Reuters Health News Summary

08/23/2016 0:59

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Health official warns Zika could spread across U.S. Gulf

One of the top U.S. public health officials on Sunday warned that the mosquito-borne Zika virus could extend its reach across the U.S. Gulf Coast after officials last week confirmed it as active in the popular tourist destination of Miami Beach. The possibility of transmission in Gulf States such as Louisiana and Texas will likely fuel concerns that the virus, which has been shown to cause the severe birth defect known as microcephaly, could spread across the continental United States, even though officials have played down such an outcome.

U.S. lawmakers press Mylan on EpiPen price increases

Two senior lawmakers on the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee on Monday pushed for information regarding sharp price increases for EpiPens, drug-filled injectable devices used by people to counter potentially deadly allergic reactions. Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote Mylan Chief Executive Heather Bresch on Monday to ask how Mylan determined the price of EpiPens and what changes had been made to the product to account for the higher price.

Social class may influence multiple myeloma survival

Household income and education levels may play a bigger role than race or ethnicity in whether patients survive the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma, a U.S. study suggests. Lots of previous research points to worse cancer survival odds for people of color. But this disparity might be due in large part to class issues like the type of insurance and access to care, the current study concludes.

Women with dense breasts may need annual mammograms

While most older women might not need breast cancer screening with mammography more often than every three years, some women with dense breasts may need mammograms every year, U.S. research suggests. Among women aged 50 to 74, those without a high risk for breast cancer or dense breast tissue didn't have an increase in breast cancer deaths if they went for mammography every three years instead of every two years.

After a fracture, patients often continue meds that boost fracture risk

Older people who break a bone are often receiving medications that can increase the risk of a fracture - and even after an accident, less than 10 percent of them stop taking those drugs, according to a new study. "One would expect that a significant health event like a fracture would result in some change in the use of prescription drugs that might have contributed to that event," said lead author Dr. Jeffrey C. Munson of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, New Hampshire. "In contrast to this expectation, we observed that for the overwhelming majority of patients we studied, a fragility fracture did not lead to any change in medications that have been linked to fracture risk."

Eat your food packaging, don't bin it - scientists

Scientists are developing an edible form of packaging which they hope will preserve food more effectively and more sustainably than plastic film, helping to cut both food and plastic waste. The packaging film is made of a milk protein called casein, scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Pfizer boosts cancer drug roster with $14 billion Medivation deal

Pfizer Inc, beating out numerous other bidders, said it agreed to buy U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc for $14 billion in cash, adding its blockbuster prostate cancer drug Xtandi to the company's growing oncology roster. Medivation shares jumped nearly 20 percent to close at $80.42, just shy of the offer price of $81.50 per share. Shares of Pfizer, the largest U.S. drugmaker, were down 0.4 percent at $34.84.

08/23/2016 0:59