STRAIGHT TALK ON HEALTH 7/1/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Wednesday morning. It's the Liz Callaway show with next numbers.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

It's time for Straight Talk on Health with the Little River Medical Center. Each month, Liz Callaway sits down with local healthcare experts to answer your questions and discuss the health topics that matter most, from prevention and wellness to chronic disease management and healthy aging. Real answers to better health. Here's Liz.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

Wow. Did we pass the test, Lisa? Oh yeah, that was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Thank you so much for having us today.

SPEAKER_04 0:30

Lisa is the director of community development, and we're developing the community here right on the spot. And Lisa's awesome. She's with Little River Medical Center, and we've ushered in this one thing I've always wanted to do: a health topic. Fantastic. And uh this health segment is gonna be so great. So um one of the most exciting things to talk about today that's breaking news. July 1st, today's the first day of the pharmacy in Ayner being open in the Aynur location.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

That is correct. We are very excited to not just have the new Ahner Health Center out there in the community, but opening the pharmacy as well. So if you're an established patient, or if you want to establish care and make Ahner Health Center a place where you can access medical care, you can access our on-site pharmacy there as well. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:20

And um, you know, I live right near the Myrtle Beach location. I see a doctor in the Little River Medical Center, the Little River location. Um but if I wanted to go to pharmacy services, where are the ones? Because I don't think the one in Myrtle Beach has one.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

That's correct. That office is a little bit small and there's not a space for a pharmacy. But in the Grand Dunes area, Myrtle Beach area, we have our Carolina Forest Health Center, which is beautiful and has a pharmacy and a drive-thru. And we also have our South Strand office down on Homestown Road that also has a pharmacy.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

Okay. And you also have a location in Loras. Um and I feel like I'm missing one.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

That is correct. We have an office in Loris, which um has radiology, 3D mamography, and all the medical services, and also a drive-thru pharmacy. Oh, that's great. We have a site downtown, um Health Access, that serves a lot of our different populations in the center of Myrtle Beach. And we have our uh Little River Medical Center, of course, as well.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

Does that have a pharmacy in there?

SPEAKER_01 2:20

We do. It's not a drive-thru, but the pharmacy is there. It's our flagship pharmacy.

SPEAKER_04 2:25

Well, I'm really excited that you brought in a doctor of pharmacy, Alec Marinaro, is joining us this morning. Good morning.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Hey, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_04 2:34

Yeah, thanks for joining us. So something else that's really exciting um is happening today as well in your world of pharmacy services, and I'm sure you get a lot of questions about GLP1s and also about Medicare. So tell us what the news is on that.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Yes, so July 1st often brings a lot of changes to the pharmacy landscape and healthcare across the board. Um, and so today we are getting breaking news with Medicare. For those with Part D, we have GLP ones. Uh so commonly we have Ozempic, WeGovi, Zetbound, a lot of different medications that have become top of mind in past recent years. Uh they are becoming incredibly more expensive, or excuse me, not expensive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're incredibly more affordable for patients with Medicare Part D. Um, and there's a new program that will let you get your medication for as little as $50, which sounds really good. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

A month. And that goes up with the size of the dose.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Uh correct, yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

Now I find I have a a mom who's on Medicare and I find it really grueling to figure out Medicare and how it works. Do I have Part D? How do I know what part I have? I don't even know if there's a Part D.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

It's a great question. So you do have to sign up for the Part D plans. Uh you typically do that towards the end of each year. Um but I encourage everyone, if you don't know, either visit your pharmacy, whether it's you know through us or someone else, um, or your local provider, your your primary care provider, and talk to them about what your coverage is. A lot of programs or uh doctor's offices will have someone that can actually sit down and talk to you about what plans you do have. Oh and you know, we do have that at Little River Medical Center as well. Yes. So we have an outreach program that will sit down and talk to you about what your plans are. Uh, but you do have to sign up for the Part D plans. Overall, um, it's a fairly easy process. You just have to have some guidance on what you're doing, and then uh, you know, someone will help you take the wheel there.

SPEAKER_04 4:27

I'm gonna ask a stupid question. Is Part D specific to pharmacy?

SPEAKER_03 4:30

Part D is specific to pharmacy, which is why you have to opt into it. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 4:33

Okay, so let's say you're f your your whatever your plan you're on is good, but now your doctor's saying, hey, listen, this may be really helpful for your health. Um maybe your BMI is too high for your own good, and you should consider maybe taking, you know, um whether it's Wagovi or Zetbound, and now you want to switch to Part D, do you have to wait till November to do that?

