Health News Roundup: South Korea on highest alert after African swine fever found
Girls everywhere suffer disadvantage
Despite steady development gains, a child's birthplace is still the biggest predictor of its future health, and no matter which country you're born in, life is harder if you're a girl, a major report said on Tuesday. The analysis by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a leading philanthropic funder of health and development, found that some half a billion people worldwide still don't get basic health and education, and girls everywhere suffer disadvantage.
South Korea on highest alert after African swine fever found
South Korea has raised its animal disease alert to the highest level after discovering its first outbreak of deadly African swine fever at a pig farm in Paju, a town near its border with North Korea, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday. The case was reported less than four months after North Korea reported its first outbreak in late May.
Opioid plaintiffs fight bid to disqualify U.S. judge before trial
Lawyers for cities and counties suing drug companies over the opioid epidemic on Monday objected to a bid by pharmaceutical distributors and pharmacies to disqualify the federal judge overseeing the cases, saying it had no basis and came too late. The plaintiffs' lawyers moved swiftly to fight the request companies including AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp had made on Saturday for U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland, Ohio, to step aside from the litigation.
California governor acts to stem 'epidemic' of youth vaping
California's governor on Monday ordered a public awareness campaign on health risks posed by a "youth epidemic" of vaping but said he lacked authority to unilaterally ban flavored e-cigarettes that he said were deliberately marketed to children. Governor Gavin Newsom, acting a day after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced such a ban, became the latest politician seeking to crack down on e-cigarettes and another electronic inhaling - or vaping - devices, which have exposed a new generation of young people to nicotine hazards.
Factbox: U.S. lawsuits take aim at vaping
Several deaths and potentially hundreds of illnesses have been tied to e-cigarettes, which allow users to inhale nicotine vapor, often flavored, without smoking. Lawsuits have been filed against e-cigarette maker Juul and more are expected amid increasing scrutiny. The following is a summary of how the litigation is playing out across the United States: * About 30 lawsuits have been filed over vaping-related injuries in courts around the country, including both individual lawsuits and class actions. The lawsuits target Juul Labs Inc, which controls about 75% of the e-cigarette market. Some have also named Altria Group Inc, which has a minority stake in Juul, as a defendant. Altria is the parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris.
U.S. CDC activates emergency operations center for vaping-related illnesses
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday it has activated its emergency operations center to coordinate the investigation into hundreds of cases of severe lung illnesses linked to e-cigarette use. The CDC's Emergency Operations Center offers a central command post where teams of trained disease experts track public health emergencies, share information and coordinate the responses.
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