Health News Roundup: Bayer Verdict, Bird Flu, Gaza Waste Threats, and More!

A roundup of recent health news includes major updates such as a Pennsylvania judge cutting Bayer's Roundup verdict from $2.25 billion to $400 million, an expanding bird flu outbreak in dairy cows, and warnings of disease from waste in Gaza. It also covers FDA updates and more.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Judge cuts Bayer $2.25 billion Roundup verdict to $400 million

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday slashed a $2.25 billion U.S. verdict against Bayer to $400 million for a Pennsylvania man who said he developed cancer from exposure to the company's Roundup weedkiller. A jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas found that John McKivison's non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the result of using Roundup for yard work at his house for several years, and it ordered Bayer to pay $250 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages.

Bird flu reported in Iowa dairy herd, expanding US outbreak in cows

A U.S. outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows expanded to a tenth state as Iowa reported its first infection in a herd on Wednesday. The United States has confirmed cases in more than 80 herds nationwide since late March and three dairy workers have tested positive.

Gaza at risk of diseases this summer from piled-up waste, NGO warns

The Gaza Strip faces unprecedented disease outbreaks this summer caused by piles of uncollected waste rotting in the heat, fuelling further misery for residents already suffering from food shortages, according to Action Against Hunger. Fenia Diamanti, project coordinator of emergencies at the non-governmental organisation, told Reuters that managing rubbish is one of its main concerns, since it can't be removed from the war-torn territory and nor do inhabitants have access to dumps.

COVID shots should target variants with JN.1 lineage in 2024-25 campaign, US FDA advisers say

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday unanimously voted in favor of recommending that COVID-19 vaccines for 2024-25 should target a strain within the lineage of the JN.1 variant that has been dominant this year. The 16 advisors did not vote on whether to favor the original JN.1 variant or one of its successors like the currently dominant KP.2 strain.

South Africa regulator finds no toxin in recalled cough syrup

An investigation into two recalled batches of children's cough syrup made in South Africa by Johnson & Johnson found no trace of a toxin, and no adverse events have been reported from consuming the syrup, the country's drug regulator said on Wednesday. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority issued the recall in April, days after Nigeria's regulator recalled the medicine - a batch of Benylin Paediatric Syrup made in South Africa - over an unacceptably high level of a potentially deadly toxic substance, diethylene glycol.

Amgen's drug meets main goal in late-stage study for rare disease

Amgen said on Wednesday its drug helped to reduce the risk of flares in patients with an immune system-related condition, meeting the main goal of a late-stage study. The drug, Uplizna, was being studied for the treatment of Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD), which is characterized by periods of remission and unpredictable disease flares.

US FDA panel votes against first MDMA-based PTSD treatment

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday voted against a therapy based on the mind-altering drug MDMA for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, marking a setback to the nascent field of psychedelic treatments. The panel voted 10-to-1 against the first MDMA-based PTSD treatment, saying the benefits did not outweigh its risks, while nine members said the available data did not show its effectiveness in PTSD patients.

WHO confirms first fatal human case of bird flu A(H5N2)

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday a death was caused by the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with a subtype of avian influenza. WHO said the 59-year-old resident of Mexico had died on April 24 after developing a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, nausea and general discomfort.

Highly pathogenic H7 bird flu found on fourth poultry farm in Australia

A highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza has been found on a fourth poultry farm near Melbourne near two other properties where the virus had already been detected, the government of Australia's Victoria state said on Wednesday. "Avian influenza virus has been confirmed at a fourth Victorian poultry farm," the government said in a statement.

Community health centers still bogged down by red tape after UnitedHealth hack

More than three months after a cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group's technology unit, some community health centers, which serve 30 million low-income and uninsured patients, are still wading through red tape to receive back payments and struggling with operations issues. Change Healthcare, a unit of the largest U.S. health insurer, processes about 50% of all medical claims in the U.S., for around 900,000 doctors, 33,000 pharmacies, 5,500 hospitals and 600 labs. It also runs other support services like call centers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)