SPEAKER_03 4:59

So typically you do unless you have some life event that changes things. Um but if you can't uh get onto a Part D plan right now, there's a lot of different options that your pharmacy can work with you in as far as getting coverage for medications. Specifically, if you talk with your primary provider and you figure out these are the medications that we think are gonna work for me moving forward, whether you've done some trial and error, you've had some samples on something, and you really feel like you found a regimen that works for you, the pharmacy can help you figure out okay, this is what your pricing may look like. This is what you plan you may want to look for. And then when you meet with an outreach provider, you can help to select which plan will actually give you the best coverage overall.

SPEAKER_04 5:41

Now, with GLP ones, people are, you know, very apprehensive about it. We hear about all these side effects. What is your role as a pharmacist in helping people? Um, I don't know. I mean, maybe they're like, I don't know, maybe I'll try Zetbow, maybe I'll try, you know, Wagovi. How do they make a decision? I mean, I know that starts with their doctor, but they are different. Not all GLP ones are created equal.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Right. Well, first I want to say we got here with medication because there's a role for all medication in our lives. Um it may not be the first option or the best option for many people, but sometimes it is. And so it's not something to be afraid of. Uh, but definitely talking with your pri primary provider, your pharmacist, you know, easily accessible. Um, we get phone calls every day. We have people who stop by and visit with us and want to review what their medications are, what they're taking. But specifically, you mentioned side effects. A lot of people will be scared because they don't know what to expect, or they're feeling a little different when they go onto a medication. Yeah. Or they see something that's so heavily advertised, like the GLP ones now. I mean, you can't turn on a TV really without seeing it. But they're there because they have a good role in our lifestyle nowadays.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

What are some what are what is the main role of a GLP one? A lot of people say, oh, you know, a fat shot, you know. But what is the the the role of it?

SPEAKER_03 7:01

So it was originally approved for diabetes. Um diabetic care, but we've advanced so far beyond that. There's many, many uh conditions that the GLP ones can uh help you with across the board. Sometimes you need a different one, so there's not a one-size-fit at all, just like each person has a different therapy that will help them best. Uh but primarily with the GLP ones, you want to be aware of side effects like uh if you're having trouble going to the bathroom, if you're feeling nauseous, uh it's normally some GI side effects, um, and you'll hear that you know very often.

SPEAKER_04 7:33

Um, there's medications to help you get through that exactly until your body regulates.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

Yes, between uh medications that will help with it, just getting your daily fiber in, keeping your body moving. You don't want to lose the part of uh you want to stay active even when you're on these medications and use them as a way to break your habits. If you feel like you got to a point where you were overweight, you have a BMI, uh it's not of a level that you or your doctor like. Uh you know, keep moving, get on one of these medications to help you move the needle a little bit. Sometimes you see that numbers change on the scale, and it's the motivation that you need to you know change your lifestyle a little bit and the for for the positive. And that's what we want to see with everyone.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

And I'll tell you, for me, it was inflammation.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:15

I was having a battle with inflammation, and and you probably know, being a doctor of pharmacy, that inflammation is very dangerous for your health.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

And uh that is something that I've I found uh to be very helpful for me personally. Now, we talked about why it's important, you know, it's not just aesthetics, what you look like or what you want to wear, but tell us about how you've seen weight loss, um, you know, improv in improvement of your BMI. How does that feed into every other system in your body?

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 8:48

I mean, we talked about inflammation. Yes. And we talked about how fat produces toxins, you know, like it it contributes to the toxins and inflammation situation.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

I mean, I think a perfect example is that you remember when you were growing up and you you don't have much muscle on your body, not as much fat on your body, and uh anyone who's seen kids running around the playground nowadays, they're resilient, right? And they don't have all the stress of the extra weight on their body, they don't have the fat in between their joints, their muscles, you have everything. Um, and that just causes different stress on different parts of your body.

SPEAKER_04 9:19

Especially visceral fat, that thick, sticky fat that we get in our abdomen.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Exactly. Yeah. So when you get uh part of the fat that grows on your abdomen there, you're walking a little bit different, you're uh you know carrying around extra weight that you honestly don't need. It's not uh everyone needs to be you know skinny, exactly. But you know, everyone has a weight that they feel comfortable with. And you want to put uh take the stress off of your joints, off of your knees, off your feet. Uh we want everyone moving and feeling good.

