TGIF

Was back at the gym tonight after a nap. I'd lost five pounds. Tonight I was doing seated rows and could feel a twinge in my recently treated shoulder when I was releasing the weight, so I released it more slowly and that seemed to help.

Tonight I picked up the colonoscopy prep stuff from Walgreens. My co-pay on my insurance was $50! WTF! This stuff, MoviPrep, is made of common, inexpensive chemicals, like polyethylene glycol and table salt.

[Polyethylene glycol] is the basis of many skin creams . . . and sexual lubricants . . . .

PEG is used in a number of toothpastes as a dispersant . . . .

PEG is also one of the main ingredients in Paintball fill since it's thick and flexible. . . .

The drug companies are really taking advantage with their pricing these days. And they can't justify it by saying they need to cover their research and development costs. (They spend more money on marketing than R&D!) Read this book by Merrill Goozner.

I paid the co-pay with pre-taxed money (flex card) and will also get a $20 rebate from the MoviPrep company. Maybe the company (Salix Pharmaceuticals) is beginning to feel some public outrage over their prices.

RALEIGH, NC, May 5, 2009 – Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP) today announced financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

Total product revenue was $44.8 million for the first quarter of 2009, compared to $34.3 million for the first quarter of 2008. . . .

(And we're in a depression.) One blogger wrote, of MoviPrep:

I had to get up early this morning, forgo breakfast and drink MORE of this overpriced, foul tasting swill and spend more time in the loo. . . .

Somebody else wrote on a message board:

If pricing doesn't matter, and market share does, why not lower the price or give coupons for MoviPrep. You could always go back to being overpriced after the doctors appreciate the product. . . .

Enough said about that. It just infuriates me when I get ripped off by drug companies. Of course I don't like being ripped off by anybody, but it just seems the drug companies are the most brazen about it. And meanwhile people's lives are at stake.

I also went grocery shopping tonight for a few things, including Sunday's liquid diet. Got three boxes of Jello, two bottles of Gatorade (Jello and Gatorade can't be red or green), some apple juice, ginger ale, and a bunch of chicken broth. I'll make the Jello tomorrow, along with the MoviPrep, so it'll be nice and cold for Sunday.

Tomorrow I'll treat myself to a nice meal at Biscayne Commons. Nothing heavy. There's a French bakery/restaurant that I'd like to try. They have classic sandwiches, omelets, crepes, etc. But I may end up getting a steak at T. G. I. Friday's (after the crepes). I hope I get a magazine in the mail tomorrow so I'll have something to read.