Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Drug industry urges Canada to act early on U.S. import plan

Canada's main pharmaceutical lobby group has urged the government not to wait for drug shortages before responding to U.S. plans to import Canadian drugs, according to documents seen by Reuters. The talking points were prepared last month by Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC) for its staff and member companies, before the Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it would allow U.S. states and other groups to start pilot programs importing cheap drugs from Canada in an effort to lower drug costs.

Diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk buys pill factory in North Carolina

Novo Nordisk said on Tuesday it had bought a factory in North Carolina that would assist in manufacturing and packaging its new once-daily pill for treating type 2 diabetes. The tablet version of its diabetes drug, known as semaglutide, is an important growth prospect for the Danish drugmaker, which faces pressure on prices from competitors and U.S. lawmakers, who have been critical of rising drug costs.

Epilepsy patients may live longer with specialist care

People with epilepsy who receive care from specialists may be less likely to die prematurely than their counterparts who don't, a Canadian study suggests. For the study, researchers followed 23,663 adults with epilepsy for an average of 7.5 years. Overall, the mortality rate during the study was 7.2% - but it ranged from a low of 2.8% for patients seen by neurologists specializing in epilepsy, to 5.6% for patients who saw general neurologists, to a high of 9.4% for people who didn't see neurologists all.

Ebola outbreak in east Congo's main city tests flexibility of response

Deo Bakulu has been washing his hands every chance he gets since Ebola reached eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's main city of Goma last month. But the washing station set up by local authorities near his home is only open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Monday through Saturday, and he doesn't have running water.

Roche says test showed Tecentriq helped vs bladder cancer

Roche Holding said its Tecentriq drug combined with platinum-based chemotherapy reduced the risk of the disease worsening or death in patients with advanced bladder cancer, the Swiss pharma company said on Monday. Tecentriq was the first cancer immunotherapy approved in bladder cancer, with Roche now evaluating the treatment in combination with other medicines for early and advanced forms of the disease.

U.S. recorded eight new cases of measles last week

The United States recorded eight new measles cases last week, taking the total for the year to 1,172 in the worst outbreak since 1992, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease in 30 states as of Aug. 1.

EU approves Sanofi, Regeneron's Dupixent for adolescent eczema cases

The Dupixent product developed by French healthcare company Sanofi and its U.S. partner Regeneron has won regulatory approval in Europe for moderate-to-severe cases of eczema in adolescents, the companies said. The European Commission has extended the marketing authorisation for Dupixent in the European Union to include adolescents 12 to 17 years of age with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who are candidates for systemic therapy, Sanofi and Regeneron said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

US military families face challenges getting healthcare for kids

American families with military health insurance may be more likely to experience difficulties with access to healthcare than civilian families with other types of medical benefits, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined survey data collected from families of 84,783 children under age 18 from 2007 to 2015. About 2% of the kids had insurance through Tricare, the U.S. health program for service members and their families; another 37% were covered by other government health programs like Medicaid; 51% had private health insurance; and 10% were uninsured.

GSK ends development of Ebola vaccine, hands work to U.S. institute

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline is giving up its work on developing three potential vaccines against the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses, despite an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo. While Ebola is a deadly and contagious disease, it is also still relatively rare, making the potential market for a vaccine sporadic and very likely unprofitable. This poses a dilemma for drug companies: With no real prospect of a financial return, can they justify the investment in expensive development and trials.

In extreme heat, electric fans inadvisable unless it's humid

In extreme heat, electric fans may offer some relief when it's very humid, but when temps are dangerously high and humidity is low, fans can actually make a person feel hotter, increasing strain on the heart and raising core temperature, a new report warns. The authors point out that current guidelines for fan use are based on the "heat index" rather than the actual temperature, but "a combined value such as heat index (HI) is not appropriate for advising whether fans should be used or not," said the study's senior author, Ollie Jay, associate professor in the faculty of health sciences and director of the Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory at the University of Sydney, Australia.