Critical bills pass the Georgia House

Despite last-minute attempts by the opposition to derail them this morning, HB 918, HB 946, and HB 947 all passed the Georgia House — HB 947 and HB 918 unanimously, and HB 946 only one vote shy of unanimous!

Thank you to everyone who called, e-mailed, faxed, and otherwise reached out to your representatives. (And hey — when you have a chance, please follow up with your representatives and thank them for their votes.)

Reminder: GPhA Board nominations are open

The deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. EST on March 13, 2020. Visit GPhA.org/2020board for all the details and an application.

Georgians panic (and a member shout-out)

Face masks — even the ones that won’t do much good — and hand sanitizer are selling out at Georgia pharmacies as residents freak out over the coronavirus: So reports the Gainesville Times, which interviewed GPhA member and pharmacy owner Scottie Barton.

Pro tip: If people have questions you can’t answer, sent them to the WHO site: who.int, which has a detailed and up-to-date section on CoviD-19, including answers, advice, and training info for health professionals.

The pipeline slows

India has stopped exporting 26 pharmaceutical ingredients to ensure the country has enough of them for its own drug needs.

Big news for Augusta

It’s the 16th fattest city in the country. (Don’t look too smug, Atlanta — you’re also in the top 100.)

The Divinyls are gonna be in trouble

Fight that muscle memory! During flu season — and with CoviD-19 on its way — you really need to keep your hands away from your face. Yes, it’s difficult enough that the Washington Post even has a column about it: “Stop touching my face? Why the easiest way to prevent coronavirus is so hard.”

A 2015 study found that we touch our face an average of two dozen times an hour, and 44 percent of that touching involves contact with eyes, nose or mouth.

No shock here

If you or someone you know uses a personal electroshock device to “reduce or stop self-injurious or aggressive behavior,” the FDA wants you to stop. It has banned the devices because it says they “present unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury.”

Old dog, new trick

Could phenelzine (ye olde antidepressant) fight prostate cancer? We wouldn’t ask unless someone thought so. In this case it’s researchers at the USC School of Pharmacy.

In this study, 11 of 20 participants had a measurable decline in their PSA levels after 12 weeks of twice-a-day treatment, with the greatest decline in PSA being a 74% drop.

Denne overskrift er på dansk

Want to stave off dementia? One way might be learning a second language. Researchers in Spain found that bilingual people showed less cognitive impairment overall than monolinguals.

[I]n the case of bilinguals, brain atrophy was greater than in the case of monolinguals. […] The researchers have followed the evolution of the [100] patients for seven months, in which they have been able to observe that the group of bilinguals has had a lower loss of brain volume and has better maintained their cognitive abilities.

Obligatory CoviD-19 updates

• No vaccine for 12-18 months at a minimum.
• Mortality rate is 3.4 percent — higher than originally reported. Seasonal flu’s mortality is less than 1 percent.
• Congress is almost sorta kinda ready to approve a funding package to pay for vaccines and treatment; Dems and Reps are trying to balance affordability and profitability.
• No cure, but China is testing various antivirals; the U.S. is testing remdesivir.
• Treatment for mild cases is rest, fluids, Tylenol; when it leads to pneumonia, ventilators and glucocorticoids are used.
• Testing still lags in the U.S., but the FDA now allows states to use non-CDC tests, so that is improving.

Of special note: China is now recommending the arthritis drug Actemra to treat serious coronavirus patients with lung damage.