Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA extends review of BioMarin's bleeding disorder therapy; Five women who say they were denied abortions sue Texas and more

The lawsuit filed on Monday asks a state court in Austin, the state's capital, to clarify that doctors cannot be prosecuted for providing abortions, if in their good faith judgment the procedure is necessary to treat emergencies that threaten patients' life or health. US set to lift COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers from China - source The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to end on Friday mandatory COVID-19 tests for travelers from China, joining other countries in dropping the requirements, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. FDA extends review of BioMarin's bleeding disorder therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the review of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc's experimental gene therapy for adults with a severe bleeding disorder, the latest delay in the company's quest to gain approval in the country. The FDA said late on Monday it needed more time to review a three-year analysis from the company's ongoing late-stage study, which BioMarin submitted earlier this year, and will make a decision by June 30. The regulator had earlier set March 31 as its decision date.

Five women who say they were denied abortions sue Texas

Five women who said they were denied abortions despite grave risk to their lives have sued the state of Texas, in the first apparent case of pregnant women suing over curbs imposed after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June. The lawsuit filed on Monday asks a state court in Austin, the state's capital, to clarify that doctors cannot be prosecuted for providing abortions, if in their good faith judgment the procedure is necessary to treat emergencies that threaten patients' life or health.

US set to lift COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers from China - source

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to end on Friday mandatory COVID-19 tests for travelers from China, joining other countries in dropping the requirements, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. Last week, Japan dropped a requirement that everyone take a test for the virus upon arrival from China. The source told Reuters the United States would continue to monitor cases in China and around the world. The U.S. decision was reported earlier by the Washington Post.

California to not do business with Walgreens over abortion pills issue- Governor

California will not do business with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, state Governor Gavin Newsom said in a tweet on Monday, days after the pharmacy chain said it would not dispense abortion pills in some Republican-dominated states. The state refuses to do business with Walgreens or "any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk," said Newsom, a Democrat.

U.S. FDA clears Abbott's blood test for concussions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared Abbott Laboratories' blood test that would help doctors assess traumatic brain injury (TBI), commonly known as concussions, the company said on Tuesday. The clearance marks the first commercially available laboratory blood test for TBI, according to the company, helping the doctors to rule out need for a CT scan in patients with mild TBI.

Novo obesity drug to launch in the UK soon, says watchdog

Novo Nordisk's keenly anticipated weight loss medicine, Wegovy, will soon be made available to thousands of people in the UK, the country's drug cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE said on Wednesday. Data from a clinical trial showed that participants on Wegovy lost on average 12.4% more of their body weight than those who received a placebo.

Florida Republican lawmakers propose a six-week abortion ban

Republican lawmakers in Florida filed bills on Tuesday to outlaw most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a ban that would severely undercut access to the procedure in the U.S. South if passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature. The bills, filed on the opening day of the legislature's 2023 regular session, make exceptions for rape and incest cases but not explicitly for the life or health of the pregnant person.

Thousands of people in Ukraine have complex war-related injuries, says WHO

Thousands of people in Ukraine have sustained complex injuries linked to the war and need rehabilitation services and equipment to help them, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Tuesday. They include fractures, amputations, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and burns, Dr Satish Mishra from the WHO's regional office for Europe, told a media briefing.

Young Afghan women train as midwives for out-of-reach villages

In a small village circled by velvety white snow-topped mountains in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, Aziza Rahimi mourns the baby son she lost last year after a harrowing birth with no medical care. "It was too hard for me when I lost my baby. As a mother, I nurtured the baby in my womb for nine months but then I lost him, it is too painful," said Rahimi, 35.

Britons aged over 75 to be offered COVID-19 booster shot in spring

Britons aged over 75 and those in care homes will be offered COVID-19 booster shots in spring, Britain's vaccine advisers said on Tuesday. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)said in January that plans should be made to offer COVID-19 booster vaccination programmes in spring and autumn this year to those at higher risk of severe disease.

(With inputs from agencies.)