Health News Roundup: First Ebola patient in eastern Congo's main city dies; Scotland has highest drug-related death rate in EU

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

FDA finds 'significant violations' at India's Strides plant

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it found adulteration and "significant violations" of current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations at Strides Pharma Sciences Ltd's plant in Puducherry in South India. Strides shares fell 5% in early trade on Wednesday.

Abbott to hike production of lower-cost glucose monitors as diabetes soars

Abbott Laboratories plans to ramp up manufacturing capacity for its lower-cost continuous glucose monitor, the FreeStyle Libre, by three to five times in the next few years, aiming to reach millions of more patients worldwide, the company told Reuters. Abbott executives said the increase in manufacturing capacity will begin in the second half of this year and make room for the expected U.S. launch of the FreeStyle Libre 2. This next-generation device has been approved in Europe and is now under U.S. regulatory review.

When hurricanes halt treatment, lung cancer patients die sooner

Lung cancer patients whose radiation treatments are halted by hurricanes or other natural disasters may not live as long as patients who complete treatment without interruptions, a U.S. study suggests. Cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy particularly vulnerable in disasters because they need reliable electricity for daily treatments, researchers note in JAMA. Previous research has linked even brief interruptions in daily radiation with worse survival.

Study confirms heart benefit of soy as FDA reviews this claim

U.S. regulators should continue to recommend soy protein as part of a heart-healthy diet because it helps lower cholesterol, researchers conclude from an analysis of dozens of studies done in the past two decades. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed soy products to carry claims about heart benefits since 1999. But in 2017 the FDA proposed revoking this authorization, citing mixed results in more recent studies of the heart benefits of soy.

Scotland has highest drug-related death rate in EU

Scotland had the highest drug-related death rate in the European Union in 2018, with the likes of heroin, methadone and cocaine killing at almost three times the rate of the United Kingdom as a whole. A report published by National Records of Scotland on Tuesday said a record 1,187 people died from drugs in 2018, up 27% on the year before, giving a rate of 213 per million.

Mothers' work with solvents tied to higher autism risk for kids

Women who are exposed to solvents on the job may be more likely to have children with autism than mothers without this occupational exposure, a recent study suggests. Researchers used data on work histories for 750 mothers and 891 fathers to assess the frequency and intensity of any occupational exposure before and during pregnancy for 16 agents that have been linked to neurological or congenital abnormalities in children.

First Ebola patient in eastern Congo's main city dies

The first Ebola patient in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's largest city, Goma, has died, the government said on Tuesday. The spread of the virus to Goma, a city of roughly 1 million people on the border with Rwanda, has raised fears the outbreak, which is already the second deadliest Ebola epidemic ever, could spread more widely.

Researchers try to make ICU less traumatic for patients, families

Intensive care units (ICUs) can be extremely stressful for patients and families. Changes in the way ICUs are run may help mitigate that stress, two new studies suggest. Researchers looking at the impact of making ICU visiting hours more flexible, and the keeping of ICU diaries by staff and family members, found some interventions could, at the very least, lessen stress for families, according to the two reports published in JAMA.

Head of Planned Parenthood groups departs, cites differences over abortion

The leader of reproductive services provider Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its political arm said on Tuesday that she was leaving both organizations over philosophical differences in their approaches to abortion rights. Dr. Leana Wen, the first physician in nearly 50 years to lead the federation and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said she took the job last September intending to advocate for a broad range of public health policies, not just abortion.

Democrat Harris unveils plan to lower drug costs, put 'people over profit'

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris unveiled a plan on Tuesday to crack down on pharmaceutical companies which overcharge for prescription drugs, making her the latest 2020 White House candidate to seize on the issue. Harris, a U.S. senator from California, said her proposal would dramatically lower drug costs by allowing the federal government to set fair prices for what companies can charge and forcing them to pay rebates to consumers for medicines sold at artificially high rates.