Remembrance of things best forgotten
Mitchell Shannon
Chronicle Companies Owner | Publishing, Education, Marketing Communications
The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is here to keep on informing you through Q2 of 2021. It's your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives published in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions.
? Issue #178 (In numerology, 178 is a reminder that we are each responsible for our own good or bad luck.)
? Worldwide Covid cases as of 04/09: 134,038,180*
? Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 04/09: 2,904,554*
? Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 04/09: 1,043,478*
? Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 04/09: 23,196*
? Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 04/09: 7,252,560*
April 9, 2021—Good morning, CurveFlatteners. It’s your non-roving correspondent Mitch Shannon here in locked-down Toronto. I’m thinking that if I’d known 55 weeks ago that we were all going to be confined to our room for this long, that might have been a clear signal to undertake some ambitious, long-deferred reading project. Say, tackling Marcel Proust’s seven-volume Remembrance of Things Past, for example.
But dipping into Proust’s big oeuvre would demand a lot of focus and concentration—besides which, we’re already bombarded hourly during our confinement by too many remembrances of things past; thank you very much, indeed. For example, watching the Ontario Premier during his televised news conference yesterday, it struck me how much he’s beginning to resemble Karl Malden from the American Express advertisements of a few decades back. The difference being, Karl Malden used to caution, in reference to the Amex card, “Don’t leave home without it.” Whereas Doug Ford just instructs, “Don’t leave home.”
In a similar remembrance, a recent CBC news item about pharmacists chafing in their subservient role as dispensers of prescriptions, rather than diagnosticians, brought to mind the fictional character of Mrs. Tishell, the Cornish druggist unhealthily obsessed with the village GP in the long-running “Doc Martin” series.
Our own Mrs. Tishell, University of Waterloo pharmacy prof Wasem Alsabbagh, just issued a proposal claiming the Ontario government could pocket $42 million annually by allowing druggists to initiate prescriptions for what the CBC calls “certain common, minor conditions.” He cites contact dermatitis, upper respiratory tract infections, and conjunctivitis as three disorders best assigned to the corner druggist.
Haven’t we heard this before? And didn’t we conclude previously that if pharmacists really want to be doctors, they can and should go enroll in a medical program? I’d gladly trust that nice person in the white coat at the neighbourhood IDA or SDM or Jean Coutu to inject my annual flu vaccine or, far more importantly, point me toward the aisle where the Cheetos are this week’s sale item. However, there is no way on earth that I’m going to let that same nice person assess little Jessica's dermatitis and then determine, from a less-than-comprehensive knowledge base, whether it’s the contact or atopic form. If our year-long virus-avoidance experience has taught us anything, it’s that health conditions can be assumed to be “common” and “minor,” long past the point where they are no longer that. My advice to Prof. Alsabbagh and his learned colleagues would be to please stick to what you have been trained to do, and this time remember to give me my Optimum Points.
The NPC Podcast is back for another season. The National Pharmaceutical Congress organizers are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's most recent guest is Sheryl Groeneweg, Director General of the Manufacturing and Life Sciences Branch of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma
COVID CHRONICLE 04/09/2021
- The cliche has been invoked regularly during the past year, but might there actually be a silver lining in the Covid cloud? More than two out of five U.S. military veterans surveyed in a recent study said they’ve experienced positive psychological benefits during the pandemic. They reported greater appreciation of life, closer interpersonal relationships, and “an increased sense of personal strength.” The National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study of more than 3,000 respondents found 43.3 per cent had positive benefits, but 12.8 per cent reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and 8 per cent said they had contemplated suicide during the pandemic. The study was published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.
- With Covid vaccines finally making their way into the arms of seniors, attitudes among older Canadians appear to represent two solitudes: Quebecers are happy with their government's efforts to procure and administer vaccines, and Ontarians much less so. A poll conducted by Leger Research and the Association for Canadian Studies reveals 61 per cent of respondents in Quebec are satisfied with the number of jabs delivered daily, compared to only 41 per cent in Ontario.
- Canadian business leaders appear to be split on whether they support or oppose immunization certificates for fully vaccinated groups. The attitudes apply to both the workplace and in general. These findings are based on a survey of more than 800 managers, and executives conducted last month by Modus Research. The researchers conclude governments will face strong resistance from businesses to attempts at introducing immunization certificates for workplaces.
WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY...
Our Chronicle.Academy e-learning unit is at work on the latest program for Life Sciences professionals, "DTC Marketing Version 2.0". Our Katherine Brenders, Jeremy Visser, Cory Perla and Dhiren Mahiban are working with an exceptional international faculty of academics, pharma professionals and communications experts to create three learning modules as part of a meaningful experience in pharma career growth. The program begins in late May of 2021. More details will follow.
RIGHT NOW I'M READING...
Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music, a history of the Stax Records label first published in 1986. This book predates Guralnick's two-volume study of Elvis Presley, published in the '90s, and as such forms a foundational study of mid- to late-20th century popular music. The author's original interview sources for this work include Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, and the widow and brother of Otis Redding. Predictably, it's an enjoyable and revealing read. Still, the truth is that any music fan will get as much by watching the following clip of a 2015 Solomon Burke performance as they would by reading Guralnick's prose.
BE SEEING YOU
On Monday, watch for the Skin Spectrum Weekly e-newsletter, and on Tuesday, the NPC Healthbiz Weekly will be distributed. Wednesday marks the return of the latest NPC Podcast episode. The CurveFlattener will be back next Thursday, with Kylie Rebernik in charge. Enjoy your April weekend, everyone.