Over-medicated America

I am sitting here watching all the news on Michael Jackson's life and death, saddened by the news as is much of the rest of the country, but like millions of other deaths in this country, it was preventable.

Admittedly I am not a huge Michael Jackson fan, at least not since 1984, but where would music be without him. Like "Frampton Comes Alive" in the 1970's, EVERYBODY owned the Thriller album. I remember being in 7th grade, and if you had missed the world premier of the "Beat It," or "Thriller" videos, you were an outcast the next day in the school halls. It is all anyone could talk about. Michael Jackson revolutionized music, dancing, and MTV (who at the time actually played music ALL THE TIME.) Would there be a Britney Spears without him? I think not.

I am sure that when we get back cause of death reports, we will learn that cocktails of prescription meds are to blame for Jackson's death, and many people are already reporting to that effect. And that brings me to my entire rant here - my utter disgust with the healthcare industry as a whole, and in particular, the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies.

Do you remember the days when every class had an obnoxious kid? That's just the way it was. Now we find out the kid had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder.) And of course for years we couldn't sleep because we were restless. Now we find out we just have RLS (Restless Legs Syndrome.) They are creating new diseases every day, and it's rediculous. PMDD, PAD...folks, it's all S.H.I.T!

THESE ARE NOT DISEASES PEOPLE...but there is a reason they are classified as diseases, and I will get to that shortly.

Cancer is a disease. AIDS is a disease. There are millions of people living with real diseases, but the over-classification of diseases has muddled the disease pool. Now EVERYONE has a disease. I have ISS, (I Suck Syndrome, better known as deppression.)

I actually find it funny that every time I watch TV, I am inundated with ads for prescription medications treating everything under the sun; Restasis to make more tears, Avodart to shrink the prostate, meds to urinate more, meds to urinate less, and lets not even get into ED; and they are followed by law office ads about deaths and injuries resulting from the use of THESE SAME MEDICATIONS. I found a list of all the harmful medications on a law office website, and it is staggering. Some of these medications CONTINUE to advertise. I saw an ad for Celebrex, which has caused a number of deaths, in which they actually say in the ad that the benefits may outweigh the risks. Are you kidding me?

The real irony, is that people die from the treatment of diseases THAT ARE NOT FATAL to begin with. And the pharmaceutical companies are making billions and billions of dollars from these people.

Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem like over the past 10 years we are seeing more and more cases of cancer, diabetes and other deadly diseases, as well as sudden cardiac arrests, strokes, and brain aneurysms in remarkably young people. It seems every week, I hear of a 39 year old dropping dead from one of these. Makes my self-diagnosed heart attack at the age of 4 seem not only plausible, but probable. I guess my dad would have to take me seriously now. And here I thought the medical community was receiving billions of dollars for research and making significant progress in fighting these ailments. I have no doubt that the influx of all of these new quasi-diseases and the overabundance of prescription medications are to blame.

Here is the real kicker, what I alluded to before, and why these companies rake in the money that they do. The FDA was able to get a law passed many years ago, that states "ONLY PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION APPROVED BY THE FDA CAN TREAT AND CURE A DISEASE." That is the reason if you look at the label for an herbal remedy it MUST say "this product has not been evaluated by the FDA, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."What that basically means, is that for every condition that is legally given the label "disease", ONLY an FDA approved medicine created by a pharmaceutical company can claim to prevent or cure that disease. The more diseases there are, the more medications are prescribed (unnecessarily in my opinion), and the more money the healthcare industry rakes in.

And as far as I am concerned, these prescriptions are killing people, all in the name of the almighty profit.

People like Bernie Madoff and Alan Stanford are dispicable, but they are not killing people. The healthcare industry is killing people to make more money than you or I can imagine, and they are doing it legally and with the government's blessing. Utterly disgusting.

"Land of the free and home of the brave"? More like "Land of the drug-addicted and home of the dead."

Be well.

Bettman's Sad Day at JLA

The cameras panned over the crowd at Joe Louis Arena. Most seemed to be having the time of their lives. But then it focused in on one somber looking individual. Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, looked as though someone had peed in his beer. Or maybe he had just gotten a call that his favorite pet goldfish had flopped out of it's bowl. CHEER UP GARY! You are one of the lucky ones who get to attend a stanley cup finals game.

Oh wait. I know why you're upset. It's the third period, and your golden boy, Pittsburg Penguin Sidney Crosby, is on the losing end of a 5-0 blowout at the hands of the Detroit Redwings.

Now it makes sense.

Sid the Kid is the face of the NHL. He is it's savior after the lockout of 2005. And NOT winning the Stanley Cup two years in a row would be a travesty! Especially if it's to the same hated Detroit Redwings both times.

