The Department of Defense has believed in the tremendous margin of safety not having that additional methyl group confers. Chemically that extra methyl group confers a greater stuctural similarity to epinephrine upon methamphetamine, while not having that extra methyl group makes plain old amphetamine and dexamphetamine more similar to dopamine and norepinephrine. The way the rest of the molecule is shaped, that extra methyl group being in that location is a big difference. It's the difference between Paul Erdos and Faces of Meth. Between your stealth bomber crew flying 36 hours uninterrupted or the 2 billion dollar plane crashing halfway because the flight crew killed each other in a Lord of the Flies reenactment.

Well, these and the drugs that had all of the adds for the past 13 years until they went off patent.

Methotrexate has been around since the 1950's and was one of the first generally safe chemotherapy medications.

It works and isn't hindered by intellectual property laws. Methotrexate is something you want to regulate the safety of. Methotrexate is one drug you really want to contain exactly the dose printed on the label. The methotrexate shortage is pretty much all on manufacturers.

Adderall though is probably a mix between Shire and the DEA. Shire wants people on Vyvanse because they make more per pill on it while the DEA likes that Vyvanse can't be abused (or used) IV. Are they colluding, probably not. Is there an incentive for either to try to fix the problem, not really. Patient and insurers who need to care about what this does to healthcare costs really don't have the clout to break this.

Exactly, methotrexate is not a controlled substance like the amphetamine salts prescribed for ADHD. Methotrexate is an anti-folate used for serious illnesses. Methotrexate has a pretty intense side effect profile, and the last thing any manufacturer would want is liability for injuries caused by a tainted or defective version of a drug that already has a narrow therapeutic window.

This methotrexate shortage in the news getting the most attention is for the intrathecal preparation for administration directly into the cerebro-spinal fluid on the brain side of the blood brain barrier. Intrethecal drugs normally have to be preservative free and any chemicals in it have to be controlled for because the blood brain barrier keeps a lot of chemicals and pathogens on the blood side. If something dangerous gets in it may not be getting back out. Preparing a drug for market like this isn't something that can be half-assed unless you think Russian Roulette is too safe.

Bachmann and Santorum were probably resigned to that when they entered, but Perry entered with the expectation of winning. Perry actually started the flavor of the month trend by knocking off Bachmann. For Perry the culture war isn't his message so much as the thing he was pushed into resorting to as his last agonal breaths before quitting after the South Carolina primary in a dignified manner. Entering the campaign Perry's message was simply "Texas, Fuck Yeah". Seeing 2000 and 2004 along with Texas's attempts to brand itself as America Plus, it wasn't and unrealistic expectation or strategy. It was just a dumb one.

The iPhone release, the App Store introduction, the iPad release... This is nothing.

No.

The public-private partnership has transcended from trend to religion. Obama/Gingrich/Romney-Care illustrates that. If only Hilary-Care happened.

There isn't a chance for Rove or 4chan to decide the president in 2012. Rove isn't endorsing primary candidates so much as eliminating them and there are too many olds for 4chan to take it to the convention.

If I recall correctly a brokered convention wasn't necessary for Obama to trump Hilary as the Democrats used proportional representation in 2008.

In a brokered convention the most Ron Paul would be able to do is pledge his committed delegates to another candidate, provided the pledged delegates agree. Perry will probably be in a similar situation. What those delegates would probably do is support the not-Paul and not-Romney candidate. Huntsman will probably run on the Americans elect ticket turning the Charm up to 11 while being so economically conservative Paul would look like Kim Jung Il, Gary Johnson will run on the libertarian ticket as the marijuana candidate, the greens will put up a nobody, and Obama wins on the democratic ticket.

Normally New Hampshire disagrees with Iowa, so they don't get to pick nominees on their own. It's just that they get to pick one of the two candidates that will be viable for the rest of the slugfest.

Iowans aren't the simpletons that they are often portrayed as. Maybe they aren't Masters of the Universe, but they know what the game is and the game is to milk every candidate for as much as they can. The most they have done so far this election cycle as far as picking candidates is bleed the Bachmann campaign dry, which I wouldn't class as a negative outcome. Mittens isn't my candidate, but he knows that Iowa knows they game and only started making a real effort once the other candidates beat each other to hell.