This is the flu season that never ends

It just goes on and on my friends. (It’s the longest in a decade, says the CDC.)

Tick tock

What are you waiting for? The Georgia Pharmacy Convention is less than eight weeks away!

Don’t risk missing out on the biggest networking event of the year — not to mention the perfect family vacation, plus all those sweet, sweet CPE hours*.

Register now! (Or if you really need to find out more, go to GPhAconvention.com for everything you need to know.)

But wait, there’s more! We’re offering two of our most popular certificate courses on Amelia Island just before and just after the convention. How convenient is that?

Note: These courses are not part of the convention and are not included in your convention registration. Separate registration is required.

* Are you really gonna wait till the last minute before you have to renew and end up taking whatever boring dregs you can find to meet your requirements? You’re better than that.

UGA sets pharmacy residency match record

According to the college, 56 out of the 78 student pharmacists who looked for a post-grad residency match (aka, a PGY-1 residency) received them. That, brags the college, is 72 percent, compared to a mere 61 percent average across the country … and it puts UGA among the top 10 in the U.S.

The Doritos marketing folks are clearly not doing their job

Apparently users of marijuana, even new users, actually weigh less than non-users, according to a review of 33,000 people by researchers at Michigan State University.

“We found that users, even those who just started, were more likely to be at a normal, healthier weight and stay at that weight. Only 15% of persistent users were considered obese compared to 20% of non-users.”

They caution, however, that pot should not be thought of as a weight-loss tool.

Measles up, but misinformation may be down

It’s only April, and the U.S. is about to set another record for the number of measles cases — a disease that was virtually eradicated only 20 years ago.

Luckily, though, social media outlets — the source of most misinformation about vaccines — are beginning to crack down on anti-vaxxers.

Using public examples from the World Health Organization and the CDC, Facebook said it would lower the ranking of pages and groups that the company deems to be sharing vaccine misinformation. Additionally, ads that contain similar messaging about vaccines will be taken down and/or disabled. These measures extend across both the Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Ignorance is bliss … or not

Many teens who vape are blissfully unaware that they’re taking nicotine — and just how addicting it is.

Skipping breakfast can kill you

Well, it “was associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease.”

Opioid suit update

The Sackler family would now like to settle all 2,000+ cases pending against Purdue Pharmaceuticals at once, please and thank you.

(Note that these are different cases than in the Really Big Opioid Lawsuit in Ohio.)

Another Seinfeld episode ruined by the real world

It seems “Bubble Boy” disease may be cured.

Gene therapy developed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has cured infants born with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID-X1). The children are producing functional immune cells, including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells, for the first time. The results appear in the April 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.