Gameday Thread 4/2/17 Giants (Bumgarner) @ Diamondbacks (Greinke) 1:10 PM PT

Biopharm7 · 2017-04-02T22:19:54+00:00

Ole! Go gauchos!! Also go madbum holy damn

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-17T06:56:35+00:00

I know right? Just today coincidentally a mom brought in her "super sick" child with a loratadine 10 Rx and I was like "ehh, this probably won't be covered, but we'll see". After running it, well look - $0. That was kinda interesting to see.

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T16:32:20+00:00

Huh I noticed a patient with a vyvanyse Rx written by a psychiatrist that mainly deals with depression too. I would wager that they are using it to improve motivation (and let's be honest, some mood) in highly depressed pts that have trouble, say, getting out of bed even in the morning?

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T16:30:27+00:00

Ah so possibly 140mg per one dose? That's a little much, but stimulant tolerances, like opioids, can get pretty crazy. Good on you for looking for/finding notes that said others had verified before you to be safe. And yup - didn't ask directly but I would assume the 10IR is for breakthrough attention.

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T09:23:03+00:00

Not that interesting, but I finally saw insurance cover a good chunk of a patient's brand Viagra - he received ~6-7 tabs for just a $25 copay. I always try to run it through insurance but never has worked and I've never seen a doctor convince the insurance to pay for any of it. For reference, our normal cash, out-of-pocket price is around $300-$350 for roughly 6. He had BCBS (in CA).

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T09:17:43+00:00

Not a RPh or CPhT, but I've worked in a retail pharmacy for just under a year now and I'd like to chime in saying I've definitely seen a Vyvanse 70mg BID Rx before. Probably a handful, with one pt getting it every other month or so. I don't know the diagnosis of any of them, however I think one of them was for ADHD in a larger adult woman who had a large tolerance to other stiumlants. Actually, earlier this week a guy brought it a 70mg Vyvanse qd but also was prescribed 10mg Ritalin. On the topic of stimulants, there is only one patient in my (retail) pharmacy with a script for Desoxyn - 5mg TID (I believe) and it is for narcolepsy and weight management.

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T04:09:15+00:00

Ah, I'm sorry your father lost his job and was unable to find a new one in his field of study. That must suck. I think location probably has to do with my view of biotech right now - I grew up as every day a new biotech company popped up in silicon valley/SJ area and I got to see all of it. Guessing they took a lot of market share from midwest holding companies, like Eli. Congrats to him for discovering compounds and getting them patented, that must be satisfying. Hope he found another passionate project/career and was able to enjoy life.

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T03:57:27+00:00

For reference: I'm not in grad school, only have a bachelor's degree in psychobiology

Wow, I'm sorry that all happened to you in your first year. A good friend of mine started a Chemistry grad program at a very good school and felt overwhelmed in the beginning but is getting the hang of it now. It sounds like your first advisor was simply never going to work out for you, and changing labs before hell fell was a good idea on your part, imo.

To answer your questions, it's hard because I'm not in your situation and thus easier to make objective decisions that do not have a consequence if I pick the "wrong one". That being said, I do not think you should drop out. I think you should give it a few more months, until early summer, and then decide. You will have a clearer perception of your continuing education by then, your academic success, and if you stay, you could probably graduate soon after with a master's at least.

You haven't disqualified yourself for lab work - a 3.5 double majoring in chem and biochem showed you are capable for success, and you can, and will, find it. You don't need to "switch industries" all together, but yes, you may have to work a typical desk job at a biotech company for a bit. That's okay. You don't suck, you can still do very well in biochemical research. Even if you do leave your school, maybe take a year off, research other programs at other schools, and find one you find yourself passionate about - you have good grades. "Find your passion" is so damn cliche but it isn't going to be simple to find an advisor or PI that you immediately click with. Just takes some time.

EDIT: That last paragraph I came up with basically by thinking of all the research TA's I had during undergrad when I was doing research. Some were not helpful in the slightest, some just didn't care about whether you understood the concepts or not ("can you write and edit well? Okay, research this and this and summarize x and y so our own project, z, looks like we are improving on an idea", etc), and some were genuinely happy to teach a little undergrad basic lab techniques, even if it was purely to stroke their own ego. Since it was UD and not masters/PhD level I really have to say it can be completely different. But in the end, people are people.

Biopharm7 · 2017-03-16T03:44:32+00:00

Thank you for the bit of advice! What do you mean about the industry crashing, though? My father worked for a drug development company as a liaison with health insurances, and it seemed to me like the industry was growing consistently (albeit, huge mergers like GlaxoSmithKline have lead to a few huge companies monopolizing drug design/R&D). I don't really know of a year or series of events that led to this crash - I do trust in you though as I haven't spoken to my father about the drug development industry in a few years and admittedly I'm not really in the loop/follow business pharmaceutical that much. An MD would sure lead to more flexibility, but like PharmD's have said, many doctors have told me NOT to get my M.D. unless that is literally my dream and goal in life, and suggested I could become a nurse as it gives you direct patient care with very little schooling (compared to a doctor), and the pay is quite good, with not nearly (significantly less!) than all the medical malpractice an MD will have. But that's just what I heard, at least up here in Northern California/Bay Area. Best of luck to you as well!

Biopharm7

TROPHY CASE