Joyce T. Strand's Blog, page 39

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Trouble at Work

I got to work late today, which was a bit of a problem. Judy, our executive assistant, said that two of our employees actually hit each other over a disagreement about how to design one of our lab processes. Judy said she knew one of them and that he was going through a divorce.

However, when the security guard couldn't keep them apart, they had to call the police, who took them off in their patrol car. Hopefully the media won't get hold of this. I'd better go check with HR and Tim to have a statement ready just in case. We also need to make sure that both of them get appropriate counseling.

Shortage of Medicine – 2

Today's San Francisco Chronicle (Sunday, August 21) has additional information on the drugs in short supply and the reasons for the shortages discussed in yesterday's entry. In addition, the article highlights how widespread the shortages are. A bill in the Senate and one in the House of the US Congress would at least require drug makers to tell the FDA six months in advance if they plan to stop manufacturing a drug; and to inform the FDA immediately of any unplanned stoppages.

Causes include: increased demand; manufacturing delays; limited manufacturing capacity; consolidation of companies which often causes reduction in production;

recalls — both by the FDA and by the companies themselves who have superior technology to test their drugs; raw material shortages; supply chain problems.

Again, we must all work to fix this problem — drug companies, patient groups, hospitals and government.

Shortage of Medicine

If you are healthy and not in need of life-saving cancer medicine, you may not be aware of a critical problem we're facing today here in the U.S.: a shortage of 180 drugs to treat bacterial infection and several forms of cancer. Some of my fellow drug companies are getting involved with various Federal and State government agencies and patient groups to help solve the problem.

The shortage of these drugs causes their price to go up, of course–we all know about the results of supply and demand. Many of these drugs are life-saving, and cancer patients are at risk especially. A side effect is that the shortage of supply has slowed down clinical trials of new drugs because they must be compared to the older scarce drugs to prove efficacy.

As officials investigate the causes, a variety of solutions have been offered. It is believed that a large majority of the shortages were caused by the discovery of company and government investigators that infections can occur upon injection; by drug plant capacity problems; or low profits resulting in low production. In addition, the consolidation of the generic drug industry into a few large companies has had an impact. This has led to importing of drugs from plants in China and India that the FDA has not have inspected.

Solutions include a proposal by the Obama administration to add cancer drugs to the list of stockpiled drugs to join those of antibiotics, antidotes and other drugs; a requirement that drug companies give warning when the supplies reach certain levels; and a not-for-profit company being formed to manufacture drugs itself.

This is a serious and complex problem. We at Harmonia are looking at ways we can help.

For additional information on this problem, see the front page article, "U.S. Scrambling to Ease Shortage of Vital Medicine," The New York Times, Saturday, August 20, 2011, by Gardiner Harris.

TGIF

Wow! That was a very busy week. Lots of people on vacation, so I've been jumping in to help cover. Great way to learn to appreciate what others do.

We still haven't figured out who's the thief here at Harmonia Therapeutics. I understand they're working on it. We are all being very careful. I even lock my lap top in my desk when I go to the bathroom!

There's a Chamber mixer tonight. I'm looking forward to it. I missed the last two, so am anxious to meet with the business owners in the area. I hope sales have increased. At the last meeting, it sounded like many long-standing businesses would have to sell out and even enter bankruptcy. Tough time for small businesses.

Chad and I did not make any plans for the weekend. Maybe it's a good time to go to the movies, and just chill out. Of course, there are always the never-ending errands to do. Hopefully Chad will have tracked down a new restaurant.

Great Weekend

Chad and I had a great weekend. I think we're having more fun as ex-es than when we were married.

Anyway, Chad received a new hat from his company's sales office in Texas. They heard about his habit of wearing hats at various places, like restaurants, for fun. So they sent him what appears to be a ten-gallon hat.

And, of course, he had to try it out immediately. So when we showed up at a new French restaurant in San Francisco Saturday night, Chad was dressed in his 3-piece suit and the new hat. Fortunately the maitre d' had a great sense of humor. (I was glad he didn't check out Chad for a six-shooter.)

More important, the food was awesome. I had the duck breast with boysenberry sauce. Afterwards, we walked the streets of San Francisco and then spent the night in my flat. On Sunday, we headed over to Half Moon Bay and spent some time just sitting on the beach listening to the waves–one of my favorite things to do.

And it's hard to believe it's Monday morning and time to get back to work.

Almost the Weekend

The weekend is getting closer. I am looking forward to Chad's return after two weeks of being on the road. For those of you who might not know, Chad is my ex-husband. We were married for 10 years and then called it quits. However, we do still see each other, and we do have plans for this weekend.

Judy, my assistant, met with the security guards today about the robberies of items from our desks. They told her that they had a plan, and that she should be patient. She did not consider their statements reassuring. They asked me to please keep her under control. They would do their job. I responded that we were all concerned. They said that they were working with the local police and had a plan. Just be patient.

O.K. we'll be patient. Sigh.