Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
US CDC OKs use of new Pfizer, GSK vaccines for RSV in older adults
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday signed off on the use of new vaccines from Pfizer and GSK to prevent severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in older adults. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed agency advisers' recommendation last week that adults aged 60 or older get the shots, but stopped short of saying all of that population should get one of the vaccines.
Ex-Pfizer employee charged with insider trading on COVID drug trial
A former employee of Pfizer Inc. was arrested on insider trading charges on Thursday for allegedly trading the drugmaker's stock before it announced positive results from clinical trials of its COVID antiviral drug Paxlovid, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors in New York allege Amit Dagar, 44, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, learned Paxlovid had performed favorably on Nov. 4, 2021, the day before the drug trial results were announced. He then tipped off a friend and purchased short-dated Pfizer stock options, making the pair a total of $350,000 in illicit profits, prosecutors said.
Spanish researchers aim to 'trick nature' with artificial womb
Researchers in Barcelona are trying to "trick nature" by creating an artificial womb for extremely premature babies after tests on animals kept fetuses alive for 12 days. Their artificial placenta prototype recreates a protective environment with a translucent container made of biocompatible material inside which the fetus' lungs, intestines and brain can continue to develop.
Consumers, food-makers face choice as WHO cancer agency set to warn on aspartame sweeteners
Consumers, food companies, retailers and restaurants need to decide whether to fight back or find alternatives to one of the world's most common artificial sweeteners, as a leading global health body prepares to declare it a possible carcinogen. On Thursday, Reuters reported that aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gums, will be listed in July as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer research arm. The IARC ruling does not take into account how much of a product a person can safely consume. This advice for individuals comes from a separate WHO expert committee on food additives, known as JECFA (the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization's Expert Committee on Food Additives), alongside determinations from national regulators. Several consumer industry trade bodies - whose members use aspartame - on Thursday rejected the IARC´s assessment. "The headlines could have a negative impact on sales volumes of lower-calorie sodas, which is really a function of how much attention the story garners," Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, said.
Hold the Ozempic before surgery, US doctors say
People taking popular diabetes and weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy or Eli Lilly's Mounjaro should temporarily stop taking them before having elective surgery to avoid possible serious complications, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) said on Thursday. The group has received anecdotal reports from across the country that patients taking the drugs may be at increased risk of vomiting and aspirating food into the lungs and airways during general anesthesia or deep sedation, Dr. Michael Champeau, president of the ASA, said in an interview.
Exclusive-WHO's cancer research agency to say aspartame sweetener a possible carcinogen -sources
One of the world's most common artificial sweeteners is set to be declared a possible carcinogen next month by a leading global health body, according to two sources with knowledge of the process, pitting it against the food industry and regulators. Aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum and some Snapple drinks, will be listed in July as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer research arm, the sources told Reuters.
US abortion pill access could hinge on whether doctors had right to sue
A prominent U.S. lawsuit to ban the abortion pill mifepristone has focused on the drug's safety and approval process. But the outcome may ultimately rest on a different issue: whether Ingrid Skop, an anti-abortion doctor in Texas, and other physicians behind the lawsuit can justify suing in the first place. That´s because of the legal concept known as standing, which holds that plaintiffs must have suffered harm or face an imminent injury traceable to the defendant - in this case, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which approved the pill in 2000.
Five doctors backing the US legal case against the abortion pill
A legal case making its way through the courts could remove the abortion pill mifepristone from the market or restrict access to the drug. The case is being led by medical groups and doctors who are opposed to abortion and hinges in part on the testimony of the doctors to establish the right to bring the case, a legal doctrine known as standing. Below is a closer look at some of them.
Indian hospitals set investors' pulses racing in post-COVID boom
In Pune city, Indira IVF is teeming with patients ready to spend $1,300 on fertility treatments that few government hospitals offer, reflecting the huge demand for private health care sweeping India, fueled partly by the scary pandemic experience. Spotting the trend, global investors are scouting the Indian market, and banking and industry sources counted at least nine healthcare chains that are currently in talks to sell stakes.
US FDA approves BioMarin's gene therapy for hemophilia A
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved BioMarin Pharmaceutical's gene therapy for severe hemophilia A, the company said, giving patients with the inherited bleeding disorder an alternative to regular injections of missing blood proteins. It priced the one-time therapy, Roctavian, at $2.9 million. Pivotal trial results showed that Roctavian reduced bleeding events, but its durability is not known, and the company said it would include a warranty to health insurers.
