Moms and nicotine

This might be surprising or now: Nicotine patches and e-cigarettes are safe for pregnant women. That’s the conclusion from British researchers looking at babies might be affected if mom was using one or the other to quit smoking.

They found that “Regular use of e-cigarettes or nicotine patches by pregnant smokers does not appear to be associated with any adverse outcomes.” The was no notable difference in low birth weight, birth defects, miscarriages, or really any other measure compared to non-vapers. Not surprisingly, both had much better outcomes than smokers.

The class is filling

As of this writing, there are still some seats left for the February 25 session of APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery: A Certificate Program for Pharmacists at the GPhA World Headquarters in Sandy Springs.

This is the nation’s 800-lb (363 kg) gorilla of immunization training — the best course you can get, and one that gives you 20 hours of CE credit, a spiffy certificate for your wall, and the impressive line on your CV.

The whole shebang is just $349 for GPhA members ($499 for non-members).

 

Note: This is always a popular course, so the sooner you sign up the lower your risk of being left out and laughed at behind your back.

J&J settles state suits

Some 42 states (plus DC) had sued Johnson & Johnson, claiming the company had misled consumers about the safety of its baby powder. The company has finally reached a (tentative) agreement to settle them all in one fell swoop for about $700 million.

The bad news for J&J is that it had only set aside $400 million for these suits, so it’s going to have to dig a little lot deeper to pay for this. The other bad news is that there are still billions in civil suits pending against the company.

The sort-of good news is that a court has already thrown out one civil verdict against the company because the plaintiffs’ witnesses used “junk science.” Those were popular witnesses for plaintiffs, and they won’t be showing up again.

More multivitamin goodness

Multivitamins are good for the brain.
Multivitamins are good for the brain.
Multivitamins are good for the brain.

That is, a third study has confirmed that multivitamins have “a statistically significant benefit” on older folks’ cognition and memory.

This meta-analysis, done by Mass General Brigham researchers, went a step further than previous ones by including in-person assessments like cognitive tests (“Who was Fred Flintstone’s wife?”). With those previous studies, more than 5,000 participants were included, so it’s pretty conclusive evidence.

[I]nvestigators observed a modest benefit for the multivitamin, compared to placebo, on global cognition over two years. There was a statistically significant benefit of multivitamin supplementation for change in episodic memory, but not in executive function/attention.

What’s still up in the air is exactly how multivitamins have their effect. By definition they include a bunch of minerals, so which of them make a difference — well, that’s for another study to figure out.

The Long Read: Vaccine Quirkiness edition

Here are some odd numbers: Per CDC data, as of January 6….

• 46.7% of Americans aged 18 and older have gotten their flu shot
• 73% of people 65 and older have done

But

• Only 21.5% adults have gotten the latest Covid vaccine, and
• Only 41% of seniors have

What the heck? You would people to either get both or get neither; they’re often given at the same time, after all. So why the weird discrepancy, especially when even mild Covid-19 can cause nasty long-term effects?

It’s actually a bunch of factors. Read on.

The next microbiome

You get a microbiome! You get a microbiome! Everything gets a microbiome! Yes, even you, semen, and yours can affect the quality of the sperm you’re protecting.

UCLA researchers …

…found that one microbe in particular, Lactobacillus iners, may have a direct negative impact on male fertility. Researchers found that men with more of this microbe were more likely to have issues with sperm motility.

What they’re hoping is that this might open an avenue for treating some forms of infertility, but of course more research is needed.

Rent-a-Cancer-Test

Jumping onto the “you don’t own it, you just subscribe to it” culture is DermaSensor, whose eponymous skin cancer detector was just approved by the FDA. The device uses artificial intelligence and a light sensor, and a study showed it was 96% accurate in detecting cancer, and had only a 3% false-positive rate.

But the kicker is that, in a disturbing sign of the time, dermatologists can’t actually buy the device — they can only subscribe to it “at $199 a month for five patients or $399 a month for unlimited use.” Seriously.

A different kind of self-service

We’ll just let this next story speak for itself: “FDA Clears PherDal^* Intravaginal Insemination Kit for At-Home Use.”

Yes, it’s exactly what you think.

^* 100 Internet Points if you realized how it’s pronounced.

Elsewhere: Big Apple, smaller debt

New York City is spending $18 million to work with a non-profit called RIP Medical Debt to wipe out more than $2 billion in unpaid medical bills for the city’s poorer or more debt-saddled residents by buying that debt from hospitals at a deep discount.

“No one in New York City, or in America, in 2024, should have to choose between getting the health care they need and paying their rent or buying food to feed their families.”