Shout-out to Matt Frazier

The Macon pharmacist — and owner of our Corner Drug Store — was featured on channel 13 (WMAZ) recommending CBD oil to patients looking for an alternative pain medication.

“Once I found out there was a professional line that you could get and bring it to my pharmacy, and show my patient that you don’t have to suffer. You don’t have to take all of these opioids. You can try it out and see how it works for you,” said Frazier.

Another sobering stat for Georgia

Georgia is the sixth worst state for healthcare in 2019 according to the latest report from WalletHub, with lack of access being especially bad. Our high uninsured rate (third worst in the country) and low number of healthcare sites and practitioners for the population hit hard — Georgia ranked #49 out of 51.

The Annoyed White North

With all the talk from the White House and HHS (and presidential candidates) about allowing importing drugs from Canada, it seems no one bothered to, you know, ask the Canadians. And they are Not Happy At All.

There are all sorts of issues with the plan, starting with the fact that many Canadian wholesalers are not allowed to export drugs in the first place. Further, like the U.S., Canada is facing drug shortages — and it has no desire to make those worse.

Finally, some Canadians point out the obvious: If we want Canadian drug prices here, there’s a simple solution: “If the U.S. was going to import anything from Canada,” said Michael Law, professor of health policy at the University of British Columbia, “it should import some controls over the prices of prescription drugs.”

Cholesterol: The ugly joins the good and the bad

Forget LDL — the “bad” cholesterol. Those shifty Danes have uncovered another culprit: remnant cholesterol, aka remnant lipoprotein. And the study out of the University of Copenhagen found that levels of this “ugly cholesterol” are much higher than previously believed.

“Our results show that the amount of remnant cholesterol in the blood of adult Danes is just as high as the amount of the bad LDL cholesterol. We have previously shown that remnant cholesterol is at least as critical as LDL cholesterol in relation to an increased risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, and it is therefore a disturbing development.” —Professor and Chief Physician Børge Nordestgaard*

* The most Danish name ever

Get yerself a pharmacogenomics certificate

Our friends at NACDS are offering PGx101’s Pharmacogenomic Certificate Training in Columbus and Atlanta.

“[It] teaches the principles of pharmacogenomics as well as its practical implications in disease states such as cardiology, oncology, neurology and infectious diseases, among others.”

The course provides 20 hours of CPE credit — 12 hours of home study and eight hours of live training.

Columbus area: Saturday, August 28 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton Columbus – Polaris. (Click here for details.)

Atlanta area: Saturday, September 28 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Integrity Compounding Pharmacy in Sandy Springs. (Click here for details.)

Sunny day, sweeping the clouds … achoo!

Almost half of a percent of the U.S. population has a sesame allergy. Sounds small, but that’s 1.6 million people. (This comes from a new study out of Northwestern and Mount Sinai schools of medicine.)

Once you start statins, don’t stop

There is debate over the effectiveness of taking statins for primary prevention of CV events, but there’s a big downside for patients who stop taking them: a 33% increased risk of admission for cardiovascular event.

Cherry bomb

Question: “Can cherry juice improve cognitive function?”

Answer: According to a small study funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute, yes, yes it can. Take from that what you will.

Today’s head-slapper

Forget chemo, radiation, or immunotherapy — patients with lung cancer just need ginger. Oy.

(What’s particularly scary about this story is that it smells like science, with phrases like “[6]-Shogaol also induced cell cycle arrest (G1 or G2/M) and apoptosis as well as the cascades associated with the programming cell deaths.”)

The long read: death without insulin

“He lost his insurance and turned to a cheaper form of insulin. It was a fatal decision.“