Your bones don’t want antibactierials

Women exposed to triclosan — an antibiotic found in some toothpastes and other personal care products (but not soap or hand sanitizer, ’cause the FDA banned it) — are more likely to develop osteoporosis, according to a new study.

Sticks and stones

Speaking of breaking bones, a different study found that infants who are given PPIs and other acid suppression therapy in their first year of life are more likely to do just that.

What you don’t know can hurt you

What if there was a law that could have helped save people from the opioid crisis, but there was no penalty for ignoring it? Is it still a law? It’s not a rhetorical question. Read the Reuters special report: “How judges added to the grim toll of opioids.”

The law is one that requires judges who seal evidence in cases to explain why they have made that choice. But when it came to opioids, those seals were commonplace — and when the evidence was finally leaked, “for untold numbers of opioid users who had overdosed, it was too late.”

Tune your rose quartz to 1.734 milliparsecs and face east

In what must surely be a shocking revelation, the Washington Post looks at how people who turn to social media for medical advice “get sucked into a world of bogus medicine.”

[One] video, with more than 1.4 million views, claimed that baking soda could cure cancer. [Another] was an interview with self-described cancer expert Leonard Coldwell, in which Coldwell explains that every cancer can be cured in weeks with a special diet that “alkalizes” the body.

The video has more than 7 million views.

Implanted drug delivery… with remote control

Forget daily shots or pills — the future could be a grape-sized device implanted in your body that delivers meds “without the use of pumps, valves, or a power supply for possibly up to year without a refill.”

The device would be controlled via Bluetooth, which oughta help generate a whole lot of plots for murder-mystery writers.

Smell the roses again

If you or someone you know is suffering from both nasal polyps and chronic rhinosinusitis, you’re in luck: The FDA has just approved the first treatment for both.

A “softer landing” after an OD

New Jersey has a new policy: Paramedics can not only administer naloxone to someone overdosing, they can follow it up with a hit of buprenorphine to counter withdrawal symptoms. “This comes out of left field, and it’s very interesting,” said one expert. “It’s a potentially brilliant idea.”

Elsewhere: We-all-see-where-this-is-headed edition

Illinois became the 11th state* to legalize recreational marijuana, and will also expunge the records of many people convicted of possession. (New York legislators also recently voted to expunge those records.)

The Illinois law, which legalizes adult usage and allows for marijuana sales from licensed dispensaries starting on Jan. 1, is projected to generate over $57 million in new tax and fee revenue in fiscal 2020.

* That includes D.C. and Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state. It is decriminalized in 15 others — and six Georgia cities — meaning you get a ticket, not an arrest.

The long read: Black pharmacists and the cultural gap

“Independent black-owned pharmacies fill a void for African American patients looking for care that’s sensitive to their heritage, beliefs and values.”