Levitra

Put the bill for Big Erma’s tulips on the credit card.”Isn’t Cupid a wonderful, cherubic little fellow?

The little guy in the Depends always seems to have a heart for Valentine’s Day.Are you sure those are rubber arrows, or are you doing some detective work for the Mrs., who doesn’t trust the Mr.?

Valentine’s Day.

VD for short.

No, that isn’t an STD.

It’s more like FTD.

Yes, penicillin and a card just might work.For those of you unaccustomed with the concept of ValenÂtine’s Day, the date falls between Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays.

That may—or may not—be by design.Until recently, I thought the most significant thing that happened on Valentine’s Day happened in Chicago.

Pre-JorÂdan Bulls, post Mrs.

O’Leary’s incendiary cow.You remember.

Members of an undesirable Chicago orgaÂnized crime element met an untimely demise at the hands and machine guns of another organized crime element.Say it with flowers—or say it with Al Capone.Pundits called it the St.

Valentine’s Day Massacre.

The Mob called it “A hit with heart.”Nowadays, we call Feb.

14 the St.

Valentine’s Day Massacre Of The Wallet.Historically, the day was the brainchild of a couple of acciÂdental florists—Milo and Merle Floribunda.

They were a couÂple of out of work, down on their bouquets florists bent on inÂc...

For Navy Cmdr.

Mark A.

Richerson, director of the Defense Department’s Pharmacoeconomic Center, patient behavior with this and other drug classes moved on the formulary show the powerful effect of raising co-payments.

What we learned, he said, is that co-pays do change “market share.

Patients will switch.” That confirmation is important, Richerson suggested during the Tricare conference, because getting 6.6 million current users of the military pharmacy benefit to make more cost-effective choices is critical to department plans to lower the trajectory of soaring pharmacy costs.

In fiscal 2005, defense spending on outpatient pharmacy services hit $5.4 billion, up 80 percent in three years.

But at least the rate of growth is trending down, Richerson noted.

In fiscal 2003, outpatient drugs costs rose by 27.5 percent.

The increase was 21.8 percent in 2004 and 15.5 percent last year.

And for the first time in recent memory, outpatient drug costs in military treatment facilities actually fell last year, by 5.2 percent or $89 million.

But military retail pharmacy costs jumped 30.1 percent.

“It’s an incredibly expensive point-of-service,” said Richerson.

Congress took a first important step toward co...