5SR - December 6, 2023

Hitha on the meaning of eyeliner, a solution in our pharmacist shortage, and TikTok-nomics

Author

Hitha Palepu
December 06, 2023

Today’s curator is the founder of #5SmartReads, Hitha Palepu. She’s a consummate multihyphenate - CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, author of WE’RE SPEAKING: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris and How to Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip, and professional speaker. Hitha is an unabashed fan of Taco Bell, Philadelphia sports teams & F1, romance novels, and is a mediocre crafter. She lives in NYC with her husband and two sons.

The vast majority of Israelis didn’t support Netanyahu before October 7, and his support has further eroded during the war.

As a reminder, Netanyahu has been charged with bribery, fraud, breach of trust (and that’s just in Case 4000), and his trial will finally resume. This particular case doesn’t even tackle the undemocratic judicial reform that stripped Israel’s Supreme Court from declaring a prime minister unfit for office, though it was the reason thousands of Israelis vehemently protested this law earlier this year.

If we want lasting peace in the region, we need new leadership. And we need it quickly.

Eyeliner was the very first makeup I ever wore, and it remains my favorite makeup item.

Lining my eyes with kajal was a ritual before every Bharathanatyam performance, and doing a more subtle line in my lower waterline makes me feel and look like myself.

I immediately purchased Zahra’s book after reading this interview, and I wanted to share an early quote that explains my love for this ritual better than I ever could.

“Eyeliner also suggests an intimate connection with one's self. Its application can be a form of self-care and self-preservation, providing people with a moment for mindfulness and self-reflection. I experienced this during the lockdowns of the pandemic. There was really no obvious reason to make my eyes up; I was otherwise in sweats, like most, trying to navigate this new and terrifying reality. But I found that wearing eyeliner lent me a sense of agency or control during a frightening, unprecedented time. There wasn't a day that went by when I wasn't wearing it, even when I didn't see a single soul but myself in the mirror.”

Pharmacists have been one of the unsung heroes of our healthcare system, but they’re burning out - doing even more with fewer resources and support from the enterprises they work for.

And it’s impacting the quality and availability of care for millions of Americans, forcing smart people to look at this crisis and present solutions.

One solution? Increasing the use of 12 month prescriptions (you wouldn’t get the entire 12 months of medication at once, but you’d only have that prescription filed with your pharmacy once).

“So dispensing fewer prescriptions seems like a great solution. Specifically, instead of dispensing 30- or 90-day prescriptions, convert patients to receive six or twelve months of medication in a single prescription pick-up. I’m not talking about new prescriptions a patient is trying for the first time, where titration is still occurring, or controlled substances. I’m talking about the long-term chronic medications on which a patient is stable on therapy.”

I also feel like the filling of prescriptions such as these could help with the forecasting and manufacturing of medications that fall into this class, such as ADHD medications and certain chemotherapeutic agents.

The challenge doesn’t come from the doctors or the pharmacists or the law. The issue is - surprise, surprise - the insurers. But there is hope from CVS, who’s owned by a large insurer and where 180-day fills are covered through mail.

May this be the norm (and may we build an actual health care system in this country, versus the disease management system we currently have).

It’s not just Gen-Z 🫣. TikTok has gotten me to buy things I don’t need, and TikTok Shop makes it SO DAMN EASY.

But the good news is that there are some incredible personal finance experts on social media - HerFirst100K, YourRichBFF - that you should follow and like a ton of their posts to reprogram your algorithm to deliver that content over shopping hauls, design inspiration, and those damn Halara pants (you do not need them and please rent fleeting trends or new sized clothing instead of buying everything you see on TikTok).

This article offers a deeper look at these trends (who’s buying, what they’re buying, and how much they’re spending) - it’s a really interesting read.

Our attention is rightfully focused on G a z a and Israel and the fight for peace, and it’s never been more urgent given the rise of attacks in the region from other groups supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

3 American ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels recently, and I think it’s important to learn more about this group (and to take consistent care to separate them from innocent Yemenis, who have been caught in the crossfire between the Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabian military (nearly 400,000 have lost their lives, with 60% of those deaths caused by indirect impacts like a lack of safe water, medicines, food - exactly what we’re seeing in G a z a).

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Thank you for being a part of this smart community - it means the world to us.

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