Health News Roundup: Pfizer-OPKO's growth hormone drug gets US approval in kids; French bird flu wave ends after 10 million birds culled and more

The decision comes a day after the southeastern state of Espirito Santo declared a bird flu outbreak among domesticated animals on a farm with ducks, mallards, geese and chickens, which was Brazil's first case seen in birds that are not wild.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

French bird flu wave ends after 10 million birds culled

A wave of bird flu outbreaks in France last month has come to a halt after the culling of 10 million birds this season, the farm ministry said on Wednesday, as it confirmed it would launch vaccination against the virus in the autumn. France has been among countries worst affected by the unprecedented spread of avian influenza - commonly called bird flu - that has killed hundreds of millions of birds in the past two years, disrupting supply of poultry meat and eggs.

EU must prevent medical devices for children from disappearing, say doctors groups

Brussels must act to prevent essential medical devices for children from disappearing in the European Union in the next year, by correcting a new law that is inadvertently causing the problem, the European Academy of Paediatrics warned on Tuesday. The academy and 22 other medical associations wrote that the unintended consequences of the law will likely harm children's health in a June 27 letter to EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

U.S. to announce action in $2.6 billion health care fraud -statement

The U.S. Justice Department will on Wednesday announce results of a nationwide health care fraud and opioid enforcement action against 87 people in 14 districts involving more than $2.6 billion in fraud, the department said in a statement. The announcement will take place at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) at department headquarters, it said. The case involved law enforcement officials from the Justice Department's fraud division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Bayer claims early lead in Parkinson's stem cell therapy

Bayer subsidiary BlueRock has become the first company to report initial success treating Parkinson's disease in humans using an experimental stem cell therapy, the drugmaker said on Wednesday. The hunt for Parkinson's treatments has seen many setbacks over decades.

US announces charges in $2.5 billion healthcare fraud takedown

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced federal and local criminal charges targeting 78 defendants across 16 states as part of a law enforcement action involving $2.5 billion in alleged healthcare fraud schemes targeting elderly and disabled people, HIV patients and even pregnant women. The cases range from allegations of falsely billing the federal Medicare insurance program for elderly and disabled Americans and paying illegal kickbacks, to the illicit diversion of expensive prescription medications and the improper dispensing of highly addictive opioid pain killers.

Pfizer-OPKO's growth hormone drug gets US approval in kids

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer Inc and partner OPKO Health Inc's treatment for growth hormone deficiency in children, the companies said on Wednesday.

The approval, which comes after an initial rejection from the FDA in January last year, lifted Pfizer's shares marginally and Opko Health's nearly 19% in premarket trading.

Exclusive-Indian firm used toxic industrial-grade ingredient in syrup - sources

The Indian manufacturer of cough syrups that Uzbekistan said last year had poisoned 19 children used a toxic industrial-grade ingredient rather than the legitimate pharmaceutical version, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The company, Marion Biotech, bought the ingredient — propylene glycol (PG) — from trader Maya Chemtech India, as reported by Reuters. But Maya did not have a licence to sell pharmaceutical-grade materials and "dealt in industrial-grade only," according to a source at the firm with knowledge of the Marion investigation.

Scientists isolate human gene able to fend off most bird flu viruses

UK researchers have homed in on a human gene implicated in thwarting most bird flu viruses from infecting people. Bird flu chiefly spreads among wild birds such as ducks and gulls and can also infect farmed birds and domestic poultry such as chickens, turkeys and quails.

Funding brings first new TB vaccine in a century a step closer

Two major players in global health philanthropy are joining forces to fund the final stage of trials for what could be the first new vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) in more than 100 years. Wellcome and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest around $550 million in total for the Phase III trials of the M72 vaccine.

Japan halts poultry imports from Brazilian state after bird flu at non-commercial farm

Japan suspended purchases of poultry from a Brazilian state after an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on a non-commercial farm, Brazil's meat industry association ABPA said on Wednesday. The decision comes a day after the southeastern state of Espirito Santo declared a bird flu outbreak among domesticated animals on a farm with ducks, mallards, geese and chickens, which was Brazil's first case seen in birds that are not wild.

(With inputs from agencies.)