Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, despite the cloudy skies hovering over the Pharmalot campus. As the Morning Mayor once imparted: Each new day should be unwrapped like a precious gift. So while you tug on the ribbon, we will fire up the coffee kettle for another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is chocolate almond, which arrived in a new shipment filled with assorted flavors. Meanwhile, here is the latest assortment of interesting items for you to peruse. As always, we hope you have a meaningful and productive day. And of course, do keep in touch….
Amid a rise in reports of respiratory infections, there have been sporadic shortages of some cough and cold medicines online and at stores, The Wall Street Journal writes. Sales of cough and cold medications at U.S. retailers rose 35% in the four-week period ended Dec. 3 compared with the same period a year ago, according to a Jefferies analysis of Nielsen data. Spending on throat sprays and lozenges increased 56% in the period. And some versions of top-selling brands, especially pain-relief treatments designed for children, are sold out on Amazon and the online CVS and Walgreens sites. Some consumers are taking to social media to report problems finding medications.
There is a simple, outright cure for hepatitis C, but state prisons across the country are failing to save hundreds of people who die each year from the virus and related complications, according to a STAT investigation. More than 1,000 incarcerated people died from hepatitis C-related complications in the six years after a curative drug hit the market. The death rate in 2019 among the incarcerated was double that of the broader U.S. population. Many prisons are blatantly refusing to test and treat people with the condition, even, in some cases, in the face of legal orders to do so.
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