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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

UNLV will launch a program this fall that allows students to earn both a medical doctor and master of business administration degree in five years...The university will join about half of the nation’s MD-granting medical schools — including University of Nevada, Reno — that already offer a similar dual degree program...For leadership roles in medicine — particularly, in hospital leadership — a master of business administration (MBA) or equivalent degree is often recommended or required...READ MORE

A few state lawmakers are hoping to establish greater legislative oversight over how the state spends billions of dollars in opioid settlement funds projected to be won by the attorney general in litigation throughout the next decade...SB390, a bill presented by Sen. Julia Ratti (D-Sparks) and sponsored by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, would create a state fund to house proceeds from opioid settlements, such as the $45 million Nevada is set to receive from the settlement of a lawsuit against consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which provided services for opioid manufacturers...READ MORE

• Electronic Prescribing Mandate for Controlled Substances
• National Pharmacy Compliance News
• Guidelines, Materials Available to Health Care Providers for Safely Administering COVID-19 Vaccines
• FDA Issues Guidance to Protect Consumers From Methanol Poisoning
• Standardize Concentrations for Oral Liquid Preparations
• Opioid Use Disorder Educational Programs, Resources Available for Pharmacists
• National Diabetes Prevention Program – How Pharmacists Can Get Involved
• Surgery Patients Receive More Opioids in the US Than in Other Countries
• Study Finds 94% Drop in Symptomatic COVID-19 Cases With Pfizer’s Vaccine
• NABP Executive Director/Secretary Addresses Pharmacists’ Involvement in COVID-19 Vaccination During FIP Webinar

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

When Gov. Steve Sisolak proposed establishing a Patient Protection Commission to conduct a top-to-bottom review of Nevada’s health care system, he told industry representatives that his goal was compromise — and that those not working toward that goal could lose their seats at the table...Under a bill Sisolak put forward and the Legislature approved in 2019, the commission was established as an industry-heavy body, with a few patient and general public representatives added in, that would come together to address pressing health care issues in the state — in the vein of an industry working group that had successfully compromised on surprise emergency room billing legislation earlier that year...READ MORE

Denying organ transplants for people with intellectual and physical disabilities is considered illegal under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, but disability rights advocates say a lack of enforcement means the law isn’t being fully followed throughout the United States...Nevada lawmakers are looking to beef up that section of law this session — during an Assembly Health and Human Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Scott Hammond (R-Las Vegas) presented his bill SB305 that would prohibit medical providers from denying access to organ transplants based on disability status..."We are attempting to ensure people with disabilities, whether intellectual or cognitive, are not denied an organ transplant because of their disability," Hammond said...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

Four years after passing the state’s first drug transparency law, lawmakers may finally put dollars behind the effort as they continue to build upon the original legislation this session...Members of the Senate Finance Committee this week considered a $780,000 fiscal note from the Department of Health and Human Services on the latest drug transparency bill, SB380, which would allow state health officials to transfer the existing drug transparency database to the state’s Enterprise Information Technology Services Division, where it would live and be maintained moving forward. It also would allow the state to hire a pharmacist to manage the drug transparency program and a management analyst to assist with the program’s facilitation...READ MORE

A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty to bilking North Carolina Medicaid out of $13 million, prompting the forfeiture of an airplane, a sports car, a pickup, land and luxury jewelry...Timothy Harron, 52, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. Authorities said the guilty plea requires him to forfeit cash and luxury items...READ MORE