Health News Roundup: Johannesburg court approves $353 million silicosis settlement; Greece bans pork imports from Bulgaria

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

EMA panel recommends approving Bayer's cancer drug Vitrakvi

A panel under Europe's drug regulator has recommended approving Bayer's cancer treatment Vitrakvi for adults and children, in a boost to the German company whose pipeline has suffered a series of setbacks. The treatment is being recommended for patients with cancer driven by a rare genetic mutation and where the disease has spread or cannot be surgically removed, and who have no other satisfactory treatment options, the European Medicines Agency's human medicines committee (CHMP) said http://bit.ly/2Mi6s5o on Friday.

Deployment of second Ebola vaccine would not be quick fix, experts warn

The resignation of Congo's health minister in the midst of the country's worst Ebola outbreak could clear the way for a second experimental vaccine to be deployed. But the new shot would likely take months to win the trust of frightened locals and show results, health officials say. Oly Ilunga, who opposed using the vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, resigned as minister on Monday after being bumped off the Ebola response team.

In Roundup case, U.S. judge cuts $2 billion verdict against Bayer to $86 million

A California judge on Thursday reduced a $2 billion jury verdict, slashing the award for a couple who blamed Bayer AG's glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup for their cancer to $86.7 million. Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith of the California Superior Court in Oakland said the jury's billion-dollar punitive damages awards were excessive and unconstitutional, but rejected Bayer's request to strike the punitive award outright.

Exclusive: White House preparing order that would cut drug prices for Medicare: sources

U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a sweeping executive order that would cut prices on virtually all branded prescription drugs sold to Medicare and other government programs, according to two industry sources who had discussions with the White House. The order under discussion would be much broader than the Administration's previously disclosed proposal to lower prices on physician-administered, or Part B, drugs by tying prices to lower costs in other countries.

GW Pharma cannabis drug wins European panel OK

GW Pharmaceuticals' marijuana-based treatment Epidiolex has won a positive recommendation for marketing approval from a European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel on Friday for use as an additional treatment for two types of seizures. EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) cleared the cannabidiol oral solution for use with clobazam to treat seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome for patients aged two and older.

Johannesburg court approves $353 million silicosis settlement

A Johannesburg High Court on Friday approved a 5 billion rand ($353 million) class action settlement between gold mining companies and law firms representing thousands of miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis. The settlement follows a long legal battle by miners to win compensation for illnesses they say they contracted over decades because of negligence in health and safety.

Greece bans pork imports from Bulgaria due to African swine fever

Greece has banned imports of pork from its northern Balkan neighbor Bulgaria due to outbreaks of African swine fever, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva said on Friday. European Union member Bulgaria has detected more than 20 outbreaks of African swine fever in pigs in industrial farms or backyards in the northern part of the Black Sea state, culling more than 50,000 pigs in July.

U.S. lawmakers grill e-cigarette maker Juul over efforts targeted at schoolchildren

E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc funded a "holistic health education" camp as part of efforts to market directly to school-aged children, members of a U.S. congressional panel said on Thursday, citing internal company documents. Democrats on a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform released a cache of internal Juul emails and other documents that committee staff described as early attempts to "enter schools and convey it's messaging directly to teenage children."

Roche's Tecentriq recommended for EU approval to treat lung cancer form

The European Medicine Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended EU approval of Roche's cancer immunotherapy Tecentriq in combination with chemotherapy as an initial treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, the Basel company said on Friday. The EMA also adopted a positive opinion of Tecentriq in combination with chemotherapy as an initial treatment for the most common form of advanced lung cancer - metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer - Roche said in a separate statement.

Pharma lobby group opposes senators' proposal to lower drug prices

Representatives of PhRMA opposed a proposal from the Senate Finance Committee to lower prescription drug prices in a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, the pharmaceutical industry lobby group said on Thursday. The proposal aims to lower drug prices by forcing pharmaceutical companies to pay rebates to Medicare if they raise prices above the rate of inflation.

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