Staying #Up2Date 🚨

1: Can Drug Prices Change Whether Patients Fill a Prescription?

A new JAMA Health Forum analysis looked at more than 38,000 prescriptions and found that giving prescribers real-time information on lower-cost alternatives didn’t significantly improve fill rates overall. But for the most expensive drug classes, fill rates jumped 14.5 percentage points, with the biggest gains among patients from lower-income communities. A good reminder that sometimes adherence starts with affordability.

2: An Oral GLP-1 Takes on Insulin-Treated Diabetes

The phase 3 ACHIEVE-5 trial tested oral orforglipron in adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with insulin glargine. Adding the once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist produced greater HbA1c reductions and weight loss than placebo over 40 weeks. Orforglipron is still investigational, but an oral, nonpeptide GLP-1 could eventually add another option to the increasingly crowded incretin shelf.

3: A New Treatment Target for Dengue?

A randomized JAMA Network Open trial tested an investigational monoclonal antibody in adults with dengue, a disease that still has no approved specific antiviral treatment. The early-stage study evaluated safety and preliminary efficacy, making this one far from pharmacy shelves, but it offers an interesting glimpse at where dengue treatment could be headed.

Shelf Watch 🏥

Drug Shortages ⚠️

Hydromorphone Contin Controlled Release

• Company: Purdue Pharma 

• Drug class: Opioids 

• DIN: 02243562

• Strength affected: 18mg 

• Shortage status: Actual shortage

• Reason for shortage: Delay in shipping of the drug 

• Start date: 2026-08-21

• Date updated: 2026-08-24

• Estimated end date: 2026-08-31

Admelog 

• Company: Sanofi-Aventis Canada Inc 

• Drug class: Insulins and analogues 

• DIN: 02469901

• Strength affected: 100unit 

• Shortage status: Resolved

• Reason for shortage: Other

• Start date: 2026-07-17

• Date updated: 2026-08-24

• Estimated end date: Unknown

• Actual end date: 2026-08-21

• Company comments: Intermittent supply

Newly Approved Drugs ✨

Kadian (morphine sulfate sustained-release): a long-acting sustained-release form of morphine, is an opioid analgesic used to manage pain.

• DIN: 02559722

• NOC date: 2026-07-25

• Submission type: Supplement to a new drug submission (SNDS)

• Manufacturer: BGP PHARMA ULC

• Product type: Analgesic

• Dosage form: 200mg oral capsule 

The Risk at 35,000 Feet ✈️

Cancer risk at cruising altitude

What happened: A new study found that flight attendants and pilots have a higher risk of dying from radiation-linked cancers, raising questions about what decades spent at cruising altitude may be doing to flight crews.

Why it matters: Ionizing radiation is a known carcinogen, and exposure increases at altitude because there’s less atmosphere shielding people from high-energy cosmic radiation. A JAMA Internal Medicine study analyzed more than 12 million death certificates with occupational information. Of more than 500 occupations examined, flight attendants had the highest proportion of deaths from radiation-related cancers, with pilots close behind.

Compared with the general population, flight attendants had about 50% higher odds of dying from these cancers, while pilots had about 36% higher odds. And radiation may not be the only factor at play.

But: The study still has some extra baggage. It can show an association, not prove cosmic radiation caused the excess cancer deaths, and occupations recorded on death certificates may not always have been accurate. Flight crews also face another potential carcinogenic exposure: years of circadian disruption from irregular schedules and crossing time zones.

And despite the known exposure, the US currently has no federal occupational dose limits or routine radiation-monitoring requirements for aircrew. Canada isn’t much further ahead: Transport Canada recommends airlines track and manage cosmic-radiation exposure, with a suggested annual limit of 20 mSv, but those measures remain voluntary.

Bottom line: The findings add to concerns about the long-term health effects of working at altitude and may give physicians another occupational exposure worth asking about. Researchers say more work is needed to untangle how much of the excess risk comes from cosmic radiation versus other features of life in the air. For doctors with pilots or flight attendants in their practice, “What do you do for work?” may carry a little more weight than it seems.

Hot Off The Press 🗞️

1: 🤖 AI may be getting better at predicting what comes next for your patients. Harvard researchers have developed a machine-learning model that estimates a patient’s risk of 348 diseases using existing health records and genetic risk data. Trained and validated on more than 683,000 patient records, it updates predictions as patients age and outperformed established cardiovascular and breast cancer risk models. It’s only been tested retrospectively, but researchers say it could eventually help physicians spot disease earlier and rethink who gets screened, and when. Curious what made the cut? Check out the full list in the study.

2: 🥬 Food recalls are having quite a summer. In Canada, prepared foods sold at Whole Foods were recently recalled over possible Salmonella contamination, while the US has seen major recalls and outbreaks involving everything from eggs and lettuce to blueberries and jalapeños. It certainly feels like we’re hearing about contaminated food more often, but are foodborne illnesses actually becoming more common? Experts say there’s more going on than meets the eye. So, is our food getting riskier, or are we just getting better at catching it?

3: 🇨🇦 Looking for a clinical trial in Canada just got easier. Health Canada has launched a new Canadian Clinical Trial Search Portal, swapping out its old clinical trials database with a much more searchable tool. Physicians and patients can look for authorized trials by disease, drug, trial status, province, city or approval date, with information on trial locations, eligibility basics and links to fuller registry records. It currently covers drug trials approved since April 2013, and it’s regularly updated with new trials and status changes. Curious what’s recruiting near you? Try the search yourself.

Questions of the Week ❓

🐧 This week, we’re asking how you unwind when the workday is finally over. Are you moving, munching, binge-watching or doing absolutely nothing?

RxBriefly Picks 💊

⌚ Save: $750 on a Garmin fēnix 8 smartwatch, currently $699.99 at Best Buy. The 47mm multisport watch packs an AMOLED display, GPS and advanced training and fitness tracking for running, cycling, hiking and more.

🍅 Make: your way through that end-of-summer tomato haul with Ina Garten’s go-to recipes for when her garden is overflowing. There’s a ridiculously simple summer garden pasta, roasted tomato-basil soup and a flaky tomato-and-goat-cheese crostata. 

📚 Learn: how to spot and treat genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), which affects an estimated 84% of postmenopausal women within 6 years of menopause, yet roughly half receive no treatment. This free 30-minute course covers quick screening across genital, sexual and urinary symptoms, plus evidence-based treatment options and practical ways to start a conversation patients may not bring up themselves.

🎬 Watch: why solving a medical mystery doesn’t always lead to a cure. In this TED2026 talk, science communicator Saloni Dattani explores a frustrating question: if we understand so much more about disease, why aren’t there more cures? 

Relax 🧩

First clue: Disfigures

Give it a go →

Need a rematch? We’ve got you covered. Check out our Crossword Archive to find every puzzle we’ve ever made, all in one place.

Think you crushed it? Challenge your pharmacist friends to beat your time.

Meme Of The Week 😂

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