Georgia takes the lead on affordable insulin

The House of Representatives passed a bill to set insulin price caps — a bill sponsored by Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Marietta (and championed in the Senate by Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock).

Their bill would require private health insurance companies to set prices for a month’s supply of insulin at no more than $35 or 25% of a plan’s negotiated price, whichever is less, starting in 2023 for some patients and 2024 for all.

(Bonus: An earlier AJC article featured a photo of Senator Warnock with GPhA member Ira Katz at Little Five Points Pharmacy.)

Attention, pregnant women

Two things you may want to avoid while expecting:

Too many disinfectants. A study out of Japan found that babies of mothers who were regularly exposed to them “had a significantly higher risk of asthma in their offspring.”

Marijuana. Babies exposed in the womb — not just to THC, but to CBD as well — might not only have low birth weight and behavioral problems, but are at higher risk of obesity and high blood sugar later in life.

GPhA Buzz debuts on OnlyFans

GPhA Buzz is expanding its social media presence (and income generation) with the debut of GPhA Buzz: OnlyFans. It’s the first part of the upcoming “GPhA Buzz After Hours” program, designed to appeal to new generations of pharmacy professionals.

As GPhA Marketing Director April Sloof put it, “Associations across the country are looking for new an innovative income streams. We think the OnlyFans platform has potential not only to attract new members, but to serve as an additional source of revenue — even if it’s only 10¢ at a time.”

A recipe for humans

Congratulations to the huge international team of scientists who finally — almost 20 years after the Human Genome Project was ‘completed’— sequenced the stubborn last eight percent.

The human genome is, at long last, complete.

The power of oxytocin

“Oxytocin,” the headlines read, “turns fierce lions into kittens.” This does not mean — despite the temptation — that you can spray some in the zoo and climb into the cage with Simba.

What it does mean is that oxytocin makes solitary animals more social — useful for conservation efforts and as a potential therapy for people with anxiety.

After the treatment, the 23 lions given oxytocin became more tolerant of lions in their space. This was measured by seeing how close a lion who has possession of a desired object, in this case a toy, will let others approach it.

I don’t like either of their odds.

Choose your booster

If you got a single J&J Covid vaccine shot, what’s your next move? Another J&J? Or one from Moderna or Pfizer?

A study out of Indiana University’s Regenstrief Institute has the rather clear answer: “We found that any booster strategy is better than a single J&J dose.”

Marco … polio

Polio’s back: After 30 years without it, Africa is seeing polio outbreaks — likely because Covid-19 interfered with normal health services, and a stark reminder that we can’t ever let our guard down.

Irony watch: Two studies have shown that the live-virus oral polio vaccine provides some protection from Covid-19. “[T] these live vaccines […] may be used temporarily to protect people in low-income countries that do not yet have access to COVID vaccines.”

Time to put this to bed

“Ivermectin Does Not Reduce Risk of Covid Hospitalization, Large Study Finds” — and even the guy whose now-retracted study started the craze (virologist Andrew Hill) agrees.

Dr. Hill has run his analysis of ivermectin studies again, this time including the new data from the TOGETHER trial. All told, his analysis included more than 5,000 people. And once more, he saw no benefit from ivermectin.

Money quote: “At some point it will become a waste of resources to continue studying an unpromising approach.”

The Long(ish) Read: Pharmacists Doing More edition

The idea of pharmacists testing, prescribing, and dispensing medication for various conditions — strep, flu, even birth control — is catching on, bit by bit.

“Despite Doctors’ Concerns, Pharmacists Get More Leeway to Offer Treatment With Testing.”