Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Adicet Bio raises $80 million to develop cancer cell therapies

Adicet Bio Inc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of cancer therapies using gamma delta T cells, said on Wednesday it raised $80 million in private funding. "This financing will permit Adicet to continue to develop our proprietary technology, to enter the clinic in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and to advance our solid tumor programs," Adicet CEO Anil Singhal said. New investors include Israel's aMoon2 Fund, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Samsung Venture Investment Corp. All existing investors including OrbiMed, Novartis Venture Fund and Pontifax also participated in the financing. Johnson & Johnson settles Ohio lawsuits to avoid federal trial

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it will pay $20.4 million to settle claims by two Ohio counties, allowing the U.S. healthcare giant to avoid an upcoming federal trial seeking to hold the industry responsible for the nation's opioid epidemic. J&J became the fourth drugmaker to settle claims ahead of the Federal Court trial against multiple manufacturers and distributors in Cleveland scheduled for later this month. The case is considered a bellwether for more than 2,600 lawsuits by state and local governments that are pending nationally. FDA says finds 'unacceptable level' of carcinogen in Zantac and its generics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday it found "unacceptable levels" of a cancer-causing impurity in the popular heartburn drug Zantac and its generic versions known chemically as ranitidine. U.S. and European health regulators said last month they were reviewing the safety of ranitidine, after online pharmacy Valisure flagged the impurities to regulators. Canada's health authorities have asked makers of the drug to halt distribution as it gathers more information. Bystanders may hesitate to perform CPR for fear of causing harm

(Reuters Health) - People who witness a cardiac arrest may be reluctant to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), and their reasons shed light on how CPR training and public awareness can be improved, researchers say. The most common reason people gave for being reluctant to perform CPR is worry about causing additional injuries, the researchers report in Emergency Medicine Journal. Sanders presidential campaign pivots health scare to Medicare for All message

Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential election campaign on Wednesday sought to use news the candidate had a heart procedure to highlight the benefits of his trademark Medicare for All healthcare plan. Sanders' campaign canceled campaign events and pulled TV ads after the 78-year-old U.S. senator had two stents inserted into an artery after he experienced discomfort during a campaign visit to Nevada on Tuesday. Amazon fires drive spike in child breathing problems in Brazil: study

The surge in fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest this year fueled a spike in young children being treated for breathing problems as smoke clouded the air throughout the region, according to a study released on Wednesday. Roughly 5,000 children aged nine or younger were treated each month in May and June in 36 areas within Brazil's so-called "arc of deforestation," the area partially encircling the Amazon where destruction of the forest is the highest, according to a study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a public health research institute. Planned Parenthood to open large Illinois clinic as Missouri readies abortion ban

Women's health provider Planned Parenthood is set to open a large facility in western Illinois this month that will provide abortion access for women in Missouri as officials there aim to shutter the state's sole abortion clinic, the organization said on Wednesday. Planned Parenthood has been secretly building the 18,000-square-foot clinic in Fairview Heights since August 2018, using shell companies to avoid attention and protests, CBS first reported. 'Clean' beauty products not always safe, dermatologists say

"Clean" skin care products that are free of certain chemicals are not always safer than their traditional counterparts, dermatologists warn. Arbitrary descriptions of products as "clean" or "natural" are not regulated, and many of these products contain high concentrations of ingredients that can cause irritation and allergies, the authors write in an editorial in JAMA Dermatology. Walmart becomes latest U.S. retailer to pull heartburn drug Zantac

Walmart Inc on Wednesday became one of the last remaining major U.S. retailers to suspend the sale of over-the-counter heartburn medication containing ranitidine after the U.S. health agency flagged the presence of a probable cancer-causing impurity. CVS Health Corp earlier this week said it would stop the sale of the medicines, while pharmacy chains Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and Rite Aid Corp have also moved to remove the drugs off their shelves. Factbox: Vaping-related illnesses cause 16 U.S. deaths; Oregon reports second fatality

Oregon state health officials confirmed a second death from a mysterious lung disease associated with the use of e-cigarettes, bringing the total number of fatalities to 16 across 13 U.S. states. (http://bit.ly/2nPn6iQ) Latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists more than 800 confirmed and probable cases of the illness as of Sept. 24.