Colorful language has been around for centuries. No, not colorful language as in swearing or profanity. Rather using colors to describe not only the visual hue of something but also human emotions. It’s common today to express feelings of sadness and depression as having the blues. Or the expression, seeing red, when someone is suddenly angry.
In the financial industry, in the pink, is an informal expression to describe a situation in which an investor or an economy is in a good financial position. It is also used to describe the performance of an investment or investment class. But in the pink is not to be confused with pink sheets, which are stocks of companies traded in the over the counter (OTC) market. These stocks are known as pink sheets because in the past, the stock names were written on pink paper. Another well-known term pink paper document is a pink slip which can refer to the certificate of title of a vehicle or the once common practice of placing a pink paper termination notice in with an employee’s final pay check.
The color pink, especially pink ribbons, is the international symbol breast cancer awareness and the annual October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The awareness campaign dates back to October 1985 when the American Cancer Society and the Imperial Chemical Industries Pharmaceuticals (later part of AstraZeneca) organized a week-long event to bring attention to the dangers of breast cancer. Ever since, October has been dedicated to increasing awareness of the disease, encouraging screening, and raising funds for research. It is also a time to encourage women fighting breast cancer, celebrate survivors who beat it and remember those who lost their battle to the disease.
This Weekend Reading series begins with News Watch, with articles on current healthcare news, including patient access to medical records, and appropriate antibiotic use in health plans. Next check out Seeing Pink with a look at historical efforts to raise breast cancer awareness, diagnostic and treatment advances, and more! In The Color of Money explore articles on healthcare affordability, cost drivers and opportunities to reduce costs. Last but not least, do not miss True Colors — and my personal History of the Pink Ribbon. Spoiler alert – the first ribbons were not pink!
I hope you enjoy the following:
1. News Watch
- Call it data liberation day: Patients can now access all their health records digitally (STAT News)
- New Website Highlights Health Plans Leading in Appropriate Antibiotic Use (Pew Charitable Trusts)
- 10 Most Valued Employee Benefits (Forbes)
- From BQ.1.1 to XBB and beyond: How the splintering of Omicron variants could shape Covid’s next phase (STAT News)
2. Seeing Pink
- A Historical Perspective on Breast Cancer Activism in the United States: From Education and Support to Partnership in Scientific Research (Journal of Women’s Health)
- FDA clears Roche test for AstraZeneca, Daiichi’s breast cancer drug (BioPharma Dive)
- Some women want flat chests after mastectomy. Some surgeons don’t go along. (The Washington Post)
- Advances in Breast Cancer Research (National Cancer Institute)
- Enough pink: We’re doing Breast Cancer Awareness Month all wrong – Opinion (STAT News)
3. The Color of Money
- Poll by Gallup and West Health shows 75% of Americans grade the affordability of US healthcare as a D or F (Fierce Healthcare)
- Majorities Rate Cost, Equity of U.S. Healthcare Negatively (Gallup)
- An emergency department-based ICU improves survival without raising costs (University of Michigan Health)
- A Fall COVID-19 Booster Campaign Could Save Thousands of Lives, Billions of Dollars (The Commonwealth Fund)
4. True colors
- Has Pink Always Been a “Girly” Color? (Encyclopedia Britannica)
- Everything to Know About October’s Hunter’s Moon, the First Full Moon of Fall (Yahoo News)
- The World’s Whitest Paint May Soon Help Cool Airplanes and Spacecraft (Smithsonian Magazine)
- History of the Pink Ribbon (Breast Cancer Action)
Enjoy the weekend!
Best,
Suzanne
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.
AEPC President
P.O. Box 1416
Birmingham, MI 48012
Office: (248) 792-2187
Email: [email protected]
