World rankings you’re better off without

There are 39 U.S. states — yes, including Georgia — that have such a high rate of Covid-19 infection they would qualify for the CDC’s “Do Not Travel” list … if they were countries.

In fact, five U.S. states (if they were countries) have among the top-10 outbreaks in the world: Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama.

If Georgia was a country (it is, but you know what I mean) it would be in the top-20 worldwide. Take heart, though: “If Florida were a country, it would be the second-most infected place on the planet, just behind Guadeloupe.”

You know Georgia’s next

No more Medicaid work requirements: HHS has revoked permission for Ohio, South Carolina, and Utah to require Medicaid recipients to either find work or take job training, pointing out that such policies only reduce Medicaid enrollment without actually increasing employment.

Only two states are left considering such requirements: Tennessee (and HHS just asked for more information about its demonstration project) and Georgia.

“Work requirements lead to loss of coverage for the most vulnerable people, the research on this is clear. It’s an idea that has lost whatever luster it had, and I don’t think any states are going to want to go down this path now.”

A slight conflict of interest

Every year, Medicare pays millions for drugs that are thrown away because they come in large, non-resealable, non-reusable vials. Taxpayers are paying for gallons when all patients use are teaspoons, simply because that’s how drugmakers package them.

Seems like a good place to save some money.

But, when asked for its opinion, the ‘prestigious’ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) said, essentially, ‘Nah, don’t worry about it.’

What NASEM didn’t mention was that it — and members of the committee who wrote the report — were on the receiving end of a lot of money from pharmaceutical companies.

And it’s not the first time “The conflicts align just way too closely with the results,” as one researcher put it.

The national academies came under scrutiny in 2014 and 2016 for failing to disclose conflicts among committee members advising federal officials on opioid use and in 2017 on genetically modified crops.

And more recently, a NASEM report on compounded hormones had the same problem, this time with influence from the report’s sponsor — the FDA.

‘Tis the season (almost)

Are you ready for flu season? Any idea what to expect this year? (Spoiler: You’re not. No one is.)

It’s like this, see: With flu barely making an appearance last year thanks to masks and isolation, no one knowsif this year will be better (thanks to Delta) or worse (because the 2021 vaccines might not match the strains that show up).

Still, the good folks at Drug Topics have published some recommendations and information about both vaccines and point-of care tests. Be prepared … for anything.

Speaking of giving vaccinations…

Since you’re probably going to be giving vaccinations — plural — now’s the time to take APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery: A Certificate Program for Pharmacists. Conveniently, GPhA is offering it twice more this year: September 19 and December 5, both at GPhA’s World Headquarters in Sandy Springs.

Every pharmacist on your team should learn to administer immunizations, and there’s no better way.

Get the details and register today. (And because these are in-person programs, space is limited!)

The number of the counting shall be three (for some)

By the time you read this, the FDA is expected to announce that Covid-19 vaccination boosters will be authorized (and, indeed, recommended) for people with compromised immune systems.

If you’re pregnant, get vaccinated

So says the CDC (and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists). It’s simple: The risk of preterm birth and severe disease is high, and the risk from the vaccine is virtually non-existent, it said. And Delta’s transmissibility makes it even more urgent.

Only 23 percent of pregnant women have received even one dose of Covid vaccine in the United States, and, in recent weeks, physicians have reported seeing more pregnant patients becoming infected, C.D.C. officials said.

Oh, and you can discuss this part amongst yourselves:

The C.D.C. said its new guidance applies not only to pregnant women but also to pregnant individuals who do not identify as women.

VA passes on Alzheimer’s drug

The Veterans Health Administration said Nope, it won’t be including Biogen’s Aduhelm — the $56,000 a year Alzheimer’s drug — on its list of approved drugs “due to the risk of significant adverse drug events and to the lack of evidence of a positive impact on cognition.”

A diabetes drug tackles Alzheimer’s

Here’s a bit of a surprise — in a good way — from Alzheimer’s researchers. A study out of South Korea found that people with both type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s taking dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors* had less amyloid in the brain, and showed slower cognitive decline than people not taking those drugs.

Researchers found that people with diabetes who took the drugs had lower average amounts of amyloid plaques in the brain compared to people with diabetes who did not take the drugs and compared to people who did not have diabetes.

* “Gliptins” to their friends

Tiny dancers

How do you get drugs into the notoriously difficult-to-enter central nervous system? Why not microscopic robots? Biomedical engineers have designed just those: “tiny tumbling soft robots” that can be controlled by magnets and steered through the body.

They do two important things: Get into the neural tissue where intravenous drugs can’t go (they’re soft enough not to damage it), and be directed to the exact spot where treatment is needed.

The study finds that when controlled using a magnetic field, the tiny tumbling soft robots can move against fluid flow, climb slopes and move about neural tissues, such as the spinal cord, and deposit substances at precise locations.

And, just because engineers have senses of humor, the ‘bots are called “magnetically aligned nanorods in alginate capsules” — MANIACs.