Reuters Health News Summary

The new rules would apply to an estimated group of around 5 to 10 children per year, who suffer unbearably from their disease, have no hope of improvement and for whom palliative care cannot bring relief, the government said. GSK's antibiotic drug to treat uncomplicated UTIs meets main goals British drugmaker GSK said on Saturday its oral antibiotic drug to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) in female adults and adolescents met the main goals in late-stage trials.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Catalent flags problems at its manufacturing plants; CFO departs

Contract drug manufacturer Catalent Inc on Friday warned that slow production at three of its facilities will impact its fiscal 2023 results and said CFO Thomas Castellano has stepped down, sending its shares down more than 20%. The company said it experienced "productivity issues" at its gene therapy manufacturing site in Harmans, Maryland after a slower-than-expected ramp up in production capacity and that it would affect its third- and fourth-quarter revenue.

Nurses in England reject pay offer, plan more strikes

Nurses in England rejected an offer of a 5% pay rise on Friday and set out plans for further strikes, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's attempts to end the dispute and potentially further straining the country's health service. About 54% of nurses who took part in a ballot voted to reject the deal, said the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) trade union, which had recommended they accept. Turnout was 61% of eligible members.

Equatorial Guinea confirms six more Marburg cases -WHO

Six additional laboratory-confirmed cases of Marburg disease have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, bringing the total number to 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.

Philips clarifies respiratory device replacement numbers after new FDA rebuke

Philips clarified on Friday that 2.2 million devices it has repaired or replaced in a major recall of respiratory devices are actually in the hands of patients in the United States. The Dutch healthcare equipment maker issued a statement clarifying progress of the recall program underway since 2021after the FDA issued a statement on April 13 saying that the number of devices the company had replaced was "considerably less" than the 2.46 million indicated on the company's website.

No evidence yet showing which animal COVID may have come from, says former head of China CDC

There is no evidence yet showing which animal the COVID-causing virus may have come from, the former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. George Gao, who was speaking at a London summit on preparing for pandemics, was the head of the agency when COVID first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.

FDA mandates new safety warnings for opioid pain medicines

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it will require new safety warnings to be added in the prescribing information on labels for opioid pain relievers, including a warning about increased sensitivity to pain. FDA said data suggests patients who use opioids for pain relief after surgery often have leftover tablets, which puts them at risk for addiction and overdose.

Florida Governor Desantis signs 6-week abortion ban law

Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law that bans most abortions after six weeks, setting the stage for abortion access to be drastically curtailed in the state and across the U.S. South. DeSantis signed the legislation late on Thursday night after lawmakers in the state's Republican-led House of Representatives approved it with a 70-40 vote. The bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 26-13 on April 3.

U.S. begins testing bird flu vaccines for poultry after record outbreak

The U.S. government is testing four potential bird flu vaccines for poultry, officials said on Friday, after more than 58 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have died in the nation's worst outbreak ever. The trials, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service, are the first step in a lengthy process toward the possible first use of vaccines to protect U.S. poultry from the lethal virus.

Dutch to widen 'right-to-die' to include terminally ill children

The Netherlands will widen its existing euthanasia regulations to include the possibility of doctor-assisted death for terminally ill children between one and twelve years old, the Dutch government said on Friday. The new rules would apply to an estimated group of around 5 to 10 children per year, who suffer unbearably from their disease, have no hope of improvement and for whom palliative care cannot bring relief, the government said.

GSK's antibiotic drug to treat uncomplicated UTIs meets main goals

British drugmaker GSK said on Saturday its oral antibiotic drug to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) in female adults and adolescents met the main goals in late-stage trials. The drug, gepotidacin, in phase III trials, met its primary goals of being on a par or better than nitrofurantoin, the current standard of care for the treatment of uUTIs, the company said.

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