Pharmacist...

Pharmacists preparing an IV medicine in a clean room. 

Karl...

Divide...

Seriously?

Approved...

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new generic of Diovan (valsartan). Valsartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) that treats high blood pressure and heart failure. The FDA prioritized the review of this drug application to help relieve the recent shortage of this critical medicine as a result of multiple recalls of generic valsartan products from several manufacturers due to the finding that certain lots of valsartan and other ARB medicines contain nitrosamine impurities.

The ongoing recalls to prevent certain lots of valsartan that contain unacceptable limits of impurities has resulted in a shortage of these important medicines. 

So to address the public health consequences of these shortages, we’ve prioritized the review of generic applications for these valsartan products. When faced with a drug shortage situation, the FDA employs a number of strategies to help mitigate the effects of the shortage on patients. 

Now we are talking.  Just a thought.

Nostalgic...

Many people in the UK are nostalgic about the past - and, whether it's for proper music stars, sense of community spirit, and many other things.

The study shows many over-50s consider the old days to be better because people were more patient, slower pace of life, family ate around the dinner table and face-to-face conversations.

Others miss the fact that the price of gas and petrol was lower, university education was free and property prices were more affordable

Researchers found that eight in 10 people in this age group are often nostalgic for the past, and two thirds admit they think of their early years through rose-tinted glasses.

Majority believe that developments in technology have improved people's lives for the better,  and minority think social media has worked to make people happier.

Those were the days.

Carb...

Carbohydrates are an often-misunderstood nutrient. Carbohydrates are found in just about every food group — from fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and even protein-containing legumes and nuts. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines advise that we get 45-65 percent of our calories from carb.

Limiting your intake of white bread, white pasta, cakes, cookies and other refined grains is a good idea.

However, cutting out fiber-rich and healthy carbs like those found in fruits, vegetables, legumes including lentils and chickpeas, and healthy whole grains such as steel-cut oats, whole-wheat bread, farro and quinoa is not a good idea.

These carbs may even reduce the incidence of chronic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease and colorectal cancer.

We should focus on unrefined grains which contain all of the healthy components of the grain and are, therefore, rich in fiber, magnesium, vitamin E and other nutrients.

Bicycle...

The image of a woman on a bicycle has caused a lot of buzz recently. Specifically, the woman who was photographed giving the middle finger to Trump’s motorcade while pedaling beside it. 

A BBC article came stating that the woman had been fired from her job because she made this gesture and subsequently posted it on her social media. 

The woman told the Huffington Post that her employers, fired her because they believed the gesture to be “obscene” or “lewd.” 

By posting this photograph she had violated their social media policy.

The First Amendment does not protect certain speech, such as fighting words, or words which “incite an immediate breach of the peace”. That being said, the middle finger does not  “appeal to prurient interest,) nor does it incite direct violence. 

However, the claims of the company which said it violated their social media policy are  within their rights as a private organization. 

There is also a slight conflict of interest, though, when you take into account that Akima LLC is a government contract company. 

Briskman was in charge of Akima’s social media presence. Her job was to promote the company in a good manner. For her own social media to have “obscene” gestures does not exactly set the best example for the company.

However, the problem here is that she voluntarily posted this image and now that it has gone viral she is technically not a private citizen anymore. She signed away some of her rights when she agreed to popularize her name in connection with the photograph.

Finger...

Image is not related.

It's your right as an American to give people the finger, even if the recipient of your flipped bird is a police officer, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled this week.

The case centered around a Michigan woman who displayed her middle finger to a police officer who had stopped her for speeding and written her a ticket for a lesser violation in 2017.

The officer then stopped the woman again less than 100 yards away and amended the ticket to a speeding violation.

Cruise-Gulyas later sued, alleging that the officer violated her constitutional rights by pulling her over the second time.

A panel of judges ruled that stopping Cruise-Gulyas because of the gesture was a violation of her First Amendment rights.

"Fits of rudeness or lack of gratitude may violate the Golden Rule," Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton wrote. "But that doesn't make them illegal or for that matter punishable or for that matter grounds for a seizure."

Cruise-Gulyas hadn't done anything illegal to prompt the second stop, the judges ruled.

Detained ..

The Supreme Court handed the administration a victory in its battle to clamp down on illegal immigration.

 A group of mostly green card holders argued that unless immigrants were picked up immediately after finishing their prison sentence, they should get a hearing to argue for their release.

But in the 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that federal immigration officials can detain noncitizens at any time after their release from local or state custody.

The court also ruled the government maintains broad discretion to decide who would represent a danger to the community and who to release or detain.

The administration argued that given the limited money and manpower available, it was nearly impossible for the federal government to immediately detain every immigrant upon their release from custody.

Alford...

To be more precise, an Alford plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who claims to be innocent. A no-contest (or “nolo contendere”) plea is a plea by a defendant who accepts punishment but doesn't admit guilt. 

An Alford plea is similar to a no-contest plea, but there can be important distinctions between those two.

Despite claiming innocence, a typical Alford defendant considers the evidence too strong to go to trial. To that kind of defendant, the chance of a jury conviction and a tougher sentence is enough to plead guilty.

Courts treat Alford pleas differently than standard guilty pleas. An Alford plea is similar to a no-contest plea, but there can be important distinctions between those two.