Yes, we have flu shots! If you’ve not had yours yet, you should! The targeted groups are:

everyone over 50 (and

remember, it’s free for everyone who has Medicare!)

healthcare workers

those with chronic illnesses

The shot is advised for those who can’t take off from work easily (it drops your chance of missing work due to respiratory disease by 42%!) and those who work with children. You can’t get the flu from the shot! The split virus vaccine we use hasn’t got all the parts the virus needs to give people the flu.

If You Do Get the Flu we’ve got effective treatments, if you can get to us quickly: Two are effective against both flu A and flu B - Tamiflu (oseltamivir) 1 capsule twice a day for 5 days and Relenza (zanamivir) 2 inhaled capsules twice a day for 5 days. For flu A the older drugs Flumadine (rimantadine) and Symmetrel (one brand of amantadine) are effective.

How Do You Know It’s Flu? The symptoms are not "just a cold". You typically have high fever, severe muscle aches and cough.

Goodbye, Lotronex: The drug alosetron (Lotronex) has been withdrawn. It was used for women with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Several patients have died due to ischemic colitis (a very different form of bowel disorder, where low blood flow to the colon can result in dead bowel, bleeding, infection and death). It is unclear if the drug caused the problem, but the FDA demanded that it go. As far as we know, none of our patients have been on it.

Another Winner: Margaret Koch is our latest winner of 2 tickets to the movies for getting her colon cancer screening cards in promptly. You can also be a winner if you complete and send in your cards in our fight to prevent this highly preventable tumor.

has arrived. The 70 mg version of alendronate is taken once a week, on an empty stomach and upright, and patients should not eat for ½ hour. It is just as effective as the once a day pill for preventing and treating "brittle bones", osteoporosis. If you’re on the daily Fosamax and wish to switch, please call our medication line 914 962-3182

Other drugs for osteoporosis include Actonel, Evista, Miacalcin and estrogen (Premarin, etc).

Splenda Debuts: a new sweetener has arrived, sucralose, sold under the brand Splenda. Discovered in 1976, it was first approved in some products in 1998, but now is out as an all-purpose sweetener. It is made from sugar, but rearranged so that it won’t be metabolized. As such it is sweet without any calories! It has one big advantage over other non-sugar sweeteners - it tolerates heat! So it can be used in cookies, cakes and other baked goods. We’ve been using it in the office with our coffee, and it works well with no problems to date.

1) Please do not leave a pharmacy prescription number for your medication – we need the drug’s name in order to okay refills.

2) Messages are removed from the prescription line at the stated times, but if it is a busy day, we won’t get to review your chart and medicines until the lunch hour or when we finish with patients for the day. So if you want to pick up your medication in the morning, please leave your request on the system by noon the previous day.

3) Sometimes drug benefit firms request a change to a similar drug – if you do NOT wish to be switched, please say so when you call.

4) Once again, our dedicated prescription number - available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is:

(914) 962-3182

Please remember:

• Your name and phone
• The medication name, brand or generic, size (mg), how often you take it and how many you need
• Your pharmacy name and number

Appointment Hint: If you become ill and need an urgent appointment, call – even if the office is closed. Leave your request on our answering machine. Our staff checks these messages when we come in and will schedule appointments BEFORE we officially open and start answering the phones. It’s an easy way to "go to the head of the line."

As many of you know, we like to help everyone remember when they’re due for various preventive services. We use our billing system for this, and the only way it can do so is if there’s a "charge." So we make it $0.01. This generates your reminders and newsletter label. So to continue getting your newsletter and reminders for mammograms, Pap smears, eye exams etc. PLEASE DON’T PAY THAT PENNY!!!

Last Call for 2000 Insurance Forms: Please let us know by December 22 if you’ll be needing insurance forms for 2000. We’re sorry, but once we purge the computer during the holidays, there’ll be a charge to recreate those records. Please leave your request for forms on our answering machine (962-3180) and we’ll call you when they’re ready.

Physicians Against World Hunger remains one of our holiday favorite causes. PAWH uses donations to fund small loans – which average under $350 – to poor rural women who invest in small businesses. They learn to make a profit and become self-sufficient. So far, 99% of the loans have been repaid. PAWH’s address is #2 Stowe Road, Suite 13, Peekskill NY 10566.