Opioids and tonsillectomies

Fun facts from a study of 15,793 kids in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery:

  1. 56.9% of kids getting a tonsillectomy fill an opioid prescription.
  2. Kids who got opioids after surgery did not come back more or less often for pain, dehydration, or bleeding than those who didn’t.
  3. Kids with prescriptions were at more risk to return because of constipation.
  4. The length of the prescription (the average was six to 10 days) didn’t make a difference.

Free market at work

What do you do when your drug patent is about to expire and generics manufacturers are nipping at your heels? Why, launch your own “authorized” generic to compete with yourself and keep competitors out.

Lawmakers who created the modern generic-drug industry in the 1980s never imagined anything like this — brand-pharma companies maximizing profits by appearing to compete with themselves.

But it goes on all the time.

Facing your blood pressure

Forget about learning to spell sphygmomanometer — soon you might be able to use a special kind of selfie to check blood pressure.

Transdermal optical imaging measures blood pressure by detecting blood flow changes in smartphone-captured facial videos. Ambient light penetrates the skin’s outer layer allowing digital optical sensors in smartphones to visualize and extract blood flow patterns, which transdermal optical imaging models can use to predict blood pressure.

CVS hits the brakes

The company plans to open fewer traditional stores and focus on its “HealthHUBs,” which are locations that “include more health services like blood testing and sell more health products like sleep apnea masks.”

Who’s using CBD?

One in seven people, apparently. At least according to Gallup.

For those who use CBD, 40 percent said they do so for pain, 20 percent for anxiety and 11 percent for sleep. The survey found women are more likely to use CBD products for anxiety, and most men for insomnia.

Today’s scary West Nile stat

Cases of West Nile Virus spiked — nay, skyrocketed — in 2018, according to the CDC. Which is yet another reason to promote repellants, insecticides, and vigilance.

What do we mean by “skyrocketed”?

“WNV [West Nile Virus] neuroinvasive disease incidence was nearly 25% higher in 2018 than the median incidence during 2008–2017.”

The long read: zombie fungus

“Why the World’s Priciest Mushroom May Be Headed to a Pharmacy Near You“