Hug a technician!

Happy National Pharmacy Technician Day! Today’s the day we celebrate our technician heroes — the men and women who pharmacists and patients rely on every day.

This is the day you need to make an extra effort to thank the techs you know and love for everything they do on the other 364* days of the year. Heck, take ’em to lunch! Pay for their certification!

On behalf of the members, volunteers, and staff of GPhA: Thank you, Georgia Pharmacy Technicians!

And you know who else says thank you? Governor Kemp, that’s who. In case you missed it, here he is again proclaiming October 15 to be Georgia Pharmacy Technician Appreciation Day, along with a whole lot of techs who took the time to come to the capitol:

* Or 365

Region meetings are underway

Don’t forget — if you haven’t registered for your local region meeting, there’s still time! See the schedule and sign up at GPhA.org/briefings!

Each one includes…

• A critical run-down of the changes to laws and regulations that are going to impact your pharmacy practice … and your patients
• A GPhA membership update
• One hour of CE credit
• A sponsor presentation on a current pharmacy-related topic
• A chance to meet and connect with other pharmacy pros in your area
• A great meal for only $10 ($25 for non-GPhA members)!

Find your region — and your meeting — today at GPhA.org/briefings!

Vaping illness bullet points

• The Mysterious Vaping Illness now has an official name: “E-cigarettes or Vaping product use Associated Lung Injury,” or EVALI. You can decide if the accent is on the first or second syllable.
• Latest count: 1,299 hospitalizations, and 29 deaths in 22 states. Some people are hospitalized a second time.
• Although using THC oil seems to maybe sorta be part of the cause, it’s far from definitive. The latest theory: It’s multiple causes.
• Calls to stop-smoking hotlines are on the rise since EVALI emerged.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong? As more states ban vaping products, there are plenty of YouTube videos that will show you how to make your own vaping oil.
• The flu season is gonna make diagnosis harder.

Quick Purdue Pharma update

The judge has ordered a timeout in the Purdue vs. the world opioid trial, telling everyone to try to settle the bleepin’ thing by November 6 under bankruptcy rules.

Why bankruptcy rules and not a trial? Unlike the tobacco settlement, that would require states to use the money for opioid programs, rather simply “diverting the money to plug holes in their budgets.”

Viagra and bone marrow

No, we’re not going to stoop so low as to make a “bone” joke, but Viagra looks like it might have an extra benefit: It might make bone-marrow transplants more effective. Apparently, when combined with Plerixafor, it makes it easier to obtain the stem cells from donors to restore blood formation in patients.

Viagra enhances the mobilization of blood-forming stem cells from the bone marrow so they can be collected from the blood for transplants.

A new migraine drug

The FDA has approved Eli Lilly’s Reyvow, which apparently relieves the worst migraine symptoms in about two hours.

As seen on TV

“Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver did a segment on compounding pharmacies, and APhA wasn’t thrilled. The issue: The segment used a mix of old news and a handful of examples against compounding pharmacies.

Of note, though: The point Oliver made was not that compounding pharmacies are bad, but that without goverment regulation — which he pointed out was pretty lax in some states — there are bad apples who will put patients in danger. “Oversight is so lax that compounding pharmacies have become the Wild West of the drug industry.”

Meanwhile…

The talk show “The Doctors” had a segment erroneously titled “Pharmacy Denies Cancer Drugs?” — in fact, it was the patient’s PBM that was the problem, not the pharmacy. (Note: You can’t watch the video if you have an ad blocker.)

Amusingly, the title has been changed to “Patient Denied Doctor’s Prescribed Cancer Drug?” I wonder if the show heard from pharmacists….