Global Health News: E.coli Outbreak, Supreme Court Rulings, AI Healthcare Ventures

Recent health news includes a deadly E.coli outbreak in the UK, temporary emergency abortion allowances in Idaho by the US Supreme Court, and a new AI healthcare venture by SoftBank and Tempus AI. Other updates involve Indian drug inspections, US FDA cancer drug rejections, and USDA compensations for bird flu damages.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

One person dies in UK E.coli outbreak

One person has died in Britain linked to an ongoing E. coli outbreak, the UK Health Security Agency said on Thursday, with the total number of confirmed cases rising to 275. UKHSA said it had identified two individuals in England, both of whom had underlying medical conditions, who died last month within 28 days of infection with the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, strain of the bacteria.

US Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho for now

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to permit - for now - abortions to be performed in Idaho when pregnant women are facing medical emergencies, as the justices dispensed with the contentious issue without actually deciding the underlying legal issue in the case. The 6-3 ruling revived a federal judge's decision that a 1986 U.S. law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) takes precedence over Idaho's Republican-backed near-total abortion ban when the two conflict. EMTALA requires hospitals that receive funds under the federal Medicare program to "stabilize" patients with emergency medical conditions.

US Supreme Court ruling on emergency abortions offers no clarity for states

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday allowing abortions for women facing medical emergencies in Idaho - for now - despite the state's near-total ban on the procedure does nothing to lift the confusion in many states surrounding when emergency abortions are permissible, according to legal experts.

The case is one of several around the United States over when abortion is legally available in medical emergencies under exceptions to state abortion bans. Doctors have said that they are unable to perform abortions that they believe are medically necessary for fear of prosecution because it is not clear what is allowed, leaving pregnant women to travel to states with more permissive laws or wait as their medical conditions worsen.

SoftBank Group launches AI healthcare joint venture with Tempus AI

Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group has launched a joint venture with Tempus AI that aims to analyse personal medical data with artificial intelligence (AI) to come up with treatment recommendations, chief executive officer Masayoshi Son told a briefing in Tokyo. This is the latest in a string of AI investments SoftBank has recently announced as it increases the pace of its investment activity after a muted few years.

Indian regulator says 36% of inspected drug-making units had to be shut

More than 36% of the 400 drug manufacturing units inspected since last year in India were ordered to be shut, the country's drug regulator said on Thursday, after deaths linked to sub-standard cough syrups prompted an increase in scrutiny. The country, regarded as the world's pharmacy given the volume of drugs it produces, is working to restore confidence after Indian-made cough syrups were linked to deaths of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Cameroon.

US FDA declines to approve Merck-Daiichi's 'guided missile' cancer drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve Merck and Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo's lung cancer treatment, which belongs to a lucrative class of cancer therapies that work like "guided missiles". The FDA cited findings from an inspection of a third-party manufacturing facility in its so-called complete response letter, the companies said late on Wednesday.

US farm agency to pay farmers for milk loss due to bird flu

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin compensating dairy farmers for the loss of milk supply due to bird flu-infected cows, the agency said on Thursday. Bird flu has infected 132 dairy herds in 12 states since March. Farmers with infected cows can suffer financial losses from reduced milk production and the cost of veterinary care.

US charges 193 people in $2.75 billion health care fraud bust

The U.S. Justice Department has criminally charged 193 people, including 76 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, with participating in health care fraud schemes worth $2.75 billion, the agency said on Thursday. The two-week operation ensnared defendants accused of illegally distributing millions of pills of the stimulant Adderall. It also included $176 million in fraudulent schemes involving drug and alcohol abuse treatment, including one defendant accused of billing the federal Medicaid program for treatment that was either inadequate or nonexistent, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

US Supreme Court blocks Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement that would have shielded its wealthy Sackler family owners from lawsuits over their role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic. The 5-4 decision reversed a lower court's ruling that had upheld the plan to give Purdue's owners immunity in exchange for paying up to $6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of unlawful misleading marketing of OxyContin, a powerful pain medication introduced in 1996.

German vaccine panel endorses Astra-Sanofi's RSV shot for infants

Germany's influential vaccine advisory panel said on Thursday all infants in the country should receive AstraZeneca and Sanofi's antibody therapy to protect them against the common respiratory infection RSV. The recommendation regardless of risk factors is another boost for the product, which has seen strong U.S. demand well above supplies during the first winter there.

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