Two Georgians running for APhA offices

Monali Majmudar of Atlanta (currently the medical science liaison for vaccines at Syneos Health) is running to be an APhA–APPM Executive Committee Member-at-Large.

Henry Young of Athens (currently both professor at the UGA CoP and director of its Pharmaceutical Health Services, Outcomes, and Policy Graduate Program) is running to be the APhA–APRS Economic, Social and Administrative Sciences Section chair.

Click here for the deets from APhA. Members will be able to vote starting on March 22, and the elections will close at noon on May 14.

It’s baaaaaaaack

Everyone’s favorite pre-licensing-exam refresher course, that is.

If you or someone you know is going to be taking the Georgia wet labs exam (e.g., recent grad, new transplant), boning up on those skills right before the exam is a great idea.

That’s why we’re offering GPhA’s “Practical Skills Refresher Course” four — count ’em, four — times this year, just before each exam.

• Saturday, January 5, 2019 in Savannah
• Saturday, March 2 in Atlanta
• Saturday, June 8 in Athens
• Saturday, July 27 also in Athens

Now’s the time to read up and sign up. Do both at GPhA.org/practicalskills!

Infections, kids, and mental illness

Whether it’s the bacteria itself, or the antibiotics used to fight them, kids who get infections often develop conditions like ADHD, schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder.

A new Danish study adds more data to what’s already known about conditions such as pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS), which results in kids with OCD-like symptoms caused by recurring strep.

Next thing you know, it’ll think about invading Russia in the winter

“Walgreens Takes On Amazon And Worries The Healthcare Sector“.

NIH giving money to fight HIV in the South

With the South the new center for HIV infection in the U.S., the National Institutes of Health is providing funding to institutions down this way “to test new ways of implementing HIV treatment and prevention tools in counties with some of the highest rates of new HIV cases nationwide.”

These CFARs (Centers for AIDS Research Sites) may include Emory University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, UNC, Duke, and the University of Miami.

Farm bill will legalize hemp in the US … but not Georgia

Besides renewing government subsidies to farmers, the new farm bill that’s expected to pass will legalize the growing of hemp.

Hemp is related to marijuana, although it has little if any THC. What hemp does have, besides fiber for use in hipster clothing, is CBD, the other cannabinoid (the one that doesn’t give you a high, but seems to have a variety of medicinal uses).

Assuming the farm bill passes, it will make hemp legal to grow in all 50 states.

BUT WAIT. Before you plant a garden or plan to sell CBD gummies, know that Georgia law isn’t quite so clear-cut.

As Greg Reybold explained in the December/January Georgia Pharmacy, Georgia actually considers hemp to be marijuana because — while it’s a different species — it’s still in the genus Cannabis. Further, Georgia bans any product that even contains a trace of THC. So, until you consult with your attorney (and possibly a biochemist), you probably want to steer clear.

We do it for you

If you call GPhA for help and the staff member who answers the phone seems a bit … off, please understand that “nonprofit work may actually be contributing to mental illness.”

Some pig

The FDA has approved the first trial of a non-human organ transplant: a skin transplant from a genetically engineered pig designed for severe burns.

News from the other war: the one on antibiotic resistance

McDonald’s said it will look to cut antibiotics in any beef used in its products.

The long read: Cutting drug prices

Despite what politicians might say, there’s not a single, simple answer. There are always trade-offs, as several experts discuss in this New York Times piece.