Pfizer’s bad packaging

Pfizer is recalling its Nurtec ODT migraine med because the packaging isn’t child resistant. It’s going to release the drug with new, safer packaging shortly, in the meantime patients should lock it up, and …

As an interim measure, the company has instructed pharmacists to place the drug packet in a child-resistant vial before dispensing it to patients.

To be clear: There’s nothing at all wrong with the drug, it’s just the packaging that’s an issue.

Common cold comfort

Why did Covid-19 hit kids less hard than adults? It might be because kids get colds more often, and the common could could protect them from the ravages of Covid.

Swedish researchers, in fact, have some good evidence of that: They found that one of the viruses that causes the common cold — OC43 — boosts the immune system against SARS-CoV-2, so kids already have T-cells programmed to attack. And because the response grows weaker as we age, it gives kids that extra oomph of protection.

Probiotics vs depression?

Could probiotics help treat depression? Yes, say Malaysian researchers, but. And — despite what you might read on social media — it’s a big but.

The yes: “It has been proven that different strains of probiotics exert anti-depressive potential via distinct mechanisms,” they write. Low amounts of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, for example, seem to correlate with higher depression risk, while higher levels of Eggerthella is associated with major depressive disorders.

The but: That’s all great in theory, but finding the actual probiotic cocktails to help treat depression — a simple pill or food — “will be challenging and elusive.” There just haven’t been enough studies, and we know how complex the microbiome is.

Still, they say, it’s worth studying:

[I]t seems only fitting that scientists and industrialists consider developing probiotic strains that effectively ameliorate depression by tackling different neurobiological and genetic bases of this disorder.

Methadone in the news

Help when cocaine is a problem, too

Enough people who are being treated with methadone for opioid abuse also use cocaine. When treating someone for abusing one drug, it’s hard to also treat them for abusing another, even though most of them want help. But there may be a solution: bupropion and cash.

Johns Hopkins researchers found that a combination of giving participants bupropion and paying them for negative cocaine tests reduced their cocaine use — but only getting cash or only getting bupropion didn’t do much.

That said, the scientists think that after the initial help from the cash/bupropion combo, bupropion alone might help keep them off the drugs.

Closer clinics in Canada

How easy is it for someone to get methadone treatment for opioid-use disorder? A lot easier in Canada than in the US. Not because of getting approval, but because of distance.

[T]he average driving distance to the closest methadone clinic accepting new patients was more than three times greater in the U.S. compared to Canada.

And that’s for treatment, period. If someone needs it fast — within 48 hours — those in the US have travel more than five times farther than the Canucks, and that’s even with our Canadian friends swerving to avoid moose and Tim Horton’s randomly popping up.

The Long(ish) Read: So Many Viruses edition

What’s with all the viruses in the news lately? Are more appearing, or are we just better at tracking them? A virologist explains why it’s a bit of both.

Short Takes

Upcoming for Paxlovid

Pfizer has said that once its anti-viral Paxlovid gets full FDA approval for adults, it will still be covered by the emergency-use authorization for high-risk adolescents. (Eventually the company hopes to have full approval for the younger set, too.)

Elsewhere: Ketamine clinics close suddenly

The 9-state chain of Ketamine Wellness Centers has closed without warning — apparently for patients or for staff.