10 Gadget Yang Akan Dirilis Tahun 2013

Espilen Blog – Bagaimana kabar Anda hari ini? Saya harap baik-baik saja. Kali ini Saya akan memberikan informasi tentang 10 Gadget Yang Akan Dirilis Tahun 2013.

 

1. Samsung Galaxy S4
Media online lokal yaitu Korea Times beberapa waktu lalu sempat membahas bahwa Samsung secara sembunyi-sembunyi sedang mengembangkan satu produk baru penerus Galaxy S III. Produk yang kemungkinan nantinya diberi nama Galaxy S 4 ini diperkirakan hadir pada bulan Maret 2013.

Rumornya, layar handset itu berukuran lebih besar dari Galaxy S III dan dilengkapi dengan prosesor Quad-Core. Namun, sesaat setelah berita seputar Galaxy S 4 itu beredar, Samsung secara tegas membantahnya. Kabar lain mengatakan bahwa perangkat tersebut akan dipamerkan di Mobile World Congress 2013 Barcelona mendatang.

2. Facebook Smartphone
Walaupun Mark Zuckerberg menegaskan bahwa Facebook tidak ada rencana untuk memproduksi handset, namun santernya rumor Facebook smartphone seakan tidak tergoyahkan. Kabarnya, Facebook smartphone sedang dalam proses pengerjaan dan akan dirilis pertengahan tahun 2013 mendatang.

Kabar lain mengatakan bahwa dalam produksi handsetnya ini, Facebook menggandeng vendor smartphone terkenal HTC. Belum diketahui operating system apa yang nantinya akan digunakan di dalam Facebook smartphone tersebut.

3. Sony C650X Odin
Walaupun pihak Sony belum memberikan konfirmasi sedikitpun seputar handset barunya ini, namun beberapa kali foto penampakan Odin beredar di internet. The Droid Guy (09/10) pernah merilis bahwa kemungkinan Odin akan dirilis sekaligus dengan 3 'saudaranya' yaitu seri C6502, C6503 dan C6506.

Rumornya, Odin akan menggunakan operating system Android terbaru yaitu Jelly Bean. Diperkirakan, Odin akan dirilis sekitar awal atau pertengahan tahun 2013 mendatang.
4. Sony Xperia Yuga
Selain Odin, Sony juga dikabarkan mempunyai satu lagi produk terbaru dari 'keluarga' Xperia yaitu Yuga. Memang sampai saat ini belum ada konfirmasi kebenarannya karena beberapa rumor lain mengatakan bahwa Yuga adalah nama lain dari Odin.

Kabarnya, handset ini dilengkapi dengan layar berukuran 5 inci (1080p), prosesor  Quad-Core 1,5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dan RAM 2GB. Diperkirakan, Yuga akan diluncurkan pada bulan Maret atau April 2013. Ada kemungkinan lain, Sony juga akan memamerkan produk satu ini di perhelatan CES bulan Januari mendatang atau MWC bulan Februari depan.

5. Huawei Ascend series

Walaupun nama Huawei belum seterkenal ZTE atau perusahaan asal China lainnya, namun vendor satu ini juga kerap meluncurkan produk yang sangat berkualitas. Kabarnya, untuk tahun 2013 mendatang, Huawei akan merilis beberapa produk handset baru mereka yang masuk dalam 'keluarga' Ascend.

Sampai saat ini rumor yang beredar bahwa di awal tahun 2013, Huawei akan merilis Ascend W1, W2, Mate, D2, P2 dan Honor 2. Untuk versi W1 dan W2, Huawei kabarnya akan melengkapi 2 produk tersebut dengan operating system Windows Phone 8. Sedangkan versi Ascend lainnya akan menggunakan operating system Android ICS dan Jelly Bean.

6. HTC J Butterfly

Rumor mengenai smartphone dari HTC satu ini memang sudah beredar sejak Agustus lalu, namun sampai sekarang belum ada tanda-tanda perusahaan tersebut akan merilisnya. Kabarnya, selain banyak fitur menarik di dalamnya, layar J Butterfly ini lebih bagus dibandingkan dengan kualitas layar iPhone 5.

