Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Summer heatwaves caused 1,500 extra deaths in France: health minister

Heatwaves in June and July caused about 1,500 more deaths than usual in France over that period, though the figure was far lower than in the summer of 2003, the country's health minister said on Sunday. A total of 1,465 more people than usual died during the hot spells in June and July, up 9.1% on the average for the period, health ministry data shows. China vice premier urges hog production recovery amid swine fever

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has urged the country's main hog production areas to step up efforts to stabilize and recover production, state news agency Xinhua reported, amid a highly damaging outbreak of African swine fever. The deadly disease, first detected in China a year ago, has slashed the country's pig herd by almost a third and pushed hog prices to record highs. Mental health conditions may prompt some women to have ovaries removed unnecessarily

(Reuters Health) - Certain psychiatric conditions may prompt some women to choose to have their ovaries removed even when there is no medical justification for it, a new study suggests. "Some women suffer from psychiatric conditions that may change their perception of pain, bleeding and somatic symptoms, or may prompt the desire to address such symptoms with medical or surgical treatments," said study coauthor Dr. Walter Rocca, a professor of epidemiology and neurology in the department of health sciences research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Telemarketer charged in $1.2 billion Medicare fraud scheme pleads guilty in NJ

The owner of a telemarketing company implicated in the largest component of a $1.2 billion Medicare fraud involving the supply of medically unnecessary orthotic braces pleaded guilty to criminal charges on Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Lester Stockett, the owner of Video Doctor USA and Telemed Health Group and chief executive of AffordADoc, also agreed to pay $200 million of restitution, as part of his plea to conspiracy to defraud the United States through kickbacks and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the department said. Amgen drug shrinks lung cancer tumors in half of patients: study

An experimental Amgen Inc drug that targets a specific genetic mutation reduced tumor size in around half of advanced lung cancer patients given the highest dose in a small, early-stage trial, the company said on Sunday. Out of 13 lung cancer patients taking a 960-milligram dose of AMG510, seven had tumors shrink by at least 30%, according to data presented in Barcelona at the World Conference on Lung Cancer. Cancer was stabilized in the other six high-dose patients. Los Angeles County resident dies of lung illness, fifth U.S. death possibly tied to vaping

A Los Angeles County resident has died from a lung illness possibly tied to vaping, bringing the total number of such U.S. deaths to five, health officials said on Friday. Officials are warning against e-cigarette use as the exact cause of any link between vaping and the lung condition remains unknown.

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