Health News Roundup: No vaping ban U-turn, says Indian official; lung cancer survival and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

CVS suspends sales of Zantac brand and generic heartburn drug during safety review

CVS Health Corp said on Saturday it will discontinue sales the popular Zantac heartburn treatment and its own generic ranitidine products from its pharmacies after traces of a known carcinogen were found in some of the products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said earlier this month that some of the pills contained small amounts N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which has also been found in some widely used blood pressure medicines, leading to shortages of those drugs.

U.S. CDC recommends against using vapes with marijuana ingredient

People should stop using e-cigarettes with marijuana ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), U.S. public health officials recommended on Friday as investigation on the outbreak of lung illness linked to vaping deepens. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously warned on vaping, but its latest recommendation focused on THC products after nationwide data pointed to a large number of cases related to the use of the high-inducing component of marijuana.

For would-be elite soldiers, healthier diets may pay off

A study of soldiers trying to get into an elite army unit adds to evidence linking healthy diets to better physical performance. Researchers analyzed data from active-duty male soldiers attending the assessment and selection course for Army special forces, known as Green Berets. They found that soldiers with higher Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores had higher physical performance scores and were up to 75% more likely than those with the lowest diet-quality scores to be chosen for the elite unit.

No vaping ban U-turn, says Indian official, as protests fizzle

India's government has no plan to roll back a ban on electronic cigarettes, an official told Reuters on Saturday, as protests against the move by vapers in six cities drew scant support. India banned the sale and import of e-cigarettes this month, warning of an "epidemic" of vaping among young people.

Bristol-Myers immunotherapy combo outperforms chemo in lung cancer survival: study

About 40% of patients who received a combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's immuno-oncology drugs Opdivo and Yervoy as an initial treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were alive after two years, according to data presented at a medical meeting on Saturday. The combination outperformed chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for the most common form of lung cancer, with 33% of patients who got the older therapy still alive after two years, the company said.

Results of GSK and AstraZeneca trials may widen ovarian cancer drug use

GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca both reported trial results that will likely make their competing drugs available to a wider group of ovarian cancer patients, possibly helping GSK catch its rival in a highly contested drug class. The two said separately on Saturday their drug candidates - in a class known as PARP inhibitors - staved off the return of metastasized ovarian cancer in women who had responded to initial standard treatment, reducing the risk of a relapse.

U.S. travel warning adds to pressure on Tanzania over suspected Ebola cases

The United States has warned its citizens to take extra care when visiting Tanzania amid concerns over Ebola, adding to calls for the East African country to share information about suspected cases of the deadly disease there. U.S. travelers should "exercise increased caution", the State Department said on Friday in an updated travel advisory that cited reports of "a probable Ebola-related death in Dar es Salaam".

Washington governor urges state health board to ban some vaping products

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee on Friday urged state agencies to ban flavored and cannabis-derived vaping products, joining other states and the federal government in taking steps to reduce vaping amid a mysterious outbreak of deaths and illness. Inslee called his state's measures "a floor, not a ceiling," telling a news conference that more stringent rules could follow. U.S. health officials have linked vaping to 12 deaths and 805 cases of a mysterious respiratory illness.

Targeted Amgen drug has low response rate in colon cancer in study

An experimental Amgen Inc drug that targets a specific genetic mutation shrank tumors in just one of 12 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who were given the highest dose in a small, early-stage trial, the company said on Saturday. Cancer stopped growing in 10 of the patients taking 960 milligrams of AMG510 daily, while one patient had tumor progression, according to Phase I trial data presented in Barcelona at a meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO).

U.S. agents raid genetic testing labs, charge 35 in Medicare fraud probe

U.S. federal agents raided genetic testing laboratories, and 35 people were criminally charged in four states in a crackdown on genetic testing fraud that officials said on Friday caused $2.1 billion in losses to federal healthcare insurance programs. Officials at the Justice Department and Health and Human Services Department Office of the Inspector General said charges were filed in Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia in "one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes ever charged."

(With inputs from agencies.)