Should pharmacists be able to prescribe contraception?

UGA wants to know. UGA College of Pharmacy researchers are conducting an opinion survey (it’s quick) about that very subject, and they’d like licensed pharmacists to weigh in.

Let them know what you think, what you’re comfortable with, and what it would mean — and be quick: The first 500 licensed Georgia pharmacists who complete this 10 minute survey will receive a $15 Amazon gift card via email. (Even if you’re not in the first 500, you’ll still be helping get a handle on the issue.)

Go forth and opine!

Today is the early bird deadline

Please do not register for the Georgia Pharmacy Convention until tomorrow.

If you register today, March 15, you’ll save $50 on your convention registration. So please, wait until tomorrow and pay $50 more.

Ha ha — we kid! But today is the last day to register and save $50.

Don’t miss out on great convention education, networking, food, fun, and more — with or without the early bird rate. Because even if the early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese.

The 2022 Georgia Pharmacy Convention
June 9-12, 2022
Early bird pricing ends today March 15.

Click here to register!

Announcing convention keynoter Kenyon Salo!

We’re thrilled to announce that keynoting the 2002 Georgia Pharmacy Convention will be Kenyon Salo — one of the top keynote speakers and trainers in the fields of inspiration, leadership, and adventure!

He’s determined to live life to the fullest and help others do the same — and through humor, awe-inspiring moments, prolific storytelling, and edge-of-the-seat content, he’ll share his passions for adventure, storytelling, and connecting with people. He found a simple process to guide others on a path to what most of us crave — living a more fulfilled life.

Kenyon will not only remind you how amazing life can be, he’ll share the steps that will help you — both personally and professionally — embark on a path to achieve anything you desire.

Check him out!

Pfizer pulls out … and gives out

Pfizer has said it will no longer invest in Russia, but will continue to sell medication there. Get this, though: The company said it will donate all profits from its Russian subsidiary to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

[E]very dollar of profit derived from Russia will strengthen Ukraine and its people as they continue to valiantly defend their nation and freedom.

It’s not alone. At least 27 other pharmaceutical companies are giving direct or indirect support to Ukraine.

Chutzpah

Some of the companies that agreed to pay $26 billion for their role in the opioid crisis may have a twist up their sleeves. They’re apparently trying to use provisions in the Covid-19 relief bill to claim that opioid-settlement money as a tax deduction. And that is not sitting well with the House Oversight Committee. It’s asking the Department of Justice to investigate.

A colon cancer prevention pill?

Emodin (aka 6-methyl-1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone*) can prevent colon cancer. That’s been shown. Exactly how it works was unclear, and without that tidbit it’s hard to turn it from “compound in Chinese rhubarb” to “pill you can buy.”

University of South Carolina physiologists made a big step toward figuring it out. The found the mice they gave it to had fewer and smaller polyps — not news. But they found that the cause seemed to be a gut with fewer of the particular macrophages that cause the tumors.

To confirm, they exposed the macrophages to emodin directly, and bam! Dead macrophages. Thus the road is open to further study, and maybe a new supplement on your shelves.

* Also the name of Elon Musk’s third child

Covid makes a comeback

China, Australia, and Europe are beginning to see a new wave of Covid-19 infections, this one from the Omicron BA.2 variant (which hasn’t yet gotten its own Greek letter*).

Europe is reporting an upswing in case numbers and hospitalizations — about a month after most restrictions had been lifted. Which is exactly what happened with Delta. And Omicron.

Australia is also seeing an uptick, and is pushing people to get their boosters before hospitals are overwhelmed again. And China, which has a low vaccination rate and so-so medical infrastructure, is starting lockdowns amid another surge.

As Forbes’s Bruce Lee (no relation) put it:

Some politicians, TV personalities, and people have been asserting that they are done with the Covid-19 pandemic, which may be nice to hear. But looks like SARS-CoV-2 didn’t get the memo.

* It would be Pi, unless the WHO thinks that’s confusing — in which case it’ll be Rho.

Mentally prepare yourselves

A second booster shot looks like it’s coming. (No, it’s not a “fourth booster.” Sheesh.)

Flu tests: good to know

At-home flu tests are just as good as the kind sent to a lab — so finds a study out of the University of Washington. It compared results when a test was done by a lay user vs. the same test sent to a lab.

Considering the time to get to a pharmacy (or, worse, a doctor), get the test done, send it out, have it run, and have it returned — it makes a lot more sense to do it yourself and hopefully start treatment (or at least rest and fluids) sooner.

Maybe it’ll help

Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, is … displeased with the FTC. The agency, you may recall, declined to investigate just how insidious PBMs and their practices are.

“There is widespread bipartisan support for examining PBMs and looking into whether they are causing Americans to pay higher prices for prescription drugs,” he wrote, and encouraged the commissioners to rethink their choices.

An earlier version of this story quoted Sen. Grassley as saying, “The emperor is not as forgiving as I am,” which turns out to have been misattributed. We regret the error.

Sharing is caring … and depressing

During the third wave of Covid-19, about 27 percent of people reported feeling depressed. But here’s the kicker: For people who shared at least one photo a day on social media, that jumped to 45 percent.

Hungarian researchers, tracking depressing since the start of the pandemic, found that the depression gap between ‘daily sharers’ and normal people got larger the longer the pandemic continued.

[T]ime spent on social media and willingness to share self-representative content have both increased during the pandemic waves and are associated with a higher and growing risk of major depressive disorder among the most active sharers.

Sharing and depression — which is cause and which is effect? Not clear. But after a couple of weeks of seeing daily photos, you might want to reach out: “How you doing?”

Psychopaths are (sorta) like us

Being a psychopath may not be a disorder. It may be an adaptation.

Here’s the logic: One of the processes that causes mental disorders also causes left-handedness; that’s why so many lefties are a bit … off*. (No offense. It’s just a fact.) So if psychopathy was also a disorder, more psychopaths should be left-handed.

That’s what Canadian researchers figured, at least. So they checked — they did a meta-analysis of 16 studies that “investigated the association between psychopathy and handedness in various populations.” (Yes, 16 separate research teams all did the same study.) They found that nope, there was no connection — there are plenty of right-handed psychopaths, too.

Thus, our results fail to support the mental disorder model and partly support the adaptive strategy model. We discuss limitations of the meta-analysis and implications for theories of the origins of psychopathy.

* Mark Zuckerberg; Eminem; presidents Ford, Clinton, Bush, and Obama; Napoleon, Tina Fey….