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A panel of experts convened by the US National Institutes of Health has published treatment guidelines for the coronavirus disease 2019, providing clinical recommendations for a number of therapeutic options that are currently under investigation...Importantly, the guidelines emphasize that, even though there are several therapies being tested as potential treatments, no drug has been proven to be safe and effective for treating COVID-19. Investigational antiviral agents and host modifiers and immune-based therapies were included in the guidance...READ MORE

The FDA is easing its lockdown on compounded drugs to help ease COVID-19 drug shortages...After a series of high-profile failures in the early 2010s, the compounding pharmacy industry took its share of body blows from an FDA looking to impose its will...The FDA will temporarily allow hospitals to source hard-to-find drugs from compounding pharmacies to treat certain patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19...The regulation, meant to last as long as hospitals continue to encounter shortages of key drugs, applies to compounding pharmacies that aren't already sanctioned by the FDA as "outsourcing facilities." To qualify, the copycat drugs must be listed on the FDA's shortages list, and hospitals must have exhausted all other options to access a commercial version of the drug...READ MORE

Nearly 90% of community pharmacies will apply for small business federal aid under the CARES Act to help them get through the coronavirus storm, according to a new survey...by the National Community Pharmacists Association...“Pharmacies are ‘essential businesses’ staying open during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep serving their communities, but many are on the brink at the very time they are needed most,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey. “In the 18 months before this crisis, the number of pharmacies had shrunk by over 2,000, mostly due to low reimbursement from pharmacy benefit managers...As the pandemic strains neighborhood pharmacies, nearly half of pharmacy owners rank the overall financial health of their business as somewhat poor or very poor, according to the survey...READ MORE

University Medical Center…began prescribing hydroxychloroquine to high-risk emergency room patients who test positive for COVID-19 but do not require immediate hospitalization…In doing so, UMC became the first Las Vegas-area hospital to dispense it on an outpatient basis, taking a cutting-edge position nationally in the use of the controversial experimental drug… Dr. Thomas Zyniewicz, an emergency medicine physician at UMC, said the drug, which is frequently used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases, has shown promising results in thwarting the progression of COVID-19… Dr. Thomas Zyniewicz, an emergency medicine physician at UMC, said the drug, which is frequently used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases, has shown promising results in thwarting the progression of COVID-19…READ MORE

All pharmacy staff—along with everyone entering the pharmacy—should wear face masks, according to new guidance from the CDC...The CDC’s “Guidance for Pharmacists” also says that pharmacies should postpone and reschedule some routine preventive services, such as adult immunizations, since they require face-to-face interaction...This guidance applies to all pharmacy staff to minimize their risk of exposure to the virus and reduce the risk for customers during the COVID-19 pandemic...According to the guidance, pharmacies should:

Implement universal use of face coverings.
Advise staff who are sick to stay home.
Encourage all prescribers to submit prescription orders via telephone or electronically.
Limit direct contact with customers.
Reduce risk during COVID-19 testing.
Maintain social distancing
Ensure that the waiting area is cleaned regularly.
Close self-serve blood pressure units.

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Rite Aid continues to expand COVID-19 testing sites with eleven new locations opening Wednesday, April 22, in Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia through its partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services...Now spanning eight states and 24 store locations, all of Rite Aid’s self-testing sites will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days a week and expect to be able to conduct approximately 200 tests each day through online appointments. In total, Rite Aid will have the capacity to conduct nearly 5,000 tests daily across all locations...READ MORE

At least four federal class-action lawsuits have been filed against the Chinese government that aim to recover trillions of dollars in damages for what plaintiffs allege is China's failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak and notify the international community about its dangers...In one suit filed in late March, a coalition of California property managers and an accounting firm are seeking to represent all "small businesses" in California that have suffered as a result of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. A suit filed in mid-March by several Florida residents aims to assemble its own class of millions of people...All of the suits accuse the Chinese government of direct complicity in the COVID-19 outbreak and hope to use the machinery of the U.S. legal system to recover enormous amounts in damages. But the chance these actions will lead to any actual recoveries is slim, legal experts said...READ MORE

Antimalarial hydroxychloroquine has raked in support as a potential wonder drug to treat COVID-19...But small-scale studies have been less than definitive on the drug's chances—and new data haven't cleared matters up much...Department of Veterans Affairs study found that severe COVID-19 patients treated with antimalarial hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with antibiotic azithromycin showed "no evidence" of reduced risk of death or mechanical ventilation over supportive care, according to data...The researchers noted their analysis was not randomized nor controlled and cautioned patience for several ongoing clinical studies to read out before drawing conclusions on hydroxychloroquine's use for COVID-19...READ MORE

The Food and Drug Administration in the past month has stepped up seizures of prescription drugs being sent to American customers from pharmacies in Canada and other countries, according to operators of stores in Florida that facilitate the transactions...While seizures at the nation’s international mail facilities have periodically spiked during the past two decades, the latest crackdown is distressing many older customers whose goal is to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic...READ MORE

Within the last month or so, more Las Vegas Valley medical offices have started offering telemedicine appointments in response to the COVID-19 outbreak — part of a nationwide trend that has seen an explosion in use of the technology. A big selling point is that many patients are uneasy about going to a doctor’s office because of the risk of getting infected or infecting others…Some doctors and telemedicine experts say the COVID-19 outbreak is spurring more acceptance of telemedicine — a change that could have a long-lasting impact on the nation’s health care system… Telemedicine took off in Nevada after Gov. Steve Sisolak’s stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines, cardiologist Dr. Jeffrey Levisman said. “It’s an attempt to continue to provide medical care, especially for patients who are sick and elderly who are at a higher risk of getting the virus and (experiencing) a bad outcome.”…READ MORE