Pharmacy Podcast Network

In this episode of the Sports Pharmacy Podcast, host Dr. H is joined by Dr. Alex Capano, a PhD in cannabinoid studies, to discuss the benefits and stigma surrounding CBD (cannabidiol). Dr. Alex shares her journey from neuroscience and chemistry studies to becoming a family nurse practitioner and eventually specializing in cannabis medicinally. The conversation delves into the importance of studying cannabis, destigmatizing its use, and providing patients with alternative therapeutic options to potentially harmful substances. Dr. H opens up about his personal connection to opioid alternatives, highlighting the need for better pain management solutions, especially in the world of sports. Dr. Alex emphasizes the responsible use of opiates when necessary but also highlights the potential of CBD and other cannabinoids in managing pain, particularly among athletes dealing with post-game pain or playing while injured. They discuss the experiences of professional athletes and the challenges they face in finding safe alternatives to manage pain and recover from injuries.

Exploring the latest research on psilocybin for TBI and chronic pain Adkins A and Ferguson MC. “Research update: MDMA and psilocybin for pain management.” Practical Pain Management. 18 June 2022. https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/news/research-update-mdma-and-psilocybin-for-pain-management. Accessed 30 July 2023 Bornemann J, et al. “Self-medication for chronic pain using class psychedelics: A qualitative investigation to inform future research.” Frontiers in Psychiatry. 18 June 2022. https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/news/research-update-mdma-and-psilocybin-for-pain-management Accessed 31 July 2023. Fanciullacci M, et al. “Brief report: phantom limb pain: sub-hallucinogenic treatment with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).” Headache. 1977 July; 17(3): 118-119. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/893080/ Accessed 30 July 2023 Flanagan T, Nichols C. “Psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents.” Psychedelic Research. 13 Aug 2018. Accessed 28 July 2023. https://blossomanalysis.com/papers/psychedelics-as-anti-inflammatory-agents/ Hawryluk M. “Pain, hope, and science collide as athletes turn to magic mushrooms.” WUSF Public Media. 30 Apr 2023. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2023-04-30/pain-hope-and-science-collide-as-athletes-turn-to-magic-mushrooms Accessed 30 July 2023. Kooijman NI, et al. “Are psychedelics the answer to chronic pain: A review of current literature.” Pain Pract. 2023 Apr;23(4):447-458. Accessed 30 July 2023. doi: 10.1111/papr.13203. Epub 2023 Jan 11. PMID: 36597700. “Lobe Sciences announces launch of pre-clinical study in collaboration with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.” Newsfile. 30 Nov 2020. Accessed 27 July 2023. https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/69106/Lobe-Sciences-Announces-Launch-of-Preclinical-Study-in-Collaboration-with-the-University-of-Miami-Miller-School-of-Medicine Made, Rachel. “Jim Harris was paralyzed. Then he ate magic mushrooms.” Outside. 9 Nov 2022. Accessed 27 July 2023. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/psychedelics-research-paralysis-treatment-jim-harris/ Mansoor Khan S, et al. “Psychedelics for brain injury: a mini review.” Frontiers in Neurology. 2021(12). 29 July 2021. Accessed 28 July 2023. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.685085/full Price S. “Data shows combination psilocybin therapy effective for TBI and PTSD.” Psychedelic Health UK. 30 Sept 2021. Accessed 30 July 2023. https://psychedelichealth.co.uk/2021/09/30/data-shows-combination-psilocybin-therapy-effective-for-tbi-and-ptsd/ Rauchman B. “UFC fighter’s brain injury successfully treated with psychedelic therapy.” Pacific Neuroscience Institute. 6 July 2023. Accessed 28 July 2023. https://www.pacificneuroscienceinstitute.org/blog/trip/ufc-fighters-brain-injury-successfully-treated-with-psychedelic-therapy/ Ramachandran V, et al. “Relief from intractable phantom pain by combining psilocybin and mirror visual feedback (MVF).” Neurocase. 2018 Apr; 24(2): 105-110. Accessed 29 July 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29764303/ Rosenhall U, et al. “Treatment of military acoustic accidents with n-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC). Int J Audiology. 2019 March; 58(3): 151-157. Accessed 30 July 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30653365/ Schindler et al. “Exploratory investigation of a patient informed low dose psilocybin pulse regimen in the suppression of cluster headaches: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.” Headache. 23 Nov 2022. https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/head.14420 Accessed 30 July 2023. “Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion.” Centers for Disease Control. Last Reviewed: 7 July 2023. Last access 29 July 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/data/index.html

