(This March 8 story has been corrected to show in the 7th paragraph that Merck will pay, not receive, R&D reimbursement)
Source: Reuters Medical News
Rhode Island doctor in Insys opioid kickback probe faces sentencing
(Reuters) – A Rhode Island doctor is to be sentenced on Friday after admitting that he took kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics Inc in exchange for prescribing a fentanyl-based cancer pain drug produced by the company.
Source: Reuters Medical News
Two million children in Congo at risk of starvation, U.N. warns
GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 2 million children in the Democratic Republic of Congo are estimated to be at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition if they do not get the aid they need, the United Nations warned on Friday.
Source: Reuters Medical News
South Africa's Tiger Brands calls in experts to identify listeria cause
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African food producer Tiger Brands said on Friday it had appointed an expert team to identify the causes of a listeria outbreak that has killed 180 people in the past 14 months and which has been traced to one of its factories.
Source: Reuters Medical News
U.S. says Idaho cannot sell health plans not compliant with Obamacare
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. government agency on Thursday said Idaho could not allow health insurers to sell plans that do not comply with Obamacare, a sign that the Trump administration will enforce the law even as it takes regulatory actions to weaken it.
Source: Reuters Medical News
More U.S. schools offering safe spaces for LGBTQ youth
(Reuters Health) – A growing number of U.S. schools are offering safe spaces for ‘tweens and adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) and prohibiting harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, a U.S. study suggests.
Source: Reuters Medical News
FDA panel backs Pfizer's Xeljanz as bowel disease treatment
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc’s Xeljanz should be approved to treat patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel disease, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee concluded on Thursday.
Source: Reuters Medical News
Heart disease patients live longer when they exercise
(Reuters Health) – Older adults with heart disease who regularly exercise, even a little bit, may live longer than they would without any physical activity, a Norwegian study suggests.
Source: Reuters Medical News
Austrian no-smoking petition against government reaches 500,000 mark
VIENNA (Reuters) – Half a million Austrians have signed a petition calling for a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, embarrassing the ruling coalition of conservatives and far right that has championed both direct democracy and the right to smoke.
Source: Reuters Medical News
Egypt struggles to end female genital mutilation
AWLAD SERAG, Egypt (Reuters) – In a tiny village in Egypt’s southern province of Assiut, 16-year-old Amany Shamekh, who wants to be an artist one day, recalls how she was illegally circumcised with a razor blade.
Source: Reuters Medical News