Health News Roundup: FDA seeks details of new e-cigarettes, swine fever

Potentially harmful pharmaceuticals not listed on product labels were found in more than 700 over-the-counter dietary supplements, researchers report.

In the crackdown, U.S. FDA seeks details on new electronic cigarettes

Faced with a proliferation of new electronic cigarettes and a sharp rise in teen vaping, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday sent letters to 21 electronic cigarette manufacturers seeking information to assess whether the products are being marketed illegally. An FDA rule banned the sale of new e-cigarette products after August 2016 without regulatory approval. In September, Reuters reported that startups and big tobacco firms launched more than a dozen new high-nicotine e-cigarette products mimicking the popular Juul devices after the FDA imposed the deadline https://reut.rs/2PwFgOX.

Some dietary supplements contain potentially harmful drugs

Potentially harmful pharmaceuticals not listed on product labels were found in more than 700 over-the-counter dietary supplements, researchers report. The pharmaceuticals, which were found in so-called natural products, were most likely to appear in supplements marketed as weight loss aids, muscle builders and male libido enhancers, according to the report published in JAMA Network Open.

U.S. appeals court upholds a ruling that cancelled Teva Copaxone patents

A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld a ruling that cancelled patents owned by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drugs Copaxone. The ruling was a victory for a group of generic drug companies, including Mylan NV, that challenged the validity of Teva's patents in order to sell generic versions.

Bristol-Myers' Opdivo fails to meet lung cancer study goal

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co said on Friday that its blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo failed to meet the main goal in a late-stage trial on patients with a type of lung cancer, whose condition had relapsed after chemotherapy. The drug failed to extend overall survival in patients suffering from small cell lung cancer, an aggressive form of the disease when compared to patients already on chemotherapy.

'Cued care' approach helps new babies, parents to sleep

(Reuters Health) - A new program in Australia is helping new parents to understand their infant's sleep patterns - and get better sleep themselves, too, researchers say. Following the Possums Infant Sleep Program, parents reported less stress, less concern about sleep problems such as night-waking and day-time naps, and better quality of life, the study authors report in the journal Sleep Health.

Fearful of swine fever, France plans fence on the Belgian border

France will start putting up fencing along part of its border with Belgium this weekend to prevent wild boars spreading African swine fever, a virulent livestock disease that could disrupt Europe's large pig industry. France has been on alert for African swine fever since Belgium detected the virus last month among wild boars a few kilometres from the French border.

Jury clears J&J of liability in New Jersey talc cancer case

A New Jersey jury on Thursday cleared Johnson & Johnson of liability in a case involving a woman who alleged that the company's talc-based products, including its baby powder, contain asbestos and caused her cancer. After less than a day of deliberations, the jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey rejected claims by Rosalind Henry and her husband, who had alleged that Henry's mesothelioma, cancer associated with asbestos exposure, was caused by the company's talc products.

Cataract surgery for senior drivers tied to reduced car crash risk, costs

(Reuters Health) - Cataract surgery can significantly reduce car crashes involving senior drivers and the cost of those accidents to the community, researchers say. Their study involved 2,849 drivers age 60 and older in Western Australia, all of whom had cataract surgery on both eyes and were involved in vehicular crashes as the driver.

U.N. employee in eastern Congo tests positive for Ebola

A plumber working for the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the health ministry said on Friday, the first case of a U.N. worker contracting the disease during the current outbreak. The plumber is believed to have contracted the virus at a health centre in the city of Beni run by a traditional healer where someone with Ebola had sought treatment, the ministry said in a daily bulletin.

South Africa's Tiger Brands re-opens processing facility after a listeria outbreak

Tiger Brands said on Friday it had re-opened a facility that was closed after South Africa's biggest food producer was implicated in the world's largest outbreak of listeria which killed more than 200 people. The health department recalled processed meat products known as "colony" and closed some processing facilities after the source of the outbreak was traced to a factory owned by Tiger Brands unit Enterprise Foods in March.

(With inputs from Reuters)