Leave the dog’s hair alone

No matter what grandma, the guys in the back of that seedy bar, or your 10th grade gym teacher said, when it comes to hangover cures, there’s no good evidence that any of those ‘cures’ actually works.

Sure, there have been studies (say the British researchers who looked into it), but they aren’t very good:

Although some studies showed statistically significant improvements in hangover symptoms, all evidence was of very low quality.

If you’re skeptical, consider this: The first suggestion from Harvard University is literally “Hair of the dog” — drinking more to ease the symptoms of a hangover.

Covid notes

J&J STAYS IN THE GAME

If you got the J&J Covid-19 vaccine, first of all bless your heart. But good news: A study out of South Africa found that a two-dose regiment of the vaccine provides about 85 percent protection from severe Covid.

DELTA PROTECTS AGAINST OMICRON

A different South African study found that being infected with the omicron variant likely gives protection against the delta variant.

This is good for two reasons. First, with Omicron spreading much faster than Delta, it’ll soon be what you’re most likely to catch. Second, if you’re going to get Covid-19, Omicron is what you want — it’s less likely to kill you than Delta is.

CDC MAY DO A 360 ON ISOLATION

First it said that people who tested positive for Covid-19 but were asymptomatic needed to isolate for 10 days. Then, at the end of December, it cut that to just five days (in part at the request of employers like Delta Airlines, who wanted their employees back sooner).

Cue the backlash. And, you know, skyrocketing cases.

So … now the CDC is considering reversing its decision — maybe going back to a 10-day isolation, or adding a testing requirement, or … sheesh, at this point who knows? Mandatory double-masking? Wearing underwear backwards? Sacrificing a goat?

BOOSTERS FOR YOUNG TEENS ARE COMING

The FDA approved mRNA vaccine boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds; once the CDC approves them as well, high schoolers can get their third shot.

(Side note: There is some evidence that getting a different booster than the first shots may provide more protection — i.e., a Moderna booster if you had two Pfizer shots — but it probably doesn’t make much difference.)

Could the feds override Xtandi’s patent?

The awesome* prostate cancer drug Xtandi was discovered by scientists at the (public) University of California, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Army — i.e., U.S. taxpayers.

Still Japan-based Astellas Pharma is selling it to U.S. patients $156,000 a year for it — three to five times the price in the rest of the world.

HHS can fix this by exercising “march-in” rights.

The term “march-in rights” refers to the government’s authority, under Section 203 of the Bayh-Dole Act, to authorize third-party licenses to federally funded patents if the original patent holder fails to make the invention “available to the public on reasonable terms.”

In short, it could allow cheaper generic versions to be produced. So far, despite several petitions, it has declined. (Lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry couldn’t possibly have anything to do with that.)

But now there’s a new administration, and the petitioners have been told that their latest attempt is under review.

* Full disclosure: Xtandi, paid for by Medicare, gave me five more years with my Dad.

If you take digital payments, listen up

New for 2022: If you’re a small-business owners who uses services like PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App to accept money, not only are you supposed to report more than $600 to the IRS, now those services will be required to as well. So expect a 1099-K to be added to your paperwork.

What does this mean? Once again: Don’t take financial advice from a snarky blog. Ask your tax advisor.

Lupus and depression

If you’ve got patients with lupus, there’s a good chance they’re also suffering from depression — even when their disease is controlled and they’re on the right meds. And if they’re Black, the Washington University researchers found, there’s an even greater chance of depression.

This sounds like it might be important

“Rivaroxaban as thromboprophylaxis improves clinical outcomes after COVID-19 hospitalization”

Or maybe not. Them words are too bigly for me.

To-may-to, to-mah-to

Interesting non-medical story of the day: Japanese researchers have used CRISPR/Cas9 to genetically modify tomatoes so they contain high amounts of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) — which, the company that makes them claims, can help relax you and lower your blood pressure.

They aren’t in it to help people

Statins are pretty good (and cheap) for at lowering LDL-c levels. Even better, though, are PCSK9 antibodies — but they have to be injected twice a month, and they’re expensive.

But also out there is inclisiran, which lowers LDL-c as much as PCSK9 antibodies and only needs to be injected twice a year. The company that developed it, The Medicines Company, and CEO Clive Meanwell planned to keep the price much lower than, say, Repatha.

Then Novartis bought The Medicines Company, got approval for inclisiran (branded as Leqvio) … and priced it higher than existing PCSK9 antibodies.

[I]t would have been interesting had Novartis followed the plan initially outlined by Meanwell which would likely have benefited millions more patients. The high price of Leqvio won’t allow for that.