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-nonprescription-daily-oral-contraceptive

Hello everyone, I’m super excited to release this next episode that was recorded at the start of this year. We covered so many topics near and dear to my personal and professional mission and I’m so honored to introduce my next guest and what he is contributing to healthcare. Dr. Rohit Moghe is an ambulatory care & population health clinical pharmacist for accountable care organization (ACO) at Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic. He is originally from the Philadelphia area. Dr. Moghe is a residency-training pharmacist with a master's in public health and a certified diabetes care & education specialist with over 22 years of experience across various therapeutic areas and whole continuum of care. Dr. Moghe is active in leadership at both Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists as well as American College of Lifestyle Medicine as Co-Chair of the pharmacist group. His diverse professional and life experience has led him to understand that most chronic conditions don't need to be managed with medications. However, if we must use them, we should be delivering comprehensive medication management (CMM) and get paid for the work that we do. His specialty is deprescribing medications, BUT, if they are to be ramped down, we must ramp up people's lifestyle. He uses the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: nutrition, enjoyable physical activity, restful sleep, addressing stress, reducing risky behaviors (& substances), and positive social connections. The stuff we should all optimize, but always pay enough attention to it. He focuses a lot on coaching his patients and clients through change. He is also a 200-hr yoga teacher registered through the Yoga Alliance and practices many forms of meditation and deep breathing exercises. Having grown up in yoga since an early age, application of Ayurvedic principles in his lifestyle come naturally to him, including appropriate use of herbal and natural remedies.

Tips for understanding and managing your wholesaler's primary vendor agreement.  Scott Patterson, owner of 6 pharmacies joins Scott Wittnebel, Director of Pharmacy Services for IPC talk about strategies and tactics you can use to maximize your rebates and lower you cost of goods.

Ken Chahine, founder and CEO at Nectar Life Sciences on your radar. Ken has a fascinating story: a child of immigrant parents, neither of whom finished elementary school, he earned a PhD in Biochemistry (U of Michigan) and a JD in patent law.  After transforming the field of genetic testing for genealogy as General Manager of Ancestry DNA, he founded Nectar, a health tech company revolutionizing the allergy space with at-home allergy testing and treatment with sublingual drops. In grad school, Ken suffered from severe allergies that made lab work in goggles near-impossible. When he discovered the healthcare system’s solution for chronic allergy sufferers is constant medications (average = 3 meds per day) and/or painful, inconvenient shots, he knew there had to be a better way. Just a sample of what Ken can elaborate on: First-hand experience with allergies as a chronic condition and advocating for the consumer  Long-term benefits of at-home allergy testing + treatment Why sublingual (under the tongue) treatment is already standard in Europe as a safer alternative to subcutaneous (shots) How he transitioned into the allergy space after revolutionizing the genetic science behind Ancestry.com Predictions for holistic approaches in the healthcare space

Controlled substances, including opioids, benzodiazepines, and medical cannabis, are commonly prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain. Urine drug screens (UDS) are often used in clinical practice to test for the presence of prescribed drugs to monitor compliance. Understanding how to appropriately interpret the results of urine drug screening is critical to providing effective patient care and maintaining patient trust. Pharmacists in various practice settings can play important roles in urine drug screenings. The goal of this podcast is to provide pharmacists and other clinicians with insight and information for appropriately interpreting urine drug screening results. The conversation will focus on the types of drug screening panels, possible causes of false- positives and negatives, and how metabolism of drugs can impact urine drug screening results. Tips on how to effectively have conversations with patients that can be difficult will also be part of the discussion. This activity is supported by a grant from the Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS). Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 6H79TI081968 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.    

