Health News Roundup: Netherlands bans sale of all nicotine pouches; US FDA identifies recall of Avanos Medical's respiratory systems as most serious and more

The government said the ban would make it easier to uphold the rules regarding nicotine pouches, which are currently only allowed if they contain less than 0.035 grammes of nicotine. Exclusive-Lilly expects US Medicare to reverse course, fully cover Alzheimer's drugs Eli Lilly and Co expects the U.S. Medicare health plan to back down from strict coverage limits on new Alzheimer's drugs as more evidence emerges in coming weeks showing that clearing amyloid brain plaques can help patients, a company executive told Reuters.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Netherlands bans sale of all nicotine pouches

The Dutch government on Friday said it would ban the sale of all types of nicotine pouches in the Netherlands, while widening the rules for tobacco to include all other types of tobacco-free nicotine products. The government said the ban would make it easier to uphold the rules regarding nicotine pouches, which are currently only allowed if they contain less than 0.035 grammes of nicotine.

US FDA identifies recall of Avanos Medical's respiratory systems as most serious

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday identified the recall of Avanos Medical Inc's artificial airway tube for children and infants as the most serious type, as its use could lead to serious injuries or death. The medical device maker recalled 1,000 of its Ballard Access Closed Suction System tubes for children in February this year, after it received complaints from customers about cracked openings or manifolds during use of the tubes.

Exclusive-Lilly expects US Medicare to reverse course, fully cover Alzheimer's drugs

Eli Lilly and Co expects the U.S. Medicare health plan to back down from strict coverage limits on new Alzheimer's drugs as more evidence emerges in coming weeks showing that clearing amyloid brain plaques can help patients, a company executive told Reuters. Lilly plans to release results from a trial of its experimental amyloid-targeting drug donanemab before the end of June. More study data on Leqembi, a rival drug from partners Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen Inc, is also expected in the coming months.

Exclusive-Lilly expects US Medicare to reverse course, fully cover Alzheimer's drugs

Eli Lilly and Co expects the U.S. Medicare health plan to back down from strict coverage limits on new Alzheimer's drugs as more evidence emerges in coming weeks showing that clearing amyloid brain plaques can help patients, a company executive told Reuters. Lilly plans to release results from a trial of its experimental amyloid-targeting drug donanemab before the end of June. More study data on Leqembi, a rival drug from partners Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen Inc, is also expected in the coming months.

'It totally backfired': The pitfalls of Alzheimer's genetic testing

Wendy Nelson watched her mother slowly die of Alzheimer's disease, unable to move or swallow at the end. "All her pleasures of life were gone," Nelson said. Grief-stricken, terrified of facing the same death, Nelson ordered 23andMe DNA test kits for Christmas 2020 for herself and three adult daughters.

U.S. abortion providers relieved but wary as Supreme Court preserves pill access

Abortion rights supporters expressed relief on Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court preserved access to a widely used abortion pill but warned of a long fight ahead as a legal challenge to the medication continues. The move by the court to halt new restrictions on the drug set by lower courts was welcome news less than a year after its conservative majority upended U.S. abortion access by overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide.

Patients support Montana clinic facing anti-abortion threats

The day after her 22d birthday, a woman sits under a blanket clutching her abdomen in a room lit by a single lamp. A little more than 18 weeks pregnant, she has traveled nearly nine hours from her home to Missoula, a college town in the western Montana mountains, for a surgical abortion at the Blue Mountain Clinic.

Supreme Court preserves broad access to abortion pill

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked new restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill, a decision welcomed by President Joe Biden as his administration defends broad access to the drug in the latest fierce legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States. The justices, in a brief order, granted emergency requests by the Justice Department and the pill's manufacturer Danco Laboratories to put on hold an April 7 preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas. The judge's order would have greatly limited the availability of mifepristone while litigation proceeds in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the pill's federal regulatory approval.

Inside an Arizona nursery caring for drug-dependent babies

A nursery in Phoenix, Arizona, is treating some of the most vulnerable victims of the long-running U.S. opioid crisis: newborn babies. The facility treats babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a condition similar to withdrawal that develops when babies essentially become addicted to drugs their mothers use during pregnancy. Babies with NAS can tremble uncontrollably, clenching their muscles and gasping for breath.

Altria faces first trial over claims it helped market Juul to teens

Tobacco giant Altria Group Inc is set to face trial Monday in a lawsuit by San Francisco's public school district accusing the company of fueling a teen vaping epidemic, along with e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. The San Francisco Unified School District says teachers and staff "have had to go to extreme lengths to respond to the ever-growing number of students using e-cigarettes on school grounds," and is seeking to force Altria to pay for the cost of tackling the problem.

(With inputs from agencies.)