Kemp considers cannabis

Governor Brian Kemp says he’s open to the idea of allowing limited marijuana cultivation in Georgia in order to produce the low-THC oil some patients are allowed to take. He did admit, though (presumably with a smile), “When it passes with a constitutional majority, it might not matter what I think.” (The bill passed the House 123-40.)

Pharmacists at the Dome

The PBMs are fighting hard to stop our bills, particularly HB233. (Hopefully you got our message and sent an e-mail or made a call!)

One big way we fight back is with Pharmacist Advocacy Teams — taking a group of live, working pharmacists to the capitol to meet with legislators face to face.

Here’s the group that joined the fight on Wednesday:

It’s one thing to hear a lobbyist tell you how PBMs are hurting patients, but it’s hard to dismiss a dozen pharmacists saying, “My patients — your constituents — are being hurt when they’re forced to use mail-order pharmacies.”

We need to keep the pressure on and you’re our best way of doing it! Click here to see our call to action — and how to contact the senators who will be hearing these bills!

Thanks, Darwin

Apparently the whooping cough vaccine isn’t working as well as it used to because the %$#&@ bacteria has evolved and the vaccine is no longer a perfect match.

“We’re making the best use of the vaccine, while we’re frantically doing research to make a better one,” said Schaffner*. But a new vaccine for whooping cough is nowhere near ready, he said.

* Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Mini office includes robot pharmacy

A company called OnMed is testing “interactive telemedicine kiosks.” Patients can visit a physician virtually from inside the private room, then have medications dispensed by the “robotic minipharmacy.”

The kiosks include “high-definition and thermal cameras allowing a doctor to inspect patients’ eyes, ears, nose and throat, or any skin lesions, for example—plus hardware for measuring their height, weight and blood pressure.”

Common medications are dispensed from an automated vault, which can also provide paper or electronic scripts for other pharmacies if something is out of stock. Initially, OnMed will not prescribe any scheduled drugs.

There’s more than active ingredients

“Inactive.” You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Wait till you see the whites of their eyes

Or at least till October for a flu shot. A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analysis found that, because the vaccine’s protection wanes, it’s best for seniors to get their shots in October, rather than August.

FDA committee chair: “Congress is owned by pharma.”

Dr. Raeford Brown, who chairs the FDA’s Committee on Analgesics and Anesthetics, is not happy about how much money representatives and senators are getting from pharmaceutical companies.

Despite many politicians, particularly declared presidential candidates, beginning to speak out against big pharma, Brown does not think that anything will come out of it “because Congress is owned by pharma.”

“I’m really much more concerned because Congress is supposed to have oversight for the FDA. If the FDA isn’t going to hold pharma accountable, and Congress is getting paid to not hold pharma accountable, then it really doesn’t matter who the president is because it’s really about Congress.”