Acne-med danger is more widespread

Back in March it came to light that benzoyl peroxide products can break down and produce benzene, a carcinogen and thus something you don’t want on your face.

Now some more info: It seems that “can break down” is more aptly “does break down.” The folks at Valisure, an indy lab that tests pharma products, found that acne products taken off local store shelves had “very high levels” of benzene.

Among 111 benzoyl peroxide products purchased from various retailers across the U.S., about a third (34%) had benzene above the “conditionally restricted” FDA limit of 2 ppm.

Then the benzene levels go up at a rate of about 4.36 ppb per hour^*.

What can be done? They found that cold storage stabilizes the benzoyl peroxide, which jibes with the American Acne and Rosacea Society’s guidance that recommends refrigerating products.

^* Note that the first number was parts per million and the second is parts per billion. So it increases, but not by a crazy amount.

Speaking of Valisure…

That’s the lab that first flagged the dangers of Zantac back in 2019. Just this week, GSK “agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to resolve approximately 80,000 lawsuits brought by users of Zantac who claimed the heartburn drug caused their cancer.”

GSK will also pay Valisure $70 million to resolve Valisure’s whistleblower lawsuit.

A clue to metastasis

One of cancer’s deadliest features is its ability to spread around the body — breast cancer spreading to the lungs is all too common. But now scientists may have found a clue to stopping cancer from metastasizing.

It’s been unclear why, after cancer cells spread, some can lay dormant for years before developing into tumors. Looking into why that happens, researchers at Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center discovered the answer: macrophages. They found that the macrophages in mouse lungs essentially prevent any disseminated cancer cells (DCCs) from metastasizing — at least for a while.

How do they pull that off? It seems the macrophages secrete a protein called TGF-β2 that keeps the cancer cells dormant. Well, that sounds like a helpful bit of information, doesn’t it?

If the finding holds true for every organ (all of which have their own macrophages), this could be a big step on the road to preventing cancer from metastasizing in general.

Baxter IV-drug update

Since Hurricane Helene knocked out the Baxter plant in Marion, NC — the one that supplies 60% of the country’s IV medications — it’s been unclear when the plant may be back in action.

Now the company has at least a little more info. It says it hopes to be able to produce 90% to 100% of what’s allocated to customers of certain IV solutions by the end of the year.

For its “highest demand IV fluids,” Baxter says it’s currently supplying direct customers about 40% to 60% of their normal ordering, with the hope to meet the majority of regular demand by year-end.

Who wants cannabis?

Prescribers are iffy about medical cannabis, but you know who’s a lot less iffy? Patients with chronic pain. A study of “1,600 people with chronic pain and 1,000 physicians in states with medical cannabis programs” by Rutgers researchers found that the majority of both supported medical marijuana, but with a noticeable difference:

Researchers found that 71% of chronic pain patients supported federal legalization of medical cannabis, compared with 59% of physicians.

A couple of other tidbits:

• Federal legalization for recreational use: 55% of chronic pain patients support it, but only 38% of physicians
• Requiring insurance coverage of medical cannabis treatment: 64% of patients support it, and 51% of physicians

A new combo test

The FDA has approved the first another at-home combo test for Covid-19 and the flu. The difference is that this one is outside an Emergency Use Authorization. (What difference that makes, we don’t know. But we’d already started writing this item when we noticed that it wasn’t the first.)

Healgen Rapid Check COVID-19/Flu A&B Antigen Test takes 15 minutes to detect proteins from both COVID-19 and influenza A and B in nasal swabs.

Oh, do they?

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