Word: switch
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...debate begins in earnest this week, when the FDA conducts hearings on requests by Merck & Co., maker of Mevacor, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., manufacturer of Pravachol, to sell lower-dose versions of their cholesterol-lowering products over the counter (OTC). If the FDA approves the switch, it may unleash a flood of similar requests from other drugmakers...
...change could rock the $100 billion pharmaceutical industry. In the past, the drug companies decided when to ask to make a switch, a situation that critics say merely reinforced their patent protection and high prices. Now the FDA is considering making more decisions on its own, and the consequences could be enormous, affecting who pays for these drugs and how much, just as these issues are becoming politically explosive. The move could shift some costs that insurers now pay for drugs to consumers--although at least there would be no forms to fill...
...cheaply available. But analysts note that Merck's patent on Mevacor expires next year. And while Bristol-Myers Squibb's patent on Pravachol runs to 2005, generic versions of Mevacor will surely cut into Pravachol's sales, justifying Bristol-Myers' push for OTC too. An added benefit: a switch could give the maker exclusive selling rights on the drug for three more years. That's why medicines like the hair-loss treatment Rogaine (owned by Pharmacia Corp.) and the heartburn reliever Tagamet (SmithKline Beecham) moved from prescription to OTC before their patents expired. Although prices fall, unit volumes usually increase...
Because both candidates support capital punishment, Nyhan said the issue will have little impact. He summarized their differences by saying that "the Democrats are for the death penalty in principle but they don't want to pull the switch...
...judge observed that the name has a classy pedigree. And besides, he wrote, the kid can always just tell people to call him Frank. This decision is bad news for our 10-year-old, who has long hoped to change her name from Emily to Emili. She made the switch informally in third grade, when she was looking for something more sophisticated. Suddenly, a name rich in literary allusion looked like a typo. My husband and I decided to ignore it. But three years later, the alias is still with us, and she's conned teachers, friends and relatives into...