Shout-out to UGA’s Hawkins

Congrats to Anthony Hawkins, clinical assistant professor at UGA’s College of Pharmacy — he was named the college’s Teacher of the Year.

Who’s the best independent pharmacy owner you ever saw?

NCPA wants to know. It’s accepting nominations for the 2019 NCPA Willard B. Simmons Independent Pharmacist of the Year award — independent pharmacists who demonstrate “exceptional leadership and commitment to independent pharmacy.”

The winner will receive free travel to the NCPA convention in San Diego this October, $1,000 cash, and, most importantly, an engraved commemorative plaque.

Click here the the details — and yes, you can nominate yourself.

It’s still out there

Health officials would like you to know that the Zika virus is still a threat. Have a great weekend!

But the good news….

Researchers have found a neurotoxin that affects the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito — and only the mosquito. As in, they injected the stuff directly into mice and nothing happened. But for the skeeters… well, I don’t know what “It cleaves the mosquito syntaxin” means, but I hope the little buggers suffer.

This discovery could hopefully lead to an eco-friendly insecticide.

Allison still wants to know if you’re doing MTM

Allison Smith at the Georgia Department of Public Health still needs our help. She’s looking for pharmacists to complete a short survey on MTM services. DPH wants to see how many pharmacists are offering it, and what has helped or hindered your plans to provide it to patients

The better DPH knows what’s out there, the more it will be able to help, so please, click here to take the short survey by July 8. Thank you!

FDA taking it easier

The FDA has cut back considerably on enforcement actions since early 2017: “Official Action Indicated” forms reports are down 45% since Barack Obama was president, warning letters are down 33%, and injunctions are down 26%, according to an article from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“Sometimes the actions we take are visible, like warning letters (or) recalls. … At other times, our actions to protect consumers are less discernible, but equally vital.”