Reuters Health News Summary


Reuters | Updated: 12-12-2019 18:38 IST | Created: 12-12-2019 18:26 IST
Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. U.S. watchdog finds $6.7 billion in questionable Medicare payments to insurers

A U.S. government watchdog is raising fresh concerns that health insurers are exaggerating how sick Medicare patients are, receiving billions of dollars in improper payments as a result. Health insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans to seniors and the disabled received an estimated $6.7 billion in 2017 after adding diagnoses to patients' files that were not supported by their medical records, according to a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General's Office. AstraZeneca-Daiichi drug halts cancer for months in first readout

An experimental cancer drug developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo kept metastatic breast cancer at bay for months in women who had exhausted other treatment options, its first clinical study showed. Patients on trastuzumab deruxtecan, also known as DS-8201, who had already undergone roughly six prior treatment courses, were saw no further progression for a median of 16.4 months. U.S. diaper banks serve a fraction of families in need

(Reuters Health) - Many families living in poverty might benefit from diaper banks but don't receive this support, a U.S. study suggests. Nearly half of U.S. families with infants and toddlers live on less than $51,500 for a family of four, which is 200% of the federal poverty level, researchers note in the American Journal of Public Health. Many of these low-income households may struggle to afford rent and food as well as basic infant care needs, including a sufficient supply of diapers to keep babies clean, dry and healthy. Sexual dysfunction common after men's hernia surgery

Many men experience sexual dysfunction or pain during sexual activity after groin surgery to repair a hernia, a research review suggests. The authors analyzed data from 12 previous studies with a total of 4,884 patients. They focused on men who had what's known as an inguinal hernia, when soft tissue in the intestine bulges through the abdominal wall into the groin. South Korea finds some liquid e-cigarette products have ingredient linked to lung illness

South Korean health authorities have found vitamin E acetate, which may be linked to lung illnesses, in some liquid e-cigarette products made by Juul Labs and KT&G, they said on Thursday, but the two companies denied using the material. The results followed an analysis of seven key ingredients in 153 liquid e-cigarettes carried out by the food and drug safety ministry, after a spate of severe lung injuries tied to the devices in the United States. China finds African swine fever in wild boar in Shaanxi

China's agriculture ministry said on Wednesday that African swine fever had been detected in three dead wild boars in northwestern Shaanxi province. Nine wild boar samples submitted by the provincial forestry bureau were examined and three from Foping county, in the south of Shaanxi, tested positive for the disease, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement. Only a quarter of U.S. childcare centers require kids to have flu shots

Only a quarter of childcare centers in the United States require children in their care to get a flu shot, and even fewer require childcare workers to be vaccinated, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. Young children are at increased risk of serious complications such as hospitalization and even death from seasonal influenza, but few centers charged with caring for young children require them to be immunized, Dr. Timothy Shope of UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and colleagues report in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. Major political events depress young doctors' moods

Major political events, such as the 2016 presidential election and inauguration, were linked with declines in the moods of young U.S. doctors in training, a new study suggests. Survey results from more than 2,000 first-year medical residents, or interns, whose average age was 28, suggested that political events were more likely to bring down mood than non-political events such as Hurricane Irma and the Las Vegas shooting, researchers reported in The BMJ. Decline in rural medical students likely to hurt rural physician workforce

(Reuters Health) - The rural U.S. is already in dire need of more doctors, and with decreasing numbers of medical students coming from rural towns, the problem is likely to grow, a study suggests. Doctors who grew up in a rural area are more likely to practice in one, researchers note in a special issue of Health Affairs focused on rural health issues. But the proportion of students from rural areas entering medical school has been declining for 15 years, and by 2017 was less than 5%, the study team reports. FDA issues warning letter to Alkermes over opioid addiction treatment ad

A print advertisement of Alkermes Plc's addiction treatment, Vivitrol, is false or misleading as it omits important risk information associated with its use, the Food and Drug Administration said in a warning letter http://bit.ly/2LGVKUM to the company. Users of Vivitrol as a treatment for opioid dependence should be made aware of the vulnerability to potentially fatal overdose at the end of a dosing interval, after missing a dose, or after discontinuing the treatment, the agency said in the letter dated Dec. 2.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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