Who’s the biggest thorn in pharma’s side?

It could very well be AARP. It’s got deep pockets, growing clout, and it’s very, very angry about drug prices — and it knows who to blame.

If there was any doubt of its target, the group’s first commercial cleared that up: An ominous voice declared, “The big drug companies don’t see us as people.”

Don’t vape CBD

Just don’t. Because even the stuff sold in stores might not actually contain CBD — it might have synthetic marijuana, fentanyl, or worse. There’s little oversight about what’s actually in them, and the same brand might have different ingredients from store to store.

At least 128 samples out of more than 350 tested by government labs in nine states, nearly all in the South, had synthetic marijuana in products marketed as CBD.

A break from measles

For the first time since January, there were new new measles cases in a week, according to the CDC. But 2019 is still on track to have more than double the cases of the last year with an outbreak: 2014, with 667 cases.

Trade war: Medication in peril?

As the Trump administration’s trade war with China continues, it’s not just farmers and manufacturers being hit — drug makers and health officials are concerned because so many ingredients come from China.

“If China shut the door on exports of medicines and their key ingredients and raw material, U.S. hospitals and military hospitals and clinics would cease to function within months, if not days.”

Flu patch for mice

If you know a mouse who doesn’t like getting shots, good news: A patch-based flu vaccine appears to do the trick sans side effects. Unfortunately, it appears to work only if the mouse has already been exposed to a flu virus — then again, it’s still in the early stages.

More Purdue

If you’re confused about the (proposed) Purdue bankruptcy settlement, the New York Times has you covered. The big questions: 1) Can a company in solid financial condition declare bankruptcy to settle/avoid lawsuits? and 2) Will the settlement protect the Sackler family, or just Purdue Pharma? Read on, MacDuff.

How ya doin’?

APhA and the Mayo Clinic would love you to check on yourself. They’ve got a six-minute quiz — The Well-Being Index that “provides you immediate individualized feedback including tools and local and national resources to address your well-being.”

Give it a shot, why doncha? Head over to mywellbeingindex.org/signup, use “APhA” as your participation code, then register and take the survey. What you do with the result … well, that’s up to you.