Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Democrat Warren: Medicare for All would not raise U.S. middle-class taxes 'one penny'
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed a $20.5 trillion Medicare for All plan that she said would not require raising middle-class taxes "one penny," answering critics who had attacked her for failing to explain how she would pay for the sweeping healthcare system overhaul. Warren said her plan would save American households $11 trillion in out-of-pocket healthcare spending over the next decade while imposing significant new taxes on corporations and the wealthy to help finance it.
FDA downplays risks from already recalled heartburn drug Zantac
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday downplayed the risk caused by contamination of the already recalled popular heartburn drug Zantac, and said its tests suggest it does not cause carcinogens to form after ingestion by patients. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement that the levels of the probable carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) it found in ranitidine - sold under the brand name Zantac - "are similar to the levels you would expect to be exposed to if you ate common foods like grilled or smoked meats."
China gives conditional OK to its first self-developed Alzheimer's drug
China has granted conditional approval to its first self-developed treatment for Alzheimer's disease, a move that may point to revived opportunities in a therapeutic area where drugmakers have burned billions of dollars without yielding a validated new drug. Oligomannate, which uses extract from marine brown algae as raw material, received a conditional green light to treat mild-to-moderate level AD, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) said in a statement on its website late on Saturday.
Warren's big healthcare plan relies on big assumptions
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's plan for universal healthcare rests on an assumption she can radically change an industry the size of Germany's entire economy without new costs for the average taxpayer. On paper, the plan by the senator from Massachusetts to use government bureaucracy to create a more efficient healthcare system gets credibility from the fact that most rich nations, including Canada and France, already do just that.
Canadian ambassador says drug imports would not lower U.S. prices
Canada does not have a large enough supply of prescription drugs to meet U.S. demand, and importing medicines from Canada would not significantly lower U.S. prices, Ottawa's acting ambassador told U.S. officials in recent meetings, according to a statement published on Friday. Kirsten Hillman, Canada's acting ambassador to the United States, said her country is “sympathetic to U.S. concerns regarding affordable prescription drugs.”
Multistate salmonella outbreak causes one death: CDC
A multistate outbreak of salmonella linked to ground beef has caused one death in California and eight hospitalizations, U.S. health officials said on Friday. A total of 10 people in six U.S. states were infected with a strain of the bacteria called Salmonella Dublin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (http://bit.ly/2N7RuPu)
