Or tea. Or a badly needed shot of JD, if you work in AstraZeneca marketing. Here are a few items that may have flown under the weekend radar or just popped up early this morning…

Eagerly awaited data on a new hepatitis C pill from Vertex Pharmaceuticals will be unveiled at the annual meeting of the European liver researchers in Barcelona this week, The Boston Globe reports this morning. At issue is whether a 250-patient trial shows the pill can eradicate the virus. Raymond Chung, a liver specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says the results may not tell the whole story, but “you’re seeing the leading edge of a real shift in treatment.” No indication, though, whether he is involved in studying the drug.

The nation’s last prescription-drug discount program is about to fold in Wisconsin after the state was denied a waiver by the Bush administration, The Wisconsin State Journal reports. The program offered $62 million in discounts, but the White House wants everyone to try Plan D. Darlene Finch, a 70-year-old retired switchboard operator calls the move “devastating,” because she can’t afford the donut hole economics. “I can’t understand it…Why are they so determined to cancel it?”

If dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in cough medications, came before the FDA today, it probably wouldn’t be approved for over-the-counter use, Newsday writes in a follow to the agency’s recent decision to review OTC cough meds for kids. A behind-the-counter requirement may follow, some say, but the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group for OTC makers, maintains the products are and effective when used according to the label.