Reuters Health Report: April 20, 2017

Click to View in Browser Thursday, April 20, 2017 Trump extends program allowing some veterans to use local doctors, hospitals WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday moved a step closer to fulfilling his campaign promise to reform the troubled Veterans Affairs department, but some veterans groups are concerned that the administration may be working toward privatizing their healthcare. AbbVie cancer drug fails two late-stage trials (Reuters) - AbbVie Inc said on Wednesday that its experimental cancer drug, veliparib, failed to meet the main goals of two late-stage studies. Gates backs Big Pharma push to wipe out tropical diseases GENEVA (Reuters) - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Western countries and drug companies pledged fresh support on Wednesday to wipe out diseases that blind, disable and disfigure millions of poor in tropical areas each year and urged new donors to join the fight. On your bike: Cycling to work linked with large health benefits LONDON (Reuters) - People who cycle to work have a substantially lower risk of developing cancer or heart disease or dying prematurely, and governments should do all they can to encourage more active commuting, scientists said on Thursday. Alphabet's Verily unit launches study to track health data (Reuters) - Verily, Alphabet Inc's life sciences business, said it was launching a four-year study with about 10,000 participants to understand how people transition from being healthy to becoming sick, and to identify additional risk factors for diseases. Many people stop taking life-saving drugs after heart attacks (Reuters Health) - Within two years after a heart attack, nearly one in five people stop taking life-saving cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, according to a new U.S. study. Sleep doctors call for later school start times (Reuters Health) - Starting classes at middle school and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. would help teens arrive alert, healthy and ready to learn, U.S. sleep medicine specialists say. Do patients and doctors understand breast cancer genetic testing results? (Reuters Health) - If you have early-stage breast cancer and have undergone genetic testing, the odds are high that the results were not explained to you by a genetic counselor, and chances are, the results did not affect your surgeon's recommendations for treatment, according to a recent U.S. study. Berkeley soda tax takes a big gulp out of sugary-drink sales (Reuters Health) - The nation's first soda tax is fulfilling health experts' goals in Berkeley, California. Pfizer subpoenaed in U.S. intravenous saline solution probe BOSTON (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc has received grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department in connection with an antitrust investigation focusing on drugmakers that market intravenous saline solutions. Related Video UV-blocking algae could be nature's own sunscreen Rich mining legacy is poisonous future in parts of South Africa A quick-fix on the day's news delivered when you want it. Register Today A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today » » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2017 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add newsletters@email.reuters.com to your address book. Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook