Covid-drug shortage

One of the drugs that sorta-kinda works for Covid-19 patients is Genentech’s Actemra, aka tocilizumab (which recently got an emergency use authorization from the FDA). Unfortunately, now there’s a global shortage.

Because tocilizumab is still under patent, there are no generic versions. And because it’s a biologic, it can’t be compounded. (Bright spot: Genentech does have subcutaneous tocilizumab on hand, but that isn’t covered by the EUA … yet.)

Send your pharmacy tech to TechU!

TechU is a one-day education and social event (three hours of CE!) developed by Georgia pharmacy techs for pharmacy techs. No pharmacy technician in the state should miss it! Eat, drink, meet, greet, and have a great time!

This year it’s September 25 in Savannah, on the campus of South University. Grab the early-bird rate by August 31 — just $35 for GPhA members, and $45 for non-members. Click here for the deets and to sign up!

Saving you a click

“Massive New Analysis Confirms Just How Many COVID-19 Cases Are Truly Asymptomatic” — the answer is 35 percent (based on a Yale group’s analysis more than 350 studies).

Quality report

How good is the U.S. drug supply chain? The FDA just released the latest report (24-page PDF). It’s got charts and graphs and text breaking down complaints, warning letters, alerts, etc., by drug type, region, and what was wrong. Fun reading, for sure.

It’s also got some interesting data on where our drugs come from. Did you know there are 1,780 drug-manufacturing sites in the U.S., and 1,266 in the rest of the world combined? Now you do.

Someone’s not getting the message

And that someone seems to be pediatricians. A study out of the University of Michigan found that a whopping half of opioid prescription given to kids and teens — usually after surgery or dental work — either “exceeded a recommended supply or dose, or included a drug or combination of drugs not recommended for children.”

[A] small group of prescribers in the top 5% of prescriptions account for half of all opioid prescriptions for children and young adults and half of high risk prescriptions. Many of these prescribers are dentists or surgeons, and a disproportionate share practice in the South.

The latest amazing Covid-19 treatment is…

Fluvoxamine. The anti-depressant. So says a study from Canada’s McMaster University, which looked at 1,471 Brazilian patients.

“Fluvoxamine is the only treatment that, if administered early, can prevent COVID-19 from becoming a life-threatening illness. It could be one of our most powerful weapons against the virus and its effectiveness is one of the most important discoveries we have made since the pandemic began.”

What’s with 20 seconds, anyway?

Why are you supposed to wash your hands for 20 seconds? Is that a magic number? Sort of, yes. Soap works two ways: It destroys the fatty cell walls of bacteria, but it also physically detaches the bacteria from your skin.

The American Institute of Physics was more interested in that second part, and a new paper confirms, “It takes about 20 seconds of vigorous movement to dislodge potential viruses and bacteria.”

The nuts giveth, the hot dog taketh away

We’ll just let the lede speak for itself:

Eating a hot dog could cost you 36 minutes of healthy life, while choosing to eat a serving of nuts instead could help you gain 26 minutes of extra healthy life, according to a University of Michigan study.

(The math: With a serving size of 1 oz, that means … eating 1,173 pounds of nuts would give you an extra year of life. Get cracking.)

The Long Read: Lyme edition

“The Two-Decade Delay in Lyme-Disease Vaccines” — with some surprising information about dogs’ Credelio Lyme-prevention chewable.