Health News Roundup: House Democrats launch inquiry into Medicare stimulus payouts; Missouri's only abortion clinic wins licensing and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

House Democrats launch inquiry into Medicare stimulus payouts

Two U.S. House of Representatives Democrats on Friday launched an inquiry into whether the Health and Human Services Department misdirected billions of dollars in coronavirus stimulus money to healthcare providers facing criminal or civil fraud investigations. In a letter to Secretary Alexander Azar, Representatives Lloyd Doggett and Katie Porter accused the department of evading questions about how it decided to dole out $50 billion for its provider relief fund and demanded answers about how the funds will be clawed back from possible fraudsters.

Missouri's only abortion clinic wins licensing battle against state health department

Missouri's only abortion clinic on Friday won its case against the state's health department to remain open, as an independent arbiter found the agency was unjustified in denying the clinic's application to renew its license. The Midwestern state's health officials last year declined to renew the license of the St. Louis clinic, operated by women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood, on the grounds that it failed to meet their safety standards. They threatened to close the clinic and make Missouri the only U.S. state without legal abortion services.

Egypt confirms new daily record of 1,289 new coronavirus cases

Egypt registered 1,289 new coronavirus cases and 34 deaths, the health ministry said on Friday, marking another record of daily increases on both counts despite stricter curfew rules. That brought the total number of fatalities to 879 and confirmed cases to 22,082, of which 5,511 people have recovered.

Trump says terminating U.S. relationship with World Health Organization over virus

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he is terminating the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus, saying the WHO had essentially become a puppet organization of China. Appearing in the White House Rose Garden, Trump went ahead with repeated threats to eliminate American funding for the group, which amounts to several hundred million dollars a year.

FDA approves Roche immunotherapy cocktail in liver cancer

Swiss drugmaker Roche said on Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its immunotherapy Tecentriq in combination with its drug Avastin for the most common kind of liver cancer. The Tecentriq-Avastin mix for unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma was approved under the FDA's Real-Time Oncology Review pilot and Project Orbis initiative aimed at speedier access for patients, Roche said. The American Cancer Society estimated that more than 42,000 Americans will be diagnosed with liver cancer this year.

France's coronavirus deaths again up less than a 100

France's coronavirus death toll rose by less than a 100 for the ninth day running on Friday, as the country is gearing up for a new easing of lockdown measures. The French health ministry said that the number of fatalities had risen by 52, or 0.2%, to 28,714, the fourth-highest tally in the world.

Imported novel coronavirus cases return to Spain despite border closure

At least 25 imported cases of the coronavirus have been detected in Spain over the past month, health authorities said on Friday, despite a strict ban on foreign tourism imposed since mid-March. With more than 27,000 deaths and over 238,000 confirmed cases, according to the health ministry, Spain is among Europe's worst-hit nations, though its rate of infection has slowed substantially.

European, South Korean authorities vie for COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir

European and South Korean authorities are vying for Gilead Sciences' potential COVID-19 treatment, remdesivir, even though the drugmaker has yet to gain regulatory approval in either market and is still ramping up production of the anti-viral drug. Governments are racing to bolster supplies of remdesivir, which U.S. regulators greenlighted this month as a treatment for the novel coronavirus. Foster City, California-based Gilead said it will donate 1.5 million doses of remdesivir, enough to treat at least 140,000 patients, to combat the global pandemic.

Exclusive: Sanofi stops enrolling COVID-19 patients in hydroxychloroquine trials

Sanofi has temporarily stopped recruiting new COVID-19 patients for two clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine and will no longer supply the anti-malaria drug to treat COVID-19 until concerns about safety are cleared up, it said on Friday. The moves come after the World Health Organization paused its large trial of hydroxychloroquine, prompting several European governments to ban the use of the drug, also used in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Coronavirus infection rate may shift toward younger ages; death risk higher in cancer patients

The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Coronavirus infection burden may shift to younger age groups