Greece issues licences for growing medical cannabis

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Greece eyes pot of gold as medicinal cannabis licensed

Greece on Monday issued the first licences to private companies for growing medicinal cannabis in the country, part of an attempt to tap a burgeoning market worth billions. Greece legalised cannabis for medical use last year and in March lifted a ban on growing and producing it. Two licences were granted on Monday, and another 12 will be issued by the end of this year, the Economy and Development Ministry said.

Trial spotlights U.S. drug safety concerns at compounding pharmacies

A top U.S. Food and Drug Administration official testified on Monday that the agency has concerns about drugs made by compounding pharmacies and still sees problems with them six years after a fungal meningitis outbreak tied to a Massachusetts pharmacy killed 76 people. Janet Woodcock, who heads the FDA's pharmaceuticals division, testified in Boston federal court that she had never seen an outbreak like the one New England Compounding Center's mold-tainted steroids caused in 2012.

Faltering malaria fight should refocus on high-risk countries, says WHO

Global health authorities need to counter a worrying lull in the fight against malaria by focusing their efforts on the near-dozen mostly African countries where it claims most lives, the World Health Organization said. After several years of steady declines, annual cases of the mosquito-borne disease are leveling off, the U.N. health agency's 2018 malaria report showed on Monday.

EU cracks down on blood pressure medicine made by Mylan

European Union authorities on Monday stepped in to effectively ban sales of blood pressure medicine valsartan made by an India-based unit of Mylan NV after some batches were found to contain a probable cancer-causing impurity, the latest in a global crackdown. The European regulator said the unit's compliance certificate had been suspended, effectively prohibiting the use of its valsartan in medicines in the region.

Workplace bullying and violence tied to higher risk of heart problems

People who are bullied or exposed to violence on the job may be more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than individuals who don't deal with these challenges at work, a European study suggests. Researchers examined survey data from more than 79,000 working men and women between 19 and 65 years old who didn't have a history of heart disease. Overall, about 9 percent of them reported being bullied and 13 percent said they had been exposed to violence on the job in the last year.

Diabetics with high-deductible health plans more apt to delay care

Workers with diabetes who switch to high-deductible health plans that require paying more out-of-pocket for care may be more likely than those who remain in low-deductible plans to delay needed checkups, a U.S. study suggests. People with diabetes are at risk for life-threatening blood vessel diseases. Left untreated, these conditions can lead to complications such as heart attack, stroke and amputation.

Emergent-Valneva Zika vaccine clears early trial

A vaccine to prevent infections caused by the deadly mosquito-borne Zika virus induced immune response and was found to be safe in an early stage trial, Emergent BioSolutions Inc and partner Valneva SE said on Monday. The vaccine, VLA1601, which was tested in two doses in 67 adult patients, induced the body to produce neutralizing antibodies against the virus, the companies said.

House Democrats target DOJ decision not to defend Obamacare

Democrats will scrutinize the Trump administration's decision not to defend Obamacare in federal court, when Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year, a leading Democrat said on Monday. In June, the Department of Justice declared the healthcare law's individual mandate unconstitutional in federal court, which threatened to undermine insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions, and helped make healthcare a winning issue for Democrats in House elections on Nov. 6.

Eleventh child dies from viral outbreak at New Jersey facility

An 11th child has died in less than four weeks at a New Jersey rehabilitation center, one of 34 young patients with compromised immune systems to have been infected by a viral outbreak, state health officials said on Friday. The child, who died late Thursday, and the others at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in the town of Haskell, became ill with adenovirus between Sept. 26 and Nov. 12, the state's Department of Health said in a statement.

Hackers are not main cause of health data breaches

Most health information data breaches in the U.S. in recent years haven't been the work of hackers but instead have been due to mistakes or security lapses inside healthcare organizations, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on 1,138 health data breaches affecting a total of 164 million patients from October 2009 through the end of 2017.

(With inputs from agencies.)