CALLING ALL TECHS!

Governor Kemp is going to have his photo taken with as many pharmacy technicians as we can get to the capitol on Wednesday, October 9 at 11:45 a.m. for Pharmacy Technician Appreciation Day.

We need you there! Show your pride to Governor Kemp and all of Georgia!

Meet at 11:15 a.m at the gift shop in the capitol to get organized, get pumped, then go see the governor!

Questions? Call or text Emily Durham, she’s chair of GPhA’s Academy of Pharmacy Technicians, at (480) 326-4765 or drop her a note at emilyd@mixwithintegrity.com.

Georgia hospitals penalized

At least 86 hospitals in Georgia have been hit with Medicare readmission penalties for 2020, ranging from a tiny 0.01% (Taylor Regional Hospital in Hawkinsville) to a full 3.00% (Chestatee Regional Hospital in Dahlonega).

They aren’t alone; 83 percent of U.S. hospitals were hit with one. The penalties, in place since 2012, will affect Medicare patient stays for the entire 2019–2020 fiscal year.

With drug prices still rising, Trump pulls no punches

Despite both congressional and White House efforts, drug prices continue to rise, jumping 10.5 percent overall in the first half of 2019. That led Donald Trump to vent his frustrations on the pharma industry at a speech in Florida.

Trump wished drug company stocks would drop, promised to push forward on sweeping plans to crack down on drug makers’ high prices, and promised that he doesn’t “care about the [drug] companies.” The impromptu rally remarks included some of Trump’s most vicious attacks against drug makers since his first speech as president-elect in 2017, when he claimed the industry was “getting away with murder.”

Not-so-sweet 16

A new study in JAMA Psychiatry finds that 16-year-old girls using oral contraceptives “reported higher depressive symptom scores” than their peers. Interestingly, that wasn’t the case for 19, 22, or 25 year olds.

Five for flying

Did you know that all airlines are supposed to carry five drugs on every flight: atropine, dextrose, two doses of epinephrine, and lidocaine?

But, citing costs and shortages, airlines are now getting waivers so they don’t have to carry them.

(Best part: The airlines’ spokesperson who says “U.S. carriers adhere to all F.A.A. regulations, including carrying emergency medical kits on board the aircraft” without mention the waivers.)

Latest vaping stats

1,080 cases of the Mysterious Vaping Illness, and 19 deaths.

Aspirin and the air

NSAIDs, specifically aspirin, might be able to protect lungs from air pollution — at least, short-term spikes in particulates. For the long-term, better to move out of the city.

PreP, take 2

The FDA has approved a second HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis drug, also from Gilead (which already makes the PreP drug Truvada). This one is called Descovy, and, while it’s considered a more modern med, it’s not yet approved for women.

Fungus, the pancreas, and cancer

Bacteria and fungi, it seems, can slip past the sphincter of Oddi and get into the pancreas. And one particular fungus, Malassezia (née Pityrosporum), can cause dandruff when on the head … but is linked to cancer when in the pancreas.

Administering an antifungal drug got rid of the fungi in mice and kept tumors from developing. And when the treated mice again received the yeast, their tumors started growing once more.

The Long Read: Generics and Carcinogens edition

“Carcinogens Have Infiltrated the Generic Drug Supply in the U.S.,” from Bloomberg.