SPEAKER_04 9:47

Yeah, and there's also a thing called skinny fat, which is not good for you either. No, yes, you need to protect your bones and your muscles.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:55

And you need to exercise and lift weight.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

Right. Well, uh the big cornerstone to that is you know making sure you're doing some form of strength training. Whether it's just walking, if that's the best that you can do, uh walking with a vest, um, you know, going to a gym. Uh I've found a great gym family here at uh Sweat Republic here in Carolina Forest. Oh, cool. Um, that honestly really helps. That's right. They uh they help to uh keep you motivated. But you know, find yourself a gym family or just you know in your neighborhood, there may be a few people who work out together that you can use in combination with some of these medications to keep you motivated.

SPEAKER_04 10:29

You know, you said something very interesting, and we're speaking with Alec Marinaro. He is the doctor of pharmacy working with Little River Medical Center. They're in five of their seven locations around the Grand Strand, the new pharmacy opening up in Aynard, which is their new location. You can go to LRMcenter.com to get more information about how you can jump in and take advantage of these great opportunities at Little River Medical Center. I wanted to uh touch on something that you said that there's a role for medication. There are people that see this as a cop-out and they don't want to be that person or they don't talk about it. Um you know, they don't want to bring it up because they feel like they're just throwing in the towel. Right. But there is a role here.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 11:14

And it's it's it's sometimes it's beyond willpower. Some people are doing all the things. You know, if you're going to the gym, you see people frustrated with their I'm doing all this and I'm still not losing weight. Um there is something else, some other mechanism that's unlocked by this. I mean, what do you know about how GLP1s and GIC, because you know, Wagovi uh is the the weight loss version of Ozempic and Zetbound's the weight loss version of Manjaro. Right. Um but they're essentially the same. And the Wagovi has the GLP1 and the uh Zetbound has the GIC added to that. Right. So what are the you know, what does it do? Like why how do you choose, you know, what what does it mean to be on these things? What is it doing to you?

SPEAKER_03 11:57

Right. Well, first I'll mention that uh as far as the stigma of taking it, you know, there's there's a lot of people who just don't want that cop out, like you mentioned.

SPEAKER_04 12:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

I think the best endorsement that you could think of is that currently we have uh the greatest female tennis player of all time, Serena Williams. She is an awesome advocate for these medications. Um and if you're someone who can do anything near what she can and you're willing to admit that, hey, this is what helped you move the needle, I mean, I I don't think you need to go any farther than that. Yeah, it's one of those things.

SPEAKER_04 12:27

That was one of the things for me to decide because I was that person that I was thinking, you know. And not only that, but you're afraid of the side effects, but they're very far and few between now. Do you also carry the the pill version of the Wagovi?

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Yes, so there's uh a new breaking. People don't want to do the shots. Right, exactly. Within the past year or so that they have uh pills for people to use also, so you don't have to do the shot weekly. The pills are daily, uh, so it's a little bit more of a nuisance sometimes. But if you're taking something in the morning or if you're gonna be you know uh good with it and fine with it, then right.

SPEAKER_04 12:58

And it's it's I have a friend who's having great success on the pill.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:02

Um and it it's it like we said, it's different for everybody. All right. Yes, we have a question on the budget blinds text line, 843 798 Talk, 798255. Are you ready? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 13:14

All right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

I'm gonna say this wrong because I'm terrible with all medical stuff. Yeah. Where do you get retited?

SPEAKER_04 13:21

Okay, no, that's that's retatite it's Eli Lilly has not um approved that yet.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 13:27

So maybe you can talk about things coming down the pike. How does that work?

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Yeah, so GOP1s are definitely the topic of the town right now. Um, so there's lots that are in development. Um some of these companies have found that uh slightly altering the combinations of the medications in it or the base drug can help with different uh other uh disease states. And so they have a lot that are coming through the pipeline. Some of them you can actually get now through compounding pharmacies um and through other means. You just won't be able to get it at your typical pharmacy. It won't be in you know the the labeled box.

SPEAKER_04 14:00

Do you offer any of those compounded?