Smartphone ini dilengkapi dengan prosesor Quad-Core 1,5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro dan kamera 8MP. Sayangnya, J Butterfly ini kemungkinan tidak akan beredar luas di pasaran karena HTC hanya akan merilisnya untuk wilayah Jepang saja. Tidak ada tanggal spesifik mengenai peluncurannya. Kemungkinan J Butterfly ini akan dirilis di awal 2013 mendatang.

7. BlackBerry 10 smartphone
Tentunya bukan rahasia umum lagi apabila RIM akan merilis smartphone barunya di tahun 2013 mendatang. Setelah meluncurkan operating system BlackBerry 10 sekitar bulan Januari-Februari, RIM juga akan merilis produk handsetnya dengan nama yang sama. Memang RIM telah mengonfirmasikan bahwa mereka akan merilis produk tersebut tahun depan, namun mereka tidak memberikan tanggal pasti kapan perilisannya tersebut.

BlackBerry 10 kabarnya dilengkapi dengan prosesor 1,5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, GPU Adreno 320 dan juga terdapat fitur LTE di dalamnya. Banyak analisa pakar mengatakan bahwa BlackBerry 10 ini nantinya akan menjadi kartu truf RIM agar dapat tetap survive di dunia mobile.

8. Nokia Lumia 830
Belum juga Lumia 820 lama dirilis, rumor baru mengatakan bahwa perusahaan asal Finlandia tersebut mempunyai satu produk baru yang kabarnya akan menjadi pengganti Lumia 710 bernama Lumia 830. Apabila rumor yang beredar benar, maka Nokia mempunyai banyak produk yang masuk dalam seri 8, seperti Nokia 880 Pure View, Lumia 800, Lumia 810, Lumia 820 dan Lumia 822.

Memang belum dapat dipastikan apakah Nokia benar akan merilis Lumia 830 ini atau tidak karena beberapa pengamat mengatakan bahwa bisa saja foto penampakan yang kini banyak beredar di internet tersebut adalah hoax. Lumia 830 tersebut memiliki desain dan bentuk mirip dengan Lumia 820 serta Lumia 920.

Tidak ada penjelasan resmi dari Nokia seputar rumor perangkat tersebut, namun kabar lain mengatakan bahwa Lumia 830 ini akan dirilis tahun 2013 mendatang.

9. Microsoft Xbox Surface 7
Selain merilis dua tablet berlabel Surface beberapa bulan lalu, kabarnya untuk tahun depan, Microsoft juga akan merilis satu produk tablet lain yang dinamakan Microsoft Xbox Surface 7.

Kabarnya, sampai saat ini proses pembuatan tablet tersebut sudah hampir selesai dan perangkat itu sedang diujicobakan sisi kompatibilitasnya dengan beragam fasilitas besutan Microsoft. Bahkan kabar lain mengatakan, tempat pengujicobaan tersebut sangat tertutup. Tidak banyak pekerja yang diperbolehkan berlalu lalang di daerah tersebut.

Sampai saat ini Microsoft belum berkenan memberikan penjelasan atau konfirmasi seputar Microsoft Xbox Surface 7 itu. Rumornya, perangkat tersebut akan dirilis paling lambat Juni 2013 mendatang.

10. Microsoft smartphone
Menurut sumber yang didapatkan oleh Wall Street Journal, Microsoft kabarnya sedang melakukan penggarapan produk handset baru mereka. Walaupun tidak menjelaskan secara terperinci, namun beberapa pernyataan mulai dari pengembang sampai dengan CEO microsoft Steve Ballmer mengisyaratkan bahwa rumor tersebut memang benar.

Kabar lain mengatakan bahwa smartphone Microsoft tersebut kemungkinan akan memiliki layar dengan ukuran 4 sampai 5 inci. Belum ada kabar resmi yang mengatakan kapan smartphone itu akan dirilis, namun kemungkinan terbesar bahwa Microsoft akan meluncurkan produk barunya tersebut tahun 2013 ini.

