Pharmacists help people save

As Americans worry about their out-of-pocket prescription costs, guess who they’re turning to for help? That’s right.

According to the 2021 Medication Access Report from CoverMyMeds, 67% of patients reported learning that their prescription would cost more than they expected when they went to pick it up. Of those, 55% asked their pharmacist or provider for cheaper alternatives.

It’s your week 8 legislative update!

Not all that much happening — the big news being that HB 653 (allowing pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests) made it out of committee just before cross-over day. A compromise in the bill means, if passed, it will be in effect for 12 months after the federal emergency ends. At that point discussions will take place about the future of pharmacist testing.

But don’t take our word for it — read the details about that bill and more from Greg Reybold himself.

And don’t forget the Legislative Update Drinking Game: Every time Greg uses the word “contemplates” or “pursuant,” take a shot.

Vaccinations: Rollin’ rollin rollin’

In case you’re curious, about 8.5 percent of Georgians are now fully vaccinated, while another 4.8 percent have received their first of two shots.

Techs: Another chance to get that sweet, sweet vaccination training

Who knew how popular these sessions would be? Good news: We’ve added a tech vaccination training session: Saturday, March 20, from 9:00 am to noon at GPhA’s World Headquarters in Sandy Springs.

Help end the pandemic! Get officially trained to vaccinate so you can (under a pharmacist’s supervision, of course) give out Covid-19 vaccines. Click here for details — and see you there!

Psst: There’s self-study involved, so do it quickly and get ahead of the game.

Yikes!

A 91-year-old Ohio man is in the hospital after getting two Covid-19 vaccinations in one day — the second shot he was supposed to get, and then a third that was meant for someone with the same name.

Apparently he’s recovering.

Resistance is futile?

Bacteria seem to be good at developing resistance to quinolones, but now researchers at the UK’s John Innes Centre think they know how: The bacteria learn to create pentapeptide repeat proteins, and one of them (MfpA, if you feel like Googling) made the bacteria resistant*.

The point being, by learning how these bugs get their resistance, we might figure out how to prevent that from happening in the first place.

* By inhibiting the supercoiling reaction of DNA gyrase, obviously — but you probably knew that.

FDA: Playing it safe or slacking off?

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the FDA has been cutting back on its inspections, but “critics say inspectors should be considered essential workers and do their jobs.”

The F.D.A. conducted 52 inspections of domestic pharmaceutical plants between March 2020, when the pandemic took hold in the U.S., and Oct. 1, compared with 400 during the same months in 2019 […] Inspections of foreign manufacturing facilities have been at a virtual standstill for months.

“CNS-active polypharmacy”

You hopefully know the recommendation: Older folks shouldn’t take more than two meds that affect the central nervous system because of the potential for nasty interactions.

Despite that, the reality — according to a study of 1.2 million people with dementia (!) by University of Michigan geriatric psychiatrists — “1 in 7 people with dementia who live outside nursing homes are taking at least three of these drugs.”

[T]he evidence supporting the use of many of them in people with dementia is pretty thin, while there is a lot of evidence about the risks, especially when there are multiple medications layered on top of one another.”

800-lb. gorillas

Which pharmacies are the largest in the country? The list is a total shock. Not.

Walgreens (i.e., Walgreens Boots Alliance) tops the list, followed by CVS (retail), Express Scripts/Cigna, OptumRx/UnitedHealth, and Walmart.

Llamas take on Covid

Back in the Before Times — November 2018, in fact — we told you how researchers were hoping to use llamas’ antibodies to create a universal flu vaccine. (Llamas are like alpacas but with anger management issues.)

Now a Belgian company is hoping to use those antibodies as a treatment for Covid-19. And, just as with the potential flu vaccine, the drug could be effective against both existing and emerging strains.

Huge bigly Covid-19 news