Health News Roundup: U.S. government gives states nearly $2 billion to combat opioid crisis; Cancer overtakes heart disease as biggest rich-world killer

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Amid swine fever outbreak, Brazil beef plants set for Chinese inspections: sources

Chinese health inspectors are expected to start evaluating four Brazilian beef plants on Thursday as part of a push to approve new meat exporters amid an outbreak of swine fever, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Marfrig Global Foods SA owns one of the plants, located in the town of Várzea Grande in Mato Grosso state, according to both sources. A third source confirmed the date of the inspection, to be carried out using video technology, but did not confirm the number of plants involved.

U.S. government gives states nearly $2 billion to combat opioid crisis

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Wednesday it will offer states more than $1.8 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic. The funds will be used for expanding access to treatments for opioid overdosing and to gather case data from across states, the HHS said.

AstraZeneca's Tagrisso helps lung cancer patients live longer: study

AstraZeneca Plc said on Friday a late-stage study showed its top-selling drug, Tagrisso, had significantly helped patients with a type of lung cancer live longer. The British drugmaker announced overall positive survival results from the study in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Novartis, Lonza deepen biosimilars push with MS, arthritis drug deals

Swiss drugmakers Novartis and Lonza separately deepened their push into so-called biosimilars, betting cheaper copies of name-brand drugs will make headway among cost-conscious insurers and governments. Novartis's Sandoz generics unit, among the biggest biosimilars makers, on Tuesday agreed to license from Poland's Polpharma Biologics a version of Biogen's decade-old Tysabri for multiple sclerosis. This is the fifth proposed biosimilar licensed by Sandoz in nine months.

Heart failure deaths highest in poorest US counties

(Reuters Health) - People living in U.S. counties with the highest rates of poverty are more likely to die from heart failure than those from more affluent areas, a new study suggests. Researchers examining data from more than 3,000 U.S. counties found that for each percentage-point increase in poverty, heart failure mortality increased by 5.2 deaths per 100,000 county residents, according to the report in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Soft drinks - sugared or low-calorie - may raise the risk of early death

(Reuters Health) - Consumption of soft drinks, whether they're sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners, may raise the risk of premature death, new research suggests. In a study that followed more than 400,000 European adults for more than 16 years, the risk of premature death was heightened in those who consumed 2 or more glasses per day of soft drinks, according to the report published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Successful PTSD treatment tied to lowered diabetes risk

(Reuters Health) - Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who improve with treatment may also lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined medical records for 1,598 veterans who received treatment for PTSD and had regular assessments to rate their symptom severity. At the start of the study period, none of the participants had diabetes, and all of them rated their PTSD symptoms as moderate to severe, with scores of at least 50 on a scale topping out at 85 for the worst cases.

Cancer overtakes heart disease as biggest rich-world killer

Cancer has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in wealthy countries and could become the world's biggest killer within just a few decades if current trends persist, researchers said on Tuesday. Publishing the findings of two large studies in The Lancet medical journal, the scientists said they showed evidence of a new global "epidemiologic transition" between different types of chronic disease.

UK cost watchdog recommends Novartis' blindness therapy Luxturna

Novartis AG's gene therapy for blindness, Luxturna, is recommended for use on England's public health service, the country's healthcare cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE said on Tuesday. Novartis owns the rights to sell the one-time gene therapy developed by Spark Therapeutics outside the United States.

China says has only 'limited' cooperation with U.S. on fentanyl

China and the United States have only "limited" cooperation in stopping fentanyl smuggling, a Chinese narcotics official was quoted as saying on Tuesday, after complaints China isn't doing enough to help fight an opioid crisis in the United States. U.S. officials say China is the main source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances that are trafficked into the United States, much of it through international mail. China denies that most of the illicit fentanyl entering the United States originates in China.

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