Terima kasih sudah membaca artikel tentang 10 Gadget Yang Akan Dirilis Tahun 2013. Mohon maaf bila banyak terdapat kekurangan dan kesalahan. Semoga bermanfaat.

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Manfaat dari Olahraga

Manfaat dari Olahraga - Salam sehat, di tengah kesibukan masyarakat kita yang dalam keseharian di penuhi dengan sejuta pekerjaan yang menumpuk kemungkinan besar masyarakat kita sulit untuk meluangkan sedikit waktunya untuk berolah raga, yang memang hal tersebut amat teramat di sayangkan karna dengan berolahraga dapat menghindarkan anda dari berbagai penyakit seperti penyakit jantung, darah tinggi, stroke, stres, sakit punggung bawah, dan kanker payudara serta lainnya.  Berikut ini beberapa manfaat dari olahraga diantaranya :

1. Olah raga mengurangi stres

Kegiatan fisik merangsang berbagai zat kimia dalam otak yang akan membuat Anda lebih bahagia dan rileks. Anda juga akan merasa lebih bugar, percaya diri dan terhindar dari depresi bila Anda berolahraga secara teratur.

2. Olah raga meningkatkan energi

Kegiatan fisik membuat sistem kardiovaskuler berjalan dengan baik, memperlancar jumlah oksigen dan sari makanan yang didistribusikan ke seluruh jaringan tubuh. Akibatnya, Anda akan memiliki energi yang lebih besar untuk menjalani kehidupan Anda.

3. Olah raga membuat tidur lebih nyenyak

Tukang becak, kuli bangunan dan penyapu jalanan tidak pernah mengalami insomnia! Lihatlah, mereka bahkan bisa tidur lelap di udara terbuka di tengah keramaian orang. Itu karena mereka selalu melakukan kegiatan fisik.

Berolah raga secara teratur membuat Anda tidur lebih mudah dan lebih lelap. Kualitas tidur yang baik pada gilirannya akan meningkatkan konsentrasi, produktivitas dan kualitas emosi Anda. Namun demikian, jangan berolah raga terlalu dekat dengan waktu tidur Anda sehingga justru membuat Anda sulit tidur.

4. Olah raga membuat gairah seksual Anda tetap membara

Berolah raga secara teratur membuat wanita berusia lanjut tetap bersemangat menjalani kehidupan seksualnya dan menurunkan risiko disfungsi ereksi pada laki-laki. Tidak ada yang lebih merusak gairah seksual dibandingkan rasa lelah terus-menerus karena badan yang kurang fit.

5. Olah raga menjaga berat badan

Melakukan kegiatan fisik membakar kalori dalam tubuh kita. Semakin intensif, semakin banyak kalori yang terbakar sehingga mengurangi timbunan lemak dalam tubuh. Tentu saja, Anda juga harus mengimbanginya dengan pola makan yang sehat agar lemak tidak kembali tertimbun dalam tubuh. Berat badan yang ideal sangat penting bagi kita agar tetap sehat dan panjang umur.

6. Olah raga meningkatkan kualitas hubungan antar manusia

Cobalah berolah raga bersama anggota keluarga Anda, misalnya pergi ke kolam renang atau bersepeda santai bersama. Keakraban di antara Anda akan meningkat. Anda juga bisa menggalakkan olahraga bersama di kantor dan lingkungan Anda untuk meningkatkan keakraban.

Demikianlah artikel yang kami berikan untuk anda mengenai manfaat dari olahraga yang semoga dengan artikel yang kami berikan tersebut dapat membuka hati anda untuk sedikitnya menyisipkan waktu untuk berolahraga, Mulailah hidup sehat dari sekarang demi anda dan keluarga anda dnegan berolahraga !!

Extreme Flu Activity in the US

A friend of mine came down with a nasty flu recently.  I checked Google Flu Trends, and found that flu activity is currently at "intense" levels throughout the US.  This is the highest flu activity Google Flu Trends has recorded in the last six years (image from Google Flu Trends 1/3/12).

