Flu vaccine recommendations for kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released its “Recommendations for Prevention and Control of Influenza in Children, 2019–2020.” If you give out the flu shot to kids, you’ll want to check out the list.

Purdue threatens bankruptcy to avoid opioid payments

Purdue Pharma is looking at declaring bankruptcy so it doesn’t have to pay billions for its role in the opioid crisis. Purdue hopes making the threat will scare plaintiffs into accepting the company’s $12 billion offer.

PDMPs doing their job

Prescription drug monitoring programs do work — that’s the result of a study from Weill Cornell Medicine that found…

States that require prescribers and dispensers to register with and use prescription drug monitoring programs saw notably fewer opioid prescriptions and reduced opioid-related hospital use compared to states with weak drug monitoring program mandates.

E-scripts doing their job

Surescripts finds that e-prescription accuracy has increased by 64 percent since 2016, even with 40 fields that need to be filled in.

Spend early, spend often

Pharmaceutical companies are spending a lot of money to support the senators they need to stop any kind of drug-pricing legislation.

[T]he executives are using their considerable personal wealth to fund GOP lawmakers playing key roles in the Senate’s ongoing consideration of a bill to lower drug costs, which is projected to cost drug companies $85 billion in revenue in the next decade.

Bad breath is your friend

Using mouthwash messes with your oral microbiome enough that it might even outweigh some of the benefits of exercise.

An international team of scientists has shown that the blood pressure-lowering effect of exercise is significantly reduced when people rinse their mouths with antibacterial mouthwash, rather than water – showing the importance of oral bacteria in cardiovascular health.

Elsewhere: Michigan edition

The state has banned sales of flavored e-cigarettes — “the latest crackdown by regulators amid an outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and a growing recognition of its threat to the country’s young people.”