Congrats to Josh Kinsey and Mercer’s CoP!

The College of Pharmacy received a $20,000 scholarship from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation “to provide first-year student pharmacists an immersive experience in cultural competency through a partnership with the Clarkston Refugee Clinic.”

Do you want to build a snowman?

Tough luck! We’re featuring a sand castle building contest at the Georgia Pharmacy Convention! (Seriously, what were you thinking? It’s June 15 on Amelia Island, Florida — way too hot for a snowman.)

Why not sign up a team today? The proceeds will support the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation, and your friends and family will have a blast on the beach!

Last year’s runner-up

“Confidence is a fool’s shield”

Just because kids and their parents are confident they know how to use asthma inhalers correctly doesn’t mean they actually can — so finds a study out of the University of Chicago. Perhaps a few extra minutes with asthma patients are in order, and not simply, “Do you know how to use this?”

The FDA points out that drowsiness is a common side effect

The FDA is adding boxed warnings to a bunch of common sleep meds, including Lunesta, Sonata, and zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Intermezzo, Zolpimist) because of the risk of death or injury due to “complex sleep behaviors*.” At least 20 people have already died, in fact.

Serious injuries cited by FDA include falls, burns, near drowning, exposure to extreme cold temperatures leading to loss of limb, carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning and hypothermia.

* That’s almost a British level of understatement, isn’t it?

Moms should drop some acid too (folic, that is)

Folic acid is critical for a healthy baby, but new research says it might also reduce the mother’s risk of gestational diabetes. Another reason to make sure your pregnant patients are taking it.

He who smelt it…

…may live longer. A new study links a poor sense of smell with “higher long-term mortality among older adults” especially if the person is otherwise healthy.

Drug poisonings are up

Yeah, the data are a few years old, but the study is brand new: The drug-poisonings death rate (yes, that often means overdosing) for adolescents in the U.S. has been going up, with opioids playing a large part.