Kenya, Ireland, England, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Switzerland and the Amazon Basin to her prescription-stashing approach.

“I’m always very careful to keep them in the container they came in,” she said.

Travelers going someplace exotic, be warned. Chewing gum and chewing tobacco, for example, are not allowed into Singapore, according to that government’s Web site. Japanese customs officials will get riled up at those coming into the country with stimulants found in sinus medications such as Sudafed and Vicks inhalers. And morphine, codeine and benzodiazepines — not uncommon prescriptions in the United States — are not allowed into France, according to the French embassy.

For a smooth return, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has these general recommendations:

· Carry only the quantity of substance that a person with the condition (such as chronic pain) would normally carry for personal use.

· Carry a prescription or written statement from your physician that the substances are being used under a doctor’s supervision.

· Medicines brought into the United States without a U.S. doctor’s prescription — to take advantage of lower drug prices outside this country — are limited to personal use and 50 dosage units.

· Only medications legal in the United States can be brought into the country for personal use.

Zachary Mann, a special agent for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said 25,000 people arrive in Miami from foreign destinations every day — making it the third busiest in the country. Drug seizures are not uncommon there, Mann said.

If you are traveling with someone else’s drugs in your possession, you’d better have a story, Mann said.

“If it’s a husband and wife or family situation, it wouldn’t be an issue unless it’s an excessive quantity,” Mann said, addressing the question of the name on the prescription.

Pam Harvey, a Daytona Beach Shores retiree who just returned from Tuscany, Italy, said she and her husband have had more trouble with wine importation than drug issues.

“My wine just arrived after being impounded by customs,” she said.

Randy Margrave, a pharmacist at Holly Hill Pharmacy, said he thinks Limbaugh’s prescription troubles are a result of the political shock-jock’s high profile. He said the U.S. laws on drug importation can be open to interpretation.

“What’s a 90-day supply of Viagra?” Margrave joked, referring to one way of describing how many medications people are allowed to bring into the country without a prescription. “For Rush Limbaugh, that could be one pill.”

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)

Firms get smart in piracy battle

July 3, 2006

In its battle against near-universal Chinese piracy of Hollywood blockbusters, Warner Bros’ weapon of choice is a little white price tag smaller than a postage stamp.

Last year, the home entertainment giant began selling selected movies with price tags of only US$2.75 in major Chinese cities, aiming to carve out a market for relatively afforsdable but high-quality, legitimate versions of movies in a sea of counterfeit products selling for less than US$1.

“The reason why piracy’s come along is that there weren’t enough products at the right price soon enough,” said Tony Vaughan, managing director of CAV Warner Home Entertainment Co, Warner Bros’ joint venture distribution company in China.

Warner’s strategy has been “to build a legitimate, viable offering for the Chinese consumer,” he said.

The war against rampant counterfeit movies, drugs and other products is moving from China’s back alleys and sidewalks into boardrooms and laboratories. Companies that once relied on lawsuits and police raids are diversifying their strategies, turning to competitive pricing and trying out new technologies to even up seemingly overwhelming odds.

Drug-maker Pfizer Inc of New London, Connecticut, is experimenting with attaching small radio-frequency identification chips to track packages of its erectile disfunction drug Viagra, popular knockoffs of which are widely available. The RFID tags, attached to packaging, can be scanned by a pharmacist to detect product codes showing their authenticity, and presumably weeding out fakes.

Confronted with widespread piracy of computer software, Microsoft Corp is using new products and advertising to promote the benefits of legitimate software. The new Windows Genuine Advantage program checks the authenticity of a user’s software and provides access to Microsoft software and other benefits for Windows XP users. The company is also offering low-cost versions of Windows starter software in some countries.

“Do you really want an `adventure?’” says a Microsoft banner greeting arriving passengers at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport.

Lian Hoon Lim, a consultant at AT Kearney in Hong Kong, recommends a “portfolio approach” to clients: A combination of secrecy, careful research of local partners, new technology and business strategies, as well legally enforcing patents and trademark rights.

“It’s not a problem for which there is a clear silver bullet,” Lian said. “The message is that people who want to do business in China have to expect to spend money to protect themselves.”

Worldwide, sales of counterfeit products may run as high as US$650 billion a year, the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva estimates. The global black market for counterfeit pharmaceuticals is worth up to US$32 billion.

In many industries, China accounts for the largest share of pirated products. Almost 70 percent of US Customs seizures of pirated goods are traced back to China.

Despite the new initiatives, though, the pirates appear to have the upper hand. International criminal syndicates are devoting increasing technical prowess to foil anti-counterfeiting packaging and extend their distribution into major Western markets, said Lee Bromberg, head of the patent litigation department at the Boston-based law firm Bromberg & Sunstein.

“For every preventive measure companies take, the wise guys will find it and you’re back to square one,” Bromberg said. “I don’t think the good guys are winning yet.”

Still, from medical products makers in Salt Lake City, Utah, to software designers in San Jose, California, companies are awakening to the need for varied approaches to coping with piracy.

“Intellectual property protection has made the transition from a lawyer’s issue to a mainstream issue,” said Jeffrey Bernstein, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

In its effort, Warner Bros. turned to China’s state-owned distributor for audiovisual products, making it a partner. Affiliated with the Culture Ministry, the Chinese company has its own vested interest in seeing piracy stamped out.

Vaughan said his team in Shanghai, recruited from top foreign companies and universities, is tackling piracy from the high and low ends of the market. Commemorative albums and limited editions — such as a John Lennon 25th anniversary DVD complete with miniature guitar case and sunglasses — sell for US$20 or more and have proved popular as gifts.

Warner is also experimenting with releases in China’s provincial cities of cheaper, simply packaged DVDs that sell for under US$1.85.

Vaughan would not disclose any sales figures, but said they were in line with expectations.

“We’re seeing some early signs that things are going in the right direction,” he said.

In other industries, secrecy remains the mainstay.

Household names like the spray lubricant WD-40 and Coca Cola have managed to protect their businesses by using closely guarded formulas. Lian said he urges companies to keep some of their production processes outside China.

“The most effective methods are focused on keeping part of the production process secret,” Lian said.

The RFID tags that Pfizer and other drug companies are putting on their packages are also being adapted for use on cigarette packaging, specialty materials and jewelry, said Rod Chui of Hong Kong RFID, a high-tech firm in Hong Kong that is developing the products.

But such technologies are in their infancy and it is unclear whether they will deter piracy or be worth the added costs.
This story has been viewed 127 times.

Posted by toshko under Viagra News | Comments (0)