Reuters Health News Summary

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. Moderna starts dosing patients in mid-stage coronavirus vaccine study

Moderna Inc said on Friday it had started dosing patients in a mid-stage study with its experimental coronavirus vaccine and eventually plans to enroll 600 patients for the trial. There are currently about 10 coronavirus vaccines being tested in humans and experts have predicted that a safe and effective vaccine could take 12 to 18 months from the start of development. Missouri's only abortion clinic wins licensing battle against state health department

Missouri's only abortion clinic on Friday won its legal fight to stay open, as an independent arbiter found the state's health department 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. Trump cutting U.S. ties with World Health Organization over virus

The United States will end its relationship with the World Health Organization over the body's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday, accusing the U.N. agency of becoming a puppet of China. The move to quit the Geneva-based body, which the United States formally joined in 1948, comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus outbreak. The virus first emerged in China's Wuhan city late last year. China reports four new coronavirus cases for May 29

China recorded four new confirmed cases of coronavirus as of the end of May 29, up from none the day before, data from the country's health authority showed on Saturday. All of the cases were imported, the National Health Commission (NHC) reported on its website. Saturated hospitals, airlifts as California border region virus cases surge

Coronavirus cases are surging in a scorching hot desert region straddling south California and a city near Mexico's Tijuana, leading to saturated hospitals, a cross-border overspill of patients and airlifts from rural U.S. clinics. Mexicali, capital of the Mexican state of Baja California, has the third-highest number of confirmed COVID cases in Mexico, with its main hospitals at four-fifths capacity, state health department data shows. Brazil reaches 27,878 coronavirus deaths, surpasses Spain

Coronavirus deaths in Brazil reached 27,878, the Health Ministry said on Friday, surpassing Spain to become the fifth ranking nation in the number of dead. In the last 24 hours, Brazil, which now has the second-largest outbreak in the world, registered 1,124 deaths from the virus and 26,928 additional cases of the novel coronavirus. Thailand reports 1 new coronavirus case, no new deaths

Thailand reported one new coronavirus case on Saturday and no new deaths, taking the total number of infections to 3,077 as local transmission of the new virus appears to wane. The new patient arrived in Thailand via a land border with Malaysia earlier this week and has been in quarantine, said Panprapa Yongtrakul, a spokeswoman for the government's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration. 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. Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 738 to 181,196

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 738 to 181,196, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 39 to 8,489, the tally showed.