Kinda big eye drop warning

In case you missed it: The FDA has issued a warning about 26 (!) OTC eye drops because of the risk of infection “that could result in partial vision loss or blindness.”

The factory that made them not only had insanitary conditions, but product testing found actual contamination. The brands:

• CVS Health
• Leader (Cardinal Health)
• Rugby (Cardinal Health)
• Rite Aid
• Target Up&Up
• Velocity Pharma

The details and full descriptions are here.

Fighting bipolar meds’ side effects

Weight gain is a common side effect for kids taking meds for bipolar disorders, but University of Cincinnati researchers have found a simple potential solution: metformin.

The typical approach to weight gain has been to tell the kids, “Hey, we’ve treated your bipolar issues. Deal with the weight on your own.” So the UC folks wanted to see if metformin might help; psychiatrists are iffy about prescribing it, but a study might change their minds.

After two years and almost 1,600 kids across 60 sites they found … it works. A bit.

[M]etformin had a modest but significant effect at preventing and in some cases reversing weight gain in the study’s patient population. The drug was also found to be safe, with some gastrointestinal distress symptoms being the only side effects reported.

They weren’t expecting a miracle drug, but the results showed it’s likely worthwhile to consider metformin to help patients deal with the weight gain.

---

Another virus type to worry about

You can almost picture the editors at the Atlantic (World’s Most Depressing Magazine™) looking for something else to fret over.

Kudos to them for finding a new angle: “Whether it begins next week, next year, or next decade, another pandemic is on its way,” writer Katherine Wu explains. But rather than a new flu or coronavirus, we need to be worried about paramyxoviruses, even if they’re less of a threat^*. Because they’ve been lurking in the background, waiting for their chance to strike — when we’re not expecting it.

[L]ike flu viruses and coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses are found in a wide range of animals; more are being discovered wherever researchers look.

(But if we are expecting it, that removes one of its greatest weapons: Surprise. That leaves fear and ruthless efficiency. We shall see.)

^* Although measles, one paramyxovirus, is “literally the most transmittable human virus on the planet.”

Third strike (they’re out)

Some CVS and Walgreens pharmacists are — as you read this — in the second day of a three-day strike. “The walkout, which the organizers have dubbed ‘Pharmageddon’, is the third strike by pharmacists in a little over one month.”

And remember to share your experience:

A viable ketamine study

One trouble researchers have had with studies of ketamine is that it’s hard to have a control group; people can tell if they’ve been given the drug. But Stanford researchers not only found a workaround, they also found that ketamine (or rather the lack of it) can have a strong placebo effect.

They studied patients with depression who were also about to have surgery under general anesthesia. While they were unconscious, some were given ketamine, some a placebo. (It was triple-blind: Neither the researchers, the patients, or the surgeons knew who got what.)

End result: “The researchers were amazed to find that both groups experienced the large improvement in depression symptoms usually seen with ketamine.”

Said the senior author:

“I was very surprised to see this result, especially having talked to some of those patients who said ‘My life is changed, I’ve never felt this way before,’ but they were in the placebo group.”

What does this mean? As a co-author put it, “Now all the interpretations happen.”

Instant STD test

Penn State researchers have developed a virtually instant test for two major STDs. They use the same tech as rapid Covid tests (but don’t involve swabbing the nose) and can ID chlamydia and gonorrhea with 100% accuracy in two minutes.

They also say their test tech, which can detect pathogens’ genetic signature, can be tweaked to react to other diseases. As always, more research is needed.

Snake oil, 2023-style

It’s sad but not surprising: There are clinics out there offering treatments for long Covid that just don’t work. We’re not talking silliness like horse dewormer or scented candles — they’re touting stem cell therapy and exosome treatments even though there’s no evidence they work. But they sure cost a bundle*.

The UC Irvine researchers were curious how snake-oil salesmen were adapting to Covid. And just like Dr. Montague’s Cure-All can treat rheumatism, baldness, night sweats, hangnails, and all that ails you, apparently these therapies can now treat Covid-19. They’re being offered mostly in the US and Mexico, but also around the world.

“Of the 38 businesses, 36 of them marketed stem cell and exosome products as treatments for long Covid, six advertised them as ‘immune boosters,’ five claimed they treated patients in the acute infection phase, and two claimed the products they sold were preventive in nature.”

If you question the treatments, of course, you’re just yet another sheep and a pawn of Big Pharma, yada yada yada.

^* From $2,950 to $25,000, with the average being $11,322.