Nine months of flu protection

Don’t want to get a flu shot, ladies? There could be an alternative: Get pregnant. Canadian researchers found that “pregnancy may trigger a natural immunity to boost protection against severe flu infection.

How’s that work? Apparently — at least in mice — pregnancy produces “a powerful molecule* that boosts the body’s antiviral defenses, especially in the nose and upper airways,” thus preventing the virus from getting to the lungs.

* Interleukin-17+ γδ+ T cells, since you asked 

Reps to DOJ: Investigate PBMs

A bipartisan group of federal legislators, including Georgia’s Buddy Carter, is asking the Department of Justice to investigate PBMs for their role in the opioid epidemic.

The letter was sparked by an investigative report by Barron’s, “Confidential Files Detail PBMs’ Backroom Negotiations—and Their Role in the Opioid Crisis.” It suggested that “the three largest PBMs colluded and conspired to steer patients towards Oxycontin in exchange for $400 million” in rebates.

Wrote Barron’s:

In total, OxyContin prescriptions sent $85 million to Express Scripts, $146 million to Optum Rx, and $173 million to CVS Caremark, according to one year of sales data between 2016 and 2017. One set of contracts between Purdue and CVS Caremark indicates that rebates increased if health plans covered higher amounts of OxyContin.

The legislators not only want the DOJ to investigate the PBMs, they are also taking aim at the vertical consolidation of the industry, as single companies own insurers, PBMs, and pharmacies, driving up costs and limiting options for patients.

Disappearing pharmacies

In just one decade — from 2010 to 2020 — a whopping 29% of pharmacies in the US closed. That includes both independent pharmacies and chains, and it affected Black and Latino neighborhoods the most.

Why? Low reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid could be one reason, as could indy pharmacies being cut out of PBM networks. And of course there are the chains closing their less profitable locations.

Twist: From 2010 to 2017 the number of pharmacies actually increased, but eventually the rate of closings blew past the rate of new storefronts opening.

Elsewhere: Across the Pond

Tattoo you

If you were thinking of moving to Wales either because you hate vowels or because you want to be able to give tattoos to your patients, we’ve got some bad news. Not about the vowels (they still don’t use them there) — rather, a new Welsh law prohibits pharmacists and pharmacy techs from giving tattoos without a license.

Since 2017, they’d been allowed to provide “tattooing, body piercing, electrolysis, and acupuncture” without a license, but a new law strips that exemption.

At least someone’s preparing

Seeing the writing on the wall, the UK Health Security Agency is buying more than 5 million doses of human H5N1 flu vaccine “to boost the country’s resilience in the event of a possible H5 influenza pandemic.”

Answering the important medical questions

“3 reasons why kids stick Lego up their nose[s]”