Read more »

If only they'd listened ...

Yes ... this is a screenshot 
Jimmy Moore uploaded to his 
image host and tried to pass off
 as a comment directed at 
him on one of his venues.  
Click on image to enlarge

In March of 2011, Dr. Kurt G. Harris wrote this in the comments to the following blog post on this blog:    Response to Moore/Kosloff Podcast II: Commentary.   

You see, a year or so ago, Jimmy Moore was in full swing stirring the pot in paleo to deflect as much as he could from his unwarranted MARKETING and MONEYMAKING move into the paleosphere. He "went paleo" following AHS11 and started attaching that label to everything paleo. When some in the community protested, he pointed fingers at me.  News flash, I have never been "paleo", though I do eat a pretty paleo friendly diet, insomuch as I understand the diet to mean,  the large percentage of the time.

Read more »

well hello there.....it's been awhile.  i needed a little break!!  i am so thankful for the holidays.  it was the best 2 weeks ever and luckily my husband had it off so we just enjoyed being a family....

we made lots of cookies...apparently walker was not a fan of the reindeer headband i thought was festive....

we saw christmas lights....

 we attempted christmas crafts.....

warren and taylor fished from our front porch....and caught some bushes.

we played lots w/ our christmas presents (and cleaned out lots of old toys...thank goodness for goodwill!!!)

we even got in on the action and played w/ the kids toys once they were asleep....might say 6 and up but this game rocks...especially w/ some vino :)

for new years the kids went and stayed w/ my parents and my dad surprised them with some little extras....a two hole golf course for walker b/c he got his first set of clubs for xmas....

and a mini look alike bed for tay's new american girl.....

warren and i headed down to the beach to spend New Years with great friends....

and last but not least, i did manage to squeeze in a little charleston work....

 kitchen's almost finished.....

 and b/c charleston is 2 hrs away, we do a lot of texting photos back and forth....this one cracks me up...

 and then when the client sent this, i begged for him to bend those library lights more!!! it was killing me!

 but then i got happy when he sent me the front door :)  

surely you aren't still hanging around (sorry that was so long)....that's the end of this official phone dump.....bring it 2013....we're ready :)

Oh, the Prices we Pay ... for Questionable Drug Marketing to Enrich Corporate Insiders - the Case of Questcor's H P Acthar Revisited

In 2007, we first discussed the case of the amazing pricing of H P Acthar, a very old drug of questionable usefulness, as an example of the irrationality of health care prices in the US, and of the failure of the organizations that ought to resist outrageous pricing in our mixed, pseudo-market based health care system to do so.  A recent New York Times article has updated this case.

Background

As we wrote in 2007, ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone) is a naturally occurring hormone that stimulates the activity of the adrenal gland, which produces cortisol and other glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid hormones.   ACTH produced from pigs' adrenals was first marketed as a biologic agent in the 1940s.  It was used for some conditions that appear to benefit from the effects of increasing cortisol production induced by ACTH.

It has been traditionally used to treat infantile spasms, a rare but distressing condition, and exacerbations of multiple sclerosis (MS).  However, since the drug was introduced so long ago, it was never subject to rigorous controlled trials to assess its efficacy and adverse effects for these indications.  Furthermore, since the 1940s, synthetic glucocorticoid hormones have become widely available as generic drugs.  Yet these slightly newer drugs have never been rigorously compared to ACTH for infantile spasms or MS.  The most recent review (edited in 2009) by the Cochrane Collaboration found that steroids and ACTH have some evidence in their favor for the treatment of acute MS, but found no evidence showing that ACTH was superior.  [Filippini G, Brusaferri F, Sibley WA, Citterio A, Ciucci G, Midgard R, Candelise L. Corticosteroids or ACTH for acute exacerbations in multiple sclerosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2000, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD001331. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001331].  Also, the most recent review (edited in 2009) of treatment of infantile spasms concluded, "it is not clear which treatment [including ACTH] is optimal." [Hancock ED, Osborne JP, Edwards SW. Treatment of infantile spasms.  Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 4. Art. No. : CD001770. DOI: 10.1002/14541858.CD001700.pub2.]

