Author: Peter

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine takes another hit to its safety profile as the European Medicines Agency adds a new side effect to the label of its shot...The EMA identified a rare blood condition, capillary leak syndrome, as a potential side effect of AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria. The condition causes plasma leaks from blood vessels into neighboring body cavities and muscles. Blood pressure experiences a sharp drop as a result, and, left untreated, the disorder can lead to organ failure and death...READ MORE

A third member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee has resigned in protest over the agency’s approval of Biogen’s Aduhelm (aducanumab) for Alzheimer’s disease...As was reported yesterday, two members, David S. Knopman...and Joel S. Perlmutter...resigned in protest earlier this week...Now, Aaron Kesselheim...has stepped down...“My rationale was that the FDA needs to re-evaluate how it solicits and uses the advisory committees … because I didn’t think that the firm recommendations from the committee in this case … were appropriately integrated into the decision-making process,” Kesselheim told Reuters...READ MORE

Nevada prison officials...disclosed that they want to use a never-before-tried combination of drugs for the state’s first lethal injection in 15 years, including the powerful opioid fentanyl, the sedative ketamine and a heart-stopping salt, potassium chloride...An execution manual provided to a federal judge ahead of a possible late-July death date for convicted mass killer Zane Michael Floyd said a similar-acting drug, alfentanil, might substitute for fentanyl and potassium acetate might substitute for potassium chloride...U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II said he may issue a stay of execution by the end of the month to allow time to review the choice of drugs and the 65-page Execution Manual...READ MORE

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently released its employment and salary data for 2020. That means it’s time to update Drug Channels Institute’s annual analysis of pharmacist salaries and employment...We have found that the share of pharmacists who work at hospitals reached a new high. What’s more, average base salaries for retail pharmacists have dropped, while salaries have risen for pharmacists employed by hospitals, physician offices, and other non-retail settings...READ MORE

Consultants at Joint Commission Resources are urging hospitals to double down on efforts to keep controlled substances safe. This is in light of a Joint Commission finding that 10% of hospitals surveyed in 2019 did not meet medication security standards, including those meant to prevent diversion...Jeannell Mansur...PharmD, the principal consultant for medication management and safety at JCR..pointed to a range of medication management and storage gaps that leave controlled substances open to diversion in health systems...READ MORE

State lawmakers in Oregon have tried to lower high drug prices from nearly every angle: They’ve sought to cap how much people can pay for insulin, install a panel that could determine how much state agencies should pay for medicines, and even import drugs in bulk from Canada. Nearly every proposal has failed...One reason, at least according to the effort’s supporters: Two-thirds of the state legislature accepted at least one campaign check from the drug industry during the 2020 election cycle...READ MORE

Dozens of Nevadans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have been hospitalized after contracting rare breakthrough cases of the disease, state health officials reported in new data...The majority of the 51 cases were white, male, and age 70 and older, among those most at risk of severe infections. But 32 of the patients showed no symptoms of COVID-19 infection, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services data...health officials had reported at least two deaths among 186 breakthrough cases...READ MORE

One reason why Medicaid isn't so good is that many doctors won't actually accept Medicaid patients...If you rely upon the health insurance system for the poor, you'll likely not be able to get medical treatment in many places. Seeing as medical coverage is designed to provide access to treatment when needed, the system doesn't seem to work all that well. This is not a good thing. After all, a bit of bad luck, and one of us could be relying on Medicaid...READ MORE

Saliva and oral bacteria from 30 UNLV dental clinic patients will blast off...in a rocket bound for the International Space Station...UNLV researchers from the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and School of Dental Medicine are partnering with NASA and Colgate-Palmolive to study the growth of oral bacteria in space and to see if Colgate’s oral care products are effective in a microgravity environment...Two of the UNLV researchers involved with the project Jeffrey Ebersole, associate dean for research at the School of Dental Medicine, and mechanical engineering research scientist Shengjie Zhai will be on site...for the rocket launch...READ MORE

Other recommendations include boosting local production, promoting research and development, and creating robust quality management maturity...The White House and several federal agencies...released a series of policy recommendations for addressing the vulnerabilities in U.S. pharmaceutical supply chains...The review came in response to an executive order signed by President Joe Biden...that directed the government to identify risks, address vulnerabilities and develop a strategy to promote supply chain resilience throughout sectors...READ MORE