The conflicting judicial rulings on the legality of mifepristone dominated the pharmacy news over the last few days. Between that and the Easter weekend, it’s been quieter on the pharma front and thus a shorter Buzz than usual.

Strep spreads, meds don’t

Bad news: There’s a particularly nasty version of strep circulating right now — invasive group A strep. (We mentioned this in Saturday’s Buzz). Most notably, it can infect more than just the throat.

Worse news: Pediatric amoxicillin to treat it is still in shortage.

Better news: Not every strength is in shortage. While the popular 400 mg/5mL might be hard to find, you can get the same result by, say, taking more of a lower strength.

“You might need to switch,” [said one drug-shortages expert]. “So you might have to take a little bit more volume… I have given children antibiotics, and I know that that’s not fun, but you can do that.”

What’s behind the shortage? Demand, not supply. Manufacturers based their production on previous years’ needs, but the pandemic ‘bounce-back’ of various infections means this year is seeing a higher than normal demand, and it’s lasting into spring. Said one epidemiologist, “I can’t be confident that April will mark the end of this strep throat season.”

One interesting story about the dueling mifepristone rulings….

Led by Pfizer, hundreds of US drugmakers have called for the reversal of the Texas judge’s ruling (the one that suspended the FDA’s 23-year-old approval). This isn’t because they agree or disagree with how the drug is used, or even because they make mifepristone (most don’t), but because if upheld it throws the entire FDA approval process into chaos.

“If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the letter said.

As one exec put it, “This is a nightmare scenario for the industry. It’s the single worst threat to the industry in over 50 years.”

Covid Notes

What, you thought it was all over but for the credits? Ha!

Surfaces tension

Remember at the beginning of the pandemic, when cleaning products were selling out as people disinfected everything? Then we learned that the virus was airborne and masks were more important than Lysol.

Well guess what? A new British study found that yeah, Covid still spreads through household surfaces (and hands).

It’s twice as deadly as the flu

If given a choice to be hospitalized for Covid-19 or the flu, pick the flu. A study of more than 11,000 Veterans Affairs patients found that almost 6% of Covid patients died within 30 days, compared with just over 3% of flu patients. (For what it’s worth, the risk of Covid death declined with the number of vaccinations.)

Hospitalizations are going up some places

Just as the XBB.1.16 variant is spreading, now 16 states (not including Georgia) are seeing hospitalizations rise. Of those 16, seven have the new variant, so it’s not yet clear how much of an effect it’s having.

Don’t leave out the eye of newt

Some stores (not yours, of course) are apparently selling fake “treatments” for prostate problems — capsules that are nothing more than a bunch of supplements and extracts with no evidence that they can help do anything of the sort.

Treatments is in quotes because it’s the kind of word that FDA enforcers are sensitive about. You can’t throw it around willy-nilly.

Forbes writer Steven Salzberg points to one pill, Prostoxalen, that promises to “get rid of the constant pressure on the bladder, unpleasant pain and all other ailments related to prostate enlargement! Once and for all!”

What’s in this miracle drug? The kind of stuff you would normally get from that nice old lady who lives alone in the woods with her one-eyed cat: saw palmetto, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, tomatoes, nettles, and willowherb, plus some vitamins.