Health News Roundup: Doctors still need to tell parents about safe infant sleep practices and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Democratic 2020 hopeful Warren still weighing Medicare for All financing options

White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren is taking heat from her Democratic rivals for her demurrals when asked whether her Medicare for All healthcare plan would require raising taxes on middle-class households. One explanation, according to sources close to Warren's campaign, is that the U.S. senator from Massachusetts is still considering financing options and at least one under review does not include a middle-class tax hike.

Vertex prices cystic fibrosis combo treatment at $311,000-per-year

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc has priced its three-drug combination for cystic fibrosis (CF) at $311,503 per year, after winning early U.S. approval on Monday. Shares of the drugmaker, which also raised its 2019 sales forecast for CF products, were up 3% in after-hours trading.

Drug firms avert landmark opioid trial as talks on $48-billion settlement set to resume

Four large drug companies could resume talks on Tuesday to try to reach a $48 billion settlement of all opioid litigation against them, after agreeing with two Ohio counties to a $260 million deal to avert the first federal trial over their role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp and drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd agreed to the deal that removed the immediate threat of a trial that was to begin on Monday in Cleveland.

Movement during class improves students' academic abilities

When academic classes include physical activity, like squats or running in place, students do better on tests, a new study suggests. The idea of intertwining academic learning with physical activity has come about as more and more schools have cut back on physical education (PE), the researchers explain in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Northern Ireland prepares for momentous abortion, same-sex marriage changes

Campaigners who fought for decades to end Northern Ireland's same-sex marriage ban and restrictions on abortion gathered in Belfast on Monday to prepare for a momentous change to the laws on both at the stroke of midnight. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that does not allow same-sex marriage. Also, unlike England, Scotland and Wales, laws in Northern Ireland forbid abortion except where a mother's life is at risk, bans that have been upheld by the region's conservative politicians.

Massachusetts vaping sales ban can stand but needs fixes: judge

A Massachusetts judge on Monday declined to immediately halt a ban on the sale of vaping products adopted after an outbreak of e-cigarette-related lung injuries, but he said the state must redo the ban and get public comment this time. The ruling by Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins in Boston was a partial victory for Republican Governor Charlie Baker, who through an executive order last month adopted the toughest sales ban of any state in response to the outbreak.

Drugstore drones: UPS will fly CVS prescriptions to U.S. customers

United Parcel Service Inc's new Flight Forward drone unit will soon start home prescription delivery from CVS Health Corp. The service, which will debut in one or two U.S. cities in the coming weeks, shows how the parcel delivery company plans to expand its upstart drone business beyond hospital campuses.

Doctors still need to tell parents about safe infant sleep practices

Parents are more likely to follow safe infant sleep practices when doctors tell them clearly what to do and what to avoid, to minimize the chances of babies getting injured or dying during the night, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers survey responses from more than 34,000 mothers on how often they followed four essential practices: placing infants to sleep on their back; putting babies to bed in a crib or other safe sleep surface; room sharing without bed sharing; and keeping soft objects and loose bedding away from sleeping babies.

Trump urges quicker action to allow imported drugs from Canada

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday called on U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar to speed up the administration's efforts to allow cheaper medicines to be imported from Canada. Trump, who was speaking to reporters at a White House meeting with his Cabinet, has long called for cheaper prices for prescription medicines. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in July began taking steps to allow states and other groups to import drugs from Canada.

HIV-positive British living in Spain could lose healthcare post-Brexit

British citizens with HIV who live in Spain could face serious healthcare challenges in the event of a no-deal Brexit, potentially risking public health at large, researchers say. A no-deal Brexit could leave many patients with HIV or other chronic conditions in the lurch after 2020, authors Jean McHale from the University of Birmingham in the UK and Miguel Ramiro Avilés of the University of Alcalá in Spain wrote in AIDS, online September 26.

(With inputs from agencies.)