Health News Roundup: US FDA accepts AstraZeneca's self-administered flu vaccine for review; Georgia's top court leaves six-week abortion ban in place and more

At issue is billing by Planned Parenthood after Texas announced its decision to terminate the organization as a provider under its Medicaid insurance programs for low-income people. Suspected fake Ozempic puts several in hospital in Austria Several people were hospitalised in Austria after using suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic, the country's health safety body said, the first report of harm to users as a European hunt for counterfeiters widened.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Belgium plans temporary ban on use of Ozempic for weight loss

Belgium wants to temporarily ban the use of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic as a weight loss treatment amid a shortage of the medicine, the Belgian health minister said on Monday. "We have told doctors that they must reserve this drug for their patients who have type 2 diabetes but we see that this strategy does not work," Belgian federal health minister Franck Vandenbroucke told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

Planned Parenthood must face trial over Texas Medicaid fraud claims

Planned Parenthood must face a trial in a $1.8 billion lawsuit by Texas accusing the organization of defrauding the Republican-led state's Medicaid health insurance program, a federal judge ruled on Monday. At issue is billing by Planned Parenthood after Texas announced its decision to terminate the organization as a provider under its Medicaid insurance programs for low-income people.

Suspected fake Ozempic puts several in hospital in Austria

Several people were hospitalised in Austria after using suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic, the country's health safety body said, the first report of harm to users as a European hunt for counterfeiters widened. The patients were reported to have suffered hypoglycaemia and seizures, serious side effects that indicate the product contained insulin instead of Ozempic's active ingredient semaglutide, the health safety regulator BASG said on Monday.

HCA misses profit estimates on physician staffing woes

HCA Healthcare tightened its full-year forecast and missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on Tuesday, as the hospital operator's staffing joint venture was hit by high physician compensation and subsidies. Shares of the company dropped 8.3% to $221.03 in early trading. It also sent shares of smaller rivals such as Tenet Healthcare and Community Health Systems down more than 3%.

EU sets up new mechanisms to stave off medicine shortages

The European Commission on Tuesday launched some short-term measures to prevent medicine shortages this winter and the next as a stop-gap while a proposed pharmaceutical rules overhaul is hashed out by the EU's key legislative arms. After the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing medicine shortages due to supply chain bottlenecks, the Commission proposed the first major reform of its pharmaceutical regulations in April and hopes to forge a closer health union.

US FDA accepts AstraZeneca's self-administered flu vaccine for review

AstraZeneca said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company's application seeking approval for patients or caregivers to administer its nasal flu vaccine. If approved, the vaccine – branded as FluMist Quadrivalent – could become the first self-administered flu vaccine which does not necessitate a healthcare practitioner for administration.

Health insurer Centene raises profit view on lower medical costs

Centene raised annual earnings forecast after beating third-quarter profit estimates due to lower-than-expected medical costs at its commercial health insurance business, sending its shares up nearly 3% before the bell on Tuesday. The company makes a major chunk of its revenue from enrolments in government-backed Medicaid plans for lower-income people, where it has been losing members following the end of pandemic-relief measures.

Quest raises annual forecast as routine testing recovery powers quarterly beat

Laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics on Tuesday raised its full-year sales forecast after beating third-quarter expectations for revenue and profit, buoyed by a recovery in routine testing. The company raised its full-year net sales forecast to $9.19 billion to $9.24 billion, from its previous expectations of $9.12 billion to $9.22 billion.

Meta's Instagram linked to depression, anxiety, insomnia in kids - US states' lawsuit

Dozens of U.S. states are suing Meta Platforms and its Instagram unit, accusing them of fueling a youth mental health crisis by making their social media platforms addictive. In a complaint filed on Tuesday, the attorneys general of 33 states including California and New York said Meta, which also operates Facebook, repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms, and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.

Georgia's top court leaves six-week abortion ban in place

A Georgia law banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy can remain in effect, the state's highest court decided on Tuesday, ruling against a challenge by abortion providers in the state. A judge in Atlanta had blocked the law last year, finding it was void because, at the time it was passed in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision still guaranteed a right to abortion nationwide.

(With inputs from agencies.)