The wings take a 3-2 series lead into Pittsburg tonight with a chance to clinch the cup, and I am sure Mr. Bettman has spent all of last night on his knees, praying to whatever deity he believes in, to let Sid come out on top.

THE NEW FACE OF THE NHL.

Sid the Kid has been known as a whiner. Wasn't that sloth from the Ice Age movies somewhat of a whiner as well? Didn't he always complain about everything? And his name was Sid too.

Well Sid is starting to develop a new reputation; that of a hacker. His slash/chop to Hank Zetterberg's knee in the 3rd period last Saturday was about as cheap as they come. And unbelievably, he got a penalty!

And this is the savior of hockey?

You may remember his love tap to Kirk Maltby's skate after the loss in game 1; a two-handed chop to the top of the foot.

The NHL needs a new face.

I am not one to complain about the officials or the job they do, but some of these calls, and non-calls, seem extremely suspect. Sure, if you look at the box scores, you would see that Pitt has taken more penalties over the series, but that is mainly due to them losing their composure in Game 5.

In all the other games, it was the timing of the penalties that I call into question. For example, in game 3 the refs were barely calling anything. Great! Let em' play! But then, in the third period with the game tied 2-2, they called Jonathon Ericsson for interference. The play was almost identical to numerous plays that had not been called on Pittsburg. The Penguins wound up scoring on the power play on route to a 4-2 victory. Now, I am not saying the Wings would have won that game, but to make that call at that time after letting it go so many others, well it's just downright suspect.

The Wings just seem to play through every piece of adversity thats thrown at them with dignity, and they just keep winning. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Cleary, Osgood; they don't cry like us fans, or like Sid the Sloth-Kid. They just play hard and win.

This series is not over by any stretch, but I want nothing more than to see that team hoist another Stanley Cup tonight, or Friday night if necessary.

Sorry Mr. Bettman. But look on the bright side. Next year the wings will be a little older, more tired, and Sidney will have another year of experience.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

ROBIN WHO???

I've been waiting for four years to read the headline, "Federer finally takes Nadal on clay to claim his first French Open," or even, "Superstar Serb Djokavic ends Nadal's Reign in Paris."

Never in a million years did I think that when Nadal's first loss came on the red clay at Roland Garros (previously unbeaten at 31-0) that it would be to a man named Robin.

When I think of the name Robin, I conjur images of a young Michael Jackson singing the tweet tweet song. I think of a less-than-manly Errol Flynn swooshing into screen in green tights. But what I certainly can't picture, is a man dethroning probably the greatest clay court tennis player in the history of tennis.

Robin Soderling played what had to have been the match of his life. He dictated pace, he hit winners, he forced errors, and he even made the resiliant Nadal fall down time and again. Do I think the champ is dead? Of course not, the 6-time major winner, 4-time defending French Open Champ, and #1 ranked player will be 23 in a few days, far from over-the-hill. He will be back in full force, just not in the 2009 Open.

I have always loved watching grand slam tennis. I don't really play, nor do I watch other tournaments, but there is just something about the slams that I love.

I am, admittedly, a Federer fan. Have always loved the guy. I do love Nadal as well, but I am rooting hard for Fed to eclipse Pete and win a career slam. Even if he doesn't I will make the case that he is the best player to ever play. The arguments are all there against him, he can't win the French, he can't beat Nadal, etc, etc.

I could point out 13 majors, 5 wimbledon's ina row, or all kinds of other stats, but there is one stat that to me, may be the most amazing achievement in individual sports history.

Roger Federer has made 19 Grand Slam Semi-finals in a row...

...and he is still going. If he can get by Gael Monfils in a day, it will be 20. That is 5 years, 4 majors a year, making at least the semi's in all of them. (Let's not forget his streak of finals was at 10 when he lost in the semis of the 08 aussie open after a bout with mono, and has made the final of every one since.)

In my opinion, this is the most unbelievable accomplishment in individual sports, or in any sports for that matter. The only accomplishment I can even think that comes close is the Detrit Lions 0-16 season (soon to be 0-32).

Had it not been for Nadal (the only man to beat Fed in 4 years at the French), Roger would probably have close to 20 slams right now, would have undoubtedly won the Grand Slam (all 4 majors in a single year), and there would be no argument as to his spot in the annuls of tennis.

I will be rooting hard for Fed tomorrow night. I won't say anyone "deserves to win" because they have to win on the court, and he still has a tough draw to claim a title, but whether he wins or not, it is the belief of this nobody that he does deserve the title of best to ever play the game.

Be well!