31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN
DAY ONE ― Halloween (1978) dir. John CarpenterYou know it’s Halloween. I guess everyone’s entitled to one good scare, huh?
I’m fine… I’m fine…
I don’t think so. We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound “fine”?Evil Dead II (1987) dir. Sam Raimi
Some companies look to drop marijuana testing for new hires
Amazon changed the way many people do business, going from local shops to click and order. Now, the company is stopping marijuana drug testing for new applicants.
… Cannabis can stay in your system for up to 30 days. Most legal lawsuits against employers, Birmingham said, are over the accuracy of the test.
Since it stays in the system so long that’s one of the reasons why companies have been backing away from it,“ he said. "It’s very difficult to tell when did the person use marijuana, or did it really affect them? Does it have any impact on their job performance?”
Study finds increase in college kids using marijuana, hallucinogens over alcohol
Classes are in session at universities across the country, and we’re learning that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on substance use among college students.
Merck says experimental pill cuts worst effects of COVID-19
Pharmaceutical company Merck says its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus.
Pharmaceutical company Merck announced Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus.
The company said it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use.
Merck’s drug would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, a potentially major advance in efforts to fight the pandemic.
Merck says 7.3% of patients who received the medicine, called molnupiravir, in an interim analysis were either hospitalized or died through Day 29 following randomization, compared with 14.1% of placebo-treated patients.
The trial for the pill looked at non-hospitalized adult patients with laboratory-confirmed mild to moderate COVID-19 who had at least one risk factor associated with poor disease outcomes and their symptoms started within five days of the randomization.
Merck says Molnupiravir is an investigational, orally administered form of a potent ribonucleoside analog that inhibits the replication of the COVID-19 virus. It’s been shown to be “active” in several preclinical models of the virus, including for prophylaxis, treatment, and prevention of transmission, according to Merk. The company says the pill has also been shown to be “active” against the most common variants.
The study was conducted globally, including in more than 170 planned sites in countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.
The most common risk factors for poor disease outcome included obesity, older age, diabetes mellitus, and heart disease, according to Merk.
An independent group of medical advisers monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early because the interim results were so strong.
However, the study results were released by the company and have not [yet] been peer-reviewed. …
