Health News Roundup: Quest Diagnostics launches Alzheimer's blood test for consumers; J&J shares on track for biggest daily drop in 3 years on talc setback and more

The $399 test, called AD-Detect, uses the same technology as a blood test the company began selling for use by doctors in early 2022. US announces trial payment program for care providers of dementia patients The U.S. government said on Monday it would trial a new payment program for people who provide dementia care coordination services for patients covered by the Medicare health plan.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Quest Diagnostics launches Alzheimer's blood test for consumers

Quest Diagnostics on Monday launched the first direct-to-consumer blood test to detect abnormal levels of beta amyloid, a key Alzheimer's disease protein that can appear years before dementia symptoms arise. The $399 test, called AD-Detect, uses the same technology as a blood test the company began selling for use by doctors in early 2022.

J&J shares on track for biggest daily drop in 3 years on talc setback

Shares in Johnson & Johnson were down 4.1% on Monday and looked set for their biggest one-day percentage loss since June 2020 after a U.S. judge shot down its second attempt to resolve tens of thousands of talc-related lawsuits. Johnson & Johnson has now failed twice to resolve talc suits by offloading the related liabilities into a new company and placing it into bankruptcy. Lawsuits had alleged baby powder and other talc products sometimes contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and other cancers.

US announces trial payment program for care providers of dementia patients

The U.S. government said on Monday it would trial a new payment program for people who provide dementia care coordination services for patients covered by the Medicare health plan. The program includes services such as personalized assessments, care plans for patients as well as 24/7 access to a support line. Medicare said the program aims to delay long-term nursing home care.

Ceva drops appeal over French bird flu vaccine tender

French animal health group Ceva has withdrawn a legal challenge over a tender to supply France with a bird flu vaccine in which Ceva lost out to German company Boehringer Ingelheim. France chose Boehringer Ingelheim to supply 80 million doses of bird flu vaccines needed for its initial vaccination campaign for ducks due to start in October. The plan will make France the first country in the European Union to vaccinate poultry against the virus that has ravaged flocks worldwide.

Promising new Alzheimer's drugs may benefit whites more than Blacks

Groundbreaking treatments for Alzheimer's disease that work by removing a toxic protein called beta amyloid from the brain may benefit whites more than Black Americans, whose disease may be driven by other factors, leading Alzheimer's experts told Reuters. The two drugs – Leqembi, from partner biotech firms Eisai and Biogen, and an experimental treatment developed by Eli Lilly, donanemab - are the first to offer real hope of slowing the fatal disease for the 6.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's.

Japan's Daiichi Sankyo gets approval for COVID vaccine, first for country

A Japanese health ministry panel recommended approval for Daiichi Sankyo's mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine in what would be the nation's first home-grown shot for the coronavirus. Daiichi Sankyo submitted the vaccine, known as DS-5670 with the brand name Daichirona, to regulators in January, proposing the shot as a booster after regular immunization.

Judge blocks Idaho prosecution of out-of-state abortion referrals

A U.S. judge on Monday blocked the state of Idaho at least temporarily from prosecuting doctors who refer patients out of state to get an abortion, finding that would violate a medical provider's right to free speech. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill of the District of Idaho agreed with a challenge led by Planned Parenthood that Republican Attorney General Raul Labrador's interpretation of the state's criminal abortion law was "chilling" to providers' First Amendment rights.

Baxter issues urgent medical device correction for certain infusion pumps

Medical device maker Baxter International has issued an urgent correction for certain software versions of its infusion pumps that deliver fluids into a patient's body, the U.S. drug regulator said on Monday. The correction has been issued due to an increase in reported false blockage alarms following the software upgrades in SIGMA Spectrum and Spectrum IQ infusion pumps, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

US NIH launches long-COVID trials of Pfizer's Paxlovid, other therapies

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Monday that it had launched mid-stage clinical trials to test at least four treatments, including Pfizer's Paxlovid, in patients with symptoms of long COVID. The studies are designed to evaluate multiple therapies, where the first part of trial will test a longer dosing regimen of the antiviral COVID-19 drug Paxlovid to see if it improves long COVID symptoms.

Abortion providers sue Alabama to block prosecution over out-of-state travel

Healthcare providers and an abortion rights group on Monday sued Alabama in an effort to block the state from criminally prosecuting people who help others travel out of state to get abortions. In a lawsuit filed in Montgomery, Alabama federal court, the West Alabama Women's Center, the Alabama Women's Center and its medical director Yashica Robinson said any such prosecutions would violate a basic right to travel between states under the U.S. Constitution. The Yellowhammer Fund filed a separate, similar lawsuit.