Health News Roundup: Federal judge blocks Alabama abortion ban from being enforced; Workplace sugary-drink ban helps employees cut back

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Federal judge blocks Alabama abortion ban from being enforced

A federal judge blocked Alabama on Tuesday from enforcing the strictest abortion laws in the country, saying the ban on all abortions unless a mother's health was in danger was unconstitutional. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, had signed the bill into law in May and it was due to come into effect on Nov. 15.

Small relief for Biogen in MS drug approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Biogen Inc's new oral drug to treat multiple sclerosis, offering the drugmaker some relief as its core franchise faces patent challenges. Shares of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen rose 2.6% to $305.25 in early trade.

No country immune to risk of African swine fever spreading: OIE

African swine fever will spread further across Asia where it has devastated herds, and no country is immune from being hit by the deadly animal virus, the head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday. The disease, which has hit the world's top pork producer China hard, originated in Africa before spreading to Europe and Asia. It has been found in 50 countries, killing hundreds of million pigs, while reshaping global meat and feed markets.

New York set to become latest U.S. city to ban foie gras

New York City, often viewed as the fine dining capital of America, was poised on Wednesday to become the latest U.S. city to ban the sale of foie gras, sparking manufacturers to vow a court battle to overturn it. The New York City Council was expected to pass a bill to "ban the sale or provision of certain force-fed poultry products."

IOM suspends some Ebola screening after three aid workers killed in South Sudan

The U.N. migration agency has suspended some screening services for Ebola after three of its aid workers were killed in South Sudan, the latest deadly incident involving relief staff in the violence-ridden country. In a statement, the International Organization for Migration said the workers - two men and one woman - were hit by crossfire during clashes between rival armed groups in the country's central Equatoria region.

Novartis' Zolgensma study halted by FDA amid safety questions

U.S. regulators have halted a trial of Novartis's Zolgensma treatment after an animal study raised safety concerns, the company said on Wednesday, in a setback for the drugmaker's plan to expand its use to older patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's partial hold on the so-called STRONG trial impacts patients aged up to five with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who were to receive a higher dose of the gene therapy via a spinal infusion.

AstraZeneca sells European rights for schizophrenia drug to Cheplapharm

AstraZeneca Plc said on Wednesday it plans to sell the European and Russian rights for a schizophrenia drug to German firm Cheplapharm Arzneimittel for an upfront payment of $178 million, as the British drugmaker looks to offload older drugs. The treatment, Seroquel, and another version, Seroquel XR, have lost patent protections in Europe and Russia, AstraZeneca said. The drug variants are primarily used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Bayer says U.S. farmers unfazed by glyphosate litigation

Bayer, the world's largest maker of seeds and pesticides, said U.S. farmers were unperturbed by lawsuits seeking damages from Bayer for an alleged cancer-causing effect of glyphosate-based herbicides. "There is extremely strong support among farmers, who are imploring us to keep this crop chemical - which is systemically relevant for the preparation of fields - on the market," Chief Executive Werner Baumann told journalists in a conference call on Wednesday.

Workplace sugary-drink ban helps employees cut back

Banning sales of sweetened beverages in the workplace may be one way to help employees consume fewer sugary drinks and slim down, a recent study suggests. Researchers followed 214 employees at the University of California, San Francisco after a ban on workplace soda sales. At the start of the study, participants consumed an average of 35 ounces a day of sweetened drinks.

Exclusive: J&J's own expert, working for FDA, found asbestos in Baby Powder

Ever since Johnson & Johnson disclosed this month that a government test had turned up asbestos in its Baby Powder, the company has attacked the validity of the result. On Tuesday, for example, J&J announced that other labs it hired ultimately found no asbestos in samples from the bottle tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or from the same production lot.