Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
HIV-positive Ugandan women complain of forced sterilization in government hospitals
Ida, 29, was six months pregnant when she suddenly felt abdominal pains and went to a government hospital in Kampala. Like all pregnant women in Uganda, she was tested for HIV as part of routine screening for the virus. She lost her baby and was then given the news that she was HIV-positive.
U.S. lawmakers question Mylan's Medicaid EpiPen rebates
Two key U.S. congressional committee members on Friday called for an investigation into whether Mylan NV, under fire for raising the price of its EpiPen device, overcharged the government's low-income healthcare program for the allergy treatment. In a letter to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Frank Pallone, both Democrats, seek clarification of whether EpiPen was classified as a generic, "non-innovator" drug, or a brand-name drug by the Medicaid program.
Singapore confirms 27 more locally transmitted Zika cases
Singapore authorities on Sunday confirmed 27 more cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection, bringing the total to 242. Twenty-five new cases were linked to the initial outbreak area, one was linked to a potential new cluster and the remaining new case had no known links to any existing cluster, the Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency said in a joint statement.
Malaysia expects more Zika cases as virus spreads in Southeast Asia
Malaysia is bracing for more Zika cases, officials said on Sunday, after detecting the first locally infected patient, which could further stretch a health system struggling with dengue, another mosquito-borne virus that can be fatal. Both Zika, which is of particular risk to pregnant women, and the dengue virus are spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is common in tropical Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third largest economy, and across the region.
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