Health News Roundup: Warren still weighing Medicare for All; keep moving during classes 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.

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.

Biogen resurrects Alzheimer's drug; shares jump 35%

Biogen Inc revealed surprise plans to seek U.S. regulatory approval for its Alzheimer's treatment aducanumab on Tuesday, saying new analysis of clinical trials showed promise, just months after it had shelved two studies. The drugmaker's shares, which have been under pressure from investors to beef up its drug development pipeline and also reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, soared 35%, more than erasing all of its losses so far this year.

Kenya launches first breast milk bank to help newborns

The five mothers sat in a bright blue room in Kenya's largest maternity hospital waiting to pump breast milk - but not for their own newborns. At Kenya's first breast milk bank, the women were waiting to help infants whose mothers couldn't feed them by donating some of their own milk.

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.)