Health News Roundup: Novartis loses in patent appeal over multiple sclerosis drug; AstraZeneca, Ionis eye U.S. approval after positive trial data and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs UnitedHealth Group challenge on Medicare overpayments

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear UnitedHealth Group Inc's challenge to a government rule requiring private insurers that administer federally funded Medicare plans to return potentially billions of dollars in overpayments they receive based on incorrect diagnoses. Turning away the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based insurer's appeal, the justices left in place a lower court's decision reviving the rule after a federal judge had previously struck it down.

U.S. Supreme Court rules against DaVita over dialysis coverage

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected kidney dialysis provider DaVita Inc's claims that an Ohio hospital's employee health plan discriminates against patients with end-stage renal disease by reimbursing them at low rates in hopes they would switch to Medicare. In a 7-2 decision authored by conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court ruled that Marietta Memorial Hospital's employee health plan did not violate federal law by limiting benefits for outpatient dialysis because it did so without regard to whether patients had end-stage renal disease. A lower court had ruled in favor of Denver-based DaVita.

U.S. COVID vaccines start to roll out for young children

The United States has begun distributing COVID vaccines for children as young as six months around the country, and availability of the shots will improve in the coming days, according to White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. U.S. regulators authorized Moderna Inc's two-dose vaccine for children aged six months to five years and the Pfizer-BioNTech three-shot regimen for children aged six months to four years late last week.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Bayer bid to nix Roundup weedkiller suits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Bayer AG's bid to dismiss legal claims by customers who contend its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer as the German company seeks to avoid potentially billions of dollars in damages. The justices turned away a Bayer appeal and left in place a lower court decision that upheld $25 million in damages awarded to California resident Edwin Hardeman, a Roundup user who blamed his cancer on the pharmaceutical and chemical giant's glyphosate-based weedkillers.

More vulnerable people receiving fewer COVID pills - U.S. study

People in socially and economically disadvantaged regions are about half as likely to receive an oral antiviral COVID-19 pill than residents of wealthier zip codes, according to a U.S. government study published on Tuesday. The findings by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed this disparity even as there were more dispensing sites located in high-vulnerability U.S. zip codes than in the more advantaged areas.

Novartis loses in patent appeal over multiple sclerosis drug

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a patent related to Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG's blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya was invalid, potentially paving the way for introduction of a cheaper generic version of the medicine. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears patent appeals, reversed https://tmsnrt.rs/3ObPtyI its own earlier ruling in the case.

AstraZeneca, Ionis eye U.S. approval after positive trial data

An interim analysis of AstraZeneca and partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals' eplontersen showed the experimental drug met the main goals in a late-stage trial in patients with a rare, fatal disease, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said on Tuesday. Based on the results, the companies plan to file an application to market the therapy in the United States later this year in patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloid polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN).

Explainer-What to know about COVID vaccines for young children

The United States has begun rolling out COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months after receiving the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The following are some details about the two messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE for young children:

G20 president Indonesia: Pandemic fund may start June, needs World Bank nod

A G20 fund to better prepare for future pandemics may be operational at the end of June, if an approval is given by the board of the World Bank, which houses it, the finance minister of current G20 president Indonesia said late on Tuesday. G20 countries have provisionally agreed to set up the multi-billion dollar fund, which health officials have said will finance efforts like surveillance, research, and better access to vaccinations for lower-to-middle income countries, among others.

Britain backs offering monkeypox vaccine to at-risk men

British authorities are recommending gay and bisexual men at higher risk of exposure to monkeypox should be offered a vaccine, as the outbreak of the viral disease gathers pace mostly in Europe. Although anyone can contract monkeypox, data from the outbreak suggests the majority of transmission is occurring within the sexual networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, according to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).