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If for no other reason then to give that overworked vibrator of yours a break.” Tina laughed as Laura turned red. “Don’t even try to deny it. You know the walls are too damn thin in our building.” The phone call that came from April as she entered her apartment later that night was far from unexpected. Author, Seema Sirohi, says, “I have been fortunate enough to watch the arc of the India-US relationship bend towards friendship despite the bumps along the way. With this book, my aim is to fill the gaps in a narrative that is often set in the West and is often one-sided. As they say, reality is more complicated. I tell the India-US story by showing the drama of diplomacy and recounting how officials really felt about the problems and prospects of the relationship. There were moments when it seemed the centre would not hold and things would fall apart. They did not. Slowly but surely, the two ships of state turned around from hostile to a friendly posture. This decades-long dance between the two is what Friends with Benefits is all about.”
Seema Sirohi’s rich and racy account captures the incredible transformation of India–US relations in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. For those who might take the current productive ties between Delhi and Washington for granted, Sirohi reminds us how challenging the journey has been. Friends with Benefits is a must read for the merely curious as well as the professionals engaged with the foreign policies of India and the US.’ Friends with Benefits is a detailed, punchy and richly reported account of the last several decades of Indo-US relations. Seema Sirohi, a long-time observer of the relationship, has written an entertaining book that balances incisive analysis with valuable original reportage. A fascinating read.’ There are, in addition, a few special arrangements that might allow patients to receive an expensive drug on the NHS even if NICE has not approved it. One is for the pharmaceutical company to reach an agreement with a funding body such as NHS England to provide a drug at a discount, or to reach another type of commercial arrangement, before the drug has completed NICE’s appraisal process successfully. These arrangements have become increasingly important as the NHS, companies and regulators have been encouraged to speed up the approval for new drugs. In some cases, the arrangements have allowed firms to collect additional evidence on the drug’s effectiveness to present to NICE during the technology appraisal process. In some of these schemes, these arrangements allow the pharmaceutical company to gather stronger evidence of the cost-effectiveness of the drug so that it can secure NICE approval at a later stage.Once more she felt the jolt of hurt at his words, but kept her features impassive, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset, her mouth clenched tightly shut, her mind struggling to accept what was going on. For the first time she realised that deep down she felt that he would not really force her into his bed - that he was only trying to humiliate her. The man she knew six years ago was fair and held in high esteem by the other contractors and employees. Did he not realise he had humiliated her enough? Laura had been taking it one day at a time, not daring to ask for what she needed, what she was sure he wasn’t ready to give her. It felt like she was melting into him—not just his body, but his life and him. It was terrifying how often she’d wanted to whisper her love, and she knew she had to be careful. Laura hated to admit it, but even though she trusted him with her body, she knew she couldn’t trust him with her heart, not yet. There have been several books on India–US relations in recent years, but what makes Seema Sirohi’s Friends with Benefits unique is the perspective she offers as an accomplished journalist on how the two vibrant democracies have journeyed from estrangement to engagement. Her insights, drawn from an extended involvement with the subject, are both sharp and incisive.’ She broke off as the waiter brought them menus. After he left, Kelly drew the conversation to Laura’s work experience, asking how long she had been an assistant to Arthur and what she had done before that. More questions about knowledge of various office applications and what her workday looked like. Finally, as the meal drew to an end, Kelly smiled and seemed satisfied. NICE’s approach to cost-effectiveness analysis is founded on utilitarian principles, with the aim of maximising the benefits of health spending for society as a whole. The logic of the system is to ensure that the NHS uses its funding to deliver the greatest overall improvement in health with the resources at its disposal. In its cost–benefit analysis, NICE considers the number of quality-adjusted life years that a new drug will deliver, without making any judgements about the value of an additional life year for a particular patient or social group. In NICE’s analysis, an additional quality-adjusted life year for a child is given the same importance as one for an older person.
Sleep, sweetheart. If you want to help me, then sleep.” Far easier than she thought with the feel of Paul around her, she did. India is on the wrong side of history,’ declared President Bill Clinton post New Delhi’s nuclear tests in 1998 and came down with an array of sanctions. Cut to the present, India is no longer the enemy for the US. In an age dominated not just by China’s rise but by its undoubted political and economic muscle power, India has become the fashionable new ally in Washington.April was my dorm roommate and she sat me down, handed me a brand-new vibrator, and told me to break up with him. And I did.” The last thing I see is the empty eyes of my mate before I lose consciousness. The last coherent thought I have is knowing that I’m alone. This explainer has outlined the long journey from the discovery of a new drug to it becoming available on the NHS: the initial scientific research, the search for new compounds, the clinical trials, the marketing authorisation, the cost-effectiveness analysis and the commercial negotiations before, finally, an NHS doctor can prescribe a new drug to their patients. Kelly—she said you were an amazing lover and she couldn’t get enough of you. She said that just thinking of you made her pussy wet. I want to know what that feels like.” If the research request is approved, the company first conducts phase 1 clinical trials to determine that the drug is safe in small doses in healthy volunteers. If the drug proves to be safe for humans, the company launches phase 2 clinical trials to gather information on dosage, side effects and efficacy for particular conditions. These are typically smaller-scale randomised controlled trials where people are selected at random to take the drug or an alternative treatment or placebo.
Come” His voice once more saw her start to shake as she opened the door, stepping into the dimly lit room, leaning against the door for support as her eyes landed on him. Darius moved towards her - Sara’s eyes opening wide seeing as he wore only silken pyjama bottoms, his chest bare. Her eyes drank in the well-toned shoulders leading down to slim hips, his stomach sculpted, feeling the flush and the way her pulse started to race so alarmingly.
Wide-eyed she could only stare up at him as he repeated more determinedly, his fingers digging slightly deeper pulling her from her reverie, “Do you find me attractive Tia?” She knew she should pull herself from him, tell him that she found him disgusting and to demand he leave, but there was something about his words, an honesty which she had never before experienced, her eyes closing softly, a moan leaving her mouth “Of course I find you attractive...What woman wouldn’t, but...I am just not comfortable with...” When I first had the dream, I woke up with tears running down my face. They were so vivid they had me questioning reality. The next night I had another dream and it continued. I would get them once a month until I was having them every other week. Nightmares have become a normal part of life. The same could be said about you. I’m still finding it hard to believe with all of that you managed to have two boyfriends, let alone one.” Friends with Benefits is a delightful and sometimes pungent retelling of the transforming US–India relationship. With a veteran journalist’s practised eye, Seema Sirohi assembles extraordinary detail to vividly capture the zeitgeist of every phase in the bilateral relationship in the last thirty-odd years. Her book is a superb reminder of not only how far Washington and New Delhi have come in recent times, but also why this partnership needs constant tending if it is to deliver on its ambitions in the years ahead.’ I had an amazing night with this she-wolf Ady you don’t even know. Goddess! You should have seen the tits on her. I had her in-” I cut him off before he can finish.