We’re sorry, Cassie!

In yesterday’s story “Dawgs getting bigger,” — about GPhA members who were among the 2019 Bulldog 100 Club (“the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni”) — we made a huge omission: Cassie Riley, owner of Jennings Mill Drug Company in Watkinsville, who also made the list.

Latest maternity numbers

Georgia joined Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia in earning an “F” rating for preventing pre-term births. (We had received a “D” in previous years, but the rate of pre-term births has been rising and finally hit the tipping point.) Gwinnett County had the highest rating within the state with a “C-“.

Almost 1 in 8 births in Georgia is a preemie.

The U.S. is one of only three countries — Afghanistan and Sudan are the others — where maternal deaths are on the rise, and Georgia’s maternal death rate is the highest in the country.

Factors causing preterm births include a lack of health insurance, as well as limited access to supportive care before, during and after pregnancy. The health of the pregnant woman and whether she has conditions such as hypertension or diabetes is another factor, health officials say.

[…]

Access to obstetrical care also is a problem in Georgia.

I wouldn’t buy that for a dollar

Apparently Dollar Tree (and Family Dollar) were selling OTC drugs “produced by foreign manufacturers found to have serious violations of federal law.” The FDA was Not Happy At All. Bottom line: “Assured Brand” drugs are anything but.

Insulin from stem cells

Take embryonic stem cells. Tweak them to produce insulin (this being 2019, when such things are apparently routine). Put cells into device that’s implanted under a patient’s skin. Share results — the prototype appears to produce insulin, and could be a big step toward a different kind of diabetes treatment.

E-cig rules still up in the air

Last week, Donald Trump claimed the FDA was about to ban flavored vaping products and raise the vaping age to 21. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the same thing. Then … nothing. Well, almost nothing. Trump met with leaders from the vaping industry on Monday, and now there’s talk about allowing some flavors and exempting smaller shops from the ban.

The FDA’s Mitch Zeller said that “the agency is working on an e-cigarette policy, but declined to give more information about when it will be released, what the policy will be, or even if the administration still intends to remove flavors from the marketplace.”

So the Senate would like to know what’s going on. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said:

“To feel like we’ve made some headway in reducing the availability of these flavors out on the market, but then to have very conflicting signals coming out from the FDA and the White House about whether or not menthol and mint are included in this, is, unfortunately, an escape.”

Simple adherence trick

“Nudge” patients.

Researchers at the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found that simple “nudges” in the form of texts, emails and phone calls, not only help patients fill that first statin prescription, but also continue to help them take their medications over the long term.

A sentence you probably never thought you’d hear

“What we have in mucus is a therapeutic gold mine.”

The story: MIT researchers have found that some of the sugar molecules found in mucus “can prevent bacteria from communicating with each other and forming infectious biofilms, effectively rendering them harmless.” In other words, the body’s 2,100 square feet of mucus (!) is more than a physical barrier to germs — it kills them, too.

Gateway spin

Surgeon General Jerome Adams: “Marijuana has a unique impact on the developing brain. It can prime your brain for addiction to other substances.”

But… there is actually no scientific consensus about marijuana. Some studies (on rats) have shown that early exposure to THC can result in “greater self-administration of heroin when the animals reach adulthood.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse noted that marijuana may have a gateway effect, but that most people who use the drug don’t progress to other, harder substances — and that “alcohol and nicotine appear to have a similar impact.”

That said….

A new study in JAMA Psychiatry reports that, in states where recreational marijuana is legal, cases of “cannabis use disorder” (i.e., “increased tolerance, repeated attempts to control use or quit, spending a lot of time using, social interpersonal problems due to use, and giving up other activities to use”) increased notably.

The takeaway, say researchers: When you legalize, also have programs for prevention and treatment of abuse. “The general public should be informed about both benefits and potential harms of marijuana products to make informed decisions.”

Your funny pic of the day

A doctor protesting in Lebanon: