Baby it’s hot inside

Inside the van, that is — the one that’s bringing those mail-order prescriptions. And “Extreme Temperatures May Pose Risks To Some Mail-Order Meds.” #anotherreasontouseyourlocalpharmacy

Nominate someone for a 2019 GPhA award

It’s that time again — time for you to nominate a pharmacy professional for one of GPhA’s prestigious awards:

  • The Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award
  • The Excellence in Innovation Award
  • The Generation Rx Champions Award
  • The Larry Braden Meritorious Service Award
  • The Bowl of Hygeia

Get more information on what each of these awards represents, then nominate someone to receive one — all at GPhA.org/awards!

FluMist is still iffy

Even though it’s been approved this year for kids (after two years of not being approved), new research* says that FluMist doesn’t work as well as a shot. Plus with the shot you get a lollipop.

* Caveat: 20 percent of the research team works for AstraZeneca

The big Merck lawsuit, explained

The Supreme Court is hearing a case this week against Merck. Here’s the gist:

Fosamax, Merck’s osteoporosis drug, can cause fractures. Merck knew this, and asked the FDA if it could change the label to warn patients. The FDA said no.

Thousands of patients ended up with fractured femurs. They sued Merck. The drugmaker said, essentially, “We tried to warn you, but the FDA wouldn’t let us.”

The patients, however, say that the company didn’t try hard enough to change the labels (it could have reworded them, they say, to make the FDA happy), and thus Merck broke state product-warning laws.

And off to SCOTUS we go!

Why is this a Big Deal? First, it puts federal law against state laws. And second, because ‘the FDA wouldn’t approve our warning’ is a common strategy against these suits — in fact, the capital-C Court already ruled that such a defense was legit. But if this case turns out differently … well boy howdy will that open a can of worms.

Researchers, beware the Yellow Peril!

Doing biomedical research? Guard your data from ““Nontraditional collectors of information,” says the government. By which it means “Chinese data thieves.”

In some cases […] Chinese graduate students or visitors have taken intellectual property from American laboratories and given it to Chinese scientists or arms of the Chinese government, which published and commercialized the findings.

Captain Obvious files: “What happens when you remove fluoride from tap water?”

Kids get more cavities.