Rural hospitals in danger

Georgia’s rural hospitals are in trouble — that’s according to a detailed analysis by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. It tracked closures that have happened and used that information to determine what makes a hospital likely to close in the near future.

• Since 2010, Georgia has had the 3rd highest number of closures — 7 in total (tied with Oklahoma and behind only Texas and Tennessee).
• Of the state’s 67 remaining rural hospitals, 18 of them (27%) are considered “most vulnerable” to closure — they are likely to shutter within a year.
• An additional 13 (19%) are “vulnerable” and are on course to close within three years.

The report is only eight pages long (plus the cover and team bios) and is worth a read.

Panic is the father of invention

The good news: Several drugmakers have said they’re now working on a CoviD-19 vaccine.

The bad news: “That’s because they believe the virus is so deadly that developing a vaccine is worth risking a lot of money.”

Learn point-of-care testing with GPhA and NACDS

Patients who use point-of-care “at home” tests need you. Don’t send them home without a helping hand. Learn how you can help them take control of their health with these tests … and how to best advise them when they show you the results.

Check out the 20-hours NACDS “Community Pharmacy-based Point-of-Care Testing Certificate Program” at GPhA.org/pointofcare.

Sunday, March 15
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
GPhA Headquarters in Sandy Springs

$349 for GPhA member pharmacists, $149 for member technicians (techs can’t get the CE, though — sorry!)

The fluid still sloshes

On February 7, FDA commish Stephen Hahn said that there were no shortages of meds because of the Chinese coronavirus, but the situation was “fluid.”

Now the agency has stopped inspecting Chinese medication plants, and will instead “rely on facilities’ compliance history and other information to determine whether drugs are safe for import.”

And while Hahn said, “[T]here are no vaccines, gene therapies, or blood derivatives licensed by the FDA that are manufactured in China,” what he didn’t say is that 40% of U.S. generic drugs are made in India — which gets its ingredients from China. And that China provides us with a lot of other medications and medical supplies.

A call for compounder action

The FDA wants to regulate how compounding pharmacies make veterinary medications; it’s released a draft guidance document.

Our friends at the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding* say that this rule — GFI #256 — would be bad for pharmacists and dangerous for animals.

The biggest issues:

• The rules would exceed the FDA’s authority. (The Drug Quality and Security Act is about human compounding.)
• It would require compounders to use finished products when possible, rather than bulk ingredients. Not only does that make those meds a lot more expensive, it’s also dangerous — measuring dosages with bulk ingredients is far more accurate than with finished products, which have significant variability in active ingredients.

And that’s not getting into the new record-keeping requirements….

So the APC would like pharmacists — especially compounders — to let their members of Congress know that GFI #256 is a Bad Idea. And it’s easy to do with this handy-dandy tool that will automatically send your message to your legislator.

* Née the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists

Rx to OTC

What do GSK’s Voltaren Arthritis Pain gel and Alcon’s Pataday eye drops have in common? They’re both now approved as over-the-counter drugs. That is all.

Second wave of flu

“Flu season is getting weirder” is the headline. Why? Because as infections by the B strain are declining, infections by influenza A are on the rise.

In recent weeks, there has been a surge in activity of H1N1 in the U.S., according to data from the CDC. And that means even more people are going to the doctor for flu — the percentage of people visiting the doctor for flu-like illness increased from 6.6% of all visits last week to 6.8% of all visits this week, according to the CDC.

A rising tide floods all basements

The rising cost of healthcare affects taxpayers and the uninsured, but it’s also hitting employers pretty hard. The latest numbers, from 2018, show that…

• The average American with employer-sponsored insurance spent $907 out of pocket.
• The cost to the insurer was $4,985 per person.
• The cost per person rose 4.4% from 2017 to 2018, about double the country’s overall inflation rate.
• Over four years — 2014 to 2018 — total annual spending per person increased 18.4%.

Obviously those costs are being passed down to employers in the form of higher premiums.

“Research and development”

In case you’re curious, here are the 10 drugs with the biggest ad spending (TV, digital, radio, print) in 2019:

1. Humira ($577.3 million)
2. Xeljanz ($202.9 million)
3. Dupixent ($199.4 million)
4. Chantix ($197.4 million)
5. Emgality ($161 million)
6. Ozempic ($160.5 million)
7. Eliquis ($158.5 million)
8. Keytruda ($157.3 million)
9. Otezla ($155.9 million)
10. Trulicity ($148.3 million)

(And as we like to point out, only the U.S. and New Zealand allow direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads.)