December 11, 2002

A collection of news...

Posted by Scott at 10:55 PM

Great news: Over-the-counter Claritin sales begin

Claritin, the non-sedating allergy medicine that for years has been sold by prescription only, became available nationwide this week as an over-the-counter product.
[a local pharmacist] expects many users to be unhappy about the switch from prescription to over-the-counter. “Most people are (upset). Now, they have to pay out of pocket.’’
It used to cost about 2.60 when it was prescription but most insured folks only paid copayments. Now it's priced a little over a dollar, but insurance doesn't pick it up. Overall I'm happier to see it opened up. Other allergy drug patents will be expiring soon. I trust that soon non-drowsy antihistimines will be as reasonable as tylenol. I think that many times it is the third party payer system that drives prices up because common market forces get warped. If next spring is like the last few, I should have more options besides Benedryl and Allegra.

On a more serious side, the big local news has to do with our local Catholic bishop. "Church, state make deal"

In a historic step for the Roman Catholic Church, the Diocese of Manchester avoided possible criminal prosecution by admitting that it had endangered children by keeping sexually abusive priests in ministry.The diocese reached an agreement Tuesday with the attorney general’s office, escaping criminal charges but conceding that it likely faced conviction.
Today was a long day since I went to RCIA direct from work. I was there to "facilitate" the meeting. Today's topic was the Mass. Since I wasn't coming home until late, Michelle took the kids to the YMCA. When the boys went down to bed she baked Christmas cookies with the girls. Michelle says that she forgot how messy baking Christmas cookies is.

This past week ARC, my employer, made two significant announcements. One was the official announcement that we plan to buy back a significant amount (around half) of the publicly traded ARC stock. (ARK on the London Stock Exchange) The second announcement was that after much postponement, ARC has offered all of its employees newly re-priced stock options. A large percentage of ARC employees had come on board near the IPO or later and had stock options that cost significantly more than the current trading price due to the recent economic downturn. It was fairly demoralizing to the workforce. Who wants to exercise stock options at $2.50 when the stock is currently trading around $0.35? Both of these moves are positive indicators to "the market" about our company's opinion of itself and prospects for profitability.

I've got to go. It's getting late. Congrats again to Suzy for finishing her exams. Have a nice Christmas break!

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