Success in launching new therapies for rare diseases (RDs) implies the ability for the manufacturer to achieve a level of reimbursed price and a level of market access that are commercially viable on the market. Access to RD therapies is challenging because the legal and policy frameworks may be absent, funding may be insufficient and/or payers do not see the justification with the prices for these therapies. The industry has, however, a real opportunity to partner with healthcare stakeholders.  There needs to be continued support to provide the education towards payers, drive evidence-based pricing, and innovative contracting, and address the multiple hurdles of access for these unique therapies. But how do we price and how do we gain access on the promise of long-term value when we don’t have the long-term data on these new therapies?  That is why all stakeholders need to address early market access planning, including inclusive data collection, payer models and the impact of new regulations and innovative trial design on data collection and ongoing evidence provision.             Podcast Participants: Jim Clement – Partner & Board Member at Coeus Holdings                                        Donovan Quill – Executive Vice President at Terebellum

Click Therapeutics develops prescription software applications as medical devices that work independently or in conjunction with pharmacotherapies to treat disease. Click clinically validates these applications through rigorous randomized, controlled trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy. Guest: Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD Chief Medical Officer

Join us for a special guest interview this week with molecular plant scientist George Sellhorn, on a wide ranging interview around psilocybin and functional mushroom testing George Sellhorn Ph.D, is the founder, owner and Principal Scientist of Flourish Labs in Portland Oregon and earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Plant Sciences from Washington State University (2006) and his B.S. in Biology from Indiana University (1999). George has worked in both academia and the biotechnology industries from 2006-2021 working on projects such as HIV vaccine development, production, characterization and pre-clinical evaluation as well as bioconjugate-based therapeutics including pegylated interferon for multiple sclerosis, bifunctional antibodies and antibody drug conjugates for breast cancer and poly(carboxybetaine) L-asparaginase bioconjugates for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. George has 23 years of extensive experience with liquid chromatography using both High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) and these techniques are one of his primary expertise. Some of the leadership roles he has held in the laboratory include Senior Scientist, Laboratory Director and Principal Investigator. George has also worked in the medical and recreational Cannabis industries from 2009-2021 which included cultivation, processing and consulting in Washington, Oregon and Colorado. Flourish Labs, LLC was founded in August 2021 and opened its services to customers on January 1st , 2022. Link to George’s business here at Flourish Labs (OR): https://flourishlabsoregon.com/ Subscribe   Share Leave a comment Glossary of terms APE—Albino Penis Envy, considered one of the most potent strains of psilocybin cubensis in terms 4-ACO: Or O-acetylpsilocybin or 4-Aco-DMT: semi synthetic derivatives of psilocybin often used in pharmacologic studies BOL or 2-Br-LSD. Non hallucinogenic LSD derivative synthesized by Albert Hofman (who also synthesized LSD). CLIA and CAP: College of American pathologists and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments—regulatory bodies for clinical laboratories. COA-certificate of analysis, offered by third party product testing labs. CRM: Certified Reference Materials (not Customer Relationship Management in this context) Entourage effect: hypothesis that compounds in cannabis other than CBD and THC act in synergy to exhibit pharmacologic effect (pretty good evidence to support this). GPCR: G protein coupled receptor: largest family of membrane proteins LOQ—Limit of quantification LOD—Level of detection. Level of detection is smallest concentration of a sample that can be consistently analyzed with 95% probability, LOQ is smallest concentration that can be measured with less than 10 to 20% variation. PSK (Krestin): Also known as Polysaccharide K, derived from Coriolus versicolor mushroom, widely used as folk remedy and adjuvant therapy for cancer treatment in some cultures. Terpenoids: Broad class of naturally occurring 5 Carbon molecules that show wide range of pharmacologic activities. 5-ME-O-DMT: Psychoactive drug derived from toad venom of glands of the Sonoran Desert toad (lots more to come on this).