Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive directive Wednesday telling state agencies to not cooperate with any other state or authority attempting to prosecute anyone who obtains, provides or assists with obtaining an abortion or other forms of reproductive health care. The directive also calls on applicable agencies to increase protections for reproductive health care and take steps to raise awareness about availability of reproductive health care and forms of contraception. "However we personally feel about abortion, health, not politics, should drive important medical decisions," Whitmer said in a statement. "A woman must be able to make her own medical decisions with the advice of a healthcare professional she trusts. Politicians should not make that decision for her.” Additionally, the directive calls on [...]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to update healthcare providers, public health departments, and the public on the potential for recurrence of COVID-19 or “COVID-19 rebound.” Paxlovid continues to be recommended for early-stage treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 among persons at high risk for progression to severe disease. Paxlovid treatment helps prevent hospitalization and death due to COVID-19. COVID-19 rebound has been reported to occur between 2 and 8 days after initial recovery and is characterized by a recurrence of COVID-19 symptoms or a new positive viral test after having tested negative. A brief return of symptoms may be part of the natural history of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infection [...]

When you think of frontline workers affected by the pandemic, your local pharmacist may not be the first to come to mind. But even pre-pandemic, pharmacy was a tense and demanding field. A study of pharmacists’ mental health, from January 2020, found 75 percent of study participants experienced burnout. Since then, things have only gotten more demanding, due to the increase in prescription volume, COVID testing, vaccinations, and constant virus-related inquiries from the public. Hour Detroit talked to Farah Jalloul, director of professional development for the Michigan Pharmacists Association and part-time CVS pharmacist, about how the pandemic has transformed life for community pharmacists.   How has the pandemic affected stress levels for pharmacists? Farah Jalloul: In pharmacy, we are in contact with individuals [...]

By Dr. Michael Crowe My job as a pharmacist is to help patients get and stay healthy using prescription and over-the-counter medications, providing guidance and advice along the way. The way the process should work: A doctor prescribes a medication, and, after ensuring it is appropriate, we dispense it. Sadly, the way it works too often is that a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) gets between patients and lifesaving medication. Currently there’s a speed bump impacting the way patients access medications that are key to keeping their lives in balance. You may have heard of “prior authorization” or “step therapy” — these are examples of how PBMs can get in the way, delaying access to treatment or preventing it altogether. Michigan has [...]

If drugmakers won’t lower insulin prices, maybe Michigan should make its own. That’s the thinking of a small group of lawmakers and others, led by Sen. Curt VanderWall, R-Ludington, who have been meeting with drugmakers and university representatives to determine whether Michigan can make its own insulin to sharply reduce costs for the life-saving drug. The talks are preliminary, with many questions lingering, said VanderWall, who chairs the Senate’s Health Policy and Human Services Committee. “Can we bring manufacturers to the table … to say ‘I'm willing to sell this product at this cost?’ That's one option. The other option is: Do we actually bring the state … into being a manufacturer of insulin and sell that product at our [...]