 | | | | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a new black-box warning, its harshest, to the label of Pfizer Inc's arthritis drug, Xeljanz, citing increased risk of major cardiac-related problems in some patients, the drugmaker said on Friday. | | | | | | The Delta variant is still Americans' leading coronavirus health threat even as more reports surface of the Omicron strain in the United States on Friday amid concern that winter holidays may further the spread, experts said. | | | | | | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the use of Eli Lilly's COVID-19 dual-antibody therapy in treating mild to moderate symptoms in all children, including newborns, who are at risk of severe illness. | | | | | | French medical device company Carmat on Friday said it had suspended implants of its Aeson artificial hearts following a quality issue affecting some of its prostheses. | | | | | | Canada has discovered a total of 12 cases of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 and severe illness trends across the country could start to rise again, public health officials said on Friday. | | | | | | Belgium tightened its coronavirus restrictions for the third consecutive week on Friday to fight one of Europe's worst spikes of COVID-19 cases, but stopped short of the strict curbs imposed in the neighbouring Netherlands or Austria. | | | | | | Merck & Co said on Friday it would supply Canada with up to 1 million courses of molnupiravir, its experimental oral antiviral medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. | | | | | | China may be downplaying how fast its population is shrinking, and a recent policy to promote three-child families has poor chances to improve birth rates, a fertility expert told the Reuters Next conference on Friday. | | | | | | The Irish government on Friday announced strict new limits on the hospitality sector and home visits to try to push down COVID-19 infection rates after officials said the new Omicron variant was likely to add to pressure on the health service. | | | | | | Russia's COVID-19 death toll has reached at least 578,020, the third worst in the world, according to Reuters calculations based on official statistics for October, the country's deadliest month so far. | | | | | |
