Buzz Newsletter 04/23/2026

Welcome to the April 23 edition of the GPhA Buzz Newsletter.

 

This weekly round up of pharmacy news and information is a member benefit, and if you are having difficulty receiving all GPhA emails, please whitelist our domain as well as glueup.com. You can find instructions for that on our website here.

We'd think twice before you hold in that next sneeze. While it might seem polite, it can have some pretty serious -- though rare -- consequences. 

 

A woman went to the ENT surgeon complaining of headaches and a discharge from her nose. As it turns out, she had an intracranial leak of cerebrospinal fluid caused by holding in a sneeze. Holding in a sneeze can create up to 20 times more pressure in the nasal cavity than a regular sneeze, and the leak can lead to infections like meningitis. 

 

It might not seem like a pharmacy story per se, but the symptoms mimic nasal discharge from allergies with a few noted exceptions: 

 

A patient presenting these symptoms should see an ENT and probably get a CT scan. 

Type 2 diabetes is usually reserved for older adults but pediatricians are seeing a rise in cases in children, according to this article from Medscape. 

 

One problem with the increase in diagnoses is the lack of pediatric endocrinology specialists, and that by the time the children receive a diagnosis at least 20% have at least one other complication. In addition, the onset of T2D during puberty means an increased insulin resistance, and T2D in children can lead to advanced kidney disease if gone untreated. 

In all honesty, we're still struggling to understand the 340B program. But this article caught our attention: hospitals and providers are pushing back on the government's plans to implement rebates after the fact in the drug discount program. 

 

They say the program will actually add costs to the clinics and hospitals participating in the program instead of saving money. However, pharmaceutical companies say that hospitals and providers are abusing the 340B discount program and this is the only way to stop that abuse. 

 

Are you confused about compliance in the 340B Drug Pricing Program? Let us suggest attending one of our CE sessions at the Convention: 340B in Transition: Compliance, Collaboration, and Sustainability, led by Amanda Gaddy, RPh, and Kameron Huffman, PharmD/MBA, at 8:00am on Saturday, June 20th. 

 

That's our not so subtle way to let you know the full schedule of CPE sessions at Convention is available now on our website. 

For the cool price of $3.25 billion, Lilly will acquire Kelonia Therapies and with that the latest in "in vivo" cell therapy technology, wherein immune cells are altered inside the body instead of being extracted, modified, and reinfused. The technology is in early stage testing for a number of cancers including multiple myeloma. 

 

A new observational study shows that for adults with an uncomplicated acute sinusitis, the best course of treatment is just amoxicillin, and not the amoxicillin-clavulanate combination that is commonly prescribed. 

 

Merck's once daily HIV medication, Idvynso, got FDA approval this week, which puts the pharmaceutical giant into the HIV treatment space. The combo regimen (doravirine and islatravir) will be available in pharmacies in early May. 

 

 

Even we know that NSAIDs are contraindicated for inflammatory bowel disease, and we are not a pharmacist, so prevalent is the conventional prescribing wisdom. However, new data shows that some patients with IBD can safely use NSAIDs without triggering flares, but it depends on the disease state. UC patients seem to be able to tolerate NSAIDs, while Crohn's patients do not. 

 

Scientists in Spain are working on promising research fighting fatty liver disease, using a combination of drugs (pemafibrate and telmisartan). The drugs reduced the disease in animal models while also showing signs of decreasing cardiovascular risk. More research needs to be done, including human testing. 

Join 300+ of your colleagues and friends for a week full of insightful CE courses, lunches, and networking on beautiful Amelia Island. We are working hard to build the full schedule now, and can't wait to see you all June 18-21! 

 

Our 2026 Spring Region Meetings have been a big success, and we've seen good turnout across the state. We've enjoyed presentations from sponsors, and Region 5 & 7 held a joint meeting with axe throwing! 

 

We've got one more scheduled. Register today for the Region 11 Spring Meeting, sponsored by Wegovy, on Thursday, May 7 at 6:30pm at Cucina 503 in Augusta.