Bhinneka News Online: Reuters Health Report: June 5, 2017

Monday, 5 June 2017

Reuters Health Report: June 5, 2017

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Monday, June 5, 2017

U.S. state, local government lawsuits over opioids face uphill battle

BOSTON (Reuters) - A growing number of U.S. states, counties and cities are filing lawsuits accusing drug companies of deceptively marketing opioid painkillers to downplay their addictiveness, but some lawyers say the industry's highly regulated nature could pose a hurdle to their success.

South Korea raises bird flu alert to maximum from June 6 to contain virus

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's agriculture ministry said on Monday it will raise its bird flu alert level to the maximum as a case found on Saturday was confirmed to be the highly pathogenic strain H5N8.

South Korea raises bird flu alert after confirming first case since April

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Saturday it will raise the bird flu alert level to the second highest after small flocks of farm birds tested positive for the H5N8 virus, the first in the country since early April.

AstraZeneca's Lynparza slows advanced breast cancer progression: study

(Reuters) - Women with advanced breast cancer who carry specific genetic mutations experienced double the response rate and delayed disease progression when treated with AstraZeneca Plc's Lynparza compared with standard chemotherapy, according to data from a late-stage trial presented on Sunday.

Pregnancy after breast cancer doesn't raise recurrence risk-study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women who have had breast cancer often forego pregnancy for fear that it will increase the chances of their cancer coming back.

Grail passes early test in quest to find cancer in blood

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An early stage trial of an ultra-sensitive "liquid biopsy" that scans blood samples for traces of cancer DNA showed it was able to pick up at least one cancer mutation in most of the patients with advanced cancers that were studied.

Early use of J&J's Zytiga extends prostate cancer survival

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Adding Johnson & Johnson's Zytiga to standard hormone therapy reduced by nearly 40 percent the chance of death for men newly diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer that had spread to other parts of the body, according to new trial results.

Loxo's targeted drug helps variety of advanced cancers in small study

(Reuters) - Three quarters of patients with a wide variety of advanced cancers responded to a Loxo Oncology Inc therapy that targets a specific genetic defect, according to data from a small study presented on Saturday at the year's most important oncology meeting.

Pfizer hikes U.S. prices of 91 drugs by average 20 percent in 2017: Financial Times

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc has hiked the price of nearly a hundred drugs by an average of 20 percent so far this year in the United States, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

High school boys fear looking 'weak' if they report concussions

(Reuters Health) - Male and female high school athletes have moderate levels of knowledge about concussion symptoms, but the boys are much more likely to not report concussions for fear of seeming weak, a small U.S. study suggests.