Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca-Daiichi drug halts cancer for months in first readout


Reuters | Updated: 12-12-2019 04:25 IST | Created: 12-12-2019 02:27 IST
Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca-Daiichi drug halts cancer for months in first readout
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. AstraZeneca-Daiichi drug halts cancer for months in first readout

An experimental cancer drug developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo kept metastatic breast cancer at bay for months in women who had exhausted other treatment options, its first clinical study showed. Patients on trastuzumab deruxtecan, also known as DS-8201, who had already undergone roughly six prior treatment courses, sawed no further progression for a median of 16.4 months. U.S. Supreme Court justices lean toward insurers on $12 billion Obamacare claims

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared sympathetic to claims made by health insurers seeking $12 billion from the federal government under a program set up by the Obamacare law aimed at encouraging them to offer medical coverage to previously uninsured Americans. The justices considered a challenge by a group of insurers of a lower court's ruling that Congress had suspended the government's obligation to make such payments. The insurers have said that ruling constituted a "bait-and-switch" that would enable the government to withhold money the companies were promised. U.S. diaper banks serve a fraction of families in need

(Reuters Health) - Many families living in poverty might benefit from diaper banks but don't receive this support, a U.S. study suggests. Nearly half of U.S. families with infants and toddlers live on less than $51,500 for a family of four, which is 200% of the federal poverty level, researchers note in the American Journal of Public Health. Many of these low-income households may struggle to afford rent and food as well as basic infant care needs, including a sufficient supply of diapers to keep babies clean, dry and healthy. Many summer camps may not be prepared for kids with allergies

(Reuters Health) - Although most summer camps welcome kids with food allergies, they often don't require individualized emergency plans from these campers, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers surveyed 559 leaders at 258 summer camps about food allergy policies, training, medication availability, anaphylaxis events, and confidence in staff to recognize and treat anaphylaxis - a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that can be triggered by things like bee stings or peanuts. Correvio Pharma to explore sale after FDA panel setback; shares hit record low

Correvio Pharma Corp said on Wednesday it would explore options including a sale, a day after its heart drug failed to win the backing of a panel of experts advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Canadian drugmaker's U.S.- and Toronto-listed shares plunged as much as 69% to hit all-time lows. China finds African swine fever in wild boar in Shaanxi

China's agriculture ministry said on Wednesday that African swine fever had been detected in three dead wild boars in northwestern Shaanxi province. Nine wild boar samples submitted by the provincial forestry bureau were examined and three from Foping county, in the south of Shaanxi, tested positive for the disease, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement. Correvio suffers fresh blow as heart drug fails to win FDA panel backing

Independent experts to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday voted against Correvio Pharma Corp's drug to correct irregular rhythm in the upper chambers of the heart in adult patients, the latest setback to the company's efforts to market a potential blockbuster in the country. The panel voted 11-2 against approving the drug, Brinavess, citing serious safety risks, including low blood pressure and irregular rhythm in the lower heart chambers, and deaths during the trials. UK reports bird flu for first time since 2017

Britain's government said bird flu had been confirmed at a chicken farm in eastern England on Tuesday, the first such report since June 2017. Some 27,000 birds at the farm would be slaughtered following the discovery of the H5 strain, which the agriculture ministry described as "low pathogenic." Decline in rural medical students likely to hurt rural physician workforce

(Reuters Health) - The rural U.S. is already in dire need of more doctors, and with decreasing numbers of medical students coming from rural towns, the problem is likely to grow, a study suggests. Doctors who grew up in a rural area are more likely to practice in one, researchers note in a special issue of Health Affairs focused on rural health issues. But the proportion of students from rural areas entering medical school has been declining for 15 years, and by 2017 was less than 5%, the study team reports. FDA issues warning letter to Alkermes over opioid addiction treatment ad

A print advertisement of Alkermes Plc's addiction treatment, Vivitrol, is false or misleading as it omits important risk information associated with its use, the Food and Drug Administration said in a warning letter http://bit.ly/2LGVKUM to the company. Users of Vivitrol as a treatment for opioid dependence should be made aware of the vulnerability to potentially fatal overdose at the end of a dosing interval, after missing a dose, or after discontinuing the treatment, the agency said in the letter dated Dec. 2.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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