PLN #3--Ms. Hancock's Example: "Tracking Counterfeit Medicines in the Developing World"

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/08/30/innovations-to-track-counterfeit-medicines-in-the-developing-world/

           In an article entitled "Tracking Counterfeit Medicines in the Developing World" posted by Rakotamala, the author acknowledges how fake medicines and vaccines are costing billions of dollars to countries, and more importantly, costing the livelihood of the world's citizens. The World Health Organization  reports that counterfeit drugs are sold and consumed everywhere. The report that 700,000 people die a year from just malaria and tuberculosis counterfeits and countries collect over $200 billion  per year on substandard or fake drugs. Because of this problem, some steps are now being taken to prevent the sale and consumption of such drugs. Ashifi Gogo from Ghana is making a cell phone app that allows a consumer to scan a bar code on a label and the phone will report whether or not the drug can be used effectively. In Kenya, they are repackaging medicines so that they are tamper-proof. James Nyikal states that there, new features such as hologrammed three dimensional seals can help consumers know the difference in real vs. fake.The article also notes that sometimes, the counterfeiting or the mistake in the drug consumption is not on purpose, that it's accidental given conditions in factories for workers. Screeners have to be creative in finding out these new ways of checking if drugs are legitimate or not. Asia has the highest incident reporting in the world, while Africa reports the lowest incident rate. It's not that Africa has stricter enforcement, it's just that they are better equipped in identifying this type of crime. However, even though this regulation is on the rise, it's still very difficult to recognize counterfeit drugs. In Africa and Asia this year, it was reported that 1/3 of Anti-Malarial drugs were counterfeit in some way. Most people taking these drugs did not procure them from a pharmacy, they got them from market distributors because it is cheaper than going to a pharmacy. Most importantly, instead of making more anti-malarial drugs for example, countries are in need of effective vaccines that would take away the incidence of such destructive diseases. Overall, this article discusses how counterfeit medicines are disallowing consumers to have much faith in their pharmaceutical distributors as well as how these medicines are affecting the health of the world's citizens.
           I'm appalled by the facts highlighted in Rakotamala's article "Tracking Counterfeit Medicines in the Developing World," especially because it is just another example of how loose government regulation is actually hurting people. I have always felt so lucky to live in a country that has an FDA (Federal Drug Administration) that monitors the distribution of drugs to pharmacies. I am lucky we have trusted pharmacies and pharmacologists who conduct research, study side effects, and know effectiveness. But it makes me wonder how many times a drug has been regulated or "passed" when some of it's effects are still unknown. I can't imagine living in a country where trusted drugs are so expensive that I would have to go to a back alley distributor and just roll the dice if I was going to live or not. Our bodies are so fragile when it comes to prescription drugs that putting our lives in the hands of those just trying to make a little money is frightening. What really stuck out to me in this article was how conditions in the factories are so bad that they might not even know if a drug is counterfeit or not, but package it anyways. It makes me question our standards of drug distribution in America. Do we manufacture drugs in factories? And if so, who gets to work in these factories? I always thought it was pharmacologists doing the production, but if I think about it, too many drugs are needed for just teams of pharmacologists, we probably have factories. That means sending poisonous or counterfeit drugs out to the citizens is possible! With so many advances in technology, it shouldn't have to be a question of is my drug safe? It should be a no-brainer that it's safe. This article makes a good case for staying healthy so that our reliance is not on prescription medication. To conclude, my question is such: when we trust our government regulation like the FDA for example to distribute and check the safety of prescription medication, are we unwillingly giving them power over our bodies? In general, I'm deeply disturbed in the lack of regulation on medicinal needs in other countries; I feel lucky to be in America, but frightened for what could be on our horizon also.

PLN #2--Ms. Hancock's Example "Is Google Making us Stupid?"

                 In Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making us Stupid?" he blames the increased usage of computers, internet searches, and technology on the changes seen in a human's ability to think effectively. Carr cites numerous examples of how the internet has not only decreased reading comprehension, but also the ways in which humans process information. He discusses how "readers" these days are less likely to be readers of articles and books directly from the source; "readers" nowadays are professional internet searchers that briefly "bounce" from one site to another looking for little snippets and words that will satiate them the quickest. He cites scholars who admit that before the internet, they were all very well read and able to immerse themselves deep into articles and books, and how now these same individuals can barely go more than a few pages in a book without being distracted, bored, or ready for something new. He even goes so far to say that the circuits in our brains are being rewired by the internet since decoding characters has changed immensely. In other words, all we are doing is briefly, surface-level decoding, not immersing ourselves in the deeper connections, the richness of text anymore. He also discusses how the internet is surely becoming our one dependence: we rely on it as a clock, map, calendar, book, etc. Even magazines and newspapers are becoming "internet-ified" by playing on the weaknesses of the reader's brains and including content that resembles an internet search. Finally, he talks about Google's business goal of synthesizing all of the world's information so it can become the perfect search engine. According to it's makers, at it's zenith, Google would become a type of artificial intelligence linked directly to the human brain. Carr finalizes his article by reminding readers of historical figures like Plato and Gutenberg who also feared the advances of technology in their own times. They feared much like Carr fears now is happening to our generation: the dissolution of thought beyond information.
               Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making us Stupid?" encourages me to question my own usage of the internet, yet frightens me for my future given my reliance on my technological devices. Even while I was reading the article, I was distracted over ten times. I'd read a little bit of it, and then change the page back over to my Pandora station, or bring up my email in case someone emailed me. Ideas he suggested about our reading and thinking habits were happening literally right in front of me. Because I was so back and forth reading this article, I'm sure it prevented me from making deeper connections right at first. It's scary how surface-level we've become, and it's largely the internet's fault. I'm scared to know what damage my brain has incurred due to my heavier reliance on technology. This article also forces me to confront why I'm having my students do PLN's. PLN's might be the most relevant exercise we do all year since it's supposed to teach how best to summarize and respond to an online article. The five-paragraph essay and literary analysis are less and less relevant in the 21st century; what are relevant are internet searching and reading skills. Kids today can barely get through a text of literary merit let alone without checking their phones 20 times. And, what's worse, not many kids today can spell very well since they've always had a little red squiggly line to bail them out of bad habits. I know as I continue in this century, I'll never buy a Kindle or Nook or read on an IPad. There are just some things in this world, like the smell of book pages, that can't be recreated by a computer. Finally, because the article was written in 2008, while Facebook was still on the rise, he hastens to mention social networking. I'm sure if he included that component to the piece, he'd have much to say about how our social habits are all out of whack because of that form of communication. For instance, I was invited to a bridal shower for a close friend over Facebook! Come on! Overall, his points made about brain circuits and the distracting nature of internet skimming frighten me. Just to prove that we're not all robots waiting for the next injection of information, I think I'll have my students write just a little more on paper next week.