The Pricing of H P Acthar

Possibly because some physicians thought ACTH might be useful for some patients with two conditions, infantile spasms and acute exacerbations of MS, ACTH has remained on the market.  It was manufactured by a single company, Aventis, (now part of Sanofi-Aventis), the successor to Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer.  In 2001, Aventis sold the rights to manufacture ACTH, with the trade name H P Acthar, to a new, small biotechnology company, Questcor.  In 2007, Questcor raised the price of ACTH from $1650 per vial to more $23,000 per vial.  That got the attention of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on whose article we based our commentary. We used the price increase as an example of how pricing in health care has become untethered from any sort of clinical reality, and wondered why insurance companies and the US government seemed willing to pay this outrageous price for an old drug with little evidence from clinical research to support its use.  But the issue then seemed, like many others we have discussed , to become anechoic, until the very end of 2012.


Now the  New York Times story has provided an example of how health care corporations can do very well without doing anyone, except corporate insiders, much good.  It included instances of many of the kinds of ethically questionable practices we have discussed over the years on Health Care Renewal.

Deceptive Marketing

Per the NY Times,

Questcor did almost no research or development to bring Acthar to market, merely buying the rights to the drug from its previous owner for $100,000 in 2001. And while the manufacturing of Acthar is complex, it accounts for only about 1 cent of every dollar that Questcor charges for the drug.

Moreover, the tiny 'orphan' market soon became much bigger. Before long, Questcor began marketing the drug fo multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome and rheumatologic conditions, even though there is little evidence that Acthar is more effective for those other conditions than alternatives that are far cheaper. And the company did so without being required to prove that the drug actually works. That is because Acthar was approved for use in 1952, before the Food and Drug Administration required clinical trials to show a drug is effective for a particular disease. Acthar is essentially grandfathered in. 

Today, only about 10 percent of the drug’s sales are for infantile spasms. The new uses, Mr. Bailey has told analysts, represent multibillion-dollar opportunities for Acthar and Questcor, its sole maker. 

The results have been beyond even the company’s wildest dreams. Sales of Acthar, which accounts for essentially all of Questcor’s sales, totaled nearly $350 million in the first nine months this year, up 145 percent from the period a year earlier. In the same period, Questcor’s earnings per share nearly tripled, to $2.12. In the five years after the big Acthar price increase in August 2007, Questcor shares rose from around 60 cents to about $50, in one of the best performances of any stock in any industry. 

So Questcor leadership was clever enough to use loopholes in the law to promote ACTH for particular kinds of patients without any good evidence that it did those patients any good.  Furthermore, Questcor used several questionable tactics 

in this promotion.

Manipulated Research

Apparently Questcor leaders decided they needed some sort of minimal research results to promote their products, so as the Times reported,

Because Acthar was approved for these conditions decades ago, Questcor has not had to do large clinical trials to show that the drug works. It has paid for some small studies, mainly by individual doctors, who then publish a paper that the sales force can present to doctors. 

The study that justified calling on rheumatologists involved five patients with rare conditions, all of them treated by a single doctor. All the patients had much improvement on Acthar after failing to benefit from more standard therapies, the doctor, Todd Levine, said in a Questcor conference call.

Too call the research Questcor sponsored minimalist would be too polite.  A case series of five patients, lacking any control group proves almost nothing.  It proves less when the research is done in an unblinded  fashion by a single doctor who presumably was invested in the outcome being favorable for his sponsor's product.  (I suppose some might quibble with calling this research manipulated, but I contend but doing such crude research when it would be possible to do something much more credible amounts to manipulation.)

Suppression of Research

Moreover, it seems that even such rudimentary studies sometimes failed to produce the wanted results.  In these cases, the Times reported that Questcor simply suppressed them.

Still, it appears that at least a couple of small studies that may have raised questions about the drug have been suspended. 

'From my standpoint it just didn’t work,' said Dr. Sungchun Lee, a Phoenix nephrologist who stopped a small study testing Acthar as a treatment for nephrotic syndrome. 'I think they were O.K. with me stopping because we weren’t getting the results,' he said. 

