Researchers from Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research and Innovation Center (FRIC) have identified a potential new target for anti-COVID-19 therapies. Their findings were published in Nature Microbiology.
 
Led by FRIC scientific director Michaela Gack, Ph.D., the team discovered that a coronavirus enzyme called PLpro (papain-like protease) blocks the body’s immune response to the infection. More research is necessary, but the findings suggest that therapeutics that inhibit the enzyme may help treat COVID-19.
 
“SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – has evolved quickly against many of the body’s well-known defense mechanisms,” Gack said. “Our findings, however, offer insights into a never-before characterized mechanism of immune activation and how PLpro disrupts this response, enabling SARS-CoV-2 to freely replicate and wreak havoc throughout the host. We discovered that inhibiting PLpro may help rescue the early immune response that is key to limiting viral replication and spread.”
 
One of the body’s frontline immune defenses is a class of receptor proteins, including one called MDA5, that identify invaders by foreign patterns in their genetic material. When the receptors recognize a foreign pattern, they become activated and kick-start the immune system into antiviral mode. This is done in part by increasing the downstream expression of proteins encoded by interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs).
 
In this study, Gack and her team identified a novel mechanism that leads to MDA5 activation during virus infection. They found that ISG15 must physically bind to specific regions in the MDA5 receptor – a process termed ISGylation – in order for MDA5 to effectively activate and unleash antiviral actors against invaders. They showed that ISGylation helps to promote the formation of larger MDA5 protein complexes, which ultimately results in a more robust immune response against a range of viruses.
 
“While discovery of a novel mechanism of immune activation is exciting on its own,” Gack said, “we also discovered a bit of bad news, which is that SARS-CoV-2 also understands how the mechanism works, considering it has already developed a strategy to block it.”
 
The research team shows that the coronavirus enzyme PLpro physically interacts with the receptor MDA5 and inhibits the ISGylation process.


Bluma Wellness Inc. is pleased to announce that the Company has obtained a final order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia approving the previously announced acquisition of the Company by Cresco Labs Inc., by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act.

If the Arrangement is completed, Cresco will, among other things, acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares in the capital of the Company, in exchange for which holders of Bluma Shares will receive 0.0859 of a subordinate voting share of Cresco for each Bluma Share held, subject to adjustment in accordance with the terms of the Arrangement.
 
The Arrangement was approved by the Bluma Shareholders at the special meeting of Bluma Shareholders held on March 19, 2021. The completion of the Arrangement remains subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to the receipt of regulatory approval of the Florida Department of Health Office of Medical Marijuana Use.


One year after the first U.S. death from coronavirus, there is finally a glimmer of hope and enthusiasm as the vaccine rollout continues. As an experienced epidemiologist, I recognize the rapid development of a vaccine for what it is: a scientific breakthrough of profound importance.

I have been vaccinated, and so should every other health care provider, from hospitals to doctor’s offices to nursing homes. We have a shared duty to protect the health and well-being of those we serve, and as we have stepped up so many times – and in so many ways – to serve them, so too should we step up to receive our vaccination.
 
I have found my thoughts turning to the early days of vaccine development. In 1886, Louis Pasteur gave an experimental vaccine to a boy named Joseph Meister, who was dying of rabies. Pasteur didn’t know whether the vaccine would have a significant long-term effect on the boy’s life – all he knew was that Joseph would surely die if nothing was done. Similarly, I know that if we as a population do nothing, this virus will continue to claim a horrific number of lives.
 
Through various leadership positions, including as a state epidemiologist and as a country director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I witnessed not only the marvel of effective vaccines saving lives, but also the devastation caused by their lack of use. I have been deployed to Africa on projects related to polio and the Ebola virus, and I understand what it takes to stop a widespread outbreak. I am confident the COVID-19 vaccine will be an effective tool in bringing an end to the current pandemic.
 
I am a bit dismayed, however, by reports that large numbers a citizens – including health care and frontline workers – are reluctant to get the vaccine. In December, an internal survey at Miami’s largest public hospital found that fewer than half said they would get the vaccine as soon as it became available. And a Kaiser Family Foundation report that same month found that almost one-third of health care workers were hesitant to do so. While thousands of health care workers have received the vaccine since then, it just takes one person to spread this deadly virus.
 
I believe that all of us in health care have an elevated duty to be vaccinated to protect ourselves, so that we can protect them – and do our part in protecting the community at large.
 
Although the speed with which the COVID-19 vaccine was developed is unprecedented, we should take comfort in the thorough review process it has undergone and the brilliant community of physicians and scientists responsible for its development.
 
This process was boosted by a vast community of highly qualified researchers, in both the public and private sectors, who focused their resources on this mission. The vaccine underwent a thorough process of clinical trials, data collection, and data analysis. The process has also been quite transparent – the data can be found on the Food and Drug Administration website, and the Advisory Committee discussions can be viewed by anyone.
 
