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Marijuana use & sperm increase + Infamous pharma company declares bankruptcy - C C - Feb 6, 2019

Marijuana smoking linked with higher sperm concentrations
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/marijuana-smoking-sperm-counts/

EXCERPT: Men who have smoked marijuana at some point in their life had significantly higher concentrations of sperm when compared with men who have never smoked marijuana, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, conducted in the Fertility Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital, also found that there was no significant difference in sperm concentrations between current and former marijuana smokers. “These unexpected findings highlight how little we know about the reproductive health effects of marijuana, and in fact of the health effects of marijuana in general,” said Jorge Chavarro, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard Chan School. “Our results need to be interpreted with caution and they highlight the need to further study the health effects of marijuana use.”

The study was published on February 5, 2019 in Human Reproduction....

MORE (details): https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/marijuana-smoking-sperm-counts/



Infamous pharma company declares bankruptcy after 3,900% price hike
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/infamous-pharma-company-declares-bankruptcy-after-3900-price-hike/

INTRO: The Chicago-based pharmaceutical company that made headlines in 2016 for dramatically raising the price of cheap skin creams has now filed for bankruptcy. The filing cites, in part, profit-scorching backlash from the price increases, the Chicago Tribune reports.

In September of 2016, Ars reported that the company, Novum Pharma, had repeatedly raised the price of an old, cheap skin cream, bringing its list price from $241.50 to $9,561 a tube—a 3,900 percent increase total. The cream, called Aloquin, is “possibly effective” for treating eczema and acne, according to the Food and Drug Administration. It’s composed of a generic antibiotic and extracts from the aloe vera plant.

Novum raised Aloquin’s price after acquiring the rights to it from Primus Pharmaceuticals in May of 2015. The company similarly raised the price of another skin cream, Alcortin A, to $7,142, the Financial Times reported at the time. Those price hikes stemmed from Novum’s trouble getting insurance companies to cover their creams, according to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing the company submitted to a court in Delaware February 2. Without insurance coverage, Novum’s business was struggling, the filing explains. The price hikes were an attempt to correct the problem, but it backfired....

MORE: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/infamous-pharma-company-declares-bankruptcy-after-3900-price-hike/