SPEAKER_03 14:03

So we don't offer it at uh Carijuana Forest or any, I guess, of the little river sites. Um, you do need a sterile compounding area for it. Uh so it just requires a little bit more dedication to it. But there's a few across the Grand Strand here that uh can help you out with that. Okay. Do you need a prescription for these GLPs? You do for the ones that we're talking about today, especially if you want to run it through your Medicare Part D plan. Those ones all need uh prescriptions. If you're doing the compounded ones, uh, I think that there are other ways to get it through it essentially is a prescription, but you don't have to necessarily go to your primary care provider for it.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Oh well, one last one. Yeah, a couple people are popping in. What about these ads you see online shipped to your home?

SPEAKER_03 14:44

They feel like it's scammy. Is it scammy? So obviously do your homework. You want to make sure that you you're not signing up for something that you know potentially is a real scam, but there's a lot of great resources out there. Uh we mentioned Serena Williams, and uh, I believe that she's backing Roe or one of those other companies that will mail it to you. Um so there's a lot of reputable companies out there. Uh just do your homework, but there's there's nothing to be scared of to actually look into it a little bit more. We're getting tons in.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Tons of questions.

SPEAKER_04 15:11

What else you got?

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Uh does it contain mRNA? Does it contain mRNA? I don't believe so. Okay. And then here's the good question. Once you start the GLP1 program, do you have to stay on it your whole life?

SPEAKER_03 15:24

No. So if it's something that you want to use, we mentioned to kind of move the needle. Sometimes it's just that weight loss of a couple of pounds that will help you get back and motivated by all means. Um now there is sometimes some slight weight gain afterwards. Um, it's not really related to the medication. It's more of, I think you fall back into your old habits for your lifestyle.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

You go back to those bad influences. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

So that's why people feel like they have to be on it for a while. But if if you're regimented or you want to stick with it, by all means.

SPEAKER_04 15:52

And there's a way to taper off, and the best thing to do is build muscle because that keeps your metabolism up more than that.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

One last one cost-effective way to get it without insurance. Ooh, definitely talk to your pharmacy. There's a lot of discount programs out there, there's a lot of manufacture coupons. Um, but yeah, one last plug for just go to your pharmacist, call your pharmacist. I promise you that we want to talk to you and we want to get the information out to you to keep you as happy and healthy as possible.

SPEAKER_04 16:16

You know, uh, one of the things that I use all the time is good RX. Yes. And um I've never I haven't had to fulfill a prescription through my Little River Medical Center doctor, Dr. McGinley. Yeah. Um, I I don't need a medication at the moment, but like I, you know, when I do can I use Good Rx in case that's a little bit more affordable than my regular insurance?

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Little River Medical Center personally will not show up on Good Rx, but we definitely can utilize the Good Rx functions. Um if you come to any of our pharmacists or and you want to use a Good RX coupon, just let us know and we can uh go into the system for you.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

Does your pharmacy have a name?

SPEAKER_03 16:56

It's Little River Medical Center Pharmacy. Yeah. We're typically right through the front doors of the locations that you go to.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

So, but I can't fill my prescription if I have a different doctor, right? Or from a different place.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

As long as your primary care is through one of our health centers, then we can figure something out for you to be able to utilize our pharmacies. Once again, stop by the front desk, stop by your pharmacist, and we'll figure out a way to help you out as much as possible.

SPEAKER_04 17:20

All right. Alec Marinaro, the doctor of pharmacy with Little River Medical Center Pharmacies. Lisa, anything you'd like to add?

SPEAKER_01 17:27

No, I just appreciate all of Alec's amazing information. And again, thanks so much for having us on and kicking off this awesome straight talk in the morning.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Yeah, I love it. I love it. Uh the first Wednesday of every month at 9 05 Straight Talk with Little River Medical Center. I really enjoyed talking with you.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

Absolutely. Sitting here.

SPEAKER_04 17:48

Where can people find you? Which location are you in?

SPEAKER_03 17:50

So I typically am in Carijuana Forest, but I actually kind of float around to wherever we need help doing a lot of different things that will help promote pharmacy and Little River.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

Well it's good to know there are doctors of pharmacy like you around answering all these questions. We really enjoyed it. And thank you for the participation on the Budget Blinds text line. We'll have him look at that before he leaves in case he can answer anything on the way out directly on the text line. Thank you so much, and uh we'll see you next month.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

Thanks for having us.