Last year's tale of pharmaceutical CEO Martin (Call me Pharma Bro) Shkreli boosting the price of a much-needed antiparasitic drug from $13.50 per tablet to $750 (a 5,556 percent increase) garnered him universal enmity and increased attention to pharmaceutical industry pricing practices.

All of that unfavorable publicity has prompted PhRMA, the industry trade group, to act: It has announced that it will boost advertising by 10 percent in 2016.

Body of Knowledge

Human bone marrow produces approximately 1 trillion cells per day, mostly red blood cells. Over the course of a lifetime, that's more than 1,500 pounds of cells, or the equivalent of 10 average-sized (150 pound) persons.

Get me That, Stat!

In the first nine months of 2015, just 9.1 percent of Americans didn't have health insurance, which translates into 16 million fewer uninsured people than in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Benefiting most were children: Down to just 4.5 percent uninsured from 14 percent in 1997.

Life in Big Macs

One hour of standing and talking on the phone burns 122 calories (based on a 150-pound person) or the equivalent of 0.2 Big Mac. Sad-faced emoji goes here.

Counts

32: Percentage of smokers who have remained tobacco-free for 30 days after using a telephone-based quitline

27: Percentage with 30-day abstinence after using a web-based program

Source: Cancer

Stories for the Waiting Room

A quick glance at those yellowed hominid skulls in museums, with their heavy jaws and oversized molars, might suggest that human ancestors were quite capable of happily chomping on the hard, uncooked foods of the day. Indeed, current scientific thinking suggests a repast of tree bark would not have been out of the question.

But a new study, published in "Nature Communications," suggests that at least one of our predecessors wasn't such a big biter after all. An analysis of the mechanical properties of Australopithecus sediba indicates that if early hominids had bitten down with full force on hard food, they would likely have broken their jaws.

And so another theory bites the dust.

Mania of the Week

Pteridomania: a passion for any of the 12,000 vascular plant species of the phylum Filicophyta (Feel the fern!)

Never Say Diet

The Major League Eating record for chili is 2.1875 pounds in 6 minutes, held by Joey Chestnut. Chestnut, of course, is among the world's more famous professional eaters. In this case, his victory likely involved an explosive rush to the finish (and restroom).

Observation

"What happens if you get scared half to death twice?" — Comedian Steven Wright

Medical History

This week in 1897, Dr. John Kellogg served the world's first bowl of cornflakes to patients at a mental hospital in Battle Creek, Mich. Kellogg believed the flakes could be part of a cure for a variety of ailments. Nine years later, his brother Will Keith Kellogg added sugar to the recipe and began marketing them as a breakfast food. Kellogg thoroughly disapproved and sued his brother to keep the family name off of the sweetened cereal.

He lost because where there's a Will, there's a way.

Self-Exam

Among the metals found naturally in the human body is gold, albeit not much. How many people would it take to make a single 8-gram gold coin?

a) 100

b) 400

c) 1,000

d) 40,000

Answer: 40,000. Each of us has only about 0.2 milligrams of gold, most of it circulating in our blood.

Medical Myths

Shaving does not cause hair to grow back faster or courser, a persistent notion repeatedly disproved. Shaving has no effect on hair growth or regrowth. Each strand of hair has its own growth cycle, consisting of different stages of development and activity. The average growth rate is about half-an-inch per month, though the rate varies by body location and ethnicity. Persons of Asian descent have hair that typically grows fastest than, say, persons of African descent, according to a 2005 study in the "International Journal of Dermatology."

Mistaken perceptions of courser hair after shaving are more likely due to newly cut hair lacking a tapered end from wear and less bleaching exposure to light, which can make it appear darker and more obvious.

Translational Meds

Amitriptyline (sold as Elavil) is a popular antidepressant, sometimes used as a sleep aid. It works by blocking targeted neurotransmitters in the brain, but comes with a host of possible side effects, such as nausea, constipation and easy bruising. More worrisome, it can cause confusion, mood disorders and suicidal ideation.

Epitaphs

"He Loved Bacon

Oh, and his wife and kids too."

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by otherCreators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Brian Jeffery Beggerly