I am satisfied that this vaccine is appropriately safe and will be an impactful part of putting the pandemic behind us for the long term. It’s important for the public to recognize that, much like vaccines for tetanus and meningitis, the leading COVID-19 vaccines require multiple doses to be fully effective – and the second dose must come from the same brand as the first. The easiest way for you and your doctor to know which vaccine you received is to ask your vaccination team to add the information into the Florida Shots system.
As we navigate these early stages of the vaccine distribution, we must remember that face coverings, handwashing, and social distancing remain important tools to reduce the spread. Vaccination is the finishing touch to achieve our shared goal of putting this deadly disease behind us.
 
I hope you’ll join me in doing everything possible to keep our communities healthy. We must work together, toward one goal. To end the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, we need the highest possible number of immune individuals in the population. For an individual to become immune, the choice becomes to get either the illness or the vaccine. For me, that choice is clear.


The room in the Knott Building at the Capitol seemed empty, thanks to COVID restrictions and social distancing, when the Representative from Lee County, Spencer Roach, took the dais. For the next twenty minutes, he would explain HB 1455, a proposal that is “taking a wrecking ball to the state medical marijuana program,” according to Democratic Representative Carlos G. Smith of Orlando.

In the days between the bill being introduced and it being heard, over 50,000 people took action to oppose the CAPS.
 
The CAPS Bill, HB 1455, and its companion in the Senate, SB 1958, would limit the potency of THC to 10% in flower and 60% in concentrates, if it becomes law. The bill CAPS the total amount of THC a patient can receive every 35 days. It CAPS free enterprise by making the Department of Health pre-approve advertising for doctors and limiting who can invest in Cannabis businesses.
 
As Representative Roach explained his bill to lawmakers on the Professions and Public Health Committee, advocates in the audience, doctors, patients, and lobbyists alike, were astounded by what they heard. The Representative quoted studies saying pain patients respond better to THC levels under 10%. The studies report THC higher than 10% increases pain responses. The Representative concluded that patients using high THC were really drug seekers and the doctors who certify patients for high THC just want to get rich. He would repeat twice that patients using high THC were more likely to use opiates, more likely to be addicted/abuse opiates, and more likely to suffer from depression as a result of Cannabis use.
 
The bill is bad, but the debate in committee between lawmakers is creating fear and loathing among Florida medical marijuana patients and the industry. Patients fear medicine that works will be taken away from them. Representative Roach agrees no one has died due to Cannabis use. The lawmaker cannot point to any adverse effects from high THC products among Florida patients; yet, the bill continues to move through committees.
 
The Cannabis Community is well-represented in the discussion despite the COVID precautions. Eric Stevens of Florida for Care brought together Dr. Sasha Noe of St. Pete, Dr. Michelle Beasley of Pensacola, and Dr. Barry Gordan of Venice to testify to the success of the program and the need to expand access, not put in limits. John Goodson from Buds for Vets, Robert Roundtree of Sunshine Cannabis, Sean Hardwick of Mr. Cannabis Law, and Josephine Cannella-Krehl of MMJ Knowledge joined me in countering the Representative’s most outrageous statements. Speakers were given thirty seconds at a time to speak. Fortunately, we know the system, so we were able to make the most of our testimony, thirty seconds at a time. Despite our best efforts, the bill passed along party lines.
 
For the second hearing, more patients lined up to tell their story polished to 30-seconds sound bites. Jamie Renee Cruz of Naples, Crystal Silins of Pensacola, Lauren Drake of Santa Rosa County., Breanda Faye Taylor, Ron Watson, and Andrea Anderson of Tallahassee, joined Melissa Villar of NORML, Sean Harwick, Josephine Cannella-Krehl, and me in the committee room.
 
Florida CAN recognizes that advocates change minds and legislators change laws, this is my tenth consecutive legislative season in Tallahassee. Since 2011, the Florida Cannabis Action Network has spent the lion share of our annual budget in Tallahassee bearing witness to the process, teaching advocates the ropes, meeting with lawmakers, and speaking publicly about bills as they move through the committee process. Despite Florida being “open for business,” this session the Capitol is essentially closed.
 
The legislative season is made up of a 60-day session and several committee weeks before the session begins. By taking up residence in Tallahassee for the season, we stay focused on the bills moving through committees. This year, we are forced to testify on Senate bills from a remote location and only those on-the-list are allowed into the Capitol buildings. This lack of access makes it even more challenging to defeat the CAPS bill and get good bills heard.
 
Capping THC potency in products while limiting milligrams in a 35-day supply is a mixture for disaster for patients. Patients who currently use a mixture of products, perhaps salves, tinctures, flower, edibles, and shatter will shortly find themselves out of product before the end of the month. Those patients are going back where they came from – either back to the streets or back to the pharmaceutical cocktails.


Delray Medical Center is now offering a new way to care for its orthopedic patients with the new Ortho-Fast Track program. Patients can now seek immediate care at its off-campus emergency center in Lake Worth, after an orthopedic injury. This new service allows patients to connect directly with an orthopedic surgeon so they can schedule a follow up appointment, after getting an initial examination by an emergency room physician.

Some of the benefits of the Ortho-Fast Track program include:
• Minimal waiting
• No appointment required
• Evaluation by a board certified ER physician
• Follow-up appointment with an orthopedic surgeon scheduled within 48 hours of your visit