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Comment Re:He should seek legal advice. (Score 1) 368

by Onco_Rx (#41913723) Attached to: Man Charged £2,000 For Medical Records Stored On Obsolete System

There is no reason to keep it longer than 7 years. It's worthless information that doesn't matter to the provider, why wouldn't they delete it?

Try telling this to someone that was diagnosed with cancer further back than the retention period. Many diseases come back 10, 15 or more years not the future. This information could be invaluable...

Submission + - A graphic novel of post-apocalyptic food culture (vertigocomics.com)

Submitted by Onco_Rx
Onco_Rx writes: Anthony Bourdain is an American chef that came onto the food scene in 2000 with his book Kitchen Confidential. He has now release a graphic novel that looks at a post apocalyptic LA where chefs rule and a renegade chef, Jiro, wants to make some changes. Anthony talks about this new venture in a video.

Personally I think his shows, No Reservations and The Layover, are great travel foodie shows. He presents a no-nonsense, honest face on food from around the world.

Comment Re:I'm going for an S3 (Score 1) 470

by Onco_Rx (#41357309) Attached to: iPhone 5 GeekBench Results
I would consider the galaxy S3 if it were not for the fact that my organization has standardized onto iOS platform. Sine they develop specific apps for our day-to-day activities I am stuck on the platform. The new S3 is intriguing I must admit.

Submission + - Simple aerodynamics for improved fuel efficiencies - 5% fuel savings made easy (wired.com)

Submitted by Onco_Rx
Onco_Rx writes: If a fairly simple enhancement to vehicles can improve vehicle aerodynamics by 5% (and not look horrible IMHO) why are car companies not doing this more often and plugging the savings? It's not like you are being asked to drive slower, or spend tons on hybrids, so why not take the plunge? Gas pods help to reduce drag for a vehicle, improve its fuel efficiency and as a result reduce the amount of CO2 generated per mile / kilometer.

Submission + - Biosimilar Medications begin to start making their mark on Modern health care (globaldata.com)

Submitted by Onco_Rx
Onco_Rx writes: Modern medicine has included new drugs that are distinct molecular entities (e.g Aspirin has a defined chemical structure) as well as biological medications that are complex molecules that cannot be defined by a single chemical structure and are synthesized in living systems like yeast or mammalian cells (e.g. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells). Europe and Asia have some biosimilar molecules on their respective markets (Asia has many erythropoetin biosimilars, and the EU — particularly Germany — have many biosimilar Erythropoetin and filgrastim molecules) however in North America the biosimilar market is basically non-existent as patents are still valid and are being enforced to prevent biosimilar products from coming to market. However in recent times Health Canada and the FDA have released their guidance to manufacturers regarding biosimilars and their approvals in the North American markets, and a milestone has been reached when a South Korean company (Celltrion) managed to gain approval for the first biosimilar antibody — for infliximab (Johnson & Johnson's Remicade(R)). In the coming years and months many biologic medications are due to have their patents expire (rituximab for Lymphomas, trastuzumab for Breast Cancer) and the markets should see biosimilar medications being brought to market.

Typically when a generic medication comes to market the price drops can be huge (in the province of Ontario in Canada the price of generic medications is currently set to 25% of the brand price for reimbursement — a controversial percentage) however biosimilars are much more complex to make and the costs to the consumer may not be reduced as much as the traditional generic medications. And it is not only the typical generic drug companies (Hospira, Teva) that are planning biosimilars — Pfizer has a very active research program for rituximab and other current biologic companies (including Roche/Genentech, Amgen, BMS) may want to leverage their current infrastructure and technology to create biosimilars to their competitor's products.

Given that changes to biologic medications can cause unplanned adverse effects (Pure Red cell Aplasia from erythropoetins is the highest in Asia with all of their biosimilar EPO) and the guidance so far does not address how different these medications are when compared to traditional medications, what is the best way to be vigilant as a population using these biosimilar medications in tracking these adverse effects as well as assessing how effective they are when compared to the innovative molecules?

Submission + - Big Bang theory challenged (scienceaxis.com) 3

Submitted by
rosy rohangi
rosy rohangi writes: "The beginning of the universe must be modeled not as a Big Bang, but rather as the freezing point of water ice, according to a team of theoretical physicists at the University of Melbourne and RMIT University."

Comment Re:"Never failed a test" is misleading in this cas (Score 1) 482

by Onco_Rx (#41117839) Attached to: Lance Armstrong and the Science of Drug Testing
I am not sure that you are attributing things correctly to the USADA and their scientific knowledge. If you think that the USADA truly believed that you could "ingest EPO" and that would make it appear in samples whereas small intravenous doses would not, you know absolutely nothing about what you are speaking of. EPO is a protein - any protein you "ingest" will be digested by your stomach and will neve appear in any urine test as it will only remain in its most simple form - amino acids. If the USADA actually thought that you could ingest EPO and they could catch you then they are even dumber scientists than they already come off as. I am still waiting for someone to truly show me that they have caught Lance cheating, not that they have decided to modify the rules that say you are cheating after the fact. Nor have I seen how the USADA is accounting for the fact that at least once in the timeline that they say that Lance was using EPO that the manufacturers of EPO changed their formulation of EPO which changed the way that EPO would appear on testing because the ratios of the various isoforms changed and caused some severe problems. Look up "Pure Red Cell Aplasia" and look for its links to EPO and the formulation change (or even the ridiculously high incidence of PRCA in Asia as a result of many new types of EPO that have flooded the market as biosimilars). Still waiting for some truly scientific proof.

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