Breaking news: Georgia house passes HB1351!

The bill, sponsored by Representative David Knight, would “carv[e] out the drug benefit from Medicaid managed care plans,” as Georgia Health News put it. More details to come shortly!

Today’s interesting antibiotic fact

When it comes to telehealth, physicians who are affiliated with a hospital prescribe fewer antibiotics than contractor-supplied or “vendor” docs.

Of 257 telemedicine encounters related to acute respiratory infection, affiliated physicians prescribed antibiotics in 18% of visits, compared to 37% of visits by vendor physicians.

Spring, when pharmacists’ fancy turn to thoughts of GPhA Region Meetings

It’s that time! Time to register for your GPhA Spring Region meeting, coming to your area in April. Hang out with your fellow pharmacists, have a great meal, hear some important updates, and, of course, score an hour of that sweet CE credit.

Click here, see your meeting’s details, and register today! (Note: A few locations are still being nailed down and will be announced soon.)

AMA to pharmacists: Stay in your lane

The White House is launching a ‘test to treat’ program for Covid-19 — pharmacy-based clinics across the country would be “‘one-stop shops’ where people who receive a positive COVID-19 test result can be seen by a clinician and receive antiviral therapy, all in one visit.”

APhA is on board, although it would like to see more pharmacies included. But physicians? Not so much. The American Medical Association likes the idea of one-stop shops, but says they should be in doctors’ offices because “pharmacy-based clinics usually treat simple illnesses.”

“COVID-19 is a complex disease, and there are many issues to consider when prescribing COVID-19 antiviral medications,” the AMA said. “Leaving prescribing decisions this complex in the hands of people without knowledge of a patient’s medical history is dangerous in practice and precedent.”

Patients who test positive, the AMA said, should consult their physicians.

RIP David Bennett

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig has died, two months after receiving the organ. “He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end.”

The cold and Covid

Back in January there was a hint that having the common cold might offer some protection from Covid-19. Now, though, it seems the opposite may be true.

A new study out of the University of Rochester found that people who had been infected with a common cold would release a lot more antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 — but they were targeting the wrong part of the virus, and they were keeping the ‘right’ antibodies from working.

[T]hese antibodies were targeting parts of the spike protein […] that were similar to common cold coronaviruses the immune system remembered from previous infections. Unfortunately, targeting those areas meant the antibodies could not neutralize the new SARS-CoV-2 virus. When levels of these antibodies rose faster than levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, patients had worse disease and a higher chance of death.

Omicron shift

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron now accounts for an estimated 11.6% of what’s circulating in the U.S., according to the CDC. The latest info suggests BA.2 is even more virulent than original Omicron, but having made it through the first Omicron wave means it’s not actually hospitalizing as many people.

Forever young

We’ve talked a lot about ways to keep mice healthier, but you may have thought, “What’s the point? They only live a few years anyway.”

Not anymore (maybe). Scientists at the Salk Institute — tired of trying to convince Suzie that it really is still Nibbles in the cage — have “shown they can safely and effectively reverse the ageing process in middle-aged and elderly mice by partially resetting their cells to more youthful states.”

They do this with a mixture of four reprogramming molecules that reset the epigenetic marks on the mice’s cells from old mouse to new mouse — thus “the treatment does not simply pause ageing, but actively turns it backwards.”

The Salk team members soon after announcing their discovery

“Europe is mad. The world is mad.”

Feeling anxious? The Brits have got your back with a next-generation body pillow. It’s “a huggable, cushion-like device that mechanically simulates breathing, and preliminary evidence suggests it could help reduce students’ pre-test anxiety.”

Considering school tests are the subject of many a nightmare decades later, that’s some pillow.

Fun fact: The ‘breathing’ pillow was one of five they tested, and the one with the best results. The others were one with a heartbeat, one that purred, one that purred and breathed, and one with colored lights.

Their work is published in PLOS One.

Today’s Covid treatment comes from …

Mushrooms. Specifically the C. militaris shroom and the cordycepin it contains.

Korean researchers figured that since mushrooms are known to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral effects, there’s a good chance one of the chemicals in the fungi could have an effect on Covid-19. Lo and behold, cordycepin did — in fact, some of its effects “[were] equivalent to the most used reference medicines like lopinavir and remdesivir.” Well, in the lab, anyway.

Next up, animal tests.