Health News Roundup: US FDA staff say safety data favorable for Pfizer's RSV vaccine to protect newborns; Seven things to know about bats and pandemic risk and more

NIH falls under the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. India considers testing cough syrups before export - media India's drug regulator has proposed testing cough syrups in government laboratories before they are exported, media outlet News18.com reported on Tuesday, after Indian-made syrups were linked to dozens of deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

US FDA staff say safety data favorable for Pfizer's RSV vaccine to protect newborns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's staff reviewers said on Tuesday safety data appeared generally favorable for administration of Pfizer Inc's experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in pregnant women to protect their newborns. The comments by the staff reviewers come ahead of meeting on Thursday of the FDA's outside advisers, who provide non-binding recommendations to the health regulator.

Seven things to know about bats and pandemic risk

For millennia, bat viruses lurked in forests across West Africa, India, South America and other parts of the world. But, undisturbed, they posed little threat to humanity. No longer, a new Reuters data analysis found. Today, as more and more people encroach on bat habitat, bat-borne pathogens pose an epidemiological minefield in 113 countries, where risk is high that a virus will jump species and infect humans.

North Carolina lawmakers to vote on overriding veto of 12-week abortion ban

North Carolina's Republican-controlled state legislature on Tuesday is expected to vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks, unless one Republican lawmaker sides with the governor and upholds the veto. The legislature in early May passed the measure, which would cut the window for most abortions in the state back from 20 weeks. It would also curtail access to the procedure for millions of women across the U.S. South where a number of states have greatly restricted abortions.

Tests clear recalled Philips sleep apnoea machines of health risks -company

Dutch medical devices maker Philips said on Tuesday that independent tests have shown that the use of its respiratory devices involved in a major global recall did not cause health risks for patients. Philips said "rigorous testing" by external parties on the range of DreamStation machines used to treat sleep apnoea showed positive results, confirming preliminary results released last year.

WHO warns against bias, misinformation in using AI in healthcare

The World Health Organization called for caution on Tuesday in using artificial intelligence for public healthcare, saying data used by AI to reach decisions could be biased or misused. The WHO said it was enthusiastic about the potential of AI but had concerns over how it will be used to improve access to health information, as a decision-support tool and to improve diagnostic care.

As US debates abortion pill ban, Argentina expands its use

When Argentine trainee nursery teacher Lourdes, 24, went to the doctor in March seeking to end her pregnancy she was one of the first in the country to be prescribed abortion pill mifepristone after local regulators had approved it fully just weeks earlier. Argentina is the latest country in Latin America to green light the drug, part of a two-pill abortion regimen, which now faces the threat of a ban in the United States.

AstraZeneca to leave leading U.S. drug lobby group

AstraZeneca has decided to leave the main U.S. drug lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and pursue other ways of engaging in advocacy at the state and federal level, the company said. AstraZeneca decided not to continue its membership after a recent assessment of whether it it was "the most productive and effective use of (company) resources", a spokesperson for the British drugmaker said in an emailed statement.

Biden picks cancer surgeon Monica Bertagnolli to head NIH

The Biden administration on Monday said it intends to nominate cancer surgeon Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH) following a 16-month search for a permanent successor to the agency's long-serving director Dr. Francis Collins, who stepped down in December 2021. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Bertagnolli will become the second woman to lead the NIH, the largest biomedical research agency in the world with a budget of $45 billion in 2022. NIH falls under the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

India considers testing cough syrups before export - media

India's drug regulator has proposed testing cough syrups in government laboratories before they are exported, media outlet News18.com reported on Tuesday, after Indian-made syrups were linked to dozens of deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year. India's health ministry received the proposal from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO) this month and is considering it, the news website quoted an unidentified ministry official as saying.

US court halts ruling blocking Obamacare for some preventive healthcare

A U.S. appeals court has temporarily halted a federal judge's ruling that struck down the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring insurers to cover preventive care, the New York Times reported on Monday. The ruling stems from one of several legal challenges Republicans have brought against the 2010 healthcare law, former President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement popularly known as "Obamacare."