Documents detail how big pharmacy chains failed patients in the opioid epidemic

Blame for the prescription opioid crisis has been cast widely, from manufacturers like Purdue Pharma, to wholesalers that shipped pills, to doctors for offering the pills so widely. A new STAT examination focuses on another player: pharmacies. A review of thousands of documents arising from the opioid litigation shows how big-name pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens contributed to the crisis through weak and disorganized controls and executive pressure. Among the details in the investigation: two CVS locations in suburban Orlando knowingly filled dozens of prescriptions from a doctor whose prescribing license had been revoked for months. Read the story from STAT’s Lev Facher, Kate Sheridan, and Ed Silverman here.

How health warnings influence consumer behavior

A pair of new studies highlights how messaging can shape our health-related decisions and behavior. In one, researchers presented parents with beverages containing different levels of sugar and with different labels that, for example, included information about added sugar or that featured images of fruit. Fewer parents selected the high-sugar beverage when its label included a warning about how much sugar was added, and when the label didn’t feature fruit imagery or vitamin C claims. The findings, the researchers wrote, “suggest that adding warnings or removing claims and imagery from high–added sugar beverages may reduce parents’ purchases of these beverages for their children.” In the other study, researchers found that showing teens ads about the harms of vaping made them less susceptible to vaping compared to teens who watched neutral videos.

DIANA’s debut: A faster brain imaging technique

(Courtesy Jang-yeon)

Meet DIANA. It’s a new brain imaging technology that, as researchers described in Science Thursday, has the potential to overcome some of the limitations of other techniques and to help scientists learn more about neurological diseases and mental illness and how our neurons work together. DIANA is able to more precisely track neurons’ activity in space and time than some other technologies, and while the new paper amounts to a proof-of-concept study describing mouse experiments, researchers are hoping that it could one day unlock some of the mysteries of the human brain. “It’s a big deal,” one expert not involved with the research told STAT’s Brittany Trang. More here.

Closer look: Puerto Rico’s hospitals turned to diesel-powered generators after Fiona. Community health centers were left in the dark

After Hurricane Fiona knocked out Puerto Rico’s power last month, hospitals were able to turn to diesel-fueled generators to keep the lights on and machines running. Many community health centers didn’t have that luxury, STAT’s Ambar Castillo reports. These centers, which are often the most accessible medical facilities in the island’s poorest districts, sometimes had to wait more than a week to buy fuel. The aftermath of Fiona is now inspiring a push from community health centers to ensure that if and when another natural disaster strikes, the response helps both hospitals and community clinics get the fuel they need. More from Ambar here.

Updated Covid shot boosts immune response against Omicron, companies say

When regulators authorized the updated Covid-19 boosters, they did so without first requiring new clinical studies showing how well they worked, akin to how they greenlight tweaked flu shots every year. We now have some of the first clues as to the power of the reformulated shots. Pfizer and BioNTech said Thursday that their new bivalent booster — which is targeted against the dominant BA.5 Omicron variant as well as the original form of the coronavirus — successfully generates higher levels of neutralizing antibodies that defend against more recent strains of the virus. The findings, which showed no new safety concerns, come as Biden administration officials urge Americans to get boosted ahead of the holidays and an anticipated upswing in transmission. Researchers, meanwhile, are continuing to study how effective the updated shots are at preventing infections and severe illness.

A genetic factor for antibody generation

Speaking of Covid-19 vaccines, it’s known that factors like age and health issues can shape how strong of an immune response people generate from the shots. A new U.K. study takes a look at another consideration: DNA. After combing through people’s genomes and measuring how robustly they made antibodies after being vaccinated, the scientists pinpointed an association between stronger immune responses and having a certain form, or allele, of a particular gene, HLA-DQB1. Not only were people with this particular allele more likely to generate a stronger immune response, they were also less likely to have breakthrough infections than people with other forms of the gene, which belongs to a family of genes involved in building immune defenses. Notably, the scientists found the same pattern in people who received either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.

What we're reading

How iodine tablets block some nuclear radiation, Associated Press
Can start-ups significantly lower the cost of gene sequencing? New York Times
Opinion: The future for practicing physicians in a corporate world. STAT
Relmada antidepressant drug fails first of several late-stage clinical trials, STAT+
St. Jude joins $60 million collaboration to fight childhood cancer, Daily Memphian