Health News Roundup; WHO warns of growing resistance to GSK's HIV drug; World Bank, Gates, UN pledge close to $600m to end cervical cancer and more

The plea by Barry Cadden, the former president of New England Compounding Center, was announced on Tuesday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and resolves a criminal case her office brought against him in state court in 2018. Novo kidney trial finds Ozempic cuts cardiac deaths in diabetics Novo Nordisk's widely used diabetes drug Ozempic delayed progression of chronic kidney disease in diabetes patients, a large late-stage study found, cutting the risk of death from that and major cardiac events by 24%.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Latest J&J talc trial ends with hung jury

The latest trial over claims that Johnson & Johnson's talc products cause cancer ended in a mistrial on Tuesday, as a Florida state court jury said it could not agree on a verdict. The lawsuit was brought by Bob Sugarman, who said that J&J's talc-based baby powder led his wife to develop ovarian cancer and die from the disease.

US to accelerate some payments to hospitals after UnitedHealth hack

The U.S. government said on Tuesday it will accelerate Medicare and Medicaid payments to some hospitals hurt by a hack at insurer UnitedHealth's technology unit Change Healthcare. The cyberattack on Change, disclosed on Feb.21, was perpetrated by hackers who identified themselves as the "Blackcat" ransomware group and has had a knock-on effect on players across the U.S. healthcare system. Disruptions triggered by the attack have impacted electronic pharmacy refills and insurance transactions.

WHO warns of growing resistance to GSK's HIV drug

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday resistance to GSK's HIV drug dolutegravir has exceeded levels observed during its trials, citing observational and survey data received from a few countries. Resistance ranged from 3.9% to 8.6% and reached 19.6% among people who have received and transitioned to a dolutegravir-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen to combat high HIV viral loads.

South Carolina still cannot defund Planned Parenthood, US court rules

South Carolina cannot cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, finding that doing so would deprive Medicaid patients of their right to choose their provider. The order marks the third time that a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stopped the state from defunding the reproductive health organization on the grounds that it provides abortions.

Pharmacy exec in plea deal in Michigan over 2012 meningitis outbreak deaths

A former owner of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy whose mold-tainted drugs sparked a deadly U.S. fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 has pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges over the deaths of 11 Michigan residents. The plea by Barry Cadden, the former president of New England Compounding Center, was announced on Tuesday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and resolves a criminal case her office brought against him in state court in 2018.

Novo kidney trial finds Ozempic cuts cardiac deaths in diabetics

Novo Nordisk's widely used diabetes drug Ozempic delayed progression of chronic kidney disease in diabetes patients, a large late-stage study found, cutting the risk of death from that and major cardiac events by 24%. The trial results are the latest indication that drugs from the GLP-1 class, which suppress appetite by mimicking gut hormones, have medical benefits for conditions beyond type 2 diabetes and weight-loss, their initial purposes.

Roche, Alnylam say blood pressure drug succeeds in mid-stage trial

Roche and partner Alnylam said on Tuesday their experimental drug against high blood pressure was shown to work when used in combination with the standard of care in a phase 2 trial. Full results of the Phase 2 KARDIA-2 trial, testing the twice-a-year injection zilebesiran, would be presented at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session in Atlanta on April 6, Roche said in a statement on Tuesday.

US FDA clears use of first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the use of Dexcom's device, making it the first continuous glucose monitor to be available over the counter, the health regulator said on Tuesday. Dexcom's shares rose 2.2% in extended trading.

World Bank, Gates, UN pledge close to $600m to end cervical cancer

Global health donors pledged nearly $600 million towards eliminating cervical cancer on Tuesday, at the first global forum dedicated to fighting the disease. The World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said in a joint statement that the funding would go towards expanding access to vaccination, screening and treatment worldwide.

Ozempic reduces severity of liver disease in people with HIV, study shows

A weekly injection of semaglutide was safe and reduced the amount of fat in the liver by 31% in people with HIV and a type of liver disease, data from a mid-stage study funded by the National Institutes of Health showed. Data from the study was first released on Monday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver, Colorado.