Health News Roundup: Novartis gets U.S. nod for long-delayed Amgen copycat; Diabetes may distract women from cancer screenings

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novartis gets U.S. nod for long-delayed Amgen copycat

Novartis on Tuesday won U.S. approval for its long-delayed version of Amgen's $4 billion seller Neulasta drug, helping the Swiss drugmaker in its uphill battle to sell copies of rivals' blockbusters in the world's top drug market. Novartis's biosimilar, called Ziextenzo, is aimed at helping cancer patients boost infection-fighting white blood cells during chemotherapy.

UPS drone makes first home prescription deliveries for CVS

United Parcel Service Inc Flight Forward drones have flown prescription medications to the front lawn of a private home and to a retirement center, the UPS unit's first revenue-generating deliveries for drugstore chain CVS Health Corp. Flight Forward's maiden delivery flight on Friday in Cary, North Carolina, beat rivals in one phase of the race for the nascent market. The second drone flight delivered medications to a public space at a retirement community.

China, U.S. to disclose details of rare cooperation against fentanyl drug scourge

Drug law enforcement officers from China and the United States will jointly brief the media on Thursday on a fentanyl smuggling case, in an unusual disclosure of rare Sino-U.S. cooperation in cracking down on fentanyl crimes. China's National Narcotics Control Commission and enforcement officers from both countries will give "detailed information" at a press conference in Xingtai city in northern Hebel province about a fentanyl smuggling case that was jointly uncovered by both sides, according to a notice circulated by the State Council Information Office.

Increasing emergency department admissions in U.S. for child sexual abuse

The rate at which children are being admitted to U.S. emergency departments for sexual abuse almost doubled between 2010 and 2016, a new study finds. Nationwide emergency department data show that admissions of youngsters under age 18 to EDs for sexual abuse rose from just under six per 100,000 children to nearly 12 per 100,000, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics.

FDA classifies Abbott's blood pumping system recall as most serious

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday classified the recall of Abbott Laboratories' CentriMag blood pumping system following the death of a patient, as Class 1 or the most serious type of recall. The CentriMag System pumps blood through a patient for up to six hours during open heart procedures and is also used to provide temporary blood circulatory support to patients for up to 30 days.

Growing number of child psychiatrists in U.S. bypasses some kids

The number of child psychiatrists in the U.S. has climbed in recent years, but a new study suggests gains have been uneven and access to psychiatric care may be getting worse for kids in some parts of the country. From 2007 to 2016, the number of child psychiatrists in the U.S. increased from 6,590 to 7,991, a 21.3% gain, the study found. The number of child psychiatrists per 100,000 children also grew, from 8.01 to 9.75, a 21.7% increase.

How one county scrambled to keep America measles-free

In Rockland County, New York, a wooded suburb 30 miles north of Manhattan, a teenage boy lay in a room in an empty wing of a health clinic, in a fetal position, coughing. It was October 2018. The boy had measles, which spreads through the air. His illness was the dawn of the worst outbreak in the United States for more than a quarter century, and the start of a multi-million-dollar effort by an understaffed health department to contain it.

Researchers use drones to pilot a new tool to fight malaria

Scientists seeking a breakthrough in the fight against malaria have used drones to spray rice fields in Zanzibar - not with traditional pesticides but with a thin, non-toxic film. The fields are typical breeding grounds for the anopheles mosquito - the type that transmits malaria, which the United Nations says kills a young child every minute and causes 75 percent of all under five deaths.

Mexico's drug gangs churning out deadly fentanyl-laced pills: DEA

Mexican drug cartels are making "mass quantities" of fake prescription pills containing the synthetic opioid fentanyl with the intention of selling them to users throughout North America, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said on Monday. Mexico's cartels have for years diversified into a wide variety of illicit activity, helped by porous domestic law enforcement agencies as well as long-standing trafficking routes into the United States, their biggest market.

Diabetes may distract women from cancer screenings

The burdens of managing a chronic disease like diabetes may lead women to skip recommended cancer screenings, researchers say. An analysis of data from studies over two decades finds that women with diabetes are less likely than those without the disease to get screened for cervical, breast and colorectal cancers.

Also Read: Health News Summary: Novartis gets U.S. nod for long-delayed Amgen copycat