Health News Roundup: Explainer-Texas judge suspends approval of abortion pill. What happens next?; COVID caused brain damage in 2 infants infected during pregnancy -US study and more

The Dutch medical devices maker's unit Philips Respironics recalled 1,088 devices in the U.S. on Feb. 10. Analysis-Texas abortion pill ruling could disrupt U.S. drug oversight A federal judge in Texas could soon order the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of abortion pill mifepristone, a move that if allowed to stand could severely undermine the agency, health policy and legal experts said.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Merck, Eisai to discontinue late-stage study for skin cancer

Merck & Co Inc and Eisai Co Ltd said on Friday they were discontinuing a late-stage study of Keytruda plus Lenvima for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, as the trial did not show improvement in overall survival. The decision to discontinue the trial was based on the recommendation of an independent data monitoring committee after an interim analysis, the companies said.

Explainer-Texas judge suspends approval of abortion pill. What happens next?

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas on Friday suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, which will essentially make sales of the pill illegal in the U.S., while a legal challenge proceeds. The legal battle over medication abortion is only beginning and could wend its way through multiple levels of appeals courts over a period of months or years before it is resolved. Here is what you need to know about the case as it further unfolds:

COVID caused brain damage in 2 infants infected during pregnancy -US study

Researchers at the University of Miami reported on Thursday what they believe are the first two confirmed cases in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed a mother's placenta and caused brain damage in the infants they were carrying. Doctors previously had suspected this was possible, but until now, there was no direct evidence of COVID-19 in a mother's placenta or an infant's brain, the team told reporters at a news briefing.

US judge suspends approval of mifepristone in latest abortion setback

A U.S. judge in Texas on Friday suspended the two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone while a legal challenge proceeds, dealing another setback to abortion rights in the United States. Adding to the volatile legal landscape around abortion, a federal judge in Washington state on Friday issued a seemingly conflicting injunction that prevented federal regulators from altering access to the same abortion drug.

China holds the key to understanding COVID-19 origins: WHO chief

The World Health Organization chief pressed China on Thursday to share its information about the origins of COVID-19, saying that until that happened all hypotheses remained on the table, more than three years after the virus first emerged. "Without full access to the information that China has, you cannot say this or that," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in response to a question about the origin of the virus.

India asks states to ramp up testing as COVID-19 cases climb

India's federal government asked states to identify emergency hotspots and ramp up-testing for COVID-19, after the country recorded its highest daily case count since September, a Reuters tally showed on Friday. There were 6,050 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the federal health ministry said on Friday, continuing a sharp upward trend since a lull last year.

US FDA identifies recall of Philips' respiratory devices as most serious

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday classified the recall of Philips' respiratory machines as its most serious type, as their use could cause serious injuries or death. The Dutch medical devices maker's unit Philips Respironics recalled 1,088 devices in the U.S. on Feb. 10.

Analysis-Texas abortion pill ruling could disrupt U.S. drug oversight

A federal judge in Texas could soon order the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of abortion pill mifepristone, a move that if allowed to stand could severely undermine the agency, health policy and legal experts said. The closely followed case could potentially lead to a nationwide ban on mifepristone - part of a two-drug regimen that accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions - and call into question the FDA's power to regulate all drugs nationwide, they said.

JNJ, AbbVie plan to pull US accelerated approvals for some blood cancer treatments

AbbVie Inc and partner Johnson & Johnson intend to voluntarily withdraw the accelerated approvals of their Imbruvica drug in the U.S. for patients with certain types of blood cancer, the companies said on Thursday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised that the primary outcomes from late-stage studies of the drug for the indications were considered insufficient to support conversion to full approval, J&J said.

Births in Italy hit record low in 2022, population shrinks further

Births in Italy dropped to a new historic low below 400,000 in 2022, the national statistics bureau ISTAT said on Friday, as the population continued to shrink. Italy's dearth of babies is considered a national emergency, and fixing the problem was a prominent policy pledge by Giorgia Meloni ahead of last year's election which saw her become the country's first woman prime minister.

(With inputs from agencies.)