Category:

With Nevada hospitals reporting a staffing “crisis” and health officials reporting COVID-19 patient tallies at pandemic highs, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak highlighted a program...to enlist nursing students to help meet the demand for medical providers...“The state continues to work with all of our partners to leverage existing resources and break down barriers so Nevadans in need can access care,” the governor...said on a day that health officials reported what Dr. John Hess, a University of Nevada School of Medicine associate faculty member, called a “challenging time” with case counts “incredibly high right now.”...READ MORE

Businesses with 100 or more employees will be required to mandate vaccination or weekly testing for their workers under a new rule announced by President Joe Biden...But many Nevada businesses and public institutions have already put their own employee vaccine mandates in place, with more in the works as the federal government finalizes the new rule and fleshes out its finer points. Some have gone further by requiring vaccinations not just for employees but as a condition of entry for members of the public, including at conventions, athletic events and concerts...At the same time, some rural governments have passed resolutions banning vaccine mandates to varying degrees...READ MORE

Nevada prison officials say one of the drugs they originally planned to use this month in the state’s first execution of an inmate in 15 years expires July 31. Another expires six weeks after a new evidentiary hearing a judge now has scheduled in October to decide if or when four-time convicted killer Zane Michael Floyd will receive a lethal injection...But Nevada’s lawyers said in new court filings two other drugs in the four-drug execution protocol they have submitted to the court are available at least through February...And state corrections’ officials told the judge before he ordered a delay in the execution on Monday that they have access to similar drugs that could substitute for the other two closest to expiration...READ MORE

Nevada was awarded $30.2 million from the Centers for Disease Control to beef up the state’s COVID-19 vaccine program, including a push to vaccinate communities of color...“Millions of Americans are getting vaccinated every day, but we need to ensure that we are reaching those in the communities hit hardest by this pandemic,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said... “This investment will support state and local health departments and community-based organizations as they work on the frontlines to increase vaccine access, acceptance, and uptake.”...READ MORE

A college student who argues he’s immune from COVID-19 because he was previously infected has lost his bid for an emergency court order that would have allowed him to register for classes while he presses his federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of UNR's mandatory vaccination policy...A U.S district judge from California...said in denying the temporary restraining order sought by 18-year-old Jacob Gold that he’s failed to establish a fundamental constitutional right to refuse vaccination...Gold claims that because he recovered from COVID-19, he has immunity superior to students who’ve been vaccinated and it is statistically impossible for a shot to benefit him...READMORE

Horse dewormer falsely believed to treat COVID-19 in short supply in Reno...Deworming season is fast approaching for horse owners in Northern Nevada. Every September through November, horses are administered medications containing ivermectin to stave off life-threatening parasitic intestinal worms...But this year, feed stores are having a difficult time keeping large-animal ivermectin medications on the shelves due to a spike in interest in the drug's use as a home remedy for COVID-19...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

A new ranking of the 10 most cost-efficient hospitals in the U.S. reveals that if all hospitals matched their performance, $8 billion could be saved in Medicare dollars...The ranking, conducted by healthcare think tank Lown Institute , was based on Medicare data from 2016 through 2018 on more than 3,000 hospitals focusing on what they billed and how many patients died. For the analysis, it adjusted both mortality rates and cost based on patient risk...Here are the 10 most cost-efficient hospitals in the U.S., according to the Lown Institute:

Pinnacle Hospital (Crown Point, Indiana)

Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center (Reno, Nevada)

Mercy Medical Center Dubuque (Dubuque, Iowa)

Encino Hospital Medical Center (Encino, California)

Park Ridge Health (Hendersonville, North Carolina)

Oroville Hospital (Oroville, California)

Saint Michael’s Medical Center (Newark, New Jersey)

UnityPoint Health – Meriter (Madison, Wisconsin)

East Liverpool City Hospital (East Liverpool, Ohio)

Maple Grove Hospital (Maple Grove, Minnesota)

READ MORE

Nevada Air Guard Capt. Caleena Longworth knew at the age of 10 that she wanted to be a doctor, and by January of this year, in the final semester of her medical doctorate program, she was one class away...With the class not set to begin until April, UNLV’s Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine offered her a two-month vacation. Instead, Longworth, an Air Force veteran and native of Reno, started administering thousands of vaccinations to Nevadans at Cashman Center...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