Funny, my daughter just recently commented that she went all thru HS and college using Celebrex pens and only recently learned what it was used for... :1rotfl:

All I ever got were pens and post-it notes...

You got post-it notes???????

Now I'm jealous. It's like a "vacation junket", only different:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

One reason we zap thru commercials.

The day we have to ask our Dr for a drug we saw on TV that also has 14 dozen side effects is the time we search for a new Dr.

Actually, that's the day HE searches for a new patient:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Its humorous, the side effects are probably worse than what they are trying to cure....

I don't have your unfailing recall of all things Ted Kennedy did, but please explain to me why a US Senator would have to sign a bill? The POTUS has to sign, a Senator has to vote. And to vote he or she must be in the Senate. So explain why did Kennedy sign a bill while skiing?

The voluntary restriction of medical junkets didn't happen until 2002 in a statement by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Astra zeneca made headlines when it announced in 2011 it would stop flying doctors to attend resort conferences

The Physician Payments Sunshine Act passed in 2010 as a section of the Affordable Care Law AKA Obamacare, was the first to require that drug companies report the money they spent on direct physician payment of money or things of value. Not the 1980's not Ted Kennedy and it did not prohibit those payments, only required public disclosure.

So what was the basis for your ridiculous statement?

I never said he signed it into law or voted on the final version. To introduce a bill into the senate or house requires the signature of one or more members, that is what he signed, a preliminary only. I don't know what other legislation and recommendations regarding pharmaceutical "gifts" followed in later years, but this bill introduced by Kennedy was the first I know about. Perhaps it is faulty cause-effect reasoning as well, but I never got more than a pen after 1990. Apparently, some lucky people got post-it notes as well:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

No, but it was thanks to a Chantix ad on TV that I was finally able to quit smoking years ago after it became widely available.

I didn't tell my doctor that was what I wanted. It was the other way around. He told me he needed me to quit smoking in order to continue to be my doctor, and he would help me do whatever was necessary to accomplish it. He gave me a list of options, from hypnotism (tried it, failed), nicotine gum (tried it, hated it), behavioral modification (homey don't play that), cold turkey, cutting down, antidepressants, some other med, and Chantix.

I had heard about Chantix from the ad on TV, and it was the only one that seemed to fit my needs. It basically deactivates signals to your nicotine receptors and makes your mind forget that it's addicted. You still have a habit to get over, but you can work on the habit with zero nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

I remembered the risks, most of them involved sleep disorders. Since I was already taking prescription sleep meds that ALSO had those side effects, and had never experienced any of them, I was willing to give it a shot.

Two weeks later, I had quit smoking. The end of that second week, I threw the rest of the Chantix in the trash (even though I was supposed to keep taking it for 3 months) That was 12 years ago. I haven't even been tempted to smoke since.

What bill would that be? There was no law in the 1980s on this topic. There was never a need for any emergency signature on a routine measure. As you are certain Ted Kennedy signed a proposed bill, while on a ski trip in the Alps sponsored by a steel company? You know about it? There is nothing on the Google about it. You don't know about other acts or legislation that actually exist, but this one situation, that mysterious bill that needed a physical signature while a Senator was out of town, that you recall clearly. Hmm.

My favorite part of those ads is when they are pushing a "NEW" drug. Lets call it abivol. In the warnings they say "Don't take abivol if you are allergic of have harmful reaction to Abivol". How would one know?

Also, interesting how meds for something non life threatening as psoriasis has side effects that include cancers, and suicidal tendencies.

If your disturbed - change the channel.

Florida is a "free" state. We can do whatever we want. Laws, rules, suggestions, recommendations mean nothing to us. If you are hearing something you don't like, walk away.

Hmmm----perhaps the bill died in committee. Perhaps you know since you appear to have definitive knowledge on the subject. I didn't "google" it, all I know is what multiple drug reps told me AT THAT TIME. Were you there?????

I think TV advertising did very well for the little blue pill.

:a040::a040::a040:

Virtually every drug OTC or prescription has multiple contraindications. Just read the list for everything you take. That's why Dr.'s have the PDR to reference. For example take a look at glipizide/metformin hydrochloride. Glipizide and Metformin Hydrochloride (glipizide/metformin hydrochloride) dose, indications, adverse effects, interactions... from PDR.net

Well that's a great story! Happy to hear prescription meds worked so well for such an insidiously unhealthy habit. A 3 week behaviour modification course from the Lung Association in Canada helped me quit 19 years ago. Best thing I ever gave up, that's for sure.