Another study that was terminated sought to determine whether multiple sclerosis patients who did not have a good response to steroids should be treated with either another round of steroids or with Acthar. The study was halted midway through 'to analyze data,' according to the summary of the trial on the federal clinical trial database. 

Use of Paid Key Opinion Leaders

Despite the lack of good clinical evidence in support ACTH, there are some physicians who defend its use.  One example in the Times article was a physician who is paid by Questcor

But some doctors say Acthar can be effective in cases that are not well treated by steroids. They say that there is emerging evidence that Acthar does more than just stimulate the body to produce its own steroids. 

'It really looks like the ACTH does bring something different to the table that standard steroids don’t,' said Dr Ben W Thrower, director of the multiple sclerosis institute at the Shepherd Center, a hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Thrower, who is a paid speaker for Questcor, said his institute had tried Acthar for about 60 of its 3,000 patients, ones who did not respond to steroid treatment. Acthar made the symptoms subside in about half of them.

Where to begin?  Just because ACTH is different does not mean it is better.  Since MS is a disease whose symptoms wax and wane, patients who fail standard treatment may get better on their own, and without a control group, it is impossible to say whether the ACTH given to such patients was the reason they got better. 

Creation of Institutional Conflicts of Interest for Disease Specific Foundations

Questcor's ACTH also has support from a disease specific foundation, but one that Questcor has also supported financially.

Dr Lawrence Brown, a neurologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the president of the Child Neurology Foundation, says of Questcor: 'They have gone out of their way to help every kid who needs the medicine to get it quickly and efficiently.'

This year, the foundation awarded its first corporate citizenship award to Questcor. Dr. Brown says Questcor’s donations — the amount has not been disclosed — to the foundation didn’t influence the award.

Who could be so naive to think that giving an organization funding might influence its actions?  After all, human response to financial incentives is the basis for most current economic thinking.

Insiders Get Rich

Admittedly, these questionable tactics did lead to an increase in "shareholder value,"  As the company's proxy statement boasted in 2011,

While we generated strong financial returns in 2011, we are most proud of our patient focus and investments in Questcor which we believe will generate sustainable value to our shareholders, employees, patients and all of the communities that we serve. We believe that our patient focus and commitment to generating sustainable value to all of our constituencies results in strong value creation for our shareholders.

However, as of today, Qustcor's share price has dropped to $26.74 from a peak of 53.42 in June, 2012, with most of the drop in December, 2012, around the time the Times article came out, according to Google Finance.  So whether share holder value will turn out to have increased in the long run is not clear. 

Meanwhile, some Questcor employees did very well.  The largess started with some drug representatives,

Questcor sales representatives who are lucky enough or skillful enough to have a big prescriber in their territory can reap bonuses of $50,000 a quarter, according to former employees of the company.

More highly placed corporate insiders did even better.

Executives are paid well, too. In 2009, Mr. Bailey, [the CEO]  hired his daughter Kirsten Fereday as director of business analytics and evaluation, a job that paid $275,000 in cash and stock last year. 

 Left out of the Times article, somewhat surprisingly, was what the top executives make.  Information from up to 2011 is publicly available, however, in proxy fillings.

In the company's 2012 proxy statement, we find the following figures for total compensation:
Don M Bailey, President and CEO - $4,546,230, up 192% of his compensation in $1,554,503 in 2009
Michael H Mulroy, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel -  $1,749,891 (his first year)
Stephen L Cartt, Chief Operating Officer -  $2,298,308, up 168% from $855,460 in 2009
David J Medeiros, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer - $1,232,556, up 78% from $692,188 in 2009
David Young Pharm D, Chief Scientific Officer - $1,948,804 up 182% from $1,066,159 in 2009

In addition, by 2011, Mr Bailey, the CEO, had acquired 1.92% of the company's total stock, 3,834,910 shares, today worth $102,545,490.

