Legislative update: Week 3

Don’t miss Greg Reybold’s more-exciting-than-the-Super-Bowl update on what happened at the capitol this past week — see it and previous updates at GPhA.org/legislativeupdates. And look for a special message from CEO Bob Coleman in your inbox, too.

Students at the Gold Dome

Student pharmacists from UGA and PCOM headed to the Gold Dome on Tuesday to meet with legislators and let them know they’re invested in their future careers.

Check out the pic — and imagine those hundreds of fresh-faced white-coat wearing students as they made their way through the halls of the capitol. That’s how you make a statement!

Remote hypertension control

Smart devices and new technology are making it easier for patients to stay at home. For example, one study just showed how patients with hypertension don’t need to go to the doctor or pharmacist for a blood pressure check when they’ve got a whole Internet at their disposal.

Unintended consequences

After Purdue’s switched to ‘abuse-deterrent’ OxyContin, users switched to heroin — and that spiked hepatitis C infections.

Coming back for more

A survey found that older patients with diabetes are visiting the ER … a lot.

What is this, 1953?

More measles cases are popping up around the country, and Georgia is one of the states reporting them. And then there’s Newton County, which is seeing cases of whooping cough among kids.

Elsewhere: Great White North edition

Canada is looking to change how much it’s willing to pay for drugs (it will no longer use the U.S. for comparisons, for example). Drugmakers panicked and “offered to give up C$8.6 billion ($6.6 billion) in revenue over 10 years, freeze prices or reduce the cost of treating rare diseases.”

The Canadian government declined the offer.