Health News Roundup: Intensifying heat waves prompt health warnings for Europe, US; J&J sues in latest bid to halt Medicare drug price negotiations and more

Neumora, whose investors include SoftBank Vision Fund and Amgen, said it would begin late-stage studies of the drug in some patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). J&J must pay $18.8 million to California cancer patient in baby powder suit Johnson & Johnson's must pay $18.8 million to a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its baby powder, a jury decided on Tuesday, a setback for the company as it seeks to settle thousands of similar cases over its talc-based products in U.S. bankruptcy court.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Intensifying heat waves prompt health warnings for Europe, US

A global pattern of heat waves scorching parts of Europe, Asia and the United States intensified on Tuesday, with the World Meteorological Organization warning of an increased risk of deaths linked to excessively high temperatures. Americans were facing a medley of extreme weather, from blazing heat from Texas to Southern California to smoke-choked air wafting into the Midwest from Canada's wildfires. Flood warnings were up for Vermont towns that were inundated just last week, while Tropical Storm Calvin was expected to hit the Pacific island state of Hawaii later on Tuesday.

J&J sues in latest bid to halt Medicare drug price negotiations

Johnson & Johnson sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, becoming the latest drugmaker seeking to block a program that gives the Medicare government health insurance plan the power to negotiate lower drug prices. The pharmaceutical industry says the drug price negotiation program under President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act law will curtail profits and compel drugmakers to curb development of groundbreaking new treatments.

Softbank-backed Neumora's depression drug cuts symptoms in mid-stage trial

Softbank-backed Neumora Therapeutics' experimental drug Navacaprant has helped reduce symptoms of depression in patients with moderate-to-severe forms of the disorder in a mid-stage trial, the company said on Tuesday. Neumora, whose investors include SoftBank Vision Fund and Amgen, said it would begin late-stage studies of the drug in some patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

J&J must pay $18.8 million to California cancer patient in baby powder suit

Johnson & Johnson's must pay $18.8 million to a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its baby powder, a jury decided on Tuesday, a setback for the company as it seeks to settle thousands of similar cases over its talc-based products in U.S. bankruptcy court. The jury ruled in favor of Emory Hernandez Valadez, who filed suit last year in California state court in Oakland against J&J, seeking monetary damages. Hernandez, 24, has said he developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, in the tissue around his heart as a result of heavy exposure to the company's talc since childhood. The six-week trial was the first over talc that New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J has faced in almost two years.

US FDA approves Sanofi-AstraZeneca's preventive RSV therapy for babies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday it had approved Sanofi and partner AstraZeneca's antibody therapy to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants and toddlers. The therapy, branded Beyfortus, was approved for preventing lower respiratory tract disease in infants born during or entering their first RSV season, and in children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease through their second such season.

Pfizer, Flagship Pioneering to invest $100 million in drug discovery

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and venture firm Flagship Pioneering on Tuesday said they would invest $100 million together to develop up to 10 new potential drugs for areas including internal medicine, oncology, infectious diseases and immunology. Flagship, which has incubated biotech companies, most famously Moderna Inc , and Pfizer will each invest $50 million. Flagship's drug discovery initiative Pioneering Medicines will lead the exploration process.

Experimental drug works best for Alzheimer's patients treated as early as possible

An experimental drug from Eli Lilly works best if Alzheimer's patients are treated as early as possible, ideally before they develop symptoms of the brain-wasting disease, researchers said on Monday, in the latest promising development for treating the most common form of dementia. The drug, donanemab, has been shown to slow progression of memory and thinking problems by about a third, but that rate doubles to 60% if the drug is started when patients are only mildly impaired, according to new trial data presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Amsterdam.

Chinese province saw cremations jump during COVID surge

Cremations in the Chinese province of Zhejiang rose more than 70% year-on-year in the first quarter, government data showed, an unexplained jump that occurred as a COVID outbreak swept the country. About 171,000 cremations were registered in Zhejiang - home to around 5% of China's population - in the first three months of 2023, up from 99,000 in the same period last year, according to data on the province's civil affairs bureau website.

Teladoc expands Microsoft tie-up to document patient visits with AI

Teladoc Health is expanding a partnership with Microsoft to use the tech giant's artificial intelligence services to automate clinical documentation on the telehealth platform, lifting its shares 6% in premarket trade. The integration of AI including Microsoft's services with technology from OpenAI, owner of viral chatbot ChatGPT, will help ease the burden on healthcare staff during virtual exams, Teladoc said on Tuesday.

Explainer-The health risks of extreme heat

The world is baking under extreme heat - with Asia, Europe and the United States all dealing with scorching temperatures. WHAT ARE THE HEALTH RISKS?