Finally, per the Times,

one group of shareholders has done pretty well for itself. Over the last two years, as the company’s share price mainly soared, Questcor insiders have sold more than $100 million of stock. 

Summary

 So, in summary, a small biotechnology company drastically increased the price of its only product, a drug which has never been subject to modern clinical trials, and whose efficacy has never been proven.  Its marketing tactics have included manipulation and suppression of research, and payments to physicians and non-profit organizations.  Although its most breathtaking price increases were made in 2007, they attracted little public attention until five years later.   Meanwhile, corporate insiders, from drug representatives to top executives and their relatives, have done very well for themselves.

In the US, there a lot of people who advocate free market based health care for its efficiency and innovation.  For example, see "Yes, Mr President, a Free Market Can Fix Health Care," published by the Cato Institute, in which its Director of Health Policy Studies proclaimed, "The great advantage of a free market is that innovation and more prudent decisionmaking means that fewer patients will fall through the cracks," and then "a free market can and would control costs, expand choice, improve health care quality, and make health coverage more secure." [italics added for emphasis]

Unfortunately, the case of Questcor's ACTH makes it seem that in the current US system, which is supposedly more market based than systems in many other countries, the efficiency and innovation is characteristic of the marketing of corporate health care, not of the health care itself.  Here is a stellar example of how clever, and not always very scrupulous marketing can be used to sell a very old drug with little demonstrated clinical value for a stratospheric price, enriching corporate insiders, perhaps enriching stockholders (although, not so much lately, and we will see how they do in 2013), at the expense of the public who pays taxes and insurance premium.  This case suggests a need for more attention to market failures and less insistence on market fundamentalism.  Of course, it also suggests the continuing need for health care professionals, policy makers, patients and the public to be extremely skeptical about heavily promoted commercial health products.

Ini dia minuman Cola-nya orang Islam pesaing Pepsi dan Coca-cola

Tak hanya Coca cola, namun banyak sekali minuman kola bertebaran di dunia, baik yang plagiat maupun pesaingnya. Dan ini beberapa diantaranya..

1. Mecca-Cola

     Mecca-Cola ialah minuman berkarbonasi cita rasa kola. Merupakan produk utama Mecca Cola World Company, dipasarkan sebagai alternatif merek Amerika Serikat seperti Coca-Cola dan Pepsi-Cola. Nama produk ini mengandung transliterasi abjad Latin untuk مكة المكرمة (Makkah al-Mukarramah, atau "Makkah", bahasa Inggris:Mecca), kota suci Islam di Arab Saudi.

     Diluncurkan di Perancis pada November 2002, oleh usahawan Tawfik Mathlouthi, sebagai alat membantu bangsa Palestina dengan menyediakan kebutuhan buat produk alternatif di negara Eropa. Ia terinspirasi minuman ringan dari Iran yang terkenal, Zam Zam Cola, yang laku keras di Arab Saudi dan Bahrain, dan kenyataannya hanya memutuskan meluncurkan mereknya sendiri saat ia tidak bisa menyetujui dalam hal kontrak distribusi dengan Zam Zam. Dalam gilirannya Mecca-Cola mengilhami pembentukan Qibla Cola

2. Parsi Cola

     Parsi Cola ialah minuman ringan rasa kola yang diproduksi di Iran. Terkenal di bagian Timur Tengah, di mana orang menikmati dan menghargai alternatif merk Amerika Serikat seperti Pepsi danCoca-Cola untuk alasan politik. Di Iran merupakan saingan utama Zam Zam Cola.

3. Zam Zam Cola

     Zam Zam Cola ialah minuman ringan rasa kola yang diproduksi di Iran. Terkenal di bagian Timur Tengah, di mana orang menikmati minuman ringan dan menghargai alternatif untuk merk Amerika Serikat semacam Pepsi dan Coca-Cola untuk alasan politis. Produk ini juga dijual di Eropa.

     Nama produk ini diambil dari Sumur Zamzam, dekat kota suci Islam Makkah, yang tercipta oleh malaikat Jibril untuk memberi minum Siti Hajar dan Ismail.

SUMBER