Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
U.S. Congress to advance Zika funding bill: Sen. McConnell
Leaders in the U.S. Congress on Monday were making progress toward temporarily funding the government in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and providing money to battle an outbreak of the Zika virus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Making his remarks shortly before he was set to travel to the White House to discuss these long-deadlocked issues with President Barack Obama and other congressional leaders, McConnell said "a lot of important progress" had been made.
Soccer injuries surge as more kids play
As soccer has soared in popularity in recent decades, injury rates for youth players have also surged, a U.S. study suggests. The injury rate for youth soccer players aged 7 to 17 more than doubled over the 25-year period ending in 2014, according to an analysis of children treated in U.S. hospitals.
Second-hand smoke can hurt kids years after exposure
Breathing second-hand smoke during childhood can lead to long-term breathing and health problems and a shorter life expectancy, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Even though the harms of exposing kids to cigarette smoke are well known - asthma and lung infections among them - many children still breathe this smoke at home or in public places or while riding in cars or buses, noted Dr. Geetha Raghuver, lead author of the statement.
For one Zika patient, lingering symptoms and few answers
It began with what felt like a punch in the throat. I assumed it was irritation from the cigar I'd smoked on my deck that afternoon in mid-June. But the sensation hung on. Within three days, I had a 102-degree Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius) fever, chills and bed-drenching night sweats.
Sanofi, Google parent form $500 million diabetes joint venture
French drugmaker Sanofi and Verily, the life sciences unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc, on Monday said they would invest about $500 million in a joint venture combining devices with services to improve diabetes care, an example of growing ties between the pharma and tech sectors. Sanofi said last year it was working on a partnership with Google in diabetes.
Sugar industry downplayed heart risks of sugar, promoted risks of fat: study
In the 1960's, before conflict of interest disclosure was required, the sugar industry sponsored research promoting dietary fat as an important cause of coronary heart disease, and downplaying the role of sugar, according to a special report in JAMA Internal Medicine. A 1967 literature review in The New England Journal of Medicine pointed to fat and cholesterol as the dietary culprits of heart disease, glossing over evidence from the 1950s that sugar was also linked to heart disease. According to the new report, the NEJM review was sponsored by the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF), which is today the Sugar Association, although its role was not disclosed at the time.
FDA staff flags concerns about Pfizer's quit-smoking drug study
Pfizer Inc's trial data on Chantix, a drug to help people quit smoking, failed to impress U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists, in a blow to the company's attempts to have a serious warning removed from the drug's label. The FDA staff, in a preliminary review, expressed concerns about the collection and interpretation of data from a post-marketing study on the controversial drug.
Thai authorities downplay Zika risk, worried by tourism impact
Health and city officials in Thailand downplayed risks from rising infections from the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to serious birth defects, and expressed concern that disclosing information would damage its tourism industry. On Friday the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) warned of the increasing spread in Thailand of Zika, which can cause microcephaly in unborn children.
Children's hospitals lose money on kids with Medicaid
Children's hospitals lose more money than other facilities treating children covered by Medicaid and may be under pressure in 2018 when federal payments compensating for this loss are reduced, according to a new study. Medicaid typically pays less than what it costs a hospital to provide service, the authors write, and U.S. hospitals lost $14.1 billion in 2014 from Medicaid underpayment. Federal Disproportionate Share Hospital payments (DSH) are designed to compensate hospitals that cover uninsured or Medicaid insured patients, but as the Affordable Care Act reduces the number of uninsured people in the U.S., DSH payments are scheduled to be reduced annually by $2 billion in 2018.
New wheelchair lets you cruise through town standing
Israeli technology start-up UPnRIDE Robotics is launching an innovative upright, self-stabilizing wheelchair at a medical conference in Germany next month and the company hopes the device will hit the market next year. Before then, UPnRIDE needs to pass two clinical trials, one with the U.S. veteran association in New York, to help it get regulatory approval and ensure health insurance companies can assist customers with the hefty price tag.
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