Because healthy patients matter

Pharmacists for Healthier Lives (of which GPhA is a proud sponsor) released a statement urging widespread vaccination:

Even with the availability of vaccinations in the U.S., we are seeing an unfortunate rise in the number of people refusing to immunize themselves and their children due to misinformation about the safety of vaccinations.

Approved vaccines undergo rigorous testing and are proven safe for public use. There is no scientific evidence supporting claims that immunization can lead to disorders, disease or life-threatening side effects.

Promises, promises

So you know all those plans and promises about lower drug prices? Got some bad news for ya.

Companies have raised medicine costs by 27% on average last month, with a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd hiking the price for a generic anti-diuretic by 909%. Closely held Epic Pharma LLC came second on the list of top increases, jacking up prices on two versions of its drug by 399%.

Pharmacists are the key

The key to lowering costs at hospices, at least, because when it comes to paying for “heads, meds, and beds,” its the second one that’s easiest to control.

FDA won’t slow down

FDA approvals are down a bit this year, but fear not says the agency — it’s going to be speeding up the process. It does have some concerns, including a lack of staff to handle the applications, and a lack of skill on the part of smaller companies when it comes to filing for approval.

Pro tip of the day

If you want to avoid diabetic rats, avoid exposing them to blue light.

After exposing male lab rats to LED blue light for only an hour, the researchers gave the animals the option of consuming healthy rodent food, water, lard or sugar water. The rats drank more sugar water on nights they were exposed to blue light. The researchers say this exposure to blue light could interrupt the ability to process sugar, suggesting it may lead to diabetes.

ICYMI

This year’s Miss Virginia* — a future pharmacist — won in part with her talent portion: performing a science demo of catalytic decomposition. Now she’s off to the Miss America* competition.

“I am more than Miss Virginia. I am Miss Biochemist, Miss Systems Biologist, Miss Future PharmD looking toward a pharmaceutical industry career.”

These are still a thing? Really? In 2019?

Bones about it

UMass researchers have found a way to use eggshells to help stimulate bone growth — they use the crushed shells as a frame on which bone cells (taken from a patient’s body) can grow before being implanted. The goal is that the procedure will speed the healing process.

Elsewhere: Oi! Alexa! edition

Britain’s National Health Service is working with Amazon to have Alexa answer some basic health questions, hopefully reducing the number of patients who head straight to their GPs.

The U.S. company’s algorithm uses information from the NHS website to provide answers to voice questions such as “Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?” or “Alexa, what are the